As good as Barrett already is at getting to the rim, he also needs to find ways to finish better there. He hit 54 percent of his shots at the rim, which put him in the 21st percentile among wings, according to Cleaning The Glass. He shot just 53.4 percent on shots in the restricted area, third-worst of the top 50 in shots per game there. His ability to get to the line was muted by his poor free throw shooting.

While scouts said Barrett was mostly an average defender, his Synergy numbers were much better. When he defended the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll, he limited them to 0.83 points per possession, good to be in the 62nd percentile. While those numbers can sometimes be deceiving — he got caught on Rudy Gobert picks on two possessions against the Jazz last month but was still credited with misses when the players he was guarding bricked jumpers — Barrett was an active and willing defender for most of the season. He found ways to use his hands and body to remain diligent and get into passinglanes when he was off the ball, though the NBA scout said Barrett was caught flat-footed too often.

• The free throw shooting is an obvious start. Barrett shot 61.2 percent on them this season while getting to the line a good amount (4.5 free throw attempts per game). Over the last 10 seasons, 37 players have taken at least 200 free throws in their rookie season. Only Nerlens Noel, Ben Simmons and Elfrid Payton shot worse. That doesn't mean there isn't hope. Brandon Ingram entered the league a poor free throw shooter (68.2 percent in his lone season at Duke) then shot 62 percent, 68 percent and 68 percent in each of his first three NBA seasons before hitting them at an 86 percent rate for the Pelicans this year. Blake Griffin was a 61 percent shooter over his first three seasons and has shot 76 percent over his last four. Improvement is possible, though not a given. With Barrett's willingness and capability to get fouled, something he is already good at, even becoming a little less than a league-average shooter at the line (77.1 percent in 2019-20) would add easy points to his line each night.

• The 3-point shooting needs work, too. Barrett shot 32 percent from deep as a rookie, but it was uneven. He hit 7-of-13 3s in his first three games and then 38.7 percent during his last seven games, and those 10 games accounted for 30 percent of his made 3s on the season. Which means he shot 28.7 percent in the intervening 46 games. Sometimes Barrett's misses were ugly, showing just far off his shot was. He shot just 33.3 percent on what NBA.com classified as wide-open 3s — 23rd of 33 rookies who took at least 40 such 3s.

• Playmaking out of the pick-and-roll needs to get better. If you use Synergy numbers as a guide, Barrett is in the 25th percentile in points per possession as the pick-and-roll ball-handler and that includes when he passed out of it. There are caveats, obviously. He did that as a 19-year-old on a bad team surrounded by non-shooters and he played only about one-third of his minutes (606) alongside Mitchell Robinson, the best and really only big that served as a pick-and-roll threat. But the numbers also lined up with the scouts' take that this area of his game needs improvement.

Scout's take
NBA scout: Got into the paint consistently over the course of the year and that bodes well for him ... An average defender right now, but that should improve with age and experience ... Fine as a playmaker coming off of screens. Won't be a high-level playmaker, but good enough to complement his scoring ... Struggled to stay in a stance and that caused him to get pushed around a little bit and couldn't keep quicker wings in front.

Western Conference scout: I like him ... He's been playing out of position. I think he's more of a three and a small-ball four in a specialized lineup. I don't know if he's ever really played that role. Skill-wise he does a lot of things. Not sure (shooting guard is) his long-term role moving forward ... I like his makeup. The way he plays. There's definitely a competitive side to him that is not very common with a lot of these young players coming in ... The pick for the Knicks was a good one ... Once he finds his comfort zone he'll be a really good player. He's got to work on his shot. Just the overall game being a bit more of a playmaker. I think in college he was more of a get the ball and bully his way to the rim ... I'm high on him. It's been a tough year. Anytime you're young and playing out of position, it takes a while to transition ... Would like to see him handle the ball and be a secondary ball-handler ... Any Any rookie takes awhile to figure out defensively.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NYKnicks/comments/g32rih/some_interesting_points_made_in_an_athletic_piece/

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/MikeVorkunov/status/1250867865441439747

By Kirsten Fleming

April 19, 2020 | 8:00pm

Last week, Knicks rookie RJ Barrett went to pick up a package for his grandmother. He didn’t even get out of the car, but someone recognized him from afar. And it blew his mind.

