PG: The Scottie Barnes Show

[Tripod]

Can YOU be honest? Two of those games were low-volume shooting nights (4 attempts against the Celtics and 4 attempts against the Bucks) and two were pretty average (3/9 against the Heat and 3/10 against the Nets) while the 1/7 and 1/8 games were rough.

It is absolutely wild to me that in 2025 we still have people losing their minds over a two-week stretch where a three-point shooter goes cold. It happens multiple times every single year to just about every single shooter in the league and it is always balanced out by a separate stretch where the guy shoots ~50% over 5ish games.

So it's not ok to complain when your best 3pt shooter shoots 19% over a 2 week period?

Ok

You can complain, but there’s a difference between acknowledging the sample sample nature and people going “he’s been horrible! He sucks! Blah blah blah”

There’s a difference between stupid play and bad results and smart play and just missing shots. I’m not really a fan of people overreacting every time a good shooter has a few game stretch of bad shooting. It’s a lot different then when guys hijack offensive possessions

Agreed. That's why in another post I made sure to clarify that I am not a "get IQ off the team" guy when he goes cold. We need his shooting. His assists to TO ratio is great too.

I have said also that him losing Yak and Yak's good screening really hurts him as it helps him get separation.

IQ is not trash. He just had a 6 game stretch where the results were garbage....lol.

[YogurtProducer]

So it's not ok to complain when your best 3pt shooter shoots 19% over a 2 week period?

Ok

You can complain, but there’s a difference between acknowledging the sample sample nature and people going “he’s been horrible! He sucks! Blah blah blah”

There’s a difference between stupid play and bad results and smart play and just missing shots. I’m not really a fan of people overreacting every time a good shooter has a few game stretch of bad shooting. It’s a lot different then when guys hijack offensive possessions

Agreed. That's why in another post I made sure to clarify that I am not a "get IQ off the team" guy when he goes cold. We need his shooting. His assists to TO ratio is great too.

I have said also that him losing Yak and Yak's good screening really hurts him as it helps him get separation.

IQ is not trash. He just had a 6 game stretch where the results were garbage....lol.

Fair enough yeah, I didn’t mean you in particular or anything

But I think the Jak thing is a little overplayed here. In the 6 game sample you are referring to IQ shot:

2/11 on open 3’s and
6/30 on wide open 3’s.

29 of his 42 shots were catch and shoot, and he actually shot a higher on pull ups than he did on c+s

He was just missing shots. It happens. And then he turned around and went 9/14 in his last 2 games without Jak.

Hes not gonna be so up and down over 6 game stretches all year. In the end it’s just been a super up and down year so far but I highly doubt he’s gonna keep the 20% one week 50% the next week thing going all year.

[Indeed]

Scottie can't play center full time or even majority minutes like peak Draymond. He is nowhere as good of a rim protector or smart defense or as strong as young Draymond. GSW tonight were small and unathletic so it worked well.

Sadly, Barnes playing outside of C is just average or below due to his shooting.
He will need to play C to make up his near-max contract.

Nah he is still very impactful at his current position. I think people just have to adjust how they view him. He is clearly not a tier 1 or 2 scorer or a star offensive player YET.

Think of a Iggy/Shawn Marion hybrid type of player. He can still provide star impact overall in the position & he has been top 25 player this year. The Ingram trade was a way to get Scottie closer to his ideal role but BI is nowhere good enough of a scorer or offensive player for that which is the issue.

If he is good, people don't need to ask for a C.
I still have Ingram above him. I don't think we need to argue how bad we were without Ingram last season.

[Indeed]

It is basically time for them to trade for AD or just give up. Likely they trade for AD because the only team that grasps at straws more than them are the Bucks.

That is interesting, because AD would fill many of their issues.
However, I am unsure how they can make salary works with Curry and Bulter above 50m, adding another 50m and keeping Draymond would be difficult financially.

I think they will stay as is, trying to tank the remaining Curry era for ticket sales.

With Kuminga being out of their rotation, again, gotta think he finally gets moved for immediate help they will play.

Could see a Kuminga for Claxton deal

I don't think Claxton would be a good fit with Draymond.
I see they trade Kuminga for Turner, maybe after this season with Kuminga being an expiring. They may add a pick, since 2027 is a weak draft.

[JCP11]

Sadly, Barnes playing outside of C is just average or below due to his shooting.
He will need to play C to make up his near-max contract.

Nah he is still very impactful at his current position. I think people just have to adjust how they view him. He is clearly not a tier 1 or 2 scorer or a star offensive player YET.

Think of a Iggy/Shawn Marion hybrid type of player. He can still provide star impact overall in the position & he has been top 25 player this year. The Ingram trade was a way to get Scottie closer to his ideal role but BI is nowhere good enough of a scorer or offensive player for that which is the issue.

If he is good, people don't need to ask for a C.
I still have Ingram above him. I don't think we need to argue how bad we were without Ingram last season.

Scottie ain't a C and he would be able to handle a full schedule vs starting Cs in this league. He can play spot minutes but not regualr mins in a 82 game schedule.

