Scottie Barnes Discusses Shooting Slump & Fred VanVleet Pumps Confidence into 2nd Year Star

The Toronto Raptors weren't worried about Scottie Barnes' shooting slump, said Fred VanVleet who thinks the sky's the limit for the sophomore forward

Aaron Rose | Nov 17, 2022

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Barnes didn't shy away from the criticisms.

After a smooth-sailing rookie season, the 21-year-old Toronto Raptors sophomore found himself entrenched in the first shooting slump of his brief career. He hadn't looked right, shooting just 34.1% from the field over his previous six games coming into Wednesday night, and he knew it.

"You can see that I’m in the middle of a shooting slump, I realize, I recognize that," he said following Wednesday's 112-104 victory over the Miami Heat. "But, just trying to stay confident, get through it, keep trying to be aggressive, trust your work, trust your craft, I feel like that’s what’s gonna get me through it every single day."

It helped, Barnes said, having the confidence of his teammates in his ear pushing him to keep staying aggressive. Even with Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet sidelined and away from the team, the two veterans kept on Barnes, messaging him to keep being himself.

"Them boys giving me confidence when I’m out there on the floor, I feel like that’s a big thing," Barnes said. "I really took that to heart, them boys texting me when they’re at home doing what they do to get better, them telling me, I feel like that’s a big thing."

VanVleet said he hadn't realized the extent of the criticism until he was at home sick watching the Raptors play the Detroit Pistons from afar. To him, it was "ridiculous" and "overblown." A six-game slump for the reigning Rookie of the Year was anything but alarming.

"Everybody goes through it. There's highs, there's lows, there's good games and bad games," VanVleet said. "Nobody around here is worried about him. We know how great of a player he's going to be. There's not any young player I would trade him for. The sky's the limit for him."

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