Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic spoke about why he inserted Gary Trent Jr. for Dennis Schroder in the starting lineup after last night’s 132-102 road win vs. the Washington Wizards.
(via Toronto Raptors):
Reporter: “Gary got the start, Dennis came off the bench. Both of them had strong performances. What did you see?”
Rajakovic: “It was a change that we were looking for for some time. We decided that it was a good opportunity today to put Scottie Barnes more as a ball handler. Also we wanted to have Dennis to help more with the second unit, and our guys did a good job today.”
Reporter: “You told me yesterday you didn’t want to make a change without a vision for what’s going to happen. So how much of that is about Dennis sort of helping organize the second group?”
Rajakovic: “It is about that, but it’s also about Scottie getting more of a ball handling role, and as a part of his development and growth. Dennis is a big part of what we do, and you could see today he embraced the role. He came off the bench, played great defense, he dished 10 assists, and really helped our second unit. Just stabilizing those minutes and having more continuity there is something that we’re looking at. Obviously it’s one game, we’re going to continue looking at, and then learning as we go.”
