Raptors Free Agent Camp Interviews Part II

Nope, not Morris Peterson, but Jason Kapono.

In what seems like a bit of shot to the kidneys, the Raptors unveiled their new number 24 yesterday at a press conference signifying once and for all, the end of the Morris Peterson era in Toronto.

This is definitely not a surprise as since about January the writing appeared to be on the wall for the former Michigan State Spartan. And while I’m sad to see my all-time favourite Raptor go, I’ll save the eulogy for another day as he seems to be headed to a good situation in Utah, or a curious one in New Orleans. I say curious because while it appears that Peterson could be the starting two guard in Utah with ease, in New Orleans, I’m not quite so sure.

Provided the team gets back a healthy Peja back, Peterson might find himself locked in a battle for playing time with the likes of Rasual Butler, Julian Wright, Bobby Jackson and possibly even the aforementioned Stojakovic at the 2/3 spot. New Orleans of course has had Peterson on their radar for quite some time having signed Mo to a contract which the Raptors matched, the last time he was a free-agent.

Outside of the Kapono’s official introduction as a Raptor, it was confirmed that Toronto has extended an offer to Anthony Parker’s former team-mate Maceo Baston. Baston is one of the Indiana Pacers’ restricted free-agents who now have seven days to match the Raptors’ offer if they wish to retain his services. In all likelihood he won’t be retained and this will provide Toronto with some more depth up front and a solid shot-blocking presence who was severely underutilized by Indiana last year.

In fact, prior to the commencement of the 2005-2005 season I had written an article suggesting the Raptors take a look at Baston for some cheap help up front but the Pacers beat them to the punch. I’m a big fan of this move as I still feel the former Michigan Wolverine has not shown what he can do in this league, particularly at the defensive end of the court.

This final move looks to round out the Raptors’ roster, something we’ll be examining in depth next week. And from this vantage point, the team now appears to be even deeper for this coming season than last. While I’m still not sold on the Kapono signing, I suppose if it doesn’t work out, we could always look at bringing the following player to camp for the 2008-09 season...

CARL ENGLISH

Reporter: Take us back to that night, when you entered the draft did you have an expectation of where you’d fall in the draft and did you come out based on that?

Carl English: When I made my decision to come out I was told anywhere from 21 to 35 at the latest and I made my decision based on that. I had some good workouts and different things and I was pretty confident that things would work out ok but it was a tough night, I had everybody downtown and I went undrafted. But a couple weeks later signed with Indiana.

Reporter: Talk about your experience since then, overseas, in the NBDL, talk a little bit about those experiences and how that affected you.

CE: First thing was I went to the Pacers camp and that was good - made it to the last day there. I thought I should have made that one you know, it came down to the wire. The NBDL was tough, it’s a tough league to play in, right now the structure I think is a lot better than when I was there because you send down your pros and if you play good against them obviously it shows that you can play. When I was there they thought, you know, it’s just a bunch of playground guys or whatever. I put up decent numbers there but I had to go overseas and went to Italy. Great country, up and down play, played about 20 minutes a game, did ok but this past season went to Croatia and had a breakout year so things were good.

Reporter: Talk about those experiences comparing them with the North American style game.

CE: It’s a totally different game, you can see with the Europeans who come to the NBA it’s a totally different style. It’s not as physical…well, it’s physical, but not inside like the big men, not as athletic, more of a team game and is centered around shooters. It’s a tough game though, it’s not as easy as people think, as shown from the Olympics and the Worlds, a lot of people are winning besides the Americans. It’s a tough game over there now, it’s scouted a lot more than people think, most of my games had two or three scouts there so it’s a good way to get back on the scene.

Reporter: Do you have any regrets in terms of giving up your college eligibility?

CE: Aaah, well you have regrets when you don’t do what you want but if I had everything going good, I wouldn’t have any regrets so no, I don’t have any regrets.

Michael Grange (Globe and Mail): Like you said, you had a breakout year and I remember when we talked last year you’ve become much more open to a European career, where’s your head right now? Obviously you’re here for the free agent camp...

CE: Yeah, I came into this free agent camp with a lot more confidence than I normally would have because I had a great season and now I have a lot of opportunities. I came to Indiana before this, I’ve got Houston, Dallas and San Antonio after this, so I’ve got a lot of options and I’m just glad to be in here and get a serious look by the Raptors, it’s great. You know, obviously I’m Canadian and I’d love to play for them but I’m just happy to be here and it’s a great opportunity as they have no draft picks and they have some spots so I just came here to show what I can do.

MG: Are you more in the driver’s seat compared to where you were earlier in your career?

CE: Yeah, I’m more in the driver’s seat based on the fact that I have other opportunities, you know I’m getting big offers overseas so I’m no longer, you know, I’m not just gonna show up for every camp, every time they call me, if they’re serious I’ll come, but I’m not just gonna come because NBA is in front of it. We’ve got some good things happening and some teams that are interested and hopefully I set a good example here and you know, I do what I do – I come off screens, shoot the ball, knock down open shots, I can play some 1 and I’m gonna play hard and give 110 per cent no matter what happens.

