Raptors Discuss Scottie Barnes' Dip in 3-Point Shooting

The Toronto Raptors aren't worried about Scottie Barnes' three-point shooting and are 'very confident' he'll bounce back soon

Scottie Barnes stood above the break all alone.

Dennis Schröder had collapsed the Boston Celtics’ defense and a kick-out pass to OG Anunoby forced the Celtics to begin scrambling. First Jaylen Brown flew by Anunoby who sidestepped the closeout to draw in Jrue Holiday. When Holiday stepped in, Anunoby made the extra pass to Barnes who might as well have been shooting alone during warmups considering how open he was.

Bucket.

On Dec. 29, the Toronto Raptors third-year forward nailed a career-high seven three-pointers on 15 attempts. His three-point percentage reached 39.5% for the season and all that work he spent refining his three-point stroke seemed to be paying off.

The next day Anunoby was traded to the New York Knicks.

Since then, Barnes hasn’t looked the same from three-point range.

He was 1-for-5 from deep against the Detroit Pistons the following night and is shooting 25.4% from three-point range in the 28 games since.

Part of the difference is probably regression. Barnes was a 29% three-point shooter through his first two NBA seasons and a 10-percentage point jump to start the year was likely too good to be true.

But the change in Toronto’s roster has likely also played a part. as well Defenses are paying closer attention to Barnes who has been asked to take on a bigger load without Pascal Siakam or Anunoby around anymore.

“He's still a young player that goes through those ups and downs,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said Wednesday following an 0-for-5 night from Barnes behind the arc. “What I do know is that he's putting a lot of work in, that he's getting all the reps that he needs, and I'm very confident he's going to bounce back very soon.”

Toronto isn’t too concerned about Barnes’ shot, at least not publicly.

The second half of this season has been an adjustment for the 22-year-old who is still finding ways to impact the game without being a three-point sniper anymore. He’s seen his shooting percentage within 10 feet of the hoop, for example, increase over a percentage point despite a nearly nine-percentage point jump in shot frequency at the rim.

That’s good news for Barnes who is still trying to develop his finishing package near the rim and the dip in his three-point shooting should have made his inside attacking even more difficult.

When this summer rolls around, there’s little doubt Barnes will be back in the gym working on his three-point shot again because if it gets back to where it was earlier this season, as Rajaković warned the league, “God help you.”