Raptors' Darko Rajakovic explodes on officials, gets ejected
Yesterday at 01:46 AM
Thursday night did not go according to plan at all for the Toronto Raptors. While they aren’t exactly expected to win against a red-hot Memphis Grizzlies team, they did not give a good account of themselves during this contest, as they got demolished, 155-126, on the road. And it reached the point where head coach Darko Rajakovic could no longer hold his frustrations in, as he went in on the officials and got himself ejected with 10:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Rajakovic, after calling a timeout with the game getting out of hand from the Raptors (they were down 127-103 at that point), was irate. He stormed the court and yelled out plenty of words not fit for publication towards official JT Orr, with Scottie Barnes and Ochai Agbaji doing their best to restrain their head coach. After a short while of hearing Rajakovic’s rant, Orr decided to throw the Raptors head coach out of the game, which only served to anger him even further.
"CALL THE F*CKING FOUL! CALL THE F*CKING FOUL!"
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic exploded at the officials and was ejected during the 4th quarter vs. the Grizzlies.pic.twitter.com/DThJUnHQ4w
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 27, 2024
It looks as though Rajakovic’s frustrations boiled over when, during the previous Raptors offensive possession, Barnes did not receive two free throws after his strong drive to the rim was met by a contest from Jaren Jackson Jr. There was certainly body contact from the Grizzlies big man, but it did look like he went straight up — with Barnes even using his off-hand to ward-off the contest from Jackson.
Chris Boucher then tried to tip the ball home, but he was off-balance while doing so, as it did appear that John Konchar bumped into him while in mid-air. The officials did not call anything and let the play continue, which then led to a layup from Scotty Pippen Jr. in semi-transition.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is fearless
The Raptors may be yet to win a ton of games under Darko Rajakovic’s tutelage, but one thing’s for sure: he is instilling fearlessness into his team. Rajakovic has never been shy to express his strong opinions on the officiating, and this ejection, while inexcusable, shows just how far he’s willing to go to back his players.
There is something old-school in the way Rajakovic coaches, and perhaps he saw this moment as something he can use to light a fire underneath his players. Of course, in games that matter, Rajakovic cannot lose his cool in this manner. But it’s comforting for players to see just how deep in the trenches their head coach is with them.
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