- After going 2-0 against New Jersey and Minnesota, the Raptors are home for two games to face the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets. Big games for a team that’s fighting with Miami, Charlotte and Chicago in the eastern conference playoff race.

- Jay Triano had a nice line about Jerry Sloan’s tenure as head coach in Utah, while Antoine Wright joked about Sloan’s reputation for being a tough guy by saying he thought he could take him. Both quotes showed respect to Sloan while Wright’s was interesting because he was saying that he thinks the Jazz’s toughness comes from their leader.

- Everyone stayed late to get a lot of extra shots up today and we were waiting in the practice court forever as guys went through shooting drills, lifted and got some additional time in with the assistants. As the season is winding down, every day counts.

- I was asked the other day about whether or not the team does weight training during the season. The answer is yes.

- Chris Bosh also spoke about this today, saying it’s a must, to try and maintain your strength over the course of a season. It’s normal for players to lose weight with all of the playing and traveling that happens, and Bosh said that he’s lost about 15 pounds over the season. Starting out at 250, he’s around 235 right now, compared to last season when he guesses he was at 220-225 in March. With a frame that doesn’t keep extra size on easily, his strength at this point in the season is a testament to the work he put in this past offseason.

- Marco Belinelli did not practice today because of that sore lower back he sustained with that fall in Sacramento a week ago. Triano said he is feeling better but will get the back looked at today.

Triano

- Looking ahead to Utah tomorrow: “They are so efficient at running their offense. Every cut is a hard cut and they take advantage if you relax for a split second so there has to be a real high level of awareness and ability to know where your man is, know where you have to be on the help side and still recover and be in control.”

- On defence: “We have only so many games left this year. We can’t control the schedule or who we play, whether teams are fighting injuries or not playing well, or whether they are playing well. I thought we made some strides, defensively our rating was pretty good last night. They made some shots late in the game, but we did good things and they made shots with hands in their face.”

- Choosing which point guard to play: “I think they’ve both been playing fairly well. I’m having a hard time late in games figuring out who should be on the floor. If a guy is with a certain group and they’re rolling, not necessarily that player, but if he has the group rolling then I’m going to let them go with it. If a guy has a group on the floor playing well or if a guy is shooting the ball well, I’m going to roll with the hot hand.”

- Wright’s play: “He’s been a big lift for us. He spreads the defence with that corner shot and he gives a solid effort defensively every time.”

- Shot-selection of Weems in the Minnesota game: “You know, I thought he tried to force a little bit, he and DeMar both. We talked about it, addressed it at halftime and I thought both of them made very good decisions in the second half. They waited for the play to come to them instead of trying to create on their own. We had more swing-swing assist plays than we’ve had in a long time.”

- Is sharing the ball the key?: “All year we’ve tried to get them to share the basketball. Guys take it upon themselves to try to be the guy that gets us back and once we realize that the swing-swing is the most efficient way, that’s when we’re going to be at our best.”

- How do you get Andrea Bargnani to crash the boards and be the player you need him to be?: “That’s a good question. He rebounds well, we play well. He’s a presence inside blocking shots late in the games, that’s when we’re at our best. It’s a team thing because I think sometimes he gets caught just guarding his guy. He’s a very good one-on-one defender, but when you become a better team defender and a help side defender and still have the energy to go back and box out, that’s when he’s at his best and in turn that makes us better.”

- Can you envision yourself coaching as long as Jerry Sloan?: “I just want to live that long. Phenomenal. He’s had the backing of his organization and he’s got strong and true principles and he’s been successful.”

Weems

- Mentality as a player: “I’m a very confident player. I go out every day and try to do what coach wants me to do.”

-The importance of the next four games: “We’ve gotta get these  two at home. We’ve got to take care of the ones at home, once we take care of the ones at home, we’ll have more confidence to go out on the road.”

- Do you check the standings or box scores every day to see who has won or lost in the eastern conference race?: “We don’t have to check it because the coaches come in and tell us every day, where we stand, who lost, who won, it’s a good feeling to know that we have coaches that care, that come in and do that. Plus, we’re trying to move up in the playoff standings. We need to know that.”

- Keys to Utah and Denver: “Just make it hard for them. Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, we’ve got to make it hard for them on the offensive end. We’ve got to throw a lot of bodies at them and try to get them in foul trouble. The biggest key is to stay in front of them. JR, he’s a good one on one player, so is Melo. We’ll have to play a lot of help defence.”

Wright

Moving the ball on the offensive end: “You get people involved. At times, we tend to keep the ball on one side of the court. That’s when we take quick shots, the other team gets out in transition, we’re giving up easy baskets, that’s when our offence dictates our defence. When we move the ball around and get those open shots, most of the time we make them but even when we don’t we’re able to get back and rotate on defence.”

- Why swinging the ball works: “Sometimes you can be a little lackadaisical when you’re stuck in the corner. When you’re over in the corner, you’re not involved in the offence, you’re not going to the offensive glass. There are just points in the game where you want to get guys involved to keep the flow of the game.”

- Keys to Utah: “It’s important for us not to let them get easy baskets. They run the flex offence and they’ve been running it for years and years. For us, we’ve got to limit their touches in the paint and try to make it hard and force those elbow catches out a little further in that flex offence.”

- Does Utah’s toughness come from the mentality of Sloan?: “I don’t know Sloan personally, but I’ve heard he’s a tough guy. I think I could take him (laughs). I’ll be looking forward to a fight after the game. I don’t know him but from what I’ve heard he’s a tough coach. His guys are very well coached and very disciplined. You would think that would come from their leader.”

Bosh

- Winning three of the last four: “Just to win games is always good given the struggles that we’ve had the past month. We have to find some sort of momentum because the schedule is picking up again and we’re going to have some tough teams, two of the best teams in the western conference this week so we’re going to have to find a way to win those games, too.”

- The keys to Utah: “We’re going to have to contain Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. They are the backbone of their offence. We’re going to have to defend cuts well because they run their offence well. They’re a team that always has a very fluid offence. They’re going to run a lot of plays and they’re going to run them well.”

- Is this the best you’ve felt at this point of the season?: “Yeah, I guess so. I wish we had a little bit more momentum and I wish we were up higher in the standings, that would make me feel a little bit better, but I’ll work with what we have. Throughout my career I think this is the best I’ve felt at the end of the season. I’ve been decently consistent thoughout the season this year so I’m just trying to finish strong. I think I could do better. I’m a perfectionist, man.”

- What has been the difference: “The offseason workout helped me out a lot, but maintaining it through the year, having the confidence in myself and everybody having the confidence in my here, I think that’s helped me out more so than anything.”

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