Everybody needs somebody as supportive as Darko Rajakovic is with Scottie Barnes.
The Raptors head coach consistently goes to bat for his franchise player.
Most famously, Rajakovic unleashed an epic rant just over a year ago when the referees completely jobbed Barnes and the Raptors in a terribly officiated game against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
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There have been plenty of other, less-fiery examples, of Rajakovic backing Barnes strongly and the latest came after an outstanding defensive performance by the forward against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.
Durant, one of the most gifted scorers in NBA history, shot just 1-for-5 and had two turnovers when covered primarily by Barnes in Sunday’s Raptors win and didn’t hit any three-pointers, and took the blame for the loss afterward. Barnes was a force from the start in that one, asserting himself physically from the opening tip and sticking to Durant like glue (Durant didn’t even touch the ball at all on Phoenix’s first five possessions).
Rajakovic hopes the basketball world is paying attention to what Barnes has been doing, particularly in the past month or so when his defence has gone up a few notches whether he’s guarding all-NBA centres, power forwards or wings.
“I don’t think that it says anything about him. I think it says about media. It says a lot about (the) public that is not recognizing this kid is one of the most elite defensive players in the league,” Rajakovic said when asked what the Barnes performance against Durant said about him.
“I don’t think that he’s getting enough credit for how diverse he’s defensively and what he’s doing defensively for us as a team. Maybe that has something to do with our record. But if you have eyes and if you’re watching the game, you see that this guy is elite.”
Raptors big man Chris Boucher broke down what makes Barnes so good at defence.
“Very physical, very smart on at the point of attack, on going overs, under, kind of always talking,” Boucher said. “I think that always helps him out. And obviously I think that the one thing that he’s put way more energy on it too. You can’t deny the work that he’s put in, and you can’t deny how much, how smart he’s getting on defence and always helping us.”
Rajakovic is probably right that most people are missing what Barnes has been doing. Even OG Anunoby, perhaps the best wing defender in the league, went under the radar while playing for the Raptors. And that was on good teams.
The Raptors don’t get much of a spotlight in the U.S. unless the team is a contender. That said, Barnes still managed to win rookie of the year over the likes of Evan Mobley and Cade Cunningham, so the message got out on him that year at least and he also has made an all-star appearance.
But if he keeps defending the way he has been when Toronto gets good again, there could be all-defensive team selections in his future.
GETTING FAMILIAR
Sunday marked just the ninth game this season the Raptors had Barnes, Quickley and Barrett all available for the same game. Heading in, 27 different three-man Raptors units had played more minutes together than that trio.
They were in for 19 minutes against the Suns and were unreal in that span, completely dominating. The best team in basketball, Oklahoma City, has a net rating of 12.9 this season (meaning the Thunder outscores opponents by that much per 100 possessions). Toronto’s trio had a net rating of 55 against Phoenix in those 19 minutes.
A tiny sample size, sure, but highly encouraging for sure.
Quickley, in particular, really unlocks Toronto’s offence. He was acquired from New York in large part because of his track record as a three-point shooter and on pull-up shots in particular.
High volume pull-up three-point specialists can be difference-makers — think Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Trae Young and Anthony Edwards. But Quickley is shooting 45% on pull-up threes this season, far better than any of those players and the best of any players making at least 1.5 such shots a game this season.
The trick will be getting Quickley to launch more of them. He’s only taking 3.3 a game, while six players attempt at least twice was many as Quickley. Eleven players attempt at least five a game, so Quickley needs to keep letting it fly.
And when Brandon Ingram gets healthy and integrated, he will help too. He has made about a third of his pull-up three attempts, which while not elite, is much better than the team’s other options like Barnes (24.6% on those attempts this season) or RJ Barrett (21.4%) or even Gradey Dick (26.4%).
Ingram also is one of the best in the world at pull-up two-point attempts, which also can be useful.
Toronto moves the ball well and has plenty of players who can nail open shots, but late in games and in the playoffs, pull-up threats are worth their weight in gold.
POELTL RECALL FOR BOSTON?
Toronto improved to 2-10 without Jakob Poeltl this season while Rajakovic said the centre is getting closer to a return. It could come Tuesday against defending NBA champion Boston and Poeltl has been at his best against the Celtics. He’s averaged 19.3 points (his most against any team), 12 rebounds and has shot a ridiculous 87% in the three games. No wonder Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla raved about Poeltl earlier this season, calling him a “bear” who can’t be stopped.
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