MG: What did that year in Croatia do for your European reputation in terms of bumping up into the top five leagues there?

CE: Yeah, it was pretty good. The Adriatic League is pretty competitive. You have four Euro-leagues, three Cups so I’d put it up there with the top four or five leagues in the world because it’s very competitive, well scouted etc. The Croatian League is not so strong, there’s about three, four teams that can play, other than that, it’s pretty watered down. But the Adriatic League is what got me noticed. I was the leading scorer there, with 20, 21 a game and I shot a great percentage and that put me back on the map and then the Croatian League solidified it. I had big offers in the middle of the season but couldn’t leave because I was locked into that contract so I’ve got a lot of opportunities for next year but I want to play in the NBA. I feel I’m good enough, hopefully I’ll start on someone’s bench and work my way into the lineup. That’s how it starts, when you come to these things you gotta realize you’re not going to be a star or else you wouldn’t be here. You come in as a role player, you work hard, you work your way into the lineup.

MG: Right, so put yourself forward to September after you get through these camps, how would you weigh a serious offer from Spain, Italy or Turkey or somewhere?

CE: Well I’m not just gonna go to camp unless I get some sort of guarantee. I can’t turn that much money, I gotta think about my family and ultimately you want to make money while you can in this sport. Like Sam (Mitchell) said, he did this kind of thing three or four times before he made it into the NBA. I personally feel I’m good enough, it’s just the right situation. When you don’t make it after the draft, it’s tough to get back in so everything’s gotta be in your favour. Hopefully they realize I’m Canadian and I can sell some tickets and I can play. It’s no longer just that I’m from this country but they know I can play and I know I can play so we’ll see what happens here but there’s other things.

MG: What about the National Team? Can that be another showcase for you?

CE: That’s another thing. We’ve got a young group of guys there and I’ll be one of their leaders so we’ve got a busy schedule. We’ll train in Puerto Rico and then we’ve got Vegas, every scout in the world will be there so that’s a great place to showcase yourself and that’s an extremely high level of basketball. And after my Italy season I did that last summer and that also helped me a lot. It gives you more confidence because Leo gives me more freedom and I get to play the 1 and 2 and do more things. And it builds me as a basketball player, each day if I get better that’s good.

Suneel Joshi (Rogers Sportsnet): I suppose it kind of flies in the face of your Canadian identity but confidence, cockiness, there’s a difference there, talk to me about what was said yesterday about you being "past sitting on a bench." How important is that for Carl English to talk the good talk?

CE: You know, it’s one thing to talk about it but you’ve gotta back it up. I’m not just here talking, I came out and played and had a great year and then I’m ready to go out and do it again. But you can’t come in here and not have confidence in yourself, because if you don’t you won’t take your open shots, you won’t knock down your shots and you won’t do what you do. I think it’s more experience that made me realize that because when I first came out of college and came to these things I wanted to do everything right, you wanna knock down every shot, you wanna be perfect. But in the game of basketball you’re not going to be perfect you know, maybe you get in that zone and it’s great but you make a mistake and you’ve gotta be able to read off of that and do different things. And I think that’s where I’m at right now.

SJ: Cocky, confidant, looks like you’re putting a different terminology towards being a Canadian, you still consider yourself Canadian obviously?

CE: Yeah, I’m not a cocky individual, I’m confidant in what I do. You’ve gotta be as a basketball player but I’m humble and I’m proud of where I’ve come from and the different things I’ve accomplished but I’ve got a long ways to go. I still believe I’m good enough to play at this level...not cocky, but very confidant about it.

Franchise (RaptorsHQ): You’ve played from Newfoundland to Hawaii to Italy, talk about that experience and how basketball has taken you all over the world and how that experience has affected you, building you as a person as much as a player.

CE: You get to see different cultures like you said all over the world, see where people come from and their way of life and you appreciate more where you come from I find. You end up so happy to come home as you appreciate the little things more, like going to a restaurant with an all English menu or turning on the TV and all the channels are in English, you know, simple things like that. Or even picking up your cell phone and making a phone call. So, you learn to appreciate the things in your life and you also appreciate where they come from and their way of life so it helps you a lot as a person.

Franchise: Such a short camp, what’s the thing that you try to show or that you want coaches to scout in a camp like this?

CE: First they’ve gotta see that I work hard. Then you’ve gotta show why you’re here. There’s a reason why certain guys are in here. I’m a shooter so I’ve gotta do that well. I can’t try to show them that I’m the best passer or I’m the best rebounder, you try to do other things but you gotta play to your strengths because you only have four sessions to show what you do. I’m not gonna come in here and play away from my game so the most important thing is to play to your strengths.

FRANCHISE