[Jerry Lucas]

Has anyone seen DelAbbot or Jerry Lucas? Where you guys at fam?

Not so fast NinjaBro. The Jays literally lost the World Series because of you (among countless other examples). Don't act like your jinx curse is lifted just because of this 1 game.

[WuTang_CMB]

Scottie fkin barnessssss

[Merit]

Hopefully a trade comes sooner than later.

There is something off with this team. The inconsistencies aren’t the signs of a team on the rise.

Welcome back RJ!!

I do agree on the inconsistencies. However, we went on a massive run when we had our whole starting 5 present. As soon as they got injured things got worse. First it was RJ, the. iQ and then Jak.

[Merit]

That is interesting, because AD would fill many of their issues.
However, I am unsure how they can make salary works with Curry and Bulter above 50m, adding another 50m and keeping Draymond would be difficult financially.

I think they will stay as is, trying to tank the remaining Curry era for ticket sales.

With Kuminga being out of their rotation, again, gotta think he finally gets moved for immediate help they will play.

Could see a Kuminga for Claxton deal

I don't think Claxton would be a good fit with Draymond.
I see they trade Kuminga for Turner, maybe after this season with Kuminga being an expiring. They may add a pick, since 2027 is a weak draft.

Pretty sure they’re trying to bring Klay back. I like that for them, along with c depth - both things the mavs can provide. I’d like us to get involved and see if we can get DLo and Powell for Ochai +.

[mdenny]

Scottie had a pretty rough stretch for a few weeks after the Lakers game where he was generally floating around and not being near as assertive as he should have been without RJ/Poeltl while the majority of our role players were struggling, but he has still been a top 20ish player this season considering his two-way impact. Hopefully today's game is a sign of things to come (again) and RJ being back allows him play how he did for the majority of the first ~20 games. We're at the point now where I expect 20/8/7 type numbers (or better) from Scottie pretty much every game, but it all comes down to his effort and focus. When he's locked in, he arguably has the impact of a top 10 player.

The issue with Barnes is there should be no debates about effort and focus at this point in his career. You pay this man to carry you when your team sucks. That’s why he’s the franchise max guy. The expectation is night in and night out you must produce even when no one else is producing we should know that at least you’re going to show up. Chris bosh got slagged for not being a proper franchise guy, and yet I’ve seen more consistency in his effort and play than Barnes. His supporting casts were always so much worse.

Effort level and focus are pretty much the only things holding Scottie back from being a perennial All-Star/All-NBA player. His ability to read the floor and his IQ are up there with the best in the league and he can do just about everything at a pretty high level while he has very few weaknesses. I'm so critical of him sometimes because it is clear that he has the potential to be a dominant force that impacts the game all over more often than not, but sometimes he just floats around and seems to be going through the motions.

I recorded the game so i'm gonna rewatch the first half. But i swear it seemed like they were giving the ball to scotty on the perimeter ALOT more during offensive sets. Essentially using him as the point guard for alot of possessions.

Perhaps they can prevent him from being disengaged by changing his role and adding more pg possessions like that.

[LLJ]

I think many have a fundamental misconception of Barnes' actual abilities. People get overexcited when he has a big game and think he can do it every game. But he's very dependent on his physicality and that "energy" is simply not replicable over 82 games. He also doesn't get calls (or even gets calls against him), which also stymies how physical he can be from game to game. He can also be guarded as he's not really among the best players in the league at creating his own shots.

He's physical and he has high bball IQ. But I'm not so sure that his "bad" games are always the result of him "dogging it". Some teams just have a better game plan and matchups against him than others.

The worst part of today's game is now people are going to think he's capable of putting up 20-20-10 every game. Because the Scottie Barnes experience in Toronto is every time he has a big game, of course he can replicate it 82 times, and if he isn't, then he's being lazy.

That being said, he is the highest paid player on the team so the expectations will always be there regardless of whether he can realistically match those expectations.

I think the biggest problem is we have a flawed, top heavy team. We had the idea that Brandon Ingram would help and he has a bit. But despite giving up usage to other players like IQ, Ingram and RJ, Barnes really is still the guy who is the biggest determinant to wins, so we're back to the same problem we had in the past few years where you want an equal talent to Barnes to share the load but nobody really has quite matched Barnes level as a difference maker. Also, if one guy goes down and we can go from a playoff calibre team to life and death for a play in spot. You shouldn't need your best player to be historic to win games against mediocre teams

[OhCanada]

Its funny that all our big men hurt and Scottie forced to play Center all night he does it better than our actual bigs. Obviously this only works because Post and Green arent really a threat but must nights I feel this is the solution to our big man problem. He seems willing to do it.

Bamba is an interesting signing. If he can put it all together he is a unique talent. He has a 7'10 wingspan and can shoot a bit. I thought he was gonna be a star coming out of Texas.

[deeps6x]

Yay, I see we won. Sure wish I could have watched the WHOLE game, but SportsNet, clowns that they are, for some mysterious reason let the first quarter air, then blacked out the last three quarters!

This program is not available in your area due to a local broadcast blackout.

I'm in frickin' western Canada today. WTF does 'local' mean to these clowns?

