Knicks · What is really wrong with RJ Barrett? Is there a deeper problem? (page 1)

Papabear Says

When I watch RJ play now all I see is me me me. He may see open guys and he won't pass the ball. I see things that he didn't do in his rookie and second year. Something is wrong and if we don't correct it we will have a bigger problem. Playing in New York can be really hard. All of the clubs and parties and girls. If you don't manage your play time you can get all caught up. Something is wrong with RJ he is wredkless and some times he is running into a brick wall and he will continue to do it. When he gets the ball he can have 3 guys on him and he will try to go through them without passing the ball. His shot selection getting worse. I hope he is not in the street life because it will destroy his career.

the pre-draft knock on RJ was that he was too Hollywood. I don't know if that's the case now, but I expected him to take a step forward this year. He hasn't

Papabear wrote:Papabear Says

When I watch RJ play now all I see is me me me. He may see open guys and he won't pass the ball. I see things that he didn't do in his rookie and second year. Something is wrong and if we don't correct it we will have a bigger problem. Playing in New York can be really hard. All of the clubs and parties and girls. If you don't manage your play time you can get all caught up. Something is wrong with RJ he is wredkless and some times he is running into a brick wall and he will continue to do it. When he gets the ball he can have 3 guys on him and he will try to go through them without passing the ball. His shot selection getting worse. I hope he is not in the street life because it will destroy his career.

IMO the issue is that Barrett got the big contract and now he wants to put up numbers to justify his salary. He has to realize that wins trump all else. As I said in another post, he is not athletic enough to jump over people at the rim, he does not have the handle to consistently create space with his dribble, and he does not shoot well enough to consistently score on the perimeter. In short, he is not an all-star caliber player. However, he could be very solid player if he focused on improving his assists, cutting down on turnovers, and improving his efficiency. A 17-18point, 4 ast, 5 rb BArrett shooting at 48% from the field and 36% from 3 is very doable and would be welcomed as a starting small forward.

R.J. Barrett has been playing excellent post All-Star break.

His true test (in terms of overall player development/progression) will come during Postseason Play.

2020-2021 wasn't a good Playoff Performance for R.J./Julius/Thibs; but they'll (all 3) have a chance to redeem themselves (this go around).

I'm extremely anxious to see R.J. Barrett throughout the Playoffs.

A couple of things. I don't think RJ is selfish as much as he gets tunnel vision and somethings just aren't natural for him. He has blinders on when he drives and forgets that he can alleyoop to Mitch or dish out for a three. Just something that gets developed with time. That said, the Knicks were more than willing to trade him in the off-season. Barrett would be a Jazz right now if the Knicks were inclined to throw in another quality pick. He can say he understands it's a business and that he has to stay professional, but it has to bother him. It would bother most people, me included. Look at Jaylen Brown and the statements he made recently. These guys aren't robots.

If he is not traded this off season I expect him to be better for us next season. He needs to lose some weight, play faster, defend better.

RJ can put the team on his back with Julius missing some games in the playoffs. RJ can score 20 and 10 rebounds in the playoffs.

What’s wrong with RU I is that in 4 years we don’t know what player we got on our hands. He’s given us volume, but isn’t efficient. He dosent excel at anything. Decent passer, but tunnel visions a lot. Below average shooter. Can’t create at the rim. His handle is borderline atrocious. He can’t pull-up. Has only had 1 season where he was a very good consistent defender.

He can still turn it around and maybe settle into a key 3 and D Guy like Wiggins did. But right now if the right trade comes up (Mikal Bridges) or there’s an opportunity to get a better player in the draft, then I’d take it.

Young still? Super Big Contract?

Like Obi, we’ve seen flashes. But we saw flashes from Kevin Knox too!

When he gets into the lane, he can finish.

Maybe he should be a 2 again?

Agree that maybe he put too much weight on (muscle or fat).

And maybe he just needs to put a lot more work into his game. His natural talent and skills got him this far, but the NBA might be the league with the best athletes in the world and to succeed, you need to work.

When he is wide open and shooting a 3pt, I don’t think it’s going in. He needs to change that.

He’s 6’5 can’t shoot and has no athleticism. Can we just stop already. His contract is not traceable which is the definition of bad contract

Rookie wrote:He’s 6’5 can’t shoot and has no athleticism. Can we just stop already. His contract is not traceable which is the definition of bad contract

He is not Ben Simmons. He is tradeable. His contract is not horrible.

Rookie wrote:He’s 6’5 can’t shoot and has no athleticism. Can we just stop already. His contract is not traceable which is the definition of bad contract

I agree. That contract is one of the worst in the NBA.

RJ is so bad we made the playoffs 2 out of the last 3 years with him starting and getting insane minutes and he was the centerpiece of the Donovan Mitchell trade talks with Ainge last summer. How many times did we make the playoffs the previous 17 years before we drafted RJ?

If I used AI to replace every RJ reference and change it to Julius it would put me in some type of time machine to this point last season.....right down to the bad/untradeable contract references. I'm not sure what is or isn't wrong with RJ.....but while the team keeps winning and has secured the playoffs I'm not quite sure I understand the hyper-focus on everything he does wrong while ignoring that all NBA players make mistakes pretty much every game. If I were to guess and similar to Randle, RJ being able to shoot the 3 ball similar to 2 years ago would likely make most of this chatter go away.

