Is RJ Barrett a beast?

[ctorres]

A bust isn't posting these type of numbers

Read on Twitter

[nyk2017]

RJ needs to go. Can't have someone this inefficient starting and taking this many shots per game.

[bearadonisdna]

RJ needs to go. Can't have someone this inefficient starting and taking this many shots per game.

Result say different .
Inefficient RJ is still a major cog in one of the most efficient offenses in the nba.
For all we know his aggressiveness could be a catalyst for our other top offensive options.

Wait until you start leaning JHart etc to be 3rd option and they don’t have that gear. The team is winning and I’ve said before RJ been playing with house money.
Based on last years stats he became more impactful and team won more as his volume increased and his efficiency decreased .

The team is winning , RJ is at 20 ppg on slightly below league average TS%. The positives are there and being a prisoner of the moment gonna get you guys like cam reddish as your long term pieces.

[KnixinSix]

RJ up until this point in his career has not been a real high efficiency player but in the last few weeks before that darn laceration injury he was actually playing pretty darn well.

What we see now is clearly below even what we normally see from him when he is somewhat inefficient. I really think the finger is affecting his shooting touch. Your finger can be fully healed but the sensation of touch is still not there for a while longer.

On Grimes he seems to have hit a bit of a wall. I'm not concerned too much there either.

Hart is quickley showing he can pick up the slack admirably in the meantime.

With Hart this teams make up looks pretty darn good. A lot of high character, high BB IQ players throughout the line up. The low BB IQ or low defensive ability guys have been shipped out or relegated to the bench: Cam, Fournier, Rose

[robillionaire]

[NYKnickerbocker]

I see you, work that magic

[Iron Mantis]

RJ needs to go. Can't have someone this inefficient starting and taking this many shots per game.

Result say different .
Inefficient RJ is still a major cog in one of the most efficient offenses in the nba.
For all we know his aggressiveness could be a catalyst for our other top offensive options.

Wait until you start leaning JHart etc to be 3rd option and they don’t have that gear. The team is winning and I’ve said before RJ been playing with house money.
Based on last years stats he became more impactful and team won more as his volume increased and his efficiency decreased .

The team is winning , RJ is at 20 ppg on slightly below league average TS%. The positives are there and being a prisoner of the moment gonna get you guys like cam reddish as your long term pieces.

Bring back the Bear!!!!!!!!!!

[FrozenEnvelope]

It feels like aliens landed or seeing big foot whenever RJ makes a shot.

[Im Coming Home]

Lets bump the Julius Randle crow thread again to do a victory lap after 1 good playoff game while we're at it. So that we can reverse the crow serving again for like the 5th or 6th time.

[Iron Mantis]

Lets bump the Julius Randle crow thread again to do a victory lap after 1 good playoff game while we're at it. So that we can reverse the crow serving again for like the 5th or 6th time.

After last night's game...let's bump the Randle thread to talk trash, bump the IQ vs Maxey thread to talk trash, etc.

It's corny energy when the Knicks just waltzed into Cleveland and smacked Donovan Mitchell around.

[8516knicks]

Does anyone have any good comps for a player like RJ who can have good stretches where he's a borderline star to a guy who then can go 2-12 and miss 9 3's in a game? It's been going on 4 seasons now and we still don't know what we have with him.

[3toheadmelo]

yea he needs to step it up big time. he was unplayable last night. grimes coming in for him saved us

[Buttah304]

yea he needs to step it up big time. he was unplayable last night. grimes coming in for him saved us

I just don’t understand what Hanlen is working on with RJ in the offseason. All jokes aside can you explain that one to me.

When I watch RJ it’s painstakingly obvious that he should have been working on a pull up jumper for the last 4 years. The issue I see is that RJ is so hellbent on getting to the cup that defenses have a plan in place to stop him, and his subpar athleticism/hang time hinders his ability to finish.

The threat of a 12-16 foot jumper would open up so much for him, and he would actually find that his driving lanes are less clogged. Every move he makes seems like such a challenge for him because his current skillset doesn’t allow him to make life easier for himself.

Put yourself in Hanlens shoes - he’s your damn client and you have about 180+ hours of film to breakdown. If you know that RJ is being met at the rim in a crowded paint isn’t it your obligation to uncover how you can open up the driving lanes for him? To potentially add a move or two to (a) bring defenders out of the paint thus creating a drive and spray opportunity and (b) create separation from your defender so they aren’t attached to your hip at all times.

