Knicks guard RJ Barrett making his points with his defense
New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett looks on against the Orlando Magic in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
CLEVELAND
The offensive numbers aren’t good. RJ Barrett knows that.
Through the first five games of the season, he has shot 4-for-28 from three-point range, and inside the arc, he hasn’t been all that great, either. He is 27-for-51 from within 10 feet.
But Barrett still wasn’t taking a breather, averaging 35.6 minutes per game, more than any other player on the team. And that’s because of the Knicks’ need for him on the other end of the floor.
Barrett has been tasked by coach Tom Thibodeau with guarding the best player on the opposing team every night, whether it is a traditional wing who fits his size and athleticism profile or an assignment like opening night, when he was given the job of trying to slow down Memphis point guard Ja Morant.
The latest assignment likely will come Sunday night when the Knicks face the Cavaliers. He is expected to try to be the first option defensively against Donovan Mitchell — who just happens to be the player that Barrett was offered up for in trade packages when Utah put Mitchell on the market this summer.
If facing Mitchell does not lead Barrett to admit to any extra pressure or a need to prove himself, he didn’t hesitate to embrace the task of defending the best players lined up across from the Knicks.
“Ever since Thibs got here, the whole defensive intensity kind of picked up, and just me being that guy on certain players every night,” Barrett said. “It’s been a fun challenge. Watching the film, trying to get better every day. Really, that’s it . . . Just a commitment. Coming in locked in and focused every day. I think it’s more mental than physical.”
While he willingly welcomes these assignments, he was asked if the defensive work might be taking away from his offense. Even if he said it’s more mental, the work certainly is physical, too. Barrett ranked ninth among players with at least 50 games played in average miles covered per game last season, and he was ranked seventh heading into Friday’s game in Milwaukee — inching up from 2.63 miles last season to 2.78 this season.
“Oh, I’m running,” Barrett said. “Yeah, I’m running. I’ve been running. It’s normal.”
Asked before Friday’s game if Barrett was taking on more of a defensive load this season, Thibodeau frowned and growled, “No, that’s comical.”
Part of Thibodeau’s dismissal of that may stem from an article in heavy.com this past week in which an anonymous source is quoted, “His offense is suffering because he has to chase people around so much at the other end to make up for [Jalen] Brunson’s defensive deficiencies.”
Barrett said he has no preference for guarding any certain type of player — a speedy point guard or a muscular frontcourt player. He has enjoyed the challenge of trying to limit the best perimeter player on the opposition.
“It means a lot, just to have the opportunity and also understand that, one, it’s a team thing, it’s collective,” he said. “But my job is just to make it tough and try to make everything as hard as possible as possible all night — understanding that, especially with guarding the best guys, they’re going to score, but making them take tough shots or making them shoot a lot to score.”
So back to the point, though — does this job take away from his offense?
“I don’t know,” Barrett said. “I feel like I was guarding people last year, ended up doing pretty well, finding rhythm. I definitely could be playing better offensively and I feel my rhythm coming back after not playing for a while. But my rhythm is coming back slowly every game, so I’ll be all right.
“It’s going to fall. She’s going to drop. Especially last game, it felt great, it all felt great, especially that last one. That last one I missed in overtime, I thought that was definitely good. So it’s going to happen, it’s going to fall. Just reps and getting used to the game speed again.”
Given the work Barrett puts in — coming back to shoot at night on practice days — Thibodeau stressed that he has no worries that the shots will fall. Barrett said the plan has not changed and that the work has been put in.
“We’ve been down this road before with him,” Thibodeau said. “He usually starts slowly. He’ll get there. Again, the more he’s in, he’ll be back at night shooting threes. When he’s shooting a lot of threes, he’s usually making a lot of threes.”
Breen honored again
Knicks play-by-play man Mike Breen, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, will receive the Vin Scully Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting on Nov. 1 at On the Record: A Celebration of Achievement in News and Sports Broadcasting, a benefit for WFUV, at Fordham School of Law.
“When you are a Fordham graduate, a WFUV alumnus, and a play-by-play broadcaster, receiving an award named after Mr. Scully is the highest honor I could ever receive,” Breen said in a statement. “Mr. Scully’s talent and skill on the air, and his character and integrity as a man, has made him the ultimate role model for me and countless broadcasters that span over generations. I am so humbled and grateful for this incredible honor.”
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.
