The Toronto Raptors played their second-to-last game of the preseason Thursday night, losing to the New York Knicks 122-120.
From the opening tip of this game, Scottie Barnes stood out with a different energy. He finished the game with 23 points, three rebounds, four assists, and four blocks, shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-5 from three in 28 minutes. He started with an easy two near the basket, followed by baseline fadeaways, and wrapped up the quarter by drilling a pair of threes. Barnes took nine shots in the first quarter alone, and the Raptors' offense was flowing.
As a playmaker, he also came out hyper-aggressive, drawing defenders and hitting the open man or making the offense go in the open floor.
But then through quarters two and three, Barnes took his foot off the gas. He took just three shots over 12 minutes between the second and third frames, and went back to not really demanding the ball and playing a way more passive brand of basketball. Then the fourth quarter hit, and he was back to being hyper-aggressive, getting the Raptors back in the game after they entered the final frame trailing by eight.
While Barnes being able to set the tone offensively from the jump and find that same stride in the final 12 minutes of the game really helped the Raptors, what if he were aggressive for all four frames? This brings us back to one of my biggest pet peeves with Scottie B: at times, he looks like two completely different players.
I NEED AGGRESSIVE SCOTTIE 24/7
Now, when I say Barnes looks like a different player at times, I’m not speaking at all about the defensive side of the ball. We all know how special he is on that end and how he raises this team's ceiling defensively every time he’s on the floor. Hopefully, the voters for the All-Defensive teams recognize that this year, too.
Alas, when I say he looks like a different player, I mean his offense and the roller coaster of aggressiveness he brings to that side of the ball. The way he opened the game is the way fans should want him to play every night. He was assertive and focused on getting his own offense going while staying in the flow of the game. Then, when the defense started to pressure him more, he punished them with his elite vision and playmaking. That should be the goal for Barnes every night.
The Raptors' two highest-scoring quarters in this game against the Knicks were quarters one and four. Coincidence? I think not.
I get that the Raptors have a legit supporting cast around Barnes, especially with Kawhi Leonard now in town, and he doesn’t have to do it all himself, but I’m not saying he has to. I’m just saying when he’s assertive offensively, the Raptors offense opens up way more because defenses are expecting him to score rather than set up someone else.
I also understand that it is slightly unrealistic to ask Barnes, who is already the anchor of Toronto’s defense, to drive their offense nearly every possession. But with Leonard here now, and a year-two leap from Collin Murray-Boyles, Barnes should have less defensive responsibility on his shoulders.
Barnes clearly has a switch he can turn on and off for when to be aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. For this team to reach their ceiling offensively this season, that switch needs to be turned on way more consistently than for a couple of quarters at a time.
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