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He’s not an ideal fit as a third option on a slower team that doesn’t have a lot of floor spacers. It sort of the opposite of the type of team he should excel on. But overall he has been better as the season went on. It’s just not the perfect fit for he or the Knicks being built around Brunson and Randle. Knicks can keep him and be fine. Or they can move him for a better player or better fit at SF.

He needs to pick his spots on 3's and learn to drive and kick. He finishes way better on his left and shoots better when he can favor the left.

I’ve always considered it a conflict between Randle and Barrett. One needs to go. They aren’t playing team ball and with each other on the court they tend to hog the ball. It’s has a chilling effect on ball movement. I think the. All movement with both off the court should be considered.

They either need an intervention or a dismissal in my opinion.

Knicks on the upswing and going to the playoffs but we still need a whipping boy right? Always and forever. I am not in denial of RJ’s flaws. He’s a mixed bag who yep is still young. I will say this again - I’m glad he’s a Knick and not witness protection Zion or faux gangsta Ja.

OP, its a good question. Seems to be hitting a wall of sorts.
Thing is, no body here is qualified to answer it. Y’all act like he never passes, never hits a thing, never rebounds, never plays defense,and ignores his coaches, and is a detriment to winning and the progress of the team.

Im not blind.

Perhaps 3rd pick and the hope is not meeting inflated expectations. We can discuss “reasons” for some of this “issues” and project, but at the end of the day some of you put his mistakes in a box, label it, then project a replacement costs nothing and is guaranteed to be better.

Is this “coachable”, and “Hard working” kid ignoring his coaches? If so, is it a problem?
We really don’t know what transpired between him and obi, do we?
Seems to me he is being asked to “be more aggressive” and making mistakes in this growth spurt.
Seems to me he is stronger to the rim, getting to the line, his right hand improved, and at the same time making more mistakes doing more playmaking. Which looks bad at times. Really bad. Like epically over his head bad.
Maybe twice a game?
The out of bounds issues? Jeeze, twice in one game. Yikes. Whole career gone with that bad look?
The outside shot? Some good, some in and out, some forced at end of shot clock, and some airballs.

At 22 I doubt he is ready to be labeled and put in a box. But we need some one to kick and be unhappy then RJ is your guy.
Crave to blame even when things are going wrong. RJ will be the impediment to a chip and we can call for his head to satisfy that.
At some point just one team wins the last game of the season. I hope its us, but if not this season had met just about everyones expectation and the team has surged with development.
I think the great season long growth of IQ and Grimes makes RJ look a bit behind in contrast. OBi looks about the same.
If not for RJ, OBI would be drawing the ire of the negative.

Is there a deeper problem? You know, I really hope not. Maybe some guessing like too much pressure, he burnt out, some foot thing, nagging injury to be sorted out, girl problems, boy problems, self doubt, arrogance, etc etc……
Im not qualified to answer for him. Who here is?

Papabear wrote:Papabear Says

When I watch RJ play now all I see is me me me. He may see open guys and he won't pass the ball. I see things that he didn't do in his rookie and second year. Something is wrong and if we don't correct it we will have a bigger problem. Playing in New York can be really hard. All of the clubs and parties and girls. If you don't manage your play time you can get all caught up. Something is wrong with RJ he is wredkless and some times he is running into a brick wall and he will continue to do it. When he gets the ball he can have 3 guys on him and he will try to go through them without passing the ball. His shot selection getting worse. I hope he is not in the street life because it will destroy his career.

RJ’s issues are 2-fold at a minimum.

1 - his skill level is very poor, by that I mean his handle is poor/sloppy add in he has no right hand. If you can’t handle (dribble) - you typically can’t pass well (you’ll often see RJ see a potential pass late because he’s got his head down trying to dribble and he’ll fumble the ball as goes to execute the pass).
It’s pretty bad for this era of basketball and wing play.

2 - he’s slow…no quickness with poor speed so everything he’s doing offensively he has someone draped on him - he gets very few blow bye’s. Throw in that he doesn’t jump quickly/well from a rebounding position and you’ve got a mediocre rebounder and non-existent shot blocker who doesn’t get deflections.

If he had high end skills - the lack of athleticism could be offset.
If he had high end quickness/speed - he could negate some of the skill deficiencies.

Unfortunately - right now he’s got poor skills and poor athleticism———not a favorable combo for an NBA wing.

Only chance for dramatic improvement is major jump in fitness with added quickness and major skill improvement. He looks like his right arm has been in a cast for 23 years.

EwingsGlass wrote:I’ve always considered it a conflict between Randle and Barrett. One needs to go. They aren’t playing team ball and with each other on the court they tend to hog the ball. It’s has a chilling effect on ball movement. I think the. All movement with both off the court should be considered.

They either need an intervention or a dismissal in my opinion.

Randle is a nut job but the talent comparison isn’t close between RJ and Randle. Julius is far better talent.

This year I might even start to believe teammates may prefer to play with Julius - that’s some shift.