What was said after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander visited, and beat the Raptors

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Toronto was without its entire regular starting lineup on Friday night against the team leading the Western Conference. What could go wrong against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his squad, you ask? Well, maybe not as much as one would expect heading in. The Raptors fought hard, especially in the first half, but couldn’t compete against an opponent that talented and deep, led by the world class Canadian.

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Here’s a sampling of what Gilgeous-Alexander had to say about coming home, plus thoughts from others:

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RAPTORS HEAD COACH DARKO RAJAKOVIC ON HOW TO STOP GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER:

“There are two aspects,” he began. “You gotta make it extremely hard on him. And second aspect is you need to pray.” The tongue in cheek answer drew chuckles, but it’s not like it wasn’t accurate.

GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER ON PLAYING AT HOME:

“I’m excited. It never gets old, playing in front of family and friends. A lot of them have seen me grow through the years, so to be on this stage in front of them is special.”

GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER ON WINNING CANADA’S TOP ATHLETE AWARD:

“It’s amazing. It’s hard to put into words, just growing up, seeing guys like Steve Nash get it, and seeing how far I’ve come. Seeing the award and seeing Steve Nash accomplish things in the NBA seemed so far away as a kid. It almost seemed like it wasn’t possible, but to be here and be able to accomplish some of the things that he’s been able to accomplish is special.”

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GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER ON THE GROWTH OF CANADIAN BASKETBALL:

“Just growth over the years. Seems like every year, Canada basketball continues to grow. And that’s all you can ask for. And I think part of it is because the guys before us have given us kind of like a hope and a little bit of like a light at the end of the tunnel just to show us that we can really do it. And we’re just carrying a torch and trying to show the younger generation that they can do it, too. And then ultimately it trickles down to more kids believing, and more kids achieving.”

SGA ON FELLOW CANADIAN LU DORT EMBRACING BEING A ROLE PLAYER:

“It’s invaluable. Everybody wants to be the star. Everybody wants to score 100 points. And to find guys that do the little things and play their role at 100% and sacrifice the majority of their game for the team is really hard to find, especially at this level.”

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RAJAKOVIC ON WHAT HE LEARNED DURING HIS YEARS WITH THE THUNDER:

“Definitely attention to detail, organization, vision. When they first signed me as a head coach with G-League team, I already a lot of experience overseas, especially in player development, but working closely with (the front office) they really helped me to take it to another level and to understand what process of building a player looks like. It’s not a short term process. It’s nothing that happens in two weeks and it really helped me to see the big picture. It really helped me to see, to understand, how you need to develop players but also the roster.”

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