’The fans don’t deserve that’: Siakam on Raptors’ home record

According to Pascal Siakam, “losing is not fun.” And since the Raptors have only won two of nine home games this season, he made sure to emphasize the need to change after the Raptors’ loss to the Grizzlies at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Follow our Raptors coverage all season long on Yahoo Sports Canada.

Video Transcript

- So looking how things were defending tonight, really going after Freddie. Did you know it was going to make things a little tougher for everyone else, just trying to take that ball out of his hands so much?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I mean, I think maybe we got a little surprised by that. But I just want to make sure that we don't try to just play one-on-one, got to move the ball. And we were just not in the right spots most of the time. And it kind of caught us off guard. And I think in the second half I think we kind of got better a little bit at it. But yeah, I think it was just too long of us not knowing what to do for that time.

- I think you guys are 2 and 8 now at home. That's, like, never happened here in your career, right? What's [INAUDIBLE]?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, we got to fix that. It's not acceptable. We can't play like that at home. And I think we always say, we have this fan base and all that. But we have to show up at home. And we got to make it part of what we do. And we got to be better, no excuses. And that can't happen. It's not acceptable. Fans don't deserve that. So we got to play better at home, for sure.

- I know injuries happen over the course of a long season. But how tough is it with the guys that you have out being out? Especially on the offense that [INAUDIBLE] you rely on those guys.

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, it's tough. Obviously, two guys that can score the ball. Yeah, I think the identity of all the teams that we had is always about next man up. That can't be an excuse. We have to play better. And with those guys out everyone is going to get an opportunity. And once you're out there you just got to take it. And we hope those guys come back quicker. But we got to figure it out. And we all got to step up.

What do you see with the offense right now? It's 3 games in a row where you guys haven't broken 100 points. Where can you guys find opportunities to get better looks or knock down?

Yeah, I think, obviously, we missed some shots. That can happen. But I just think that just continuing to move. And sometimes it's kind of like it just feels like it's not enough spacing. So we got to figure it out. Move off the ball, cut, and we just can't be stagnant. And yeah, we got to go to practice, work on it, get better.

And I think, obviously, we think that the shots that we take and some of those guys taking shots too know that they can make those shots though. Those shots got to go in. And when it doesn't go in we got to figure out a way to crack the paint and get buckets another way.

- With [INAUDIBLE] Jackson starting to [INAUDIBLE] sort of like [INAUDIBLE] about us, do you guys-- It's obviously harder without [INAUDIBLE]. Are you feeling, without the bodies, that the room could do a better job?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, again, always I think one of the things that Coach always said was like there's just a couple of those guys that's kind of like real fouls. And when we play those guys we have to just suck it up and do a better job. And sometimes we go out there and help on the big guy. But the ball just drops. And somebody else can get it. We have to get those loose balls.

And yeah, again, this is what we have. So we all got to just step up. There's no-- it's what we have. We have 6'8", 6'9", all over the ball, but we know we can do it. And we've done it before. So I think we just got to do it. It's tough when you play those type of guys. But yeah, we've got to do it.

- [INAUDIBLE] looking back in transitions a couple times like that. Do you want to say something to [INAUDIBLE], or do you want to keep him his fun-loving self and just let him be him?

PASCAL SIAKAM: He did what?

- You see him looking back in transition and sort of, like, almost screwing up an uncontested basket.

PASCAL SIAKAM: I didn't see that.

- Do you feel as though communication might be one of the things that's hindering you guys right now? And are you kind of tempering that knowing that you are working with younger teammates.

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, I think, obviously, we got to get better. I think losing-- I think, obviously, we have a young team. And we want to have fun. But losing is not fun. So once we get out there on the floor we've got to be serious about what we do, and communicate, execute the game plan, and have fun while winning. Because at the end of the day, that's what matters. And we've got to keep the communication. We've got to get better kind of directing those guys. But at the end of day we are all pros. And we got to go out there and do it. 1 through 15, we all got to get better.

- Pascal, I'm going to do one question in French. Mike, Go ahead.

- What's up, Pascal? [SPEAKING FRENCH]

PASCAL SIAKAM: [SPEAKING FRENCH]

- [SPEAKING FRENCH]

PASCAL SIAKAM: [SPEAKING FRENCH]

- Thanks, Pascal.