Raptors' Pascal Siakam Admits He Didn't Recognize Himself in the Playoffs

To say Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors struggled during the NBA playoff bubble would be an understatement. 'Spicy P' was coming off the best season of his career before the pandemic hit and while it effected everyone differently, it seemed Siakam couldn't find his confidence at Disney World.

Siakam spoke to the media on Thursday from the Raptors new home in Tampa Bay and had this to say about what transpired in Orlando:

It was weird watching myself [back]. When I watched the games one of the things that I really pointed out was that I didn't recognize myself, just in terms of having fun.

I'm always somebody that has fun playing the game. I love this game and I don't ever want play the game without any joy. I think that's just something that I didn't see [in] myself. I just want to have fun. I just want to be able to play the game, work hard, have fun, and I think that's something I want to get back to.

For me, my off-season is always focused on working on things and making sure that I come back a better player. And it was no different [this off-season], but obviously with a little edge, knowing that we didn't get where we wanted as a team and I didn't play the way that I wanted to.

I think we all deal with things differently, but for me, if I listened to [the critics] I would never be where I am today. It’s something I have never done in my life. If I listened to [the doubters] or people telling me where I was supposed to be or what my ceiling was supposed to be when I was coming into the league – I never listened to that and I’m not going to start today.

Siakam was exposed during the Boston Celtics series, and his production slipped from 22.9 points per game to 14.9 points per game. What stood out the most was his 13% shooting from downtown, which was a part of his game Siakam had added the previous championship season.

Look for the Raptors to bounce back in 2020-21 and for Siakam to be a huge part of the teams' success. You can't hold down hard work.