We’ve said it before but he really needs a new training team.

And last thing, whoever told him to go from his college weight of 204-206 to his current 216-220 build should be fired on the spot. Let’s take a guy who isn’t above average athletically and make him even slower. I swear these new age social media trainers are like a damn ponzi scheme.

[3toheadmelo]

yea he needs to step it up big time. he was unplayable last night. grimes coming in for him saved us

I just don’t understand what Hanlen is working on with RJ in the offseason. All jokes aside can you explain that one to me.

When I watch RJ it’s painstakingly obvious that he should have been working on a pull up jumper for the last 4 years. The issue I see is that RJ is so hellbent on getting to the cup that defenses have a plan in place to stop him, and his subpar athleticism/hang time hinders his ability to finish.

The threat of a 12-16 foot jumper would open up so much for him, and he would actually find that his driving lanes are less clogged. Every move he makes seems like such a challenge for him because his current skillset doesn’t allow him to make life easier for himself.

Put yourself in Hanlens shoes - he’s your damn client and you have about 180+ hours of film to breakdown. If you know that RJ is being met at the rim in a crowded paint isn’t it your obligation to uncover how you can open up the driving lanes for him? To potentially add a move or two to (a) bring defenders out of the paint thus creating a drive and spray opportunity and (b) create separation from your defender so they aren’t attached to your hip at all times.

We’ve said it before but he really needs a new training team.

And last thing, whoever told him to go from his college weight of 204-206 to his current 216-220 build should be fired on the spot. Let’s take a guy who isn’t above average athletically and make him even slower. I swear these new age social media trainers are like a damn ponzi scheme.

Honestly I dont even blame Hanlen for his poor results with RJ. Hanlen has actually been working on RJ with his jumper off the dribble for years now. In fact I remember him saying last summer it was their main focus. RJ has a very robotic shooting motion and he dribbles the ball like those players in the 50s did. RJ would have to start from scratch if he wanted to develop a more natural shooting motion and completely new dribble movements and I dont think Hanlen wants to do that. If you look at his clients like Tatum, Beal, Lavine, etc they all were exceptionally good ball handlers and had fluid shooting forms from young. Basically they naturally talented and skilled since HS. There's honestly not much hope for RJ in my eyes. I never even wanted him when he was in Duke. It's like asking Frank to develop Kyrie type handles. You need to have a solid base/foundation to get to a respectable level and RJ doesn't have that at all.

One thing that also should be noted is that Thibs has called out RJ's lack of work ethic multiple times when he's in shooting slumps. I find that pretty eye opening for someone that is supposed to be such a hard worker. It seems like the opposite. RJ throwing up an air ball yesterday is unacceptable and shows a lack of preparation.

[Buttah304]

yea he needs to step it up big time. he was unplayable last night. grimes coming in for him saved us

I just don’t understand what Hanlen is working on with RJ in the offseason. All jokes aside can you explain that one to me.

When I watch RJ it’s painstakingly obvious that he should have been working on a pull up jumper for the last 4 years. The issue I see is that RJ is so hellbent on getting to the cup that defenses have a plan in place to stop him, and his subpar athleticism/hang time hinders his ability to finish.

The threat of a 12-16 foot jumper would open up so much for him, and he would actually find that his driving lanes are less clogged. Every move he makes seems like such a challenge for him because his current skillset doesn’t allow him to make life easier for himself.

Put yourself in Hanlens shoes - he’s your damn client and you have about 180+ hours of film to breakdown. If you know that RJ is being met at the rim in a crowded paint isn’t it your obligation to uncover how you can open up the driving lanes for him? To potentially add a move or two to (a) bring defenders out of the paint thus creating a drive and spray opportunity and (b) create separation from your defender so they aren’t attached to your hip at all times.

We’ve said it before but he really needs a new training team.

And last thing, whoever told him to go from his college weight of 204-206 to his current 216-220 build should be fired on the spot. Let’s take a guy who isn’t above average athletically and make him even slower. I swear these new age social media trainers are like a damn ponzi scheme.

