Hot News: Toronto Raptors point guard Greivis Vasquez's brashness is just what his team ...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - 'Just look at how he's walking off the court,' Toronto Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan said, observing his teammate Greivis Vasquez. 'He's got a little swag to him.'

As he traipsed across the Barclays Centre floor on Friday morning, Vasquez's head was bobbing, his shoulders swaying. Vasquez, one of four players acquired for Rudy Gay in December, always carries himself like this. It was not specific to the evening's Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets, the Raptors' first road game of the series. He is confident, and he wants everyone to know it.

DeRozan was looking at Vasquez because three reporters were asking about his particular energy. DeRozan said the closest comparison was his long-time teammate, Jose Calderon - although Vasquez embraces 'the show' more, according to DeRozan - which led to a follow-up question, delivered completely in jest: Is Vasquez's energy just that of white point guards from Spanish-speaking countries?

'He's white? He's not white. Greivis is black,' DeRozan shot back, equally in jest. 'I'm telling you right now: Greivis is half-Venezuelan and half-African-American. I'm telling you right now. I'm telling you right now. I said it.'

Vasquez is having a blast these days. The first day he met the media in Toronto after the trade, he pointed out that the Raptors were in a much better position to make a run at post-season success than the Kings were. At the time, it seemed like meaningless hot air, if technically true because of the relative wretchedness of the Eastern Conference. Now, it seems prescient.

He is having a lot of fun with being right: So far this series, Vasquez has reminisced about going to Paul Pierce's basketball camp as a child, taken (and hit) multiple pull-up three-pointers in transition and asked the Air Canada Centre crowd for more noise frequently.

'I don't even look like a basketball player sometimes,' Vasquez said. 'I've got to work. I know what I'm doing. I've got to send a message, and I try to reflect that on the court with the way I play. I play with a lot of confidence because I'm not the quickest. I can't do what DeMar can do, dunk and all of that stuff. I can do some things to help my team win. I believe I can get the job done.

'I think I've got to be myself in order for me to perform at a high level. In this league, you've got to be confident. I just try to bring confidence, energy. I've done it coming off the bench and even starting. That's the way I want to be labelled in this league.'

That attitude is a product of his game. You cannot take as many awkward floaters as Vasquez does while being demure.

In that sense, he is the perfect player for these Raptors, who have enjoyed billing themselves as the ignored underdogs all year, particularly since their matchup with the Nets was set. Kyle Lowry gives off stubborn defiance, while DeRozan exudes the quiet determination that the Raptors have used to define themselves.

In the NBA, though, it is hard to go from middle class to elite without some brashness. Vasquez helps the Raptors fake it until they make it.

'I think it's cool,' DeRozan said. 'It's crazy with Greivis. He kind of just talks trash all day. But it's a good energy you get from him. It shows in the game. His confidence level when he hits big shots - we kind of feed off that when he gets going like that. He's one of the most unique players I've played with. He's the most humble trash-talker I know.'

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