Nick Nurse Discusses Scottie Barnes' Unorthodox 'Herky-Jerky' Post-Up Moves

The Toronto Raptors have been working with Scottie Barnes on improving his left hand in order to make him an even scarier post-up finisher

Aaron Rose | Mar 10, 2022

Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Every NBA superstar has a signature move.

You can picture them in your head: The James Harden step-back, the Kevin Durant fadeaway, Giannis Antetokounmpo driving in transition with that eurostep that starts almost at half court, even Pascal Siakam has that patented spin-move he fools defenders with the moment he senses the slightest misstep. But for Scottie Barnes, the Toronto Raptors rookie who appears to be well on his way to becoming a future star of the league, that go-to move is a little more complicated.

Barnes has this uncanny ability to get inside the paint either by backing down smaller defenders or by using his speed to charge into the teeth of a defense. Yet unlike Antetokounmpo who uses his sheer size and power to overpower defenders, Barnes takes a more methodical approach. He'll press in, reading his defender, and searching for an advantage. If nothing comes, he'll step out again, alternating between facing up and backing down as he probes his man for a misstep.

"He's got a little bit of a herky-jerky rhythm to when he lets go of it down there. I think that's really the key," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said following Barnes' 20-point outing against the San Antonio Spurs. "His release points are kind of different at different times and I think he catches them, even the bigger guys with their hands, they're not quite expecting him to shoot some of those."

Those unorthodox moves make it hard for a defense to properly send help when Barnes has a smaller defender on him. Jakob Poeltl, for example, San Antonio's 7-foot-1 center, couldn't figure out when to time his shot contest or slide over to stop Barnes' interior attack on Wednesday night.

"He'll take them all the way or he'll stop six feet short or eight feet short or four feet short and he'll (let it go), whenever he feels like he can he can get it off safely," Nurse added. "So I think that's an interesting way of scoring when you're not really using the same exact footwork and rhythm every time. I think it makes it harder for those guys to challenge."

Making things even more difficult is Barnes' ability to go up with both hands. He's a natural righty, but the Raptors have been working with him to change that and make him more of an ambidextrous post-up finisher.

“I’ve really been working on it a lot," Barnes said of his improved left-handed finishing. "I feel really comfortable being in the post. I work on it every single day. I felt comfortable getting to those moves.”

"We call it moving it around, you know, you’ve got to sometimes move it around a contest or whatever," Nurse added. "I know he likes using that left hand. So he's worked on it and he's now bringing it out a little bit."

That unorthodox and unpredictable style is going to pay dividends for Barnes down the road. He's already an average to above-average isolation and post-up scorer, per NBA Stats, and with development that unusual sense he has should become even more refined.

Further Reading