Honestly I dont even blame Hanlen for his poor results with RJ. Hanlen has actually been working on RJ with his jumper off the dribble for years now. In fact I remember him saying last summer it was their main focus. RJ has a very robotic shooting motion and he dribbles the ball like those players in the 50s did. RJ would have to start from scratch if he wanted to develop a more natural shooting motion and completely new dribble movements and I dont think Hanlen wants to do that. If you look at his clients like Tatum, Beal, Lavine, etc they all were exceptionally good ball handlers and had fluid shooting forms from young. Basically they naturally talented and skilled since HS. There's honestly not much hope for RJ in my eyes. I never even wanted him when he was in Duke. It's like asking Frank to develop Kyrie type handles. You need to have a solid base/foundation to get to a respectable level and RJ doesn't have that at all.

One thing that also should be noted is that Thibs has called out RJ's lack of work ethic multiple times when he's in shooting slumps. I find that pretty eye opening for someone that is supposed to be such a hard worker. It seems like the opposite. RJ throwing up an air ball yesterday is unacceptable and shows a lack of preparation.

This is a very fair take. The one thing that you pointed out that I vividly remember being a focus was off the dribble shooting. It’s not that I want Hanlen to shoulder a lot of the blame persay - but I feel like he might have skipped some steps with RJ. Off the dribble shooting is normally associated with premier scorers in this league (which we know RJ fancies himself so that’s a fault of his own). But I can’t help but think that RJ missed out on some rudimentary skills 4 years into his career. I’m talking little things like floaters, touch around the rim, mid range jumpers, up and under moves and some basic hesitation dribbles. I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying - I guess I’m looking at it from the standpoint of he wanted to focus on off the bounce creation but might have missed some foundational building blocks along the way. Either way I still believe upgrading the SF spot in the starting lineup is paramount to this teams long term and sustained success.

[3toheadmelo]

I just don’t understand what Hanlen is working on with RJ in the offseason. All jokes aside can you explain that one to me.

When I watch RJ it’s painstakingly obvious that he should have been working on a pull up jumper for the last 4 years. The issue I see is that RJ is so hellbent on getting to the cup that defenses have a plan in place to stop him, and his subpar athleticism/hang time hinders his ability to finish.

The threat of a 12-16 foot jumper would open up so much for him, and he would actually find that his driving lanes are less clogged. Every move he makes seems like such a challenge for him because his current skillset doesn’t allow him to make life easier for himself.

Put yourself in Hanlens shoes - he’s your damn client and you have about 180+ hours of film to breakdown. If you know that RJ is being met at the rim in a crowded paint isn’t it your obligation to uncover how you can open up the driving lanes for him? To potentially add a move or two to (a) bring defenders out of the paint thus creating a drive and spray opportunity and (b) create separation from your defender so they aren’t attached to your hip at all times.

We’ve said it before but he really needs a new training team.

And last thing, whoever told him to go from his college weight of 204-206 to his current 216-220 build should be fired on the spot. Let’s take a guy who isn’t above average athletically and make him even slower. I swear these new age social media trainers are like a damn ponzi scheme.

Honestly I dont even blame Hanlen for his poor results with RJ. Hanlen has actually been working on RJ with his jumper off the dribble for years now. In fact I remember him saying last summer it was their main focus. RJ has a very robotic shooting motion and he dribbles the ball like those players in the 50s did. RJ would have to start from scratch if he wanted to develop a more natural shooting motion and completely new dribble movements and I dont think Hanlen wants to do that. If you look at his clients like Tatum, Beal, Lavine, etc they all were exceptionally good ball handlers and had fluid shooting forms from young. Basically they naturally talented and skilled since HS. There's honestly not much hope for RJ in my eyes. I never even wanted him when he was in Duke. It's like asking Frank to develop Kyrie type handles. You need to have a solid base/foundation to get to a respectable level and RJ doesn't have that at all.

One thing that also should be noted is that Thibs has called out RJ's lack of work ethic multiple times when he's in shooting slumps. I find that pretty eye opening for someone that is supposed to be such a hard worker. It seems like the opposite. RJ throwing up an air ball yesterday is unacceptable and shows a lack of preparation.

This is a very fair take. The one thing that you pointed out that I vividly remember being a focus was off the dribble shooting. It’s not that I want Hanlen to shoulder a lot of the blame persay - but I feel like he might have skipped some steps with RJ. Off the dribble shooting is normally associated with premier scorers in this league (which we know RJ fancies himself so that’s a fault of his own). But I can’t help but think that RJ missed out on some rudimentary skills 4 years into his career. I’m talking little things like floaters, touch around the rim, mid range jumpers, up and under moves and some basic hesitation dribbles. I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying - I guess I’m looking at it from the standpoint of he wanted to focus on off the bounce creation but might have missed some foundational building blocks along the way. Either way I still believe upgrading the SF spot in the starting lineup is paramount to this teams long term and sustained success.

