Barnes bounces back in win over Lowry and Heat
Published
TORONTO – Kyle Lowry knows what a Raptors star looks like.
He wore those shoes for nearly a decade in Toronto. He knows the city. He’s as a familiar as anybody with the market and the fan base. So, he knows what it takes to thrive as the face of the franchise, and he can see a lot of the requisite qualities in Scottie Barnes.
“I think he’s really hungry. I think his energy is infectious. I think his attitude is infectious, in a good way,” said Lowry, the iconic former Raptors’ point guard, who was preparing to face his old team at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
“He’s a great kid, he wants to play, he wants to be better, and he’s still finding himself. I think he’s more of a point guard than people know and think. But he’s just going to continue to get better, offensively and defensively.”
Granted, Lowry probably isn’t basing his glowing endorsement of Barnes on what he’s seen from the precocious sophomore over the past couple weeks. For the first time in his young career, the struggling 21-year-old is facing the type of adversity befitting of any budding star in the league.
Lowry knows what that’s like, too. He’s had to work his way through a slump or two over the years, sometimes magnified by the bright lights of the postseason, while simultaneously managing the scrutiny that comes with the territory. It’s part of the gig.
So, naturally, he can see through the ups and downs.
“He’s got a long career [ahead of him],” Lowry said. “It’s going to take time, but the sky’s the limit for that kid.”
Recently, Barnes has played a lot closer to his floor than that lofty, limitless ceiling. While he and the team have downplayed the impact of his lingering ankle injury – which he suffered in a workout ahead of training camp and has tweaked a few times since – there’s a reasonable possibility that he’s been playing hurt. That would be the simplest explanation.
Still, provided he’s healthy enough to suit up and play, the Raptors need more from him, especially with multiple rotation players out of the lineup. They finally got it in Wednesday’s game, a 112-104 win over Lowry and the Miami Heat.
Barnes started off hot. After Lowry opened the scoring with a pull-up three-pointer in transition, a familiar sight in that building, Barnes put the Raptors on the board with a step-back jumper.
He hit four of his first five shots, each coming from beyond 17 feet. Although you would’ve preferred to see him get into the paint, something that Nick Nurse wants him to do more of, he wasn’t settling. With Jimmy Butler going under on screens, Barnes took what the defence was giving him, and it was nice to see him shoot the ball with confidence.
“It feels really good when some shots start to fall,” said Barnes, who came in shooting 35 per cent from the field, including 5-for-27 from three-point range, over the previous seven games. “It gives you more energy and more juice.”
From there, he made a concerted effort to attack the rim. Four of his five second-half buckets came in the paint. Early in the third quarter, Barnes took Heat forward Caleb Martin off the dribble, posted him up and hit a hook shot over the smaller defender. Early in the fourth, he drove downhill for a layup. Later, Fred VanVleet found him cutting to the basket.
O.G. Anunoby led the way with 32 points in a brilliant two-way performance and VanVleet scored 23 in his return from an illness that kept him out for a couple games earlier this week. But with a two starters – Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. – sidelined, Barnes’ 19 points, six rebounds and six assists were much needed. It was the best he’s played in weeks.
Barnes’ recent shooting slump coincided with a stretch where, for whatever reason, he had not looked like his usual energetic self on defence and was settling for too many outside jumpers. Generally, once his effort and intensity levels dip so does his impact, whether his shots are falling or not.
Last season, Barnes would have a bad quarter or an off half here and there, but he would almost always rally and salvage the night by closing the game out strong. He never had to overcome a prolonged rough patch like this during his excellent Rookie of the Year campaign. But with his early success come expectations, and with expectations come pressure. It’s all part of the learning process. Development isn’t always linear. There were always going to be bumps in the road, and if Barnes didn’t understand that before, he’s coming to accept it now.
“I feel like my rookie year went kinda smooth,” Barnes said. “You can see that I’m in the middle of a shooting slump – I realize that, I recognize that. But I’m just trying to stay confident, get through it, keep trying to be aggressive, trust your work, trust your craft. I feel like that’s what’s gonna get me through it.”
When Lowry left for Miami in free agency during the summer of 2021, it cleared the way for Barnes – who was selected with the fourth-overall pick a few weeks earlier – to play a bigger role out of the gate, expediting his growth. Still, it’s hard not to think about how much Lowry’s leadership could’ve helped guide Barnes, especially during a stretch like this.
