RJ Barrett

[EvanZ]

By far RJ's best game. Really playing within the team's offense today. Great to see.

Against a team that is 1-7. Not exactly something to pad your resume with.

[Duke4life831]

By far RJ's best game. Really playing within the team's offense today. Great to see.

Against a team that is 1-7. Not exactly something to pad your resume with.

I'm not talking about his stats. I'm talking strictly how he played within the offense. His shots came much more within the flow of the offense

[RaptorsLife]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

[clyde21]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

Zion posts the type of efficiency literally every game.

[Duke4life831]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

The competition is as bad as it gets though. This clearly isn't a game to point to stats for anyone. I mean Tre Jones only played for 15 minutes. Cam was the only of the star 4 to play more than 20 minutes.

For me really the only takeaway from tonight's game was RJ playing within the team's offense for the first time. He still put up a crazy amount of shots per minute, but they all pretty much came in the flow of the offense. The ball rarely stuck in his hand, had 7 assists to his 14 shots.

If RJ continues to play within the team's offense, Duke will be unstoppable and RJ's stock will start rising again.

[RaptorsLife]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

Zion posts the type of efficiency literally every game.

okay? Zion is the better prospect. Never said he wasn't. This is a rj thread. So posted it here

[13th Man]

RJ's stock has definitely slipped after the Gonzaga game.

As a Canadian, I just pray that he doesn't turn out to be another Wiggins which translate into being a bust in the NBA. RJ is like the opposite of Wiggins though, Wiggins became passive and scared after high school while RJ is overly aggressive. RJ is definitely a more rounded player than Wiggins but his shot leaves a lot to be desired. I don't understand how you can play this much basketball and not have a smooth stroke; long range and at the FT line.

Tbh, I'm not a huge fan of RJ's style of play nor his over-powering mentality, it's just a bit too much. This works on crappy teams but not on good teams like Duke. He definitely has nose for the basket and his main strength is in transition where can be Harden-like but personally, I don't find this brand of basketball appealing. When he's leading a fast break, you can bet that he's going to take it to the hole himself 90% of the time even with finishers like Zion surrounding him. His decision making and shot selection needs to be more team-oriented imo.

He's a good player and all but he need to realize that he's not the only player on the court that can make an impact, this isn't high school anymore. Man, if we can have a player with a mentality in between RJ and Wiggins, that would be ideal lol.

[GimmeDat]

How was Barrett when playing for the national team in the off-season? Was he just gunning it like he does with Duke?

[13th Man]

How was Barrett when playing for the national team in the off-season? Was he just gunning it like he does with Duke?

Pretty much, his game translates well in Olympic ball where there's a lot of open space. The Canadian team also needs someone like Barrett who will want to take control, as we just lost to Venezuela last week without him. As you can see from the video below he takes it upon himself most of the time aside from a couple of nice passes to Olynyk.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great player and it's not a bad thing if he can take it the hole and convert, it's just that when he's surrounded by so many other talented players like at Duke I'd like to see him do a bit less by himself and be aggressive within the flow of the game as he did in the Stetson game.

I'm probably being overly critical though on the wrong aspects of his game which is his mentality and transition game. Those are his two strengths actually. When he attacks the basket in transition, more often than not he converts, it's not pretty but its effective.

I'd say his weaknesses are his shooting, shot selection/decision making at times, and perhaps his ISO-ball skills. He's not a knock-down type player that you want the ball in his hands in crucial moments imo, his skills are not at that level yet. Also, because his shooting is not elite he shouldn't be chucking up 20 shots a game either, I have an issue when he's taking more mid and long range shots than Cam Reddish who's a much better shooter. On crappy teams like in HS and the Canadian team (lol) he can afford to take everything upon himself but not against good college teams or at NBA level. Just needs to tone it down a notch and he'll be fine.

Watch on YouTube

[clyde21]

He's DeMar DeRozan with a more developed outside shot at the same age. Court vision and decision making leaves a lot of be desired, but he can obviously improve at both of these things with more experience.

[NBA Fan 1234]

He's DeMar DeRozan with a more developing outside shot at the same age. Court vision and decision making leaves a lot of be desired, but he can obviously improve at both of these things with more experience.

I worry about his shot versatility compared to Derozan. I also think DD has more shake now, but TBH I don't remember him much as an overall prospect - although I do remember his shooting being better off the dribble and overall as a shooter.

[Stillwater]

This type of scrutiny of a player who has disappointed in comparison to his hype yet still remains in the conversation in top of the draft class is a testimony to just how bad this draft will be. He strikes me as unteachable , entitled, and should but probably won't due to lack of high upside prospects, drop out of the top 10 despite the tools being there offensively.

[Marcus]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

The competition is as bad as it gets though. This clearly isn't a game to point to stats for anyone. I mean Tre Jones only played for 15 minutes. Cam was the only of the star 4 to play more than 20 minutes.

For me really the only takeaway from tonight's game was RJ playing within the team's offense for the first time. He still put up a crazy amount of shots per minute, but they all pretty much came in the flow of the offense. The ball rarely stuck in his hand, had 7 assists to his 14 shots.

If RJ continues to play within the team's offense, Duke will be unstoppable and RJ's stock will start rising again.

yeah this is more of what he needs to focus on doing. Every opponent doesn't require the takeover when they'll typically be playing with more talent than the opposition anyway.

[Duke4life831]

26/7/7 12-14 in 17 mins. No matter competition. That's un real. Should level out his field goal %

The competition is as bad as it gets though. This clearly isn't a game to point to stats for anyone. I mean Tre Jones only played for 15 minutes. Cam was the only of the star 4 to play more than 20 minutes.

For me really the only takeaway from tonight's game was RJ playing within the team's offense for the first time. He still put up a crazy amount of shots per minute, but they all pretty much came in the flow of the offense. The ball rarely stuck in his hand, had 7 assists to his 14 shots.