They actually worked on all of that last summer

Read on Twitter

You can see he even tried to get him work on basic dribbles into a hezi/pull up a couple years ago

Read on Twitter

Everything in those clips looks very slow and robotic. I think RJ needs a complete rehaul of his handles for everything to fall into line. I do wish we saw RJ use a floater though like you said. I know for a fact Hanlen worked with Tatum last summer finishing around the rim and helped him develop a floater in his game and he made a big jump as a finisher this season. But then again, it's much easier for Tatum to get into his spots to use a floater cause his handle is much better than RJs. RJ can't create much seperation so he's always trying to bully his way to the rim.

Honestly at this point, our best way to develop him is into a 3 and D guy. Focus on catch and shoot 3s and play hard nosed defense. Forget about trying to be a scorer cause its never happening.

[ctorres]

Is RJ a taller/bulkier Jerry Stackhouse?

Clearly the talent is there and he'll have a streak of games where he is insanely good, but on average by the numbers is inefficient as a scorer? Also, occasionally he is really athletic but his athleticism doesn't show consistently?

I hope that makes sense

[spree8]

Yea RJ gotta go this summer… let a rebuilding team invest in his development

[8516knicks]

"One thing that also should be noted is that Thibs has called out RJ's lack of work ethic multiple times when he's in shooting slumps." This is new to me. All u used to hear here is how hard a worker he was. Is he really CAM 2 in disguise?

[8516knicks]

Honestly I dont even blame Hanlen for his poor results with RJ. Hanlen has actually been working on RJ with his jumper off the dribble for years now. In fact I remember him saying last summer it was their main focus. RJ has a very robotic shooting motion and he dribbles the ball like those players in the 50s did. RJ would have to start from scratch if he wanted to develop a more natural shooting motion and completely new dribble movements and I dont think Hanlen wants to do that. If you look at his clients like Tatum, Beal, Lavine, etc they all were exceptionally good ball handlers and had fluid shooting forms from young. Basically they naturally talented and skilled since HS. There's honestly not much hope for RJ in my eyes. I never even wanted him when he was in Duke. It's like asking Frank to develop Kyrie type handles. You need to have a solid base/foundation to get to a respectable level and RJ doesn't have that at all.

One thing that also should be noted is that Thibs has called out RJ's lack of work ethic multiple times when he's in shooting slumps. I find that pretty eye opening for someone that is supposed to be such a hard worker. It seems like the opposite. RJ throwing up an air ball yesterday is unacceptable and shows a lack of preparation.

This is a very fair take. The one thing that you pointed out that I vividly remember being a focus was off the dribble shooting. It’s not that I want Hanlen to shoulder a lot of the blame persay - but I feel like he might have skipped some steps with RJ. Off the dribble shooting is normally associated with premier scorers in this league (which we know RJ fancies himself so that’s a fault of his own). But I can’t help but think that RJ missed out on some rudimentary skills 4 years into his career. I’m talking little things like floaters, touch around the rim, mid range jumpers, up and under moves and some basic hesitation dribbles. I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying - I guess I’m looking at it from the standpoint of he wanted to focus on off the bounce creation but might have missed some foundational building blocks along the way. Either way I still believe upgrading the SF spot in the starting lineup is paramount to this teams long term and sustained success.

They actually worked on all of that last summer

Read on Twitter

You can see he even tried to get him work on basic dribbles into a hezi/pull up a couple years ago

Read on Twitter

Everything in those clips looks very slow and robotic. I think RJ needs a complete rehaul of his handles for everything to fall into line. I do wish we saw RJ use a floater though like you said. I know for a fact Hanlen worked with Tatum last summer finishing around the rim and helped him develop a floater in his game and he made a big jump as a finisher this season. But then again, it's much easier for Tatum to get into his spots to use a floater cause his handle is much better than RJs. RJ can't create much seperation so he's always trying to bully his way to the rim.

Honestly at this point, our best way to develop him is into a 3 and D guy. Focus on catch and shoot 3s and play hard nosed defense. Forget about trying to be a scorer cause its never happening.

I fear RJ working on his jumpshot and off hand is like Mitch Robinson working on 3's.