Official Scottie All Star Barnes Thread 9

[Tha Cynic]

Barnes has leveled up while taking a step back on offense. You can kind of see he is letting the team underutilize him offensively while still making all the right plays. He had great feel in previous season obviously but it’s at elite tier this season. Need him to stay healthy going into the playoffs.

[PushDaRock]

This is the benefit of Ingram in the end. Scottie isn't spending a ton of energy being the halfcourt creator (which he really isn't suited to do). So now he can use that energy to be a transition beast and crazy help defender.

Fun to watch.

Funnily enough, in the exact role Nurse had him in from day 1 and half this board was up in arms about

Apologize to Nurse?

[TheAlchemist23]

He should watch more Jalen Johnson film to learn how a true future superstar should be playing like

[PushDaRock]

He should watch more Jalen Johnson film to learn how a true future superstar should be playing like

Or learn how to get triple doubles like Josh Giddey

[Tripod]

When your coach wants unselfish play and your leader plays unselfish, others often fall in line.

He is being missed at times offensively by teammates but it isn't impacting his defensive play which we all see has been elite.

Maybe someday the "Barnes can't play vs Cavs" narrative will die because he has been doing just fine.

[LLJ]

This is the benefit of Ingram in the end. Scottie isn't spending a ton of energy being the halfcourt creator (which he really isn't suited to do). So now he can use that energy to be a transition beast and crazy help defender.

Fun to watch.

Funnily enough, in the exact role Nurse had him in from day 1 and half this board was up in arms about

Sort of. While his usage is down this season (imo Barrett is probably a tad too high), he's still being used to initiate offense with his passing a lot more than his rookie season. In his rookie season he was mostly scoring off scraps and his passing wasn't used to any primary degree. Watching the games right now it's still pretty clear he has a big role on both ends of the floor. And statistically he's still not really all far off from when he was the primary scorer/handler during our tank years.

It's also still fairly obvious that the team's offense runs better when him or Shead are the "point guards" of the team compared to anyone else. He is being used like KG was on the 08 Celtics.

[HiJiNX]

Barnes has leveled up while taking a step back on offense. You can kind of see he is letting the team underutilize him offensively while still making all the right plays. He had great feel in previous season obviously but it’s at elite tier this season. Need him to stay healthy going into the playoffs.

He’s quietly been very good in the 5-15 foot area. Finishing at the rim needs work still. Teams aren’t leaving him open for three anymore.

Also, he’s getting good at turning the corner going to his left. Most right handed players are quicker going right but for him it’s definitely the opposite.

Anyway, I’m not surprised at this at all. He’s definitely taking a backseat for the sake of the team, which is the right move. His best assets are defence and facilitating anyway. I’m happy to keep using him that way. Come playoffs, I expect him to turn it on, being more aggressive as a scorer. The truth is he’s got the highest extra gear on the team because of his physical gifts and insane processing.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Scottish Barnes probably makes an all-defence team

[hype_2004]

Scottish Barnes probably makes an all-defence team

Wild prediction, Him vs Wemby for DPOY

[deck]

This is the benefit of Ingram in the end. Scottie isn't spending a ton of energy being the halfcourt creator (which he really isn't suited to do). So now he can use that energy to be a transition beast and crazy help defender.

Fun to watch.

Funnily enough, in the exact role Nurse had him in from day 1 and half this board was up in arms about

Sort of. While his usage is down this season (imo Barrett is probably a tad too high), he's still being used to initiate offense with his passing a lot more than his rookie season. In his rookie season he was mostly scoring off scraps and his passing wasn't used to any primary degree. Watching the games right now it's still pretty clear he has a big role on both ends of the floor. And statistically he's still not really all far off from when he was the primary scorer/handler during our tank years.

It's also still fairly obvious that the team's offense runs better when him or Shead are the "point guards" of the team compared to anyone else. He is being used like KG was on the 08 Celtics.

Strange, I feel Barnes has been playing PG very little this year, and that has been a good thing. He is running the fast break, but is almost never initiating offence out of the half court, as far as my eye test goes.

Barnes as a half court PG was a failed experiment, as far as I am concerned.

[LLJ]

Funnily enough, in the exact role Nurse had him in from day 1 and half this board was up in arms about

Sort of. While his usage is down this season (imo Barrett is probably a tad too high), he's still being used to initiate offense with his passing a lot more than his rookie season. In his rookie season he was mostly scoring off scraps and his passing wasn't used to any primary degree. Watching the games right now it's still pretty clear he has a big role on both ends of the floor. And statistically he's still not really all far off from when he was the primary scorer/handler during our tank years.

It's also still fairly obvious that the team's offense runs better when him or Shead are the "point guards" of the team compared to anyone else. He is being used like KG was on the 08 Celtics.

Strange, I feel Barnes has been playing PG very little this year, and that has been a good thing. He is running the fast break, but is almost never initiating offence out of the half court, as far as my eye test goes.

Barnes as a half court PG was a failed experiment, as far as I am concerned.

He is usually not bringing up the ball, no. But he does seem to still get the ball in the post on occasion where he will make a pass to cutters or getting it in the wing areas where a play is run.

But we're also not a PG heavy offense this year in general. This is quite different from any of the past Raptors teams which tended to rely heavily on their PGs to run the offense. Shead does play the primary role in crunch time, but when he's not in, it's usually a fairly equal splitting of duties between Quickley, Barnes and Ingram, which bears out in their assist totals- 6 apg for IQ, 5 apg for Barnes, 4 apg for Ingram. It is very clearly *not* just Quickley primarily running our offense (we have already discussed at length about his issues as a shooting guard in a point guard's body)

[LoveMyRaps]

Very happy with the way Scottie is playing. I don’t care if he’s not dropping 20 every night.