But with veteran teammates and a highly regarded coaching staff, it’s not like he’s lacking support. On the team’s recent road trip, VanVleet and Siakam each texted Barnes from home and encouraged him to stay aggressive.
“Them boys [are] giving me confidence when I’m out there on the floor,” Barnes said. “I feel like that’s a big thing. I really took that to heart.”
“All this is part of the growing process,” 16-year vet Thaddeus Young said over the weekend. “As long as he understand that and he doesn’t get down on himself, he’s going to be great. And Scottie is a highly confident individual, so I’m not too worried about him getting down on himself.”
The organization is committed to its young star and isn’t the least bit discouraged or deterred by a small – and not unexpected – sophomore speed bump.
“Everybody goes through it,” VanVleet said following Wednesday’s game. “There’s highs, there’s lows. There’s good games, there’s bad games. He’s finding his way. Just gotta continue to keep working and keep playing. Nobody around here is worried about him. We know how great of player he’s going to be. There’s not any young player I would trade him for, and the sky’s the limit for him. Whether that’s tomorrow or in a couple years, we’ll see.”
“Obviously, he can play better, we all know that, but as far as trying to make a conclusion about him as a player, I think [that’s] pretty ridiculous.”
Lowry still keeps a close eye on his former team and his old teammates, tuning into as many Raptors games as he can. Over the past couple years, he’s watched Siakam regain his All-NBA form, VanVleet become an all-star, and Anunoby blossom into one of the better defenders in the league – all of which he says he saw coming.
“My guys are still on this team and I support my guys,” said Lowry, who finished with 19 points in his return. “I just like to watch how they’ve matured and become better individual basketball players and men.”
Even though their tenures didn’t overlap, Lowry also takes pride in watching Barnes continue to grow and put his stamp on a franchise that he’ll always be synonymous with. One day, Lowry can see Barnes pushing him, DeMar DeRozan and other Raptors greats atop the team’s all-time leaderboards.
The blueprint is there, Lowry helped write it, but Barnes has to chart his own path.
“I think he’s going to create his own footsteps, and that’s the most important thing for a guy like him,” Lowry said. “For a guy like me who’s been there so long and seen it, I’m just happy for them to be able to create their own path, create their own legacy, create their own everything.”
He wore those shoes for nearly a decade in Toronto. He knows the city. He’s as a familiar as anybody with the market and the fan base. So, he knows what it takes to thrive as the face of the franchise, and he can see a lot of the requisite qualities in Scottie Barnes.
“I think he’s really hungry. I think his energy is infectious. I think his attitude is infectious, in a good way,” said Lowry, the iconic former Raptors’ point guard, who was preparing to face his old team at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
“He’s a great kid, he wants to play, he wants to be better, and he’s still finding himself. I think he’s more of a point guard than people know and think. But he’s just going to continue to get better, offensively and defensively.”
Granted, Lowry probably isn’t basing his glowing endorsement of Barnes on what he’s seen from the precocious sophomore over the past couple weeks. For the first time in his young career, the struggling 21-year-old is facing the type of adversity befitting of any budding star in the league.
Lowry knows what that’s like, too. He’s had to work his way through a slump or two over the years, sometimes magnified by the bright lights of the postseason, while simultaneously managing the scrutiny that comes with the territory. It’s part of the gig.
So, naturally, he can see through the ups and downs.
“He’s got a long career [ahead of him],” Lowry said. “It’s going to take time, but the sky’s the limit for that kid.”
Recently, Barnes has played a lot closer to his floor than that lofty, limitless ceiling. While he and the team have downplayed the impact of his lingering ankle injury – which he suffered in a workout ahead of training camp and has tweaked a few times since – there’s a reasonable possibility that he’s been playing hurt. That would be the simplest explanation.
Still, provided he’s healthy enough to suit up and play, the Raptors need more from him, especially with multiple rotation players out of the lineup. They finally got it in Wednesday’s game, a 112-104 win over Lowry and the Miami Heat.
Barnes started off hot. After Lowry opened the scoring with a pull-up three-pointer in transition, a familiar sight in that building, Barnes put the Raptors on the board with a step-back jumper.
He hit four of his first five shots, each coming from beyond 17 feet. Although you would’ve preferred to see him get into the paint, something that Nick Nurse wants him to do more of, he wasn’t settling. With Jimmy Butler going under on screens, Barnes took what the defence was giving him, and it was nice to see him shoot the ball with confidence.
