Extended for four years at the end of the summer, just as the leaders closed the door on the arrival of Donovan Mitchell, RJ Barrett is clearly one of the Knicks’ executive players. After a constant progression, to reach 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists last season, the Canadian rear suffered a serious brake. At the time of these lines, he is thus running at 18 points on 39% on shots including 25% on 3-pointers at the start of the campaign, his lowest shooting percentages in his career.
In the doldrums with a very weak 26% on shots in his last five outings, RJ Barrett still tore on shots against the Suns on Sunday night, missing 8 of his 11 attempts in the spanking delivered by Phoenix (116-95). Worse still, he no longer manages beyond the arc with an atrocious 2/26 over the same period…
“When you’re in a good dynamic for several games, it’s part of the ups and downs [d’une saison] »plays down RJ Barrett in the Daily News. “I just have to take the shots that come my way throughout the game and stay aggressive offensively. I have to be confident and that’s how I approach things. »
Maintained in the five major despite his ugly series that can be dated from a match in Brooklyn ten days ago, RJ Barrett retains the confidence of his coaching staff. But it shouldn’t take long either to find the way forward. “The worst part is that a few easy baskets could revive him”breathes Tom Thibodeau.
“It’s mental at this stage”
A Knicks base man with more than 33 minutes of average play, and with 16 shot attempts per game, the most of his team, RJ Barrett must absolutely adjust the sights to help his team hang up in the standings, New York is currently 10th in the East with rival Brooklyn (8 wins for 9 losses).
“It’s mental at this stage”, adds Jalen Brunson. “We all have difficult times. We all took shots that we shouldn’t. But you have to stay strong mentally. And he’s a guy who’s mentally strong. »
Having already overcome this kind of lean period, RJ Barrett simply needs to vary his offensive palette. Concentrate on the other aspects of his game, such as defense, rebounding or passing, to calmly return to his habits as a scorer in a second step.
“With a victory [cette nuit à Oklahoma City]it will remain a good ‘road trip'”, he concludes. “Going to 50% away wins, despite this somewhat crazy journey, would be good. And that’s what we focus on. »
| RJ Barrett | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | NYK | 56 | 30 | 40.2 | 32.0 | 61.4 | 0.9 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 14.3 |
| 2020-21 | NYK | 72 | 35 | 44.1 | 40.1 | 74.6 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 17.6 |
| 2021-22 | NYK | 70 | 35 | 40.8 | 34.2 | 71.4 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 20.0 |
| 2022-23 | NYK | 16 | 34 | 39.5 | 25.0 | 75.6 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 18.3 |
| Total | 214 | 34 | 41.6 | 34.7 | 70.1 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 17.6 | |
