RJ Barrett Appreciation Thread

Fat · Post #22 » by **Fat** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:43 pm

Meat wrote:

JayTWill · Post #23 » by **JayTWill** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:52 pm

Honestly I was never a big fan of RJ's game coming out of Duke and wanted the Knicks to trade out of the 3rd spot. I saw his tunnel vision and bully ball in college and thought that would never work in the pros. He arrived in New York as a teenager but was still somehow able to bully his way to the rim. I began to have fantasies of him being developed as a strong physical 2 guard similar to how Jimmy Butler started his career next to guys like Luol Deng and then building upon that. Jimmy was better defensively but he had similar strength with and similar short wingspans. RJ's work ethic and desire to be great I thought could push him down a similar path as Butler. Unfortunately none of that materialized. He was always forced to play against bigger guys on a team that lacked spacing. We never played him to his strengths and constantly reinforced his weaknesses.

He was allowed to continuously put his head down and just force the issue against bigger players and not make the proper reads all for the sake of "staying aggressive". Hopefully his offensive and defensive awareness improve and he becomes a more consistent shooter. I'm not sure where his career goes from here but I may get the chance to see him as a big 2 guard in Toronto but their shooting and spacing is a huge issue currently. Funny thing is that I wanted the Knicks to make a trade to get bigger and we may have just created another team that is bigger than us from 1-5 instead of 2-5 now.

I wish RJ and IQ much success in Toronto. They both seem to be great guys. They deserve to succeed but I pray for my sanity on this site if those 2 take off in Toronto. Between the RJ and IQ fans on this board and the unlimited number of Raptors fans on the entire site we will never hear the end of it.

TKKnicks1 · Post #24 » by **TKKnicks1** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:08 pm

I'm really gonna miss his 14" vertical athleticism

knicksNOTslick · Post #25 » by **knicksNOTslick** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:15 pm

We finally broke up the RJ-Randle pairing like we all have been asking since Day 1. They just don't fit and Randle is who the organization is more tied to. I was never a RJ hater so I really wish him all the best in Toronto although I don't like the Raptors at all. Probably the best situation for him and IQ to play their games and go through the growing pains and not worry about minutes.

Galou · Post #26 » by **Galou** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:35 pm

Oh well f_ck it

I won't be surprised if he plays better in Toronto

3toheadmelo · Post #27 » by **3toheadmelo** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:40 pm

robillionaire wrote:I didn’t even see it was the first post damn you melo damnnnn you!

great minds think alike

NYKat · Post #28 » by **NYKat** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:41 pm

I grew to respect and enjoy RJ. He was a jack of all trades, master of none, but he was durable and played hard for the city. It was time to move on from the Randle/RJ pairing.

Good luck with him in his career.

Reign23 · Post #29 » by **Reign23** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:43 pm

happy for him that he got at least home, but the basketball situation is the same. no spacing at all from the 4 and 5 postions.

Riot Randolph · Post #30 » by **Riot Randolph** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:51 pm

Jeffrey · Post #31 » by **Jeffrey** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:47 pm

I love that RJ wanted to be the man in NY. I love that he embraced NY and soak it all in. But that one scout that analyzed him pre-draft said it best... "Has mamba mentality but doesn't have mamba's skills".

After 4 years, you can see all of the faults... inconsistent, inconsistent and inconsistent. Every year there was some MAJOR holes in his game. It's like a new season with a new headscratcher.

Your 4th year is really where the NBA will figure out who you are and what role you should be. He will be a solid starter until his early 30s and then coaches will tell him to come off the bench.

Ursusamericanus · Post #32 » by **Ursusamericanus** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:49 pm

I liked his even-keeled demeanor but that was about it. Wish him well, but good riddance.

Post #33 » by **Capn'O** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:51 pm

Jesus Melo.

Good kid with a knack for getting to the rack. If he figures out that his trajectory is a good player and not a great one he can become that. Best of luck RJ!

jvsimonetti0514 · Post #34 » by **jvsimonetti0514** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:08 pm

RJ had a bunch of great moments throughout the years and I thought he finally put it all together but it wasn’t the case. Tough to be a good player in the nba if you can’t score outside of floater range. Maybe the guy that fixed Barnes jumper can help him out. Good luck in Canada

Najeem27 · Post #35 » by **Najeem27** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:11 pm

DOT wrote:Shame he never lived up to what I wanted him to be

Oh well.

Nobody can with Randle that's why everyone is leaving.

cgf · Post #36 » by **cgf** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:13 pm

I like OG but it sucks to lose both RJ & IQ, that's a lot of penetration and FTs we're giving up and two good kids.

Gunna suck to see them in the same division but I can't help but wish them well.

cgf · Post #37 » by **cgf** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:15 pm

Reign23 wrote:happy for him that he got at least home, but the basketball situation is the same. no spacing at all from the 4 and 5 postions.

Depends on what they do with Siakam. If they continue to develop, I see Quickley - Dick - Barrett - Barnes having good synergy in a year or two.

Najeem27 · Post #38 » by **Najeem27** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:19 pm

cgf wrote:
Reign23 wrote:happy for him that he got at least home, but the basketball situation is the same. no spacing at all from the 4 and 5 postions.

Depends on what they do with Siakam. If they continue to develop, I see Quickley - Dick - Barrett - Barnes having good synergy in a year or two.

Or how about we get rid of the bum that's causing everyone to leave and team to tank?

cgf · Post #39 » by **cgf** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:23 pm

Najeem27 wrote:
cgf wrote:
Reign23 wrote:happy for him that he got at least home, but the basketball situation is the same. no spacing at all from the 4 and 5 postions.

Depends on what they do with Siakam. If they continue to develop, I see Quickley - Dick - Barrett - Barnes having good synergy in a year or two.

Or how about we get rid of the bum that's causing everyone to leave and team to tank?

Trading Brunson instead of IQ is an interesting thought, but this FO would never have pulled the trigger on everyone's favorite nepo baby and there's nobody available who would be worth trading Brunson for anyway.

X-Man Cometh · Post #40 » by **X-Man Cometh** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 10:00 pm

Only two pages? What happened to this place?

Anyway, RJ is probably one of the most frustrating players to root for.

Some good moments here and there that gave us hope but, in the end, he was just an inefficient scorer with mediocre defense and bad shooting.

I respect his work ethic, how he wasn’t afraid of the big moments and really outperformed Randle in the playoffs.

But I think it was the right time to trade him.