RJ Barrett’s FIBA Performances Nothing Out Of The Ordinary For Knicks Fans
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Coming into today’s game against the French national team, RJ Barrett was riding a wave of momentum. Through the friendly games played thus far in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the 23-year-old has been a standout for his Canadian team, dropping 20-plus point games left and right. Barrett has looked great right from the start of the competition; that is, he did look great until today.
In the first meaningful game of this year’s tournament, Barrett struggled mightily with his shot. He finished the game a staggering 1/10 from the field, resulting in only five points. Thankfully for him, Team Canada didn’t need much help in beating France, as they cruised to a 30-point win in a dominating performance. The Canadian squad as a whole looked very strong, with Barrett’s shooting percentage the black-eye in an otherwise encouraging victory. The former number three overall pick did pour in six rebounds and five assists, but while his shooting struggles were an outlier based on his previous games this summer, they are nothing new for fans of the New York Knicks.
In his four years as a Knick, inconsistency has been Barrett’s biggest problem. Going all the way back to his rookie campaign, RJ became known as a player who could showcase all-star potential one night, and then look like a G-league talent the next. Of course, with him being only 19 years of age, Knicks fans gave him a break, and patiently waited for Barrett to develop as a player. The 2020 regular season was a big step up for him, as he improved his scoring average from 14.3 ppg to 17.6 ppg, and also boosted his field goal percentage from 40.2 percent to 44.1 percent. However, all his good progress came undone in the playoffs, which saw him average 14.4 ppg on an abysmal 38.8 percent shooting. After two seasons in the NBA, it appeared as though Barrett’s consistency problems were not going to go away.
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The 2021 season reaffirmed these fears, as Barrett struggled to find his role as a consistent and efficient scorer in the Knicks offense. While he got his scoring average up to 20.0 ppg, his field goal percentage regressed back to the 40 percent that he shot in his rookie year. The third-year player also appeared to lose the outside touch he had demonstrated the year prior, shooting only 34.2 percent from three after being above 40 percent in his sophomore year. His shot attempts were going up and up, but his nightly scoring performances were all over the place. Fans didn’t know if they were going to get the Barrett that would go to the basket and finish through contact, or the Barrett that would sit at the three-point line and chuck bricks all game long. Going into year four, there were questions surrounding Barrett and whether or not he was the franchise building block that the front office had billed him to be.
But RJ clapped back at the haters with an improved 2022-2023 season. While his three-point percentage was the lowest of his career, he started taking fewer outside shots and instead focused on being the dynamic downhill scorer that he naturally is. He shot nearly 50 percent on two-point field goals and jumped his overall shooting percentage up to 43.4 percent despite his poor three-point shooting. He attempted one fewer shot per game on average, yet still kept his ppg total at just below 20. Heading into the team’s playoff series against the Cavs, Knicks fans were hopeful that Barrett would be a major contributor to postseason success.
And in true RJ Barrett form, he came out of the gates with two dud performances. He shot a combined 6/25 through the first two matches of the series and scored only seven and fourteen points, respectively. He looked lost out on the court; a fish out of water, not unlike the games from his past that Knick fans were all too accustomed to. While the team emerged from Cleveland with a win to their name, Barrett caught a lot of criticism. He was once again faltering on the big stage, and fans around the league began to assume that this was all RJ Barrett was capable of as an NBA player. If he was going to turn the narrative around, Barrett needed to have two bounce-back games in New York, and fast.
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Thankfully, he delivered a pair of masterful performances at the Garden to help the Knicks go up 3-1 on the Cavs. Game three was an all-around beauty, with RJ putting up an efficient 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. He followed this up in game four with a 26-point performance on 9/18 from the field. At last, Barrett looked comfortable against the Cav's defense, as he was able to slice to the basket as well as find open gaps to take jumpers. Another 21 points in game five helped propel the Knicks to a 4-1 series victory and book their matchup against the Miami Heat in round two.
The series against the Heat saw more Barrett inconsistencies, going from efficient scoring nights to downright terrible shooting performances, none more so than his 1/10 from the field in the final game. But while his lows were definitely low, the highs that Barrett displayed in the playoffs renewed Knicks fans’ confidence that he is still a star-caliber player, and will be for years to come. Some of his best-ever basketball took place during the Cavs series, and if RJ can replicate that level of play down the line, he is going to be a very dangerous scoring option for defenses to game plan against.
So, when Knicks fans see RJ Barrett have a stretch of strong games in FIBA followed up by a terrible one, they don't bat an eye. After all, they have watched Barrett play for almost half a decade now, and they know what to expect from the young Canadian. At this point in his career, he is not a consistent performer, and this is well known. While he may have many nights to forget, he always bounces back with stellar play not long after. Knicks fans have learned to take the good with the bad when it comes to RJ Barrett, and hopefully, this season will see Barrett finally find some much-needed consistency out on the court.
