Scottie Barnes has yet to play a real NBA game, but the gregarious rookie is quickly becoming one of the most popular Raptors.
He’s a cheering, clapping human energy drink, and his new teammates grinned during Monday’s media day as they recounted tales of his time so far in Toronto.
If it’s rare for a 20-year-old rookie to instantly step into a vocal role on a new team, Barnes shrugged and said he didn’t think twice.
“At this level, you can’t be shy. You can’t be trying to look too cool,” Barnes said after his first training camp practice Tuesday at OVO Athletic Centre. “It’s just the dirty things that you need to do on the floor, that’s what’s going to need to be happening. It’s not really that hard. I’m not a shy guy. I’m just going to be who I am no matter where I’m at.”
The Raptors selected the Florida State forward, known for his stifling defence, with the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft. Twice before the Raptors chose fourth — Chris Bosh in 2003, and Antawn Jamison in 1998, who they traded for Vince Carter.
Expectations for the young player will be lofty this season, but so far he’s earned nothing but praise, including from head coach Nick Nurse who said Barnes will play a “huge role” this season.
“I would imagine he’s going to get as many reps as possible, and that’s start next Monday night [when Toronto hosts Philadelphia in the pre-season opener],” Nurse said
“He’s a clapper, you know, like, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s play D.’ He just likes to talk, he likes to smile and he enjoys, he loves the game, and he plays that way.”
Working on shot
At six foot nine, and boasting a seven-foot-two wingspan and huge Kawhi Leonard-sized hands, Barnes has long been touted for his versatility. He has the ability to play all five positions, and with his speed and ballhandling, he’s been compared to a point guard in a forward’s body.
If he left one box unchecked, it was his shooting. He shot just 27.5 per cent from three-point range in college, and his robotic shooting style has drawn some criticism.
No surprise, he spent a good chunk of his time in the off-season working on his shot.
“Each and every day, just getting more and more reps, it’s a process of every day getting more reps, just constant shooting,” he said.
What tweaks has he made?
“Just the release on my shot on my fingers. Shooting off of two of my fingers, and just pushing to my side a little bit. It has been [feeling more natural]. We’ve been working a lot the last two months. I feel like I’m getting better at it every single day.”
Barnes, who got a taste of the NBA during the summer league, said the biggest adjustment from college is the speed of the game.
“It’s constant running, the floor is longer, bigger so you have to be in really good condition,” he said. “The guys are bigger, stronger and you can really feel it at this level. So that’s really about it, just staying in condition, getting your wind right, being able to run up and down the floor where it’s going to take a high level of conditioning.”
Sounds like hard work won’t be a problem for Barnes.
“Works hard, you’re going to see him to be first in the gym, last to go out,” said Goran Dragic, the 13-year NBA veteran who arrived in Toronto as part of the sign-and-trade deal with Miami for Kyle Lowry. “He’s got that personality that it’s unique, and I really like him. He’s got a bright future. I can already see that. It’s funny, he’s really funny.”
‘Just an exciting kid’
Pascal Siakam snickered as he recounted passing Barnes in the hallway after team physicals recently. Barnes gave Siakam a jumping chest-bump, like he’d just scored a game-winner.
“He’s just an exciting kid, he’s exciting to be around, and he just has a great presence and it’s really, really fun to see,” Siakam said. “I feel like he might beat me in terms of energy just because he’s always happy, always excited.”
It’s partly his humour and all-around good-natured demeanour — evident in his social media presence — that has endeared him to Toronto fans.
On the heels of the draft, he penned a letter on The Players’ Tribune titled “What’s Good, Toronto?” in which he talked about his excitement around playing for Toronto, and the love he’d already experienced from Raptors fans.
Fans followed him on Instagram Live while he walked about Toronto exploring his new city, and he earned raucous applause when he threw out the first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game — further cranking up the hype around the young player.
Fans will get a first glimpse of his on-court enthusiasm Monday against Philadelphia.
“I think he wants to be part of the team, it’s kind of like ‘Let’s do this all together,”‘ Nurse said. “I think he’s vocal and demonstrative in that, and who doesn’t love that?”
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
