Date: November 11, 2025
Source: BASKETMAN (YouTube)
Head coach Darko Rajaković spoke with the media after the Raptors’ win over the Brooklyn Nets, discussing the team’s standards, bench contributions, and shooting execution. He praised the group’s compete level while emphasizing the need for consistency, smart decision-making, and continued growth as players return from injury.
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On the Win and Team Standards
“Of course, every game, win or lose, it’s time to watch film. I just told the guys that we got the win tonight for sure, and that’s great and that’s awesome. That’s why we’re here.
But at the same time, we got to think about the standard that we want to play to. We have a lot of new pieces and players coming back from injuries and missing some guys. That’s why it’s so important for us to approach every quarter, every possession, with the same mentality to try to build on it.
Tonight I thought we fouled a little bit too much. I thought we did not do a good job of taking care of the ball in a couple of situations — just knowing the time and place and when certain things got to come there. But overall I thought that we competed, and I thought that we had a really good bench. Guys coming off the bench really helped us tonight. So we all got to be pleased with this and continue building on this.”
On the Bench and Rotations
“A lot of things changed because of missing Sandro. We had a plan going into the game, but we also had a lot of foul situations, subs that we had to pull guys out and then save them for the fourth quarter. But I think all the guys stepped up in those moments and helped us.”
On the Quickley–Poeltl Two-Man Game
“It’s great. We talked about this — that Quick really needs a great screener, somebody who has a good feel. Those two guys have really good chemistry in pick-and-roll.
It was a healthy balance of Quick staying aggressive and looking to score, finding his teammates, and also finding Yak in a couple of those situations as a pocket passer. To be honest, I think Scotty was great in pick-and-roll as well, as was Brandon. Those guys playmake really well for their teammates tonight.”
On Jakob Poeltl’s Performance
“He’s doing great. I like what he’s doing for the team, how he’s helping us. When you’re seven feet tall, it’s not easy to have extra pop. He’s still coming back from his lower back stiffness and finding his reconditioning.
We have to understand that one thing is the protocol to return to play, and the other thing is return to performance. With what he had tonight — 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, plus-15 — I think he did pretty well.”
On the Team’s Three-Point Shooting
“I thought that especially early in the game, in the first quarter, we had 14 threes and all of those shots were good. Some of them didn’t fall, and that deterred us from taking more as the game went on.
The quality of our threes is great. We need Brandon Ingram to shoot threes — he’s a great three-point shooter. He was 1-for-6 tonight. RJ Barrett is one of our better shooters; he was 0-for-9. Grady Dick is one of the better shooters; he was 0-for-4.
When you put all that aside, we still scored 119 points, had 31 assists, and did a lot of good stuff on the offensive end.”
On Early Transition Threes
“Immanuel Quickley is working on that shot a lot. That’s a good shot for him. He just needs to find those that are open in transition.
It’s not just about whether the shot is open or not, but whether we have something better in that possession. If his teammate is open under the rim, that’s probably the better option. But when the defense is already formed and he’s walking into those shots, absolutely we need him to take those shots — and he’s making them.”
Pulse Takeaway
Darko Rajaković was pleased with the win over the Nets but focused on discipline, shot selection, and standards. He credited the bench for their spark, praised Quickley and Poeltl’s chemistry, and said the Raptors’ shot quality remains strong despite some off nights from deep.
Quotes from Darko Rajaković via BASKETMAN (YouTube). Used for analysis and commentary.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and length.