Scottie Barnes enjoyed a fine rookie season in the NBA as the youngster came away with Rookie of the Year honors. Selected with the 4th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, Barnes has established himself as one of the pillars of the Toronto Raptors franchise and we certainly foresee big things in his future.
He is an athletic freak at 6’7″ who can score and rebound at a pretty good rate while also playing some fine defense. To go with that, he has also shown he is a capable playmaker and the Raptors are very fortunate to have him.
Scottie Barnes Says He’s Trying To Emulate Stephen Curry
For all the praise we just gave him, Barnes still has a lot of areas to improve on, as you would expect, and his shooting is definitely one of them. He shot just 30.1% from beyond the arc to go with 73.5% from the free throw line and he needs to up those percentages a fair bit. He has been working on it in the offseason and when asked who’s shot he’s trying to emulate, Barnes stated that it’s Stephen Curry.
Who's shot is Scottie trying to emulate?
Barnes: "Of course we all want to shoot like Steph Curry. He makes a lot of shots, you know? But everybody can't be Steph. I'm just trying to get my catch and shoots down, a couple off the dribbles. Just sticking to the basics"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) September 30, 2022
Scottie Barnes on his jumper: “I was just shooting right now and it felt pretty good. I’m making a lot shots so right now it feels good. I can’t complain. It feels better than last year.”
Who’s shot is Scottie trying to emulate? Barnes: “Of course we all want to shoot like Steph Curry. He makes a lot of shots, you know? But everybody can’t be Steph. I’m just trying to get my catch and shoots down, a couple off the dribbles. Just sticking to the basics”
Well, he’s never going to be as good a shooter as Steph as he himself says right there, but if he can get close to 40% as the years go by, then it is a scary prospect for the rest of the league. He says he feels better about his shot now as compared to last year and we’ll soon find out just how much better it is.
While Barnes looks to ascend to stardom, his teammate Pascal Siakam has even higher aspirations. Siakam stated that his goal for the 2022-23 season is to be a top 5 player in the NBA, as he looks to take yet another big step in his career. These two will be vital to the team’s success in this upcoming campaign, as they hope to make a deep playoff run.
