INDIANAPOLIS — A season removed from his satisfying rookie\u002Dof\u002Dthe\u002Dyear run, Scottie Barnes is starting to hear the first murmurs of discontent.
The issue is he’s not contributing to the same degree he was a year ago and in a year where expectations have been high for the sophomore and former No. 4 overall pick to take things to another level, that slippage is being noticed.
“Scottie puts a lot of pressure and a lot of weight on his shoulders,” veteran teammate Thad Young said after Saturday’s loss in Indianapolis which saw Barnes shoot just 4-for-16 from the field on a night his offence was in serious demand with both Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam sidelined.tap here to see other videos from our team“Sometimes that can be your biggest killer,” Young continued, “but I love that about him.
And the reason Young is so confident that whatever Barnes is going through right now is temporary is because of the strong level of self-belief he sees in Barnes.Article content Part of the reason for Barnes not quite being as punishing at the rim as he was a year ago, certainly not as good a finisher might be nothing more than opponent’s just game-planning for him a little more.Article contenttap here to see other videos from our teamAfter a bit of a less aggressive start a year ago and after head coach Nick Nurse repeatedly made pleas through the media for Barnes to just back opponents down in the post and cram on them, Barnes started to do that with some regularity.
Rockets’ head coach Stephen Silas already has plenty of experience dealing with high-draft picks coming into the league and finding their way. Houston, after all is a perennial high lottery pick team since James Harden flew the coop.Article content Which is basically what Young was saying about his young teammate. He’s not ready to give up on him, and he doesn’t think anyone else should be either.
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