He’s a Swiss Army knife and one of the most impactful players in the league.

[Thaddy]

Very happy with the way Scottie is playing. I don’t care if he’s not dropping 20 every night.

He’s a Swiss Army knife and one of the most impactful players in the league.

He gets a lot of hockey assists which never get shown in stats. When he forces a turnover it isn't a steal either. The boxscore doesn't tell the whole story for this guy. He's by far the reason we're winning and he doesn't get enough credit.

[everdiso]

Age 24 & Season #5

Kawhi: 33.1mpg, 21.2pts (61.6ts%), 2.6ast/1.5to, 1.8st/1.0bk, 6.8rb (1.3off)
Scottie: 33.0mpg, 19.2pts (58.9ts%), 5.1ast/2.1to, 1.5st/1.7bk, 7.8rb (2.0off)

[Got Nuffin]

Sort of. While his usage is down this season (imo Barrett is probably a tad too high), he's still being used to initiate offense with his passing a lot more than his rookie season. In his rookie season he was mostly scoring off scraps and his passing wasn't used to any primary degree. Watching the games right now it's still pretty clear he has a big role on both ends of the floor. And statistically he's still not really all far off from when he was the primary scorer/handler during our tank years.

It's also still fairly obvious that the team's offense runs better when him or Shead are the "point guards" of the team compared to anyone else. He is being used like KG was on the 08 Celtics.

Strange, I feel Barnes has been playing PG very little this year, and that has been a good thing. He is running the fast break, but is almost never initiating offence out of the half court, as far as my eye test goes.

Barnes as a half court PG was a failed experiment, as far as I am concerned.

He is usually not bringing up the ball, no. But he does seem to still get the ball in the post on occasion where he will make a pass to cutters or getting it in the wing areas where a play is run.

But we're also not a PG heavy offense this year in general. This is quite different from any of the past Raptors teams which tended to rely heavily on their PGs to run the offense. Shead does play the primary role in crunch time, but when he's not in, it's usually a fairly equal splitting of duties between Quickley, Barnes and Ingram, which bears out in their assist totals- 6 apg for IQ, 5 apg for Barnes, 4 apg for Ingram. It is very clearly *not* just Quickley primarily running our offense (we have already discussed at length about his issues as a shooting guard in a point guard's body)

Exactly. Darko has kind of installed our own version of a motion offence in the half court which doesn't really require a traditional pg as it relies on ball movement and off-ball decisions. That's a great move as we don't have a pg When we get stuck, the ball finds it's way into Ingram's hands.

When we are in transition however, which is a lot this season, I don't think anyone will argue that you want Scottie running that thing as much as possible. His size, speed combined with his court vision and ability to handle in open space is absolutely wrecking opposing defences right now.

This is an ambitious comp, but it's a bit similar to Scottie Pippen on the Bulls where in the half court they relied on the triangle to get players (Jordan) into their spots more than anything, but in transition Pippen was Magic-like in his ability to push the offence.

[TheRaptor!]

This is the benefit of Ingram in the end. Scottie isn't spending a ton of energy being the halfcourt creator (which he really isn't suited to do). So now he can use that energy to be a transition beast and crazy help defender.

Fun to watch.

Funnily enough, in the exact role Nurse had him in from day 1 and half this board was up in arms about

Apologize to Nurse?

Dude is our only championship coach

some people are too quick to forget and dismiss

If I were him, id be pissed too towards the end of his tenure

[TheGeneral99]

With other guys taking more of the scoring burden, he's been an absolute monster defensively and he's making smart decisions offensively, not forcing anything.

[TheGeneral99]

Obviously a small sample size, but I have to say after seeing the Cavaliers 3 times this season, I'm more impressed with Barnes over Mobley and I think Barnes has a higher ceiling.

Mobley is obviously a really good player, he's one of the best rim protectors in the league, athletic for his size, can shoot, and high IQ. But when I watch him his body seems very rigid, very robotic, similar to OG. I'm not sure if he'll ever be an elite big scorer. I see him as a better, bigger and more athletic version of Myles Turner, which is awesome, but I don't think he'll ever be a star near the level of an Anthony Davis, for example.

[MiamiSPX]

Obviously a small sample size, but I have to say after seeing the Cavaliers 3 times this season, I'm more impressed with Barnes over Mobley and I think Barnes has a higher ceiling.

Mobley is obviously a really good player, he's one of the best rim protectors in the league, athletic for his size, can shoot, and high IQ. But when I watch him his body seems very rigid, very robotic, similar to OG. I'm not sure if he'll ever be an elite big scorer. I see him as a better, bigger and more athletic version of Myles Turner, which is awesome, but I don't think he'll ever be a star near the level of an Anthony Davis, for example.

I'm still pretty high on Mobley but there is no denying that he has played in the ideal, enviable situation. He plays with 3 other All-Stars and is not expected to carry the load. I've always felt that the expectations for Barnes were unfairly higher than those of Mobley, despite the latter being drafted ahead of him and always predicted to be the better player.

I'm just glad that with BI's addition, Barnes is now rightly getting noticed for those 16/6/5 games where he is a nightmare on D, which Mobley has been reaping praise for over the last 4+ years.

[SharoneWright]

Joy to watch. Keep it up.