RJ Barrett Is On The Scene

Feb 8

Since the New Year, RJ Barrett has finally started to look like the player we thought he might be this season. He has been getting well over 20 points per game since January 1st, and his 3 point shooting percentage has picked up drastically. Sadly, the Knicks have not been able to get many wins as of recently, going 1-6 in their last 7 against some of the best competition in the NBA.

A big takeaway from these games is that the Knicks have played way harder in that stretch, and I can’t stop but think about how great their record could be at this moment if this sense of urgency was here from late November-January. Now, I will continue to give RJ some praise.

His ability to attack the basket and finish has increased heavily, as well as his catch and shoot 3 pointers. His defensive versatility was always there, but as of recent, his play on the other side of the floor is popping in front of our eyes. His recent assignments of Khris Middleton, Ja Morant, LeBron James, and Donovan Mitchell show just how good of a defensive player he already is, and how good he can be moving forward.

I will say that something frustrating that I have noticed basically all season is that this team can never find RJ when he is open, whether it be a direct cross court pass or when trying to swing it around the perimeter. This sort of thing really bugs me because we can see he is wide open, and instead the Knicks most likely have a sloppy offensive possession after not getting him the ball.

Late in the games, this tends to happen way too frequently, as it seems he never has any of the offense run through him in the last 6 minutes of the game, and he has to go create for himself, which he has been pretty good at so far. For example, against the Lakers, there were zero plays ran for Barrett down the stretch, but when RJ took the ball into his own hands, he went coast-to-coast and got a slam over Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. Coming down to end the game, he was so open that Fournier had no choice but to throw it to him, and then RJ hit the game tying 3 pointer to send it to OT.

He needs offensive possessions to run through him more, especially down the stretch. Hopefully, tonight against the Nuggets brings that.