VICTORIA – Nick Nurse’s challenge to Scottie Barnes heading into this previous off-time was to