“I really forgot that I play in the NBA,” he tells The Post. “It’s such a different reality that we’re in right now.”

The 19-year-old is riding out the coronavirus lockdown with his family in Orlando, Fla., playing video games, chilling with his French bulldogs, Kobe and Kingston, and bonding with his little brother, Nathan. It’s a bizarre new world for the 6-foot-7 shooting guard who only knows the frenetic pace of a ballplayer’s life. But while he had to shake the cobwebs to remember his status as one of league’s promising young stars, he has not forgotten his adopted hometown of New York and all of the people frantically fighting to keep the city whole as it remains the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have been following social media and watching the news, seeing how things have been getting drastically worse. What really struck me is all of the workers in the hospital. These people are risking their lives and they go home and stay in the same house as their family and kids. I wanted to see what I could do to help,” said Barrett, who was particularly heartbroken to see coverage of Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in Brownsville, a facility so overwhelmed by the deadly virus that an ER doctor there called it a “medical war zone.”

“My mom grew up in Brooklyn. My family is there, and it hit me a little extra harder. We need to protect those workers as much as they are protecting us.”

His team reached out to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s staff to see where it could plug the most gaping holes. The answer was always the same: New York hospitals were desperate for PPE. So his team embarked on an odyssey to source face masks, disposable face shields, KN95 masks, gowns and microporous disposable coveralls from distributors all around the world. They will be distributed to Brookdale and Gov. Cuomo’s relief efforts.

From there, team Barrett drew up a play to maximize his donation power and ensure that every move was done with purpose.

“I just wanted to get people what they needed,” Barrett said. And it wasn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.

After reading stories that shoes aided the spread of coronavirus, the Puma athlete teamed up with the sneaker company to donate over 1,000 pairs of sneakers and slippers across Brookdale, Maimonides Hospital and Credit Valley Hospital in Canada so medical workers could leave their contaminated shoes at work and have fresh gear to wear home.

Knicks rookie RJ Barrett
Knicks rookie RJ BarrettCorey Sipkin

Barrett also looked north to his Canadian homeland, where the virus caused a very different crisis: depleting food bank supplies. He dropped $100,000 to the Mississauga food bank, which has nine locations throughout Ontario.

“I just spoke to them and they said the donation was going to be able to provide 200,000 meals and that put a smile on my face,” Barrett said.

Then he turned to his colleagues, the folks who keep the engine running at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

“I love playing at Madison Square Garden. I am cool with the security guards. Everyone that works at MSG, they take care of me so much,” Barrett said. “I thought about all they do for us. They are such amazing people.”

He gave $25,000 to MSG Relief Fund, which provides employees with financial assistance for a variety of areas including unanticipated healthcare costs, rent, food, medicine and other expenses.

After all of the checks cashed and the equipment shipped, Barrett’s assist was worth $250,000.

“If we can make their lives a little easier and help people survive, that’s what it’s all about,” he said

Meanwhile Barrett is trying to keep in shape and stave off boredom.

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“I do regular kid stuff like play video games,” said Barrett who is going for runs and working out on equipment in his home. He is watching old games of hoops.

“I am watching old NBA playoffs, women’s college basketball, tons of basketball. And I can’t wait for the MJ documentary to come out,” he said of the highly anticipated 10-part documentary “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan and the Bulls dynasty.

And he of course watched all the reactions on social media to his friend Sabrina Ionescu getting selected first overall in the WNBA draft on Friday night by the Liberty.

“I was hype for her. She will love New York,” Barrett said. “She is perfect for this city.”

Barrett says it will be cool to hit up restaurants and explore the Big Apple with Ionescu when everything comes back to life.

“What I really want to do is go to a game,” he said. “Maybe she can hook me up.”

As for his fellow Knicks, he is always in touch.

“I speak to my teammates and we try to check in. Especially with the New York staff. Everyone seems to be doing OK and trying to see how we can help. We all really miss playing basketball.”

This struggle has given Barrett a new perspective. “Life is short. This has taught me to be thankful. Be grateful for every single moment you spend with your family. I am blessed that we are safe and healthy and together.”
https://nypost.com/2020/04/19/knicks-rj-barretts-bizarre-coronavirus-world-includes-big-donations/
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Nalod wrote:Wish they posted shooting % per 10 game as the do with other stats. It tells a much clearer story regarding a players progress/regress.