Helping Siakam thrive a priority
What’s the old saying? It takes a village to raise an NBA player?
Maybe that’s not it exactly but it does sum up how the Toronto Raptors are helping Pascal Siakam grow up quickly in his rookie season.
The 22-year-old native of Cameroon has been thrust into a surprisingly significant role with Toronto thanks to an injury to starting power forward Jared Sullinger, and the Raptors cannot afford to have him fail.
A team that has aspirations like Toronto does, coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference final and thirsting for at least that much this season, needs to get production from everyone on the court, including a six-foot-nine project drafted 27th last June with an eye to the future.
So they have banded together to make sure he has every opportunity to, if not thrive, at least not cost them anything.
“Honestly, being a rookie, you’re just thinking, you’re constantly thinking, constantly trying to please the coach,” Sullinger said, “and I tell him all the time, just play your game.
“Nobody’s going to get mad about a shot, nobody’s going to get mad about if you have a turnover, as long as you’re playing hard and everybody knows it’s for the good of the team and it’s not a selfish play, we’ll understand.”
Siakam became just the fifth rookie in Raptors history to start his first game with the franchise on Wednesday night, joining Damon Stoudamire, Joey Graham, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas on that short list. He acquitted himself well, with nine rebounds in 22 minutes and no costly mistakes, and had teammates in his ear every step of the way.
“What you always want to do is help guys like Pascal, a guy that’s still learning the game of basketball, honestly,” Sullinger said.
“You just want to see him do his best.”
Also helping is the fact the Raptors have been down this road before and it worked out pretty well. DeMarre Carroll missed half of last season with a variety of foot and knee woes that included weeks off after surgery. Norm Powell, getting the same support the Raptors are giving Siakam now, emerged as a steady contributor.
“Like I tell these rookies — and I pride myself on being a leader in that locker room — I’ve been through it,” Carroll said. “You never know when your opportunity may come. Mine came late. Some people’s come early. When the opportunity comes, you’ve got to take advantage of it. That’s what Pascal has got to do. That’s what Norm did last year. At the end of the day, you don’t want to look back and say, ‘I had that opportunity and I let it slip.’
“I think he’s doing a good job of playing his role and being who he is. That’s what Norm did last year.”