Get your sh*t together SportsNet.


And while I'm ranting, move the score to the top of the screen. Or at least all the way to the bottom.

[S.W.A.N]

Yay, I see we won. Sure wish I could have watched the WHOLE game, but SportsNet, clowns that they are, for some mysterious reason let the first quarter air, then blacked out the last three quarters!

This program is not available in your area due to a local broadcast blackout.

I'm in frickin' western Canada today. WTF does 'local' mean to these clowns?

Get your sh*t together SportsNet.


And while I'm ranting, move the score to the top of the screen. Or at least all the way to the bottom.

must've had the wrong sportsnet channel? I had full game in BC.

[HumbleRen]

Its funny that all our big men hurt and Scottie forced to play Center all night he does it better than our actual bigs. Obviously this only works because Post and Green arent really a threat but must nights I feel this is the solution to our big man problem. He seems willing to do it.

Bamba is an interesting signing. If he can put it all together he is a unique talent. He has a 7'10 wingspan and can shoot a bit. I thought he was gonna be a star coming out of Texas.

I just don’t get this take or from many people in here repeating this. What do you guys think Scottie has been doing these last 3 weeks without Poeltl lol? Mamu wasn’t guarding the other team’s centers, it was Scottie.

Warriors are just one of the only teams in the league that doesn’t have a player taller than Scottie or even Ingram that plays starter minutes. This isn’t some new revelation, it’s a one off outlier.

Playing Scottie against actual real bigs full time is unfair to him and won’t set us up for success.

[Truthrising]

I heard Scottie had the flu last week which would explain the dropoff and now epic game..I guess he's recovered.

[Basketball_Jones]

I heard Scottie had the flu last week which would explain the dropoff and now epic game..I guess he's recovered.

I think it’s more Washington had Sarr and Miami and Golden State had 6’7 centers. He tried in the Washington game it wasn’t lack of effort that one. The Nets game for sure he was dogging it a bit or was sick.

[pingpongrac]

Its funny that all our big men hurt and Scottie forced to play Center all night he does it better than our actual bigs. Obviously this only works because Post and Green arent really a threat but must nights I feel this is the solution to our big man problem. He seems willing to do it.

Bamba is an interesting signing. If he can put it all together he is a unique talent. He has a 7'10 wingspan and can shoot a bit. I thought he was gonna be a star coming out of Texas.

I just don’t get this take or from many people in here repeating this. What do you guys think Scottie has been doing these last 3 weeks without Poeltl lol? Mamu wasn’t guarding the other team’s centers, it was Scottie.

Warriors are just one of the only teams in the league that doesn’t have a player taller than Scottie or even Ingram that plays starter minutes. This isn’t some new revelation, it’s a one off outlier.

Playing Scottie against actual real bigs full time is unfair to him and won’t set us up for success.

You keep saying Scottie has been guarding the other team’s C the past few weeks, but he has generally been on the perimeter even while Poeltl has been out. Over the previous 5 games (of which Poeltl missed 4 then played like 6 minutes in the other), Mamu almost exclusively defended Cs/PFs while Scottie was typically defending ball handlers.

vs WAS: Mamu spent more time on Sarr while Scottie defended a mishmash of George/Bilal/Middleton as well as Sarr

vs MIA: Mamu spent more time on Bam/Ware while Scottie primarily defended JJJ/Powell/Wiggins

vs BKN: Mamu spent more time on Claxton/Sharpe while Scottie primarily defended MPJ/Egor

vs BOS: Mamu spent most of his time defending Queta/Garza while Scottie primarily defended White/Pritchard/Walsh

vs MIL: Mamu spent most of his time defending Turner/Sims while Scottie primarily defended Portis

He has NOT been defending Cs and fighting for boards on both ends like he did today. He has typically been chasing players around screens or trying to slow down penetration over the past few weeks.

[MEDIC]

lol, it is a problem when that's the only thing keeping you in the league. he's also getting paid 35 million. it's okay to have standards and expectations for these guys.

This.

He's not a point guard. He's an undersized 2. Those types are utilized best as 6th men/ bench scorers. Maybe they find a starting PG & he goes back to that role.

Just because he's not the ideal playmaking PG doesn't mean he is best utilized as a 6th man/bench scorer lol. He is perfectly fine as the PG in a lineup alongside Scottie, Ingram and RJ where all 4 of those guys are capable of creating their own offence and finding the open man to varying degrees.

I don’t agree. Maybe if he was playing along side someone like Lebron.

This team needs dribble penetration/ paint touches & defense fromthe PG position if they want to make any noise......especially in the playoffs.

[DreamTeam09]

Hopefully a trade comes sooner than later.

There is something off with this team. The inconsistencies aren’t the signs of a team on the rise.

Welcome back RJ!!

I do agree on the inconsistencies. However, we went on a massive run when we had our whole starting 5 present. As soon as they got injured things got worse. First it was RJ, the. iQ and then Jak.

the inconsistencies come from a young group navigating a season where they're indeed trying to win games, coach as well. Which should be expected, y'all just don't wanna give this group any grace because of the past rhetoric out there.