Darko: Reeling Raptors have 'to be much better'
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic has faith his team will soon end its plunge toward the Eastern Conference basement, though he admits Toronto's play needs to greatly improve.
"(It's the) middle of (a) long season. It's guys coming back from injuries, guys being without rhythm, guys not playing together," Rajakovic said, according to The Athletic's Eric Koreen. "I don't want any of those to sound like excuses. We've got to be much better in all of those areas. But at the same time, we work hard, and I believe that we're gonna get out of this slump, and I think we're gonna be able to play much higher level basketball than we showed."
The Raptors sit second from the bottom in the East with an 8-28 record. They've won once in 14 outings, including an 11-game losing skid.
Toronto has largely been without its main starting lineup in Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl. The five-player unit has produced a negative-30.1 net rating in 15 minutes, including in its first substantial time together Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
"We were not connected," Rajakovic said of the team's 128-104 loss to the Bucks. "We didn't have enough fight over the course of the game. ... There was fight, there was intention behind it, and we were not able to sustain it. So, we'll need more sample size. We need more guys to play together, to find the rhythm together."
The team's lack of connection can be pinned on injuries. Quickley missed 30 games due to elbow and hip ailments, while Barnes was sidelined for 11 contests after suffering an orbital fracture. Veterans like Kelly Olynyk and Bruce Brown made their season debuts in December.
As a result, 11 players have logged more than 400 minutes for Toronto. Even with his full lineup available, Rajakovic leaned on an 11-player rotation.
The Raptors face the New York Knicks on Wednesday.