knicksNOTslick wrote:ctorres wrote:Is RJ playing hurt? I'm looking at his game logs now.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barrerj01/gamelog/2022
October 20th to October 26th (4 games)
12.0 ppg, 39.1% fg's (11.5 fga/g), 26.1% 3pt fg's (5.8 3pa/g), 60.0% ft's (2.5 fta/g)
October 28th to November 5th (5 games)
25.0 ppg, 51.7% fg's (17.4 fga/g), 50.0% 3pt fg's (6.4 3pa/g), 79.2% ft's (4.8 fta/g)
November 7th - November 21st (8 games)
10.1 ppg, 28.0% fg's (13.4 fga/g), 17.5% 3pt fg's (5.0 3pa/g), 70.0% ft's (2.5 fta/g)
So what exactly happened to RJ between November 5th and November 7th? When I look at the game logs, the drop off is clear.
Did he hurt his shooting hand? Is he not getting much lift from his legs? I think something physically happened to him. It cannot just be mental or the opposing scouting reports figuring him out. I don't think it's the way our offense is running either.
Also, from October 20th to November 5th (9 games), RJ was getting 35.4 minutes per game. From Novmber 7th to November 21st (8 games), RJ has been getting 29.9 minutes per game.
So the Knicks have cut his playing time down by 5 and a half minutes during the latest stretch of games. I'm guessing he is still healthy enough to play defense in Thibs' eyes, which is why he still gets a lot of minutes, but he is not healthy enough to produce on the offensive end.
It has been an entirety of TWO WEEKS that RJ's shooting has been atrocious and god awful. He has not shot above 38% in a single game since November 5th. There has to be something physically wrong with him, there just has to be.
The blown layup last game was telling. Almost like he could barely get up just to lay it in. Couldn't even finish strong. He must be playing through something but if that's the case, he should sit and rest a few games.
I haven't given up on RJ, i think he'll be fine in the long run as a 3rd option. He's already shown some improvement on D and he's still young so he can def turn it around.
I don't want none of the posters who jumped ship to jump back on once he actually gets back to playing decent. It's crazy how impatient Knicks fans are. You would think we're a contending team the way people are so quick to give up on our youth.
How do you explain his excellent defense and rebounding? Can't have it both ways.
I was never sold on RJ's offense. Then again, I really didn't watch much of him in his one year of college ball. The little bit I did watch, however, was not impressive. High usage and poor outside shooting. I have a visceral reaction to those kind of players having watching Carmelo here for too long.
Edit:
From last season. He’s doing it again now.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/01/knicks-rj-barrett-in-awful-shooting-slump-after-sizzling-start/
Barrett, the No. 3-overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Duke, has connected on just 19 of 72 shots from the field (26.3 percent) since his sizzling start in the opener. He also has clanked 21 consecutive attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.