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Ryan Wolstat: Jamal Shead to me post-game about his first experience with a Toronto playoff crowd: "Awesome bro. Like from the start, as soon as they said: ‘Get ready for Toronto Raptors basketball,’ they went crazy. It was awesome. It was way louder than Cleveland."
Josh Lewenberg: Both Jamal Shead and Jakob Poeltl mentioned effort being an issue. Jak on how effort can be lacking in playoffs: “It’s not for a lack of trying. It’s more knowing when to be aggressive, when to stick to our schemes. I think we were a bit discombobulated… We have to play more within our character”
Josh Lewenberg: Jamal Shead on Brandon Ingram: “We watched a lot of film. We looked at how they were guarding him and how we could attack it. So that won’t happen again. BI has to get the ball in his hands. He’s the No. 1 option on our team. He has to have more than 9 shots.”
Josh Lewenberg: Jamal Shead told me he credits fellow Texan Alex Caruso for his iron man mentality: "Dependability and availability are really big in this league when you're trying to make a difference. You never know what night could be your night, so try to show up every night... I got that from him"
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Josh Lewenberg: Jamal Shead will play his 82nd game of the season today. He's the first Raptor to play 82 since Jakob Poeltl in 2017-18. Shead also led Toronto in games played (75) as a rookie second-rounder last year & didn't miss a single game due to injury in his 4-year collegiate career at Houston
Josh Lewenberg: Jamal Shead just drew his 65th offensive foul of the season, 2nd-most in the NBA. The other 3 players in the top-4 (Toumani Camara, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Brunson) have all played at least 740 more minutes than Shead.
Josh Lewenberg: I asked Jamal Shead about Dejounte Murray sitting out. To little surprise, he took the high road. Said it didn't matter, they just need a win. And yes, after what the Pelicans did to them a couple weeks ago + the way their road trip ended in LA, they shouldn't be lacking for motivation
Omer Osman: Scottie Barnes on Jamal Shead’s offensive struggles lately, and what he would tell Jamal: “Just keep being aggressive. Our team, we believe in him.” “He’ll find it. Got to trust in him.”
Josh Lewenberg: Darko on the Murray/Shead incident-"After watching the film I thought we did not handle that situation the way we want, the way we were supposed to. Our players had conversations with each other. They know that's not the true image of our team... It's never going to happen again"
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Within two months of the Raptors trading for Ingram, Shead made a bet with the All-Star on the result of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament semifinal between both teams’ alma maters. It ended with Ingram wearing a Jamal Shead University of Houston jersey on the bench. More recently, Shead was the first one to greet centre Trayce Jackson-Davis, this year’s lesser-known deadline acquisition, when he arrived in the Raptors’ locker room. Shead took the crucial step of adding Jackson-Davis to the group chat. “A character,” Jackson-Davis said less than a week into being teammates with Shead. “He’s the life of the party. Full of energy, a good spirit and a great teammate.”
“Even with a lot of the video guys, I just talk s— all day,” Shead said. “I like messing with people. I like getting a smile out of people — making sure people laugh before we get to the serious stuff.” “He already had some experience (as a leader) and has the natural skills of somebody who is a good leader,” Rajaković said, explaining why he tasked Shead with gathering some of the Raptors in the summer. “He likes to connect with people. People like to be around him. Promoting that and developing those skills, you have to put him even more in those situations.”
Josh Lewenberg: Put that game on Barnes' All-Star reel. Put it on his All-NBA reel. Raptors shot 16% from 3pt range. His teammates were 31-for-84 (37%) from the field. Shead, CMB and Martin were great, but that was Scottie's game, Scottie's win. 31-6-7 on 10-19 FG, 10-12 FT. Gritty performance.
Josh Lewenberg: On a night in which Ingram, Barnes and Quickley combined for 34 points on 14-for-46 from the field and 1-for-14 from 3, Shead, Dick and Walter had 44 points on 14-28 FG/6-14 3P. Monster defensive effort from CMB, Ja'Kobe and Shead to fuel the 4th-quarter comeback.
