Official RJ Barrett Thread

[Scase]

Checking in on the RJ haters.

Is this really the moment?

1 bad game and then one good game with terrible FT shooting, and you're using that to crow about a player? Not a hot look, man. Nice to see RJ hitting some shots, no doubt, and of course he was going to start a little slow during his return, but jeebus...

I wouldn't call his first game 'bad'. He was average and considering it was his first game back from injury it was decent. It also didn't help that he was the focus of the offense after Scottie got injured.

His TS% that game was 47% It wasn't a good game, it was quite bad. His follow up game was 66% it was quite good. We can be honest about both.

Also Scottie went out with his injury with 24sec left in regulation, lets relax on using that as an excuse lmao.

[tsherkin]

I wouldn't call his first game 'bad'. He was average and considering it was his first game back from injury it was decent. It also didn't help that he was the focus of the offense after Scottie got injured.

I'm comfortable calling it bad. He was 9/21 in 28 minutes and posted a 47.6% TS, which is abysmal. He also had 5 fouls in that time. 2/6 from 3, no FTAs, like, it was ugly. It happens, and it was his first game back, so it's understandable, but it was still bad.

[MEDIC]

I wouldn't call his first game 'bad'. He was average and considering it was his first game back from injury it was decent. It also didn't help that he was the focus of the offense after Scottie got injured.

I'm comfortable calling it bad. He was 9/21 in 28 minutes and posted a 47.6% TS, which is abysmal. He also had 5 fouls in that time. 2/6 from 3, no FTAs, like, it was ugly. It happens, and it was his first game back, so it's understandable, but it was still bad.

I am pretty sure it's an acceptable practice to give a player at LEAST 1 game of grace time when coming back from injury.

All I wanted to see from him was aggressiveness.....which I thought he brought.

Are we going to critique Scotties 1st game back too??

[tsherkin]

I am pretty sure it's an acceptable practice to give a player at LEAST 1 game of grace time when coming back from injury.

To describe the quality of a game? No, that isn't common practice.

I'm not calling HIM bad, but that was not a good game by any measure. Like, I understand WHY he was rusty and crap, but that's different from measuring the actual efficacy of the game.

Are we going to critique Scotties 1st game back too??

If it's ass, yes we will. That will be matched off by our understanding that it is quite possible and even expected.

Don't confuse giving a player grace for rough performances for a reason not to accurately describe the performance. They are not the same thing.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Looked like RJ was drawing contact and getting right to the rim in that Denver game. I think it's an exaggeration to say he was abysmal when no one on the Raptors was getting calls. He was getting those calls against Charlotte.

[MEDIC]

I am pretty sure it's an acceptable practice to give a player at LEAST 1 game of grace time when coming back from injury.

To describe the quality of a game? No, that isn't common practice.

I'm not calling HIM bad, but that was not a good game by any measure. Like, I understand WHY he was rusty and crap, but that's different from measuring the actual efficacy of the game.

Are we going to critique Scotties 1st game back too??

If it's ass, yes we will. That will be matched off by our understanding that it is quite possible and even expected.

Don't confuse giving a player grace for rough performances for a reason not to accurately describe the performance. They are not the same thing.

It all depends on what you are looking for I & how realistic you want to be about the situation.

Like I said before, all I was looking for was aggressiveness (psychological) & that he was moving well without signs of being in pain (physical).

Anything positive the player provides statistically is just a bonus.

It's very similar to evaluating a rookie playing his first game vs an 8 year veteran. Logically, the criteria for "good game" shouldn't be the same.

[tsherkin]

It all depends on what you are looking for I & how realistic you want to be about the situation.

No it doesn't. It was an objectively bad game.

That's okay, because it was both expected and understandable. But that doesn't make the game any better.

You can draw some promising signs from it, but that isn't the same thing.

It's very similar to evaluating a rookie playing his first game vs an 8 year veteran. Logically, the criteria for "good game" shouldn't be the same.

No, I disagree. A good game is a good game. A moral victory isn't the same as a quality game. Good signs for the future have nothing to do with the actual level of performance in a game; the only difference is whether or not you think that's acceptable due to contextual factors. Which don't change whether or not a game was actually good. Scoring at efficiency 10% below league average sucks ass, that isn't a debatable point. Understanding that it was a dude's first game back from injury and that he was being aggressive and whatever, shaking off the rust, that helps EXPLAIN the bad game, but it doesn't change the fact.

