RJ Barrett looking forward to returning home, getting another shot at Scottie Barnes
New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett scores during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr.) Credit: AP/Hakim Wright Sr.
ATLANTA
A trip to Toronto always represents a homecoming for RJ Barrett, a game that he circles on the schedule for all of the best reasons — a chance to play near where he grew up, with friends and family on hand.
And while he’s excited to return home for Sunday evening’s matchup with the Raptors — “I can't wait to play. I can't wait,” he said after Friday night’s loss in Atlanta — there is something else that he is anticipating with perhaps not so much joy.
Barrett had to sit out the Knicks' trip to Toronto two weeks ago because of his finger injury and is 0-3 in games he’s played north of the border. Adding to that frustration is a budding rivalry with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes.
Barrett drove the length of the court and dunked over Barnes with one second left to force overtime last week at Madison Square Garden, but Barnes had 26 points. Afterward, Barnes told reporters that he felt he had a distinct advantage — taller and able to get whatever he wanted near the rim.
Is the 6-6 Barrett anticipating defending the 6-8 Barnes again? "Hopefully. That's what I want,” he said. “He had a good game. Rookie of the Year. A good player. I'm not taking anything away from him. But he got to guard me, too.”
And Barnes' statement that he holds an advantage over Barrett? He bristled but remained as polite and politically correct as he could while recorders were rolling.
“It's what the plays are set up for him to do,” he said. “I'm not worried about that at all. I had a lot of tough battles against him in high school. I remember winning a national championship against him in high school. So we've been battling for a while. Lot of respect. Same agency. Lot of respect. But it's going to be a good fight.”
Urgent message
Barrett’s fire might help if it spreads among the team. In Wednesday's loss to Washington, the Wizards hit seven of their first nine shots and built a 17-5 lead, and the Knicks never recovered. They followed that by watching Atlanta connect on 10 of its first 12 shots, and the Knicks surrendered at least 33 points in each quarter in a 139-124 loss.
The sluggish defensive start against Washington removes the excuse of playing without Mitchell Robinson; he was on the floor for the opening nine minutes that night before departing with a fractured right thumb. Playing without their defensive anchor certainly is a cause for concern, but coach Tom Thibodeau and some of the players pointed to something more troubling against the Hawks.
‘Right from the start,” Thibodeau said. “There was no defensive urgency or mindset from the start of the game.”
“Pretty much on the defensive end, I don’t think they felt us at all,” Julius Randle said. “It was just too easy.”
That lack of urgency isn’t something the Knicks have had to wonder about very often this season, particularly since adding Quentin Grimes to the starting lineup and putting a focus on the defensive end of the floor in their rotation.
Grimes, who has taken on the toughest perimeter assignment in every game, was handed Trae Young as his task Friday night, and for the first time, he seemed frustrated and rattled. Grimes played only 16 minutes, limited by foul trouble from the start of the game, as he fell victim to Young’s ability to lure him close and then create contact that gets a call.
“He definitely did frustrate me,” Grimes said. “I’ve got to be a little more disciplined, knowing that’s what he’s trying to do — draw fouls and put the pressure on the refs. I feel I’ve played him pretty good up until this game. This might be the seventh time [I’ve guarded him] — one out of seven, I’ll take it. But I’ve got to be smarter.”
Going old school
Cam Reddish has been buried on the bench since Dec. 3, the last time he appeared in a game, a sluggish performance in a loss to Dallas. While Reddish may be the most athletic player on the Knicks' roster, with size and speed and the ability to score inside and out, his detractors have pointed to a low-energy motor as the reason he is on the bench and likely will be playing for another franchise before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
But Reddish has made one change. With his game-night work limited to a pregame workout session, he usually worked with assistant coach Darren Erman, who has a solid reputation in player development. But recently the assignment of working out Reddish was shifted to Rick Brunson.
While there is no game evidence to note the change, it’s easy to see the difference in the workout. Brunson, an old-school, no-nonsense coach who was groomed as a player by John Chaney at Temple and then played for the 1990s Knicks, has turned the drills into a sweat-soaked session every night.
Both are products of the Philadelphia basketball community and have had passing connections for years. Brunson was at Temple University at the same time as Reddish’s mother, and Cam Reddish and Rick Brunson have close mutual friends. So when Brunson says to shed the headphones and get to work, it’s a connection that clicks.
“If you understand him, where he’s from, it’s not harsh at all,” Reddish said of the workload. “He understands me, I understand him, so that’s why it works so well. You understand who he is. It’s out of love. He’s not being rude.
“I mean, I’ve known Rick for a while. We’re comfortable. It’s good work. That’s all it is.”
Still, it's unlikely that that hard work will pay dividends for the Knicks. After dealing a conditional first-round pick and Kevin Knox to Atlanta last season to acquire Reddish, they have shopped him, and league sources have indicated that they will require less to move him.
As Reddish finished his pregame work in Atlanta, where he arrived as a lottery pick in 2019, fans still shouted encouragement, including yelling out destinations of teams that could use him. The night ended with a Knicks loss that was serenaded by unanswered chants of “we want Cam!”
Someone likely will, and maybe the work with Brunson will pay off.
Rooting interest
The Knicks' locker room is filled with Philadelphia Eagles fans — Reddish, Jalen Brunson, Ryan Arcidiacano and Deuce McBride. Randle is a vocal Dallas Cowboys fan. And the Giants? The closest is Obi Toppin — although the Eagles' supporters point out his fandom isn’t exactly dedicated.
“Nah, I ain’t gonna lie,” Toppin said Friday. “I am a fake Giants fan. That’s just because I want Jalen to lose. I still love the Giants, though. I’m from New York. I’ve got to love the Giants. I love them more than the Jets.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
