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?”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
