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RJ Barrett Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G
Born: 06/14/00
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:202 lbs. / 91.6 kg.
Salary: $10,900,634
Born: 06/14/00
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:202 lbs. / 91.6 kg.
Salary: $10,900,634
RJ Barrett says he wants to be left wide open: It's an easy bucket
RJ Barrett’s shooting hit another funk. The efficiency dipped to unsightly percentages. Still, the latest Knick to ink a nine-figure contract said Friday that he has no plans to decrease his volume of attempts. He also dared the opposition to keep leaving him wide open. “It’s an easy bucket, in my opinion,” Barrett said, “so I’d rather them do that.”
Except, the numbers say it hasn’t been so easy. Barrett entered Friday night’s game against the Warriors shooting just 40% overall and 25.6% from beyond the arc, well below the league averages. He missed 17 consecutive 3-pointers, with Wednesday night’s 0-for-9 performance in Denver still close in the rearview.
Efficiency has represented Barrett’s shortcoming since he entered the league, and he responded to each slump with no shortage of confidence. “The shot is wide open, I’m going to shoot it,” Barrett said. “I don’t have a conscience that way. I’m comfortable. I work too hard on my game.”
The dinner was called by Julius Randle, according to RJ Barrett, at what could be a seminal moment in the Knicks’ season. They had lost six of their previous nine games, with their defensive net rating falling to 24th in the league. “Just trying to hold each other accountable,” Barrett said. “Trying to get this going because we want to win.” Added Randle, who had 15 points: “I think we just had more of a sense of urgency. Come on the road you want to start the trip off right. Dinner was great obviously, but guys came in prepared today and ready to go. Got a great win.”
Knicks hold players-only dinner after loss vs. Thunder
RJ Barrett called Sunday’s performance sad. Obi Toppin said it was “ridiculous.” The ugly home loss to the Thunder, when the Knicks allowed a whopping 145 points — the most since Tom Thibodeau arrived — drew a lot of reactions, and it led to a players-only dinner Monday night in Utah to figure things out. “Just trying to hold each other accountable,” RJ Barrett said after shootaround on Tuesday. “Trying to get this going because we want to win.”
Ian Begley: Asked about RJ Barrett playing two minutes in the second half, Tom Thibodeau said, “We just got behind by so much that we were just looking for life. And that group that was in there (after Barrett subbed out) gave us a little bit of a spark. So that’s what we went with.”
