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Scottie Barnes thrives, tantalizes, as Raptors dismantle Sixers in Preseason – Raptors Republic

Published

3 years ago

October 5, 2021

Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast | Rap Up Live

Midway through the second quarter, the Toronto Raptors were grooving and funking their way to a seamless 123-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. The defense was long, and the offense in transition was sweltering. But at what might have been the turning point for the Raps, one of the key plays for Toronto came 100 feet from the ball. In between triples from unlikely sources — Justin Champagnie and Precious Achiuwa (!) — Toronto’s phenom rookie, all legs and charisma, was making his mark from the bench, as he yelled and encouraged his teammates so loudly that media could hear his rallying cries all the way up in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena. It came at the very moment that Toronto distanced itself from Philadelphia, never to look back.

“I would say I usually just [talk] all the time,” said Barnes. “Just trying to talk about the gameplan — ‘just keep putting ball pressure and defending, showing our length on defense.’ I’ll just say that’s just who I am. That’s what I always do. I’m a very talkative person.”

Barnes is going to be impossible to contain, with or without the ball, on offense or defense, or indeed even when he’s off the court entirely. He’ll make mistakes, sure, but like GOAT Samson Folk said, he either will or will not be a dragon. But we’ll know either way. The only one stopping Barnes is himself. At least for one night, he succeeded in trying to do anything he wanted.

Barnes wasn’t just setting decibel records from the bench. He finished with a respectable 13 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, but his numbers vastly understated his contributions. (Expect that quality to be a consistency for the season, and probably for his entire career.) He shot 6 of 10 from the floor, and that’s likely because the majority of his shots came around the rim where he could overwhelm defenders with his length, or in transition with no one to even contest him. At one point he faked a handoff, kept the ball, and swooped in for a dunk after one dribble. His wingspan is so immense that he can dribble several feet away from his body; if you’re beside him, you’re behind him, and if there’s not help, he’s already at the rim. As long as he gets his shots close to the rim, Barnes will make it work. There were other moments, where he crossed over, tried to spin, faked this way and that. It wasn’t clear what he was trying to cause, but if anything cracked open, he would jet into the opportunity.

He plays basketball like Jimmy Page played guitar, or Daniel Naroditsky plays chess, or Christoph Waltz acts. You don’t know how they’ll get from point A to point B, and they likely don’t know either, but they’ll figure it out, and the journey is going to be as entertaining as the destination. At one point, Barnes tried to throw a pass, which was deflected halfway across the court, but then he apparated to the ball, snatched it with his endless limbs, and promptly threw a no-look pass to Champagnie for the and-1. If everyone else on the court is on a track, Barnes is free, for better or worse.

On the defensive end, Barnes terrorized opponents with his length. For all his tendency towards havoc, his defense was principled. He closed out under control, swatted shots, dug in on the nail, and combined solidity with a nose for chaotic disruption. His two blocks and three steals were certainly as loud as his off-court exhortations, but he impacted even more plays just by being massive, aggressive, and in the right spot.

His play backed up his voice.

“He’s a kid, he’s a young man, and…all that energy and enthusiasm comes out in many different ways, but he’s not yelling anything that is wrong,” said Fred VanVleet. “He knows what he’s talking about, and you need voices like that, so we love that, there’s not just one leader of a team, there’s a bunch of leaders on a team, and everybody has different roles and if he’s going to step up and be that guy who’s keeping the bench together and communicating while he’s on the bench, that’s a big part of the game. We’ve all got to communicate with either other on the floor and off, so I definitely hear him out there a lot.

Even better than that, when you do a lot of talking, you’ve got to hold your own so that’s great that he’s speaking up because now the spotlight is going to be on him even more with his teammates, so I think that was great for him and he’s been vocal since he got here.”

Barnes is swiftly becoming one of the most popular Raptors. The team didn’t replace Lowry’s introduction exercise routine, but the star of the introductory show was certainly Barnes in his own way. The crowd gave him the largest cheer, and his teammates huddled closer than they did with anyone else, offered more high fives than they did for anyone else. Always smiling, always laughing, Barnes oozes charisma. If he weren’t an NBA player, he could be a cult leader or a motivational speaker or a medieval general: anything, really, with a job description that entails motivating others. Barnes inspires on and off the court.

For one night at least, there wasn’t a bump in the road. When the regular season starts, there will certainly be nights where Barnes’ jumper may not ring out as loudly as his shouts from the bench, when his handle may wither on the vine as opportunities don’t show themselves. We’ll see how he reacts then, whether he remains his steadfast optimistic self, or whether he adapts his personality to fit the situation. But that will come. For now, appreciate Barnes in all his glory. The Raptors certainly are.

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Sports

Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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