[Scase]

I wouldn't call his first game 'bad'. He was average and considering it was his first game back from injury it was decent. It also didn't help that he was the focus of the offense after Scottie got injured.

I'm comfortable calling it bad. He was 9/21 in 28 minutes and posted a 47.6% TS, which is abysmal. He also had 5 fouls in that time. 2/6 from 3, no FTAs, like, it was ugly. It happens, and it was his first game back, so it's understandable, but it was still bad.

I am pretty sure it's an acceptable practice to give a player at LEAST 1 game of grace time when coming back from injury.

All I wanted to see from him was aggressiveness.....which I thought he brought.

Are we going to critique Scotties 1st game back too??

They were both bad games, you can provide the context as to why and that's fine, but bad is bad. By the same argument we can also say that his game last night was only good cause it was the Hornets, still a good game though.

Lets stop trying to cherry pick or make excuses, and just call a spade a spade.

[MEDIC]

Alright. Lets not consider human factors & context.

If you guys like, you can evaluate human performance the same way engineers evaluate repeatability of machines on an assembly line.

We'll just agree to disagee. A humans "best" is a constantly changing dynamic. We aren't machines.

[deck]

The free throw struggles are concerning. But apart from that he continues to play well, both statistically, and from the eye test.

He is pretty clearly our most consistent offensive contributor going back to the trade last year. He is now 22/6/4 as a Raptor on a 61%TS. And that includes long stretches last year where he was playing with a roster of 3rd stringers and g-leaguers.

Really hope he can keep this up. It opens up so many options for us going forward if he maintains this level of play.

[tsherkin]

:lol:

Alright. Lets not consider human factors & context.

They aren't relevant to objective evaluation. You can add them in TANDEM to such evaluation, but they do not replace such.

[Buff]

RJ was a can't miss prospect, maple mamba, people here would have tanked for him no question asked. That is the tank for you: players go from savior to bums in no time and then trade them and tank again. I have fully hated these 2 years more than any other time even when we sucked suckity suck. Rooting for loses, even tho I understand the logic, makes feel like such a loser that I dno't want to go through that again.

[Vampirate]

Every single player in the history of the league has had games in the regular season where they played like ass.

Game 1 of this season was one of RJs.

Really all there is to it.

[tsherkin]

Every single player in the history of the league has had games in the regular season where they played like ass.

Game 1 of this season was one of RJs.

Really all there is to it.

I dont' think anyone is really indicting him for having a rough one in his first game back. Or they shouldn't be. One can describe it as such, since it wasn't a good game, but that's understandable. How he does going forward will matter far more.

[Raps in 4]

Checking in on the RJ haters.

[youngRAPZ]

Checking in on the RJ haters.

Crickets

[raptorforlife88]

I think the skeptics can relax now. The RJ from last year's stint with the Raptors is still here and in fact maybe even better.

Those assist numbers did not exist in NY. He is a different player here.

[youngRAPZ]

I think the skeptics can relax now. The RJ from. Last year's stint with the Raptors is still here and in fact maybe even better.

Those assist numbers did not exist in NY. He is a different player here.

But but it’s his 6th year it’s impossible. My crystal ball said this couldn’t happen!


It’s only 3 games talk to me after he does this 1000 games in a row

[Psubs]

It took Derozan until he got to San Antonio to really expand his passing game. I think Barrett is like our Derozan 2.0 that can shoot 3's.

[YogurtProducer]

Is this really the moment?

1 bad game and then one good game with terrible FT shooting, and you're using that to crow about a player? Not a hot look, man. Nice to see RJ hitting some shots, no doubt, and of course he was going to start a little slow during his return, but jeebus...

I wouldn't call his first game 'bad'. He was average and considering it was his first game back from injury it was decent. It also didn't help that he was the focus of the offense after Scottie got injured.

His TS% that game was 47% It wasn't a good game, it was quite bad. His follow up game was 66% it was quite good. We can be honest about both.

Also Scottie went out with his injury with 24sec left in regulation, lets relax on using that as an excuse lmao.

Jesus coming out and say RJs first game is bad is… a dreadful take.

Using TS% in a single game sample size to justify that is also just a bad take. If he hit that last 3 and his TS was 55% was is suddenly a good game? He had 0 free throws that night to but we all know he was fouled at least once.