If RJ continues to play within the team's offense, Duke will be unstoppable and RJ's stock will start rising again.

yeah this is more of what he needs to focus on doing. Every opponent doesn't require the takeover when they'll typically be playing with more talent than the opposition anyway.

Also it will make taking over easier for him as well. Auburn and Gonzaga basically just collapsed their entire defense every time RJ got the ball. They knew the chances are if he touched the ball he was going to keep it and try a straight line drive.

But if he plays more within the flow of the team's offense, his game won't be as predictable, which should open up better diving lanes for him.

This isn't 2000 anymore, teams aren't really looking for a guy that is going to take 20+ shots a game and dominate the ball. They want to see guys that can dominate while playing within a team offense. Hopefully RJ continues to improve on that aspect and it wasn't just the case of him feeling really loose because of the horrible opponent.

[GimmeDat]

He's DeMar DeRozan with a more developing outside shot at the same age. Court vision and decision making leaves a lot of be desired, but he can obviously improve at both of these things with more experience.

I worry about his shot versatility compared to Derozan. I also think DD has more shake now, but TBH I don't remember him much as an overall prospect - although I do remember his shooting being better off the dribble and overall as a shooter.

This is my thing - I' also concerned about the shot versatility. I think he has room to improve it, but right now he's really only effective as a spot up guy, from which he's been solid. Seen a couple of flashes of off the dribble shots but nothing else looks like an NBA ready move, and definitely doesn't compare to DD's array of moves.

Combine that with his lack of shiftiness and what is he? A bully ball wing who can keep the defense honest from outside.

I think Barrett will be a productive offensive NBA player, but if he's going to be efficient and effective on that end, and live up to his upside as a offensively-orientated top 3 pick, he needs to develop a more thoughtful and well-rounded game on that end.

[clyde21]

He's DeMar DeRozan with a more developing outside shot at the same age. Court vision and decision making leaves a lot of be desired, but he can obviously improve at both of these things with more experience.

I worry about his shot versatility compared to Derozan. I also think DD has more shake now, but TBH I don't remember him much as an overall prospect - although I do remember his shooting being better off the dribble and overall as a shooter.

This is my thing - I' also concerned about the shot versatility. I think he has room to improve it, but right now he's really only effective as a spot up guy, from which he's been solid. Seen a couple of flashes of off the dribble shots but nothing else looks like an NBA ready move, and definitely doesn't compare to DD's array of moves.

Combine that with his lack of shiftiness and what is he? A bully ball wing who can keep the defense honest from outside.

I think Barrett will be a productive offensive NBA player, but if he's going to be efficient and effective on that end, and live up to his upside as a offensively-orientated top 3 pick, he needs to develop a more thoughtful and well-rounded game on that end.

A lot of that developed after he was drafted for DeRozan though.

[NBA Fan 1234]

I worry about his shot versatility compared to Derozan. I also think DD has more shake now, but TBH I don't remember him much as an overall prospect - although I do remember his shooting being better off the dribble and overall as a shooter.

This is my thing - I' also concerned about the shot versatility. I think he has room to improve it, but right now he's really only effective as a spot up guy, from which he's been solid. Seen a couple of flashes of off the dribble shots but nothing else looks like an NBA ready move, and definitely doesn't compare to DD's array of moves.

Combine that with his lack of shiftiness and what is he? A bully ball wing who can keep the defense honest from outside.

I think Barrett will be a productive offensive NBA player, but if he's going to be efficient and effective on that end, and live up to his upside as a offensively-orientated top 3 pick, he needs to develop a more thoughtful and well-rounded game on that end.

A lot of that developed after he was drafted for DeRozan though.

Nah, his jumpshot percentiles and percentages (on good volume) were way better than RJ's as of like last week when I last checked RJ - checked DD earlier today.

[clyde21]

This is my thing - I' also concerned about the shot versatility. I think he has room to improve it, but right now he's really only effective as a spot up guy, from which he's been solid. Seen a couple of flashes of off the dribble shots but nothing else looks like an NBA ready move, and definitely doesn't compare to DD's array of moves.

Combine that with his lack of shiftiness and what is he? A bully ball wing who can keep the defense honest from outside.

I think Barrett will be a productive offensive NBA player, but if he's going to be efficient and effective on that end, and live up to his upside as a offensively-orientated top 3 pick, he needs to develop a more thoughtful and well-rounded game on that end.

A lot of that developed after he was drafted for DeRozan though.

Nah, his jumpshot percentiles and percentages (on good volume) were way better than RJ's as of like last week when I last checked RJ - checked DD earlier today.

Better from mid range but Barrett's better from range. I'd expect Barrett's numbers to inch closer to DeRozan's though as we play the year out.

[NBA Fan 1234]

A lot of that developed after he was drafted for DeRozan though.

Nah, his jumpshot percentiles and percentages (on good volume) were way better than RJ's as of like last week when I last checked RJ - checked DD earlier today.

Better from mid range but Barrett's better from range. I'd expect Barrett's numbers to inch closer to DeRozan's though as we play the year out.

Definitely something to look out for.

[GimmeDat]

A lot of that developed after he was drafted for DeRozan though.

Nah, his jumpshot percentiles and percentages (on good volume) were way better than RJ's as of like last week when I last checked RJ - checked DD earlier today.

Better from mid range but Barrett's better from range. I'd expect Barrett's numbers to inch closer to DeRozan's though as we play the year out.

Fair enough, though that seems like an outlier of development. Not saying Barrett can't develop a more diverse shooting game, but I wouldn't forecast anything more than the development of some very basic off the dribble stuff. Don't know that his form really lends itself to effectiveness in those situations either, as it is right now.