RJ Barrett - Ever Evolving Attacker (Drives, Finishes, Floaters)
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- RJ Barrett has quietly been carving out space all year long. His patience, poise, improved playmaking, and route planning, has really allowed him to take the next step in his sophomore season. His downhill-oriented approach didn’t work in year one but a more disciplined diet in his shot profile has tilted the scales and brought balance back to New York. The Knicks are now knocking on the door of having home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Under Tom Thibodeau, his minutes have jumped up to 34.7 per game and he’s played all 63 games this season at the time of this writing. Per NBA stats, he’s bunched with Zach LaVine in terms of drives per game (12.3). Just ahead of the likes of Kyrie Irving and Paul George (12.2), Chris Paul (12.0) and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo (11.6). A big reason for that is the increased effectiveness of his outside jumper. Per Cleaning the Glass, he’s shooting 43% on corner threes and 40% overall from deep on 250 attempts. That coupled with only shooting 56% at the rim has meant defenses are likely chasing him off of the line and making him make plays. What he does when he gets a step on the defender is worth paying attention to: he’ll work to put his defender in jail and use his strength to keep the advantage.
RJ has really improved at route planning - which is to say that he doesn’t just drive for driving’s sake very much anymore - he waits, watches, and works his way into areas where he can be effective. The very first clip is from early in the season. It features a pullback move where he shakes off the defender and could attack going to his right. He does not. Instead, he crosses back so he can attack going middle. It's clunky but it work. The very next clip is from much later in the year, Fred VanVleet denies him the rip to the middle so RJ stands by until he can square his defender up and attack middle. It's more fluid than the first but arguably just as effective. That’s been his whole season in a nutshell: instead of recklessly attacking, he recognizes that he doesn’t have the space many NBA players do - so he has to optimize his opportunities and maximize his advantages. He’s got craft and an ever improving shake to his game. He leverages his lean frame and his ridiculous strength by bumping and budging his defender just enough to generate room to get where he wants to go. Jackson Frank goes into great detail in his piece (link below) as to what exactly RJ worked on in the offseason and the aspects of his game that have really grown.
Building on what was written brilliantly by Benjy Ritholtz, the Jimmy Butler-fication of Barrett’s game could help shape RJ’s career trajectory (link below).
Since the meeting of the pair in Miami where Jimmy seemed to be teaching RJ a few tricks of the trade, RJ has been red hot:
18.4 points per game on 46.5% from the field, 49.4% from the deep (on 5.6 attempts!) and shooting 3.2 free throws per game in 16 games.
That isn’t to say that Butler should be attributed for the increase in shooting percentages but it certainly couldn’t have hurt.
Long story short: every bit of RJ’s game has been refined to the point that he’s functionally generating space for himself and creating for his teammates in spite of the limited space - taking advantage of every lesson he's learned his first two years in the league.
The aforementioned Benjy Ritholtz piece:
www.thestrick....
Jackson Frank and his fantastic work for FanSided:
fansided.com/2...
Mark Schindler also wrote some great stuff on Barrett:
premiumhoops.o...
The NBA Stats link:
www.nba.com/st...
If you’ve made it this far into the description, I may do a little breakdown on one of the Knicks favorite early offense actions to get RJ going downhill - pistol action (8:26).
Also, just know that there are no clips of his outside jumper or passing because those are things RJ has gotten really good at. I MAY do a video on that stuff later but this is what I want people to see now. I included minimal midrange stuff just to show that he does have some counters and it was a good way to flow and connect playtypes.
Also, if you want to know what my favorite part of RJ's growing game is, it's his postups. Synergy tells me that he's very good on postups and I may make a video on that later. Depends on what it looks like in the playoffs!
If you'd like to support me:
Venmo - @Evin_Gual
Cash App - $EvinGual
Patreon - / evin_gual
Big shoutouts to these channels for making it easier to find clips:
Knickights - ua-cam.com/channels/rLyq16X1A1KiL4Uw-l3OYg.html
The New York Knicks official UA-cam channel - ua-cam.com/channels/0hb8f0OXHEzDrJDUq-YVVw.htmlvideos
NBA Motion - ua-cam.com/channels/TIPDxm7fXIjzgMvk1vjFXA.htmlvideos
His change of pace when he's driving is one of the reasons why you don't see defenders drawing charges or his shots being blocked.
RJ has a variety of ways to score and his shot is getting better. On top of that he plays hard on defense. Has the making of a top tier two way player
Facts!!
