Black dissects the Raptors' comeback, offensive rebounding woes, and his own confidence surge, despite a painful, last-second defeat.
On what Toronto did to mount the comeback and win:
"I think they did a good job being physical. They beat us. They got 21 offensive rebounds. So that's a big part of closing out games is finishing possessions. I think they just did a good job of that and did a good job making it tough on us down the stretch offensively."
On the final shot attempt:
"Yeah, just trying to find a way to get an open shot. Good look. It's a shot we're good with and just didn't go in. Shouldn't have got to that point. We were up majority of the game. So we just got to do a better job closing the game out."
On his strong personal performance despite the loss:
"Definitely pleased. I feel like I put in a tremendous amount of work in the summer. And I feel like this year is just showing and I'm just leaning into it. Leaning into my confidence and my abilities and what I worked on this summer for sure."
On keys to his growth this season (especially without Franz):
"Just learning when to make the right play, when to spread the ball out, learning when to shoot the ball. I think today it was a couple times I was just too aggressive driving and I missed my teammates. Just making the right play. Not turning the ball over. Not getting too deep, getting my shot blocked. Yeah, can't afford turnovers. Playing off the ball for sure. So, got to be better."
On the biggest challenge in the NBA apart from competing against great players:
"Probably just the scheduling. Good game, bad game. You got to hop on the plane, go to the next city and kind of flush it and get ready for the next game. It's a long season, 82 games. And this is probably the most minutes I've been playing. So, I would just say keeping my body right, staying locked in, and just getting in tune with the schedule."
On how he keeps his body right:
"Sleep, a lot of cold tub, hot tub. Just making sure I'm getting my treatments. And yeah, just being intentional, staying ahead of injuries and just trying to be a good pro."
On losing Jett Howard early and Desmond Bane late:
"Tough, real tough. We're missing obviously some rotation players. And when two more guys go down, it's hard to win, but we know we got enough to win. As long as we got five players, we feel like we got enough. So, just got to be better. Just got to get better looks down the stretch and find out a way to win with whoever we got."
On Paolo Banchero continuing to get into rhythm (triple-double):
"Every game more and more. It's tough coming back from injury. Coming back to a team that's playing well and just trying to find your way. But we're just telling him be aggressive. And yeah, we were looking for him to be aggressive today. He had a great game. He's getting to the rim. He's making threes. So, just a great game for him overall and we need him to keep doing that going forward."
On the turning point or key factors for his strong season:
"Just coming in with a better mindset. I was working with coach Shammgod a lot in the summer. Great trainer. He's helped me gain a lot of confidence. He's also put a lot in my bag. So I just say conversations with him, watching film with him, and just getting after it, intentional reps. I'll just say those things prepare me for the season that I'm having."
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