Raptors Coach Shares His Goals for Stretch Run of the Season

The Toronto Raptors are hoping to spend the final 27 games of the year trying to improve a spot in the play-in tournament a distant and unlikely aspiration

Darko Rajaković could have done his best Jim Mora impression.

It’s been 23 years since Mora, then the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, shared one of the most memorable and quotable soundbites in sports history. His team had just been clobbered by the San Francisco 49ers, falling to 4-6 on the season and a reporter asked Mora about the Colts’ chances of making the playoffs.

“Playoffs? Don't talk about—playoffs?! You kidding me? Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game!” Mora responded.

It would have been an appropriate response Wednesday afternoon when Rajaković was asked about the play-in tournament being a possibility for his Toronto Raptors team this season.

Put simply, Toronto’s chances are slim. The Raptors sit five games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final play-in spot and 11 games back of the Orlando Magic for the eighth seed in the conference with 27 games to go this year.

It’s not happening.

But Rajaković isn’t taking the Mora approach. It may be false hope, but Rajaković is telling his team that’s what he wants.

“That was my opening statement with the team (Tuesday), that we want to take every game seriously,” he told the team. “We want to go into every single game competing trying to catch up for a play-in and try to make the playoffs, and to grow at the same time. All of those aspects are very important for us.”

That’s not to say the Raptors are going to go all-out for some unrealistic dream. Nobody is going to fight through pain or play irrational minutes just to fight for a play-in spot. Even short-term priorities are likely to take a backseat to long-term development over the course of the final two months.

But organizationally, Toronto plans to take the final seven weeks seriously.

“Just to continue to get better every day I think,” Immanuel Quickley said of his goals for the stretch run. “Just having the mindset to continue to get better and put everything into each day to try to do that.”

Practices are going to be tough and arguably more important than what’s seen during game action, Rajaković explained. The hope is the work behind the scenes will lead to a productive summer and important development for the future.

“So practice is extremely important for us,” Rajaković said. “Obviously we're going to use every single game as an opportunity to fight, to go out there, to give our best and to grow and to learn.”

It’s OK if that message is a little confusing.

Nobody is talking about tanking. Frankly, the merits of tanking are complicated to begin with. What’s clear is Toronto is hoping to use the next little while to develop with an on-court product that can be respected in terms of hard work and hustle.

If that somehow results in enough wins to stay competitive for a play-in spot, great. The chances, however, are far more likely Toronto will end up on the outside of the play-in picture with a roster set up for success at some point down the line.