Fancy Footwork, Slithery Finisher, Pro Touch...Allat🤣🤣🤣
I keep tryna tell em only 20 give em till 23 he'll be a luka /harden finisher .. teams aint gone have a choice but to foul
NFS if this was 2k I’d be screaming FAKEEEEE😂😂
In case anyone is interested, the Suns are featured in the title of the video but I discuss the Knicks/Suns game at length on the latest pod ep: ua-cam.com/video/831mF0RA2uE/v-deo.html
Anyone notice how most of these finishes are with his right hand??? Ambidextrous finisher
people always say that and it's not true, thank you!
So happy you made this video. I love the videos you produce and it's great to see one on my favorite players making an appearance.
He is so tough, defenders cant do that flopping and cute shit with him he gon make you look sorry lol
Stiffest bucket in the league. All jokes aside, really hope he becomes a more fluid athlete cause if he can teams will be at his mercy. His strength allows him to just body his defenders so once he smoothes out his game, improves his footwork, and gets a softer touch he will be unstoppable in the paint
Good point but he was only 20 y/o. Kid has the time to be great.
FACTSSSS
The Knicks have one of the best young core's , not to mention their a top tier team.
Teamwork wins games
I can watch 9 minutes of this and forever be satisfied
Been of my favorite content creators for a while now and now that school is over... it’s time to binge watch all your videos💯
Yes one of my favourite players as a Knick fan! Doesn’t have any crazy go-to moves yet but is learning how to attack space and finish at the rim. “The Jimmy Butler-fication of his game” very apt description
If RJ can develop his right hand usage more, he will be more deadly.
I really think a mid range game will take him to the next level that or getting to the free
Throw line at a higher clip.
He's only 20 RJ✅💫💯💯💯💯
I really appreciate the time you take for the descriptions of these videos. It’s nice to learn the stats and get a perspective of why these players are effective in what they do
He’s like a left handed jimmy butler on offense. Not much finesse, really physical, lives on body contact and knocking you off balance. I think he can be a solid number 3 on a championship team. Definitely a good building block for the future. Too bad the Knicks have missed on so many draft picks these last couple of years.....Kevin Knox, Frank Nitlikina, obi toppin. That’s three top ten picks that could have been useful.
You know what, it was depending on FO situation. When Knicks drafted Knox, whole organization was calling for rebuilding. They brought Miles Bridges, and Knox for workouts. Knox was outstanding at that time I heard. So extremely young and talented(Knicks FO thought) Kentucky product Knox was. Even though he is having one hell of bust NBA career, he is still jus 21, still second youngest player on Knicks. Jesus. Frank was drafted by Phil Jackson era for triangle fit PG. His defense is still excellent, but his offense is still damn terrible. (He can not make his own shots as Thib prefers for a G) So Knox and Frank were the choice of FO situations. Toppin is alright. Knicks were considered damn favorite for 30/30 teams before season started. Knicks thought after trading Randle, Toppin would be the starting caliber PF. (Leon Rose went nuts after Knicks got Toppin. He was freaking happy) As you know, Randle is playing the best season of his career, which ironically doomed Toppin's chance of playing time. But Obi is practicing really hard, and ask questions to vets a lot. And he is a damn good teammate. So he will be alright I think.
He’s going to be good wow
Rj Barrett and Ben Simmons should train together both lefties both slashers but Simmons is an elite defender and Barrett has a jumper. I want both of them to develop a post game.
I could be wrong about this, but RJ seems like he gets called for travels often. Very spastic footwork at time. I'm glad he's been having a good year. Also, I love you.
He doesn't, actually, but I agree about his feet. There's a bit of a disconnect between his handle and his footwork, which sometimes leaves him picking up the ball earlier than he should while gathering for a layup. As he improves his handle and dribble moves become more natural to him, that shouldn't be too much of a problem anymore
Who says RJ is slow ?, I think he plays with Great change of Pace and explodes when he needs to.
I see a SUPERSTAR IN THE MAKING.
Imagine lebron or zion doing this. Bodies flying everywhere
Knicks gotta keep this guy! No stupid trades plz!
Could we ever see the version Barrett from the2019 FIBA World Cup in the NBA ?
Thank you for this video - would love to see Julius Randle mid post / iso scoring video!!
immanuel quickley deep 3s vid would be sick too
This is awesome.
By the time RJ 's 24 he'll be luka harden level finisher.. doesnt have tht explosiveness but crafty and strong getting to the rim teams aint gone have a choice but to foul
Nba going be brazy in 5yrs so many future all stars
Maple Mamba
Next year is gonna add finesse to his bag watch
Buckets!
🔥
Do a Devin booker video or talen Horton tucker
CP3 plssss
75% of these should he and ones
He plays like Dwade in my opinion.