For Ibaka, the magic is in Toronto Raptors forward looks to the future, not the past
TORONTO — Serge Ibaka’s short tenure with the Orlando Magic was hardly memorable: 56 games of losing, a mishmash of roles and a fit that didn’t work.
The Toronto Raptors forward, who’ll face one of his former National Basketball Association teams for the first time Wednesday, remains philosophical about his time with the Magic, refusing to be bitter or disappointed or anything other than accepting.
“It’s life, man,” Ibaka said Tuesday as the Raptors got ready to head to Orlando to play the Magic. “Everything in life you try to do is not going to go the way you want. That doesn’t mean we lost. It doesn’t mean we have to give up, you know?
“The thing didn’t work out the way we were thinking but, thank God, we still live, we still have something to do, still enjoying this game. Just move on.”
Ibaka, traded to Toronto last February for Terrence Ross and a draft pick, still has close ties to Orlando, his daughter is still in school there, there are friends and family to visit during the two-day stop. It’ll be fun, but it’s also business because the Raptors are fine-tuning for what they hope is a long post-season run.
Now in his ninth NBA season and a finalist with Oklahoma City in 2012, Ibaka realizes it’s time to really buckle down. Not that the first 55 games of the regular season don’t mean anything, but these final ones mean more.
“Maybe no more pumped up, (we’re) always be pumped up, that’s why we are one of the best teams in the league … now we know what time it is now, it’s time already to stay a little bit more focused, stay together and … it’s important for our young guys to have their confidence.”
Ibaka has strung together his best five games in a couple of months over the last two weeks bracketing the all-star break.
He’s averaging 16.2 points per game on 43.4 per cent shooting from the floor and 35 per cent from three-point range and getting eight rebounds a game.
“He’s stepping into his shot, being shot-ready,” Casey said of the 28-year-od Ibaka. “Teams are now running out at him, closing out, trying to make him play inside the three-point line, and I think the most important thing you’ve got to do if you’re him is you’ve got to be down and ready, be set to shoot the ball, and I think he’s doing a better job of that.”
There can be more to come, though. “He’s improving and that’s an area where he has to get better, is making plays off of the dribble because they’re not going to just let him sit out there and be comfortable and shoot the three,” Casey said. “He’s coming, I thought he had a stretch there where he’s doing a great job of finding people, making plays off of the bounce, that’s his next level.”
Ibaka has helped take some of the pressure off fellow starters Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in the trickle down part of his impact.
And there’s no denying the success since the Raptors take a 42-17 record into Wednesday’s game in Orlando and have won eight of their last 10.
“It is things we work on, we practise every day, then sometimes it’s just the rhythm a team plays,” Ibaka said. “Sometimes it’s tough for myself, especially in offence, play against teams that do a little switch, gets my rhythm off. At the same time, it’s about team, we keep winning, we’re still winning so that does not matter. No matter what happens, it’s about team.”