“It feels really good when some shots start to fall,” said Barnes, who came in shooting 35 per cent from the field, including 5-for-27 from three-point range, over the previous seven games. “It gives you more energy and more juice.”
From there, he made a concerted effort to attack the rim. Four of his five second-half buckets came in the paint. Early in the third quarter, Barnes took Heat forward Caleb Martin off the dribble, posted him up and hit a hook shot over the smaller defender. Early in the fourth, he drove downhill for a layup. Later, Fred VanVleet found him cutting to the basket.
O.G. Anunoby led the way with 32 points in a brilliant two-way performance and VanVleet scored 23 in his return from an illness that kept him out for a couple games earlier this week. But with a two starters – Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. – sidelined, Barnes’ 19 points, six rebounds and six assists were much needed. It was the best he’s played in weeks.
Barnes’ recent shooting slump coincided with a stretch where, for whatever reason, he had not looked like his usual energetic self on defence and was settling for too many outside jumpers. Generally, once his effort and intensity levels dip so does his impact, whether his shots are falling or not.
Last season, Barnes would have a bad quarter or an off half here and there, but he would almost always rally and salvage the night by closing the game out strong. He never had to overcome a prolonged rough patch like this during his excellent Rookie of the Year campaign. But with his early success come expectations, and with expectations come pressure. It’s all part of the learning process. Development isn’t always linear. There were always going to be bumps in the road, and if Barnes didn’t understand that before, he’s coming to accept it now.
“I feel like my rookie year went kinda smooth,” Barnes said. “You can see that I’m in the middle of a shooting slump – I realize that, I recognize that. But I’m just trying to stay confident, get through it, keep trying to be aggressive, trust your work, trust your craft. I feel like that’s what’s gonna get me through it.”
When Lowry left for Miami in free agency during the summer of 2021, it cleared the way for Barnes – who was selected with the fourth-overall pick a few weeks earlier – to play a bigger role out of the gate, expediting his growth. Still, it’s hard not to think about how much Lowry’s leadership could’ve helped guide Barnes, especially during a stretch like this.
But with veteran teammates and a highly regarded coaching staff, it’s not like he’s lacking support. On the team’s recent road trip, VanVleet and Siakam each texted Barnes from home and encouraged him to stay aggressive.
“Them boys [are] giving me confidence when I’m out there on the floor,” Barnes said. “I feel like that’s a big thing. I really took that to heart.”
“All this is part of the growing process,” 16-year vet Thaddeus Young said over the weekend. “As long as he understand that and he doesn’t get down on himself, he’s going to be great. And Scottie is a highly confident individual, so I’m not too worried about him getting down on himself.”
The organization is committed to its young star and isn’t the least bit discouraged or deterred by a small – and not unexpected – sophomore speed bump.
“Everybody goes through it,” VanVleet said following Wednesday’s game. “There’s highs, there’s lows. There’s good games, there’s bad games. He’s finding his way. Just gotta continue to keep working and keep playing. Nobody around here is worried about him. We know how great of player he’s going to be. There’s not any young player I would trade him for, and the sky’s the limit for him. Whether that’s tomorrow or in a couple years, we’ll see.”
“Obviously, he can play better, we all know that, but as far as trying to make a conclusion about him as a player, I think [that’s] pretty ridiculous.”
Lowry still keeps a close eye on his former team and his old teammates, tuning into as many Raptors games as he can. Over the past couple years, he’s watched Siakam regain his All-NBA form, VanVleet become an all-star, and Anunoby blossom into one of the better defenders in the league – all of which he says he saw coming.
“My guys are still on this team and I support my guys,” said Lowry, who finished with 19 points in his return. “I just like to watch how they’ve matured and become better individual basketball players and men.”
Even though their tenures didn’t overlap, Lowry also takes pride in watching Barnes continue to grow and put his stamp on a franchise that he’ll always be synonymous with. One day, Lowry can see Barnes pushing him, DeMar DeRozan and other Raptors greats atop the team’s all-time leaderboards.
The blueprint is there, Lowry helped write it, but Barnes has to chart his own path.
“I think he’s going to create his own footsteps, and that’s the most important thing for a guy like him,” Lowry said. “For a guy like me who’s been there so long and seen it, I’m just happy for them to be able to create their own path, create their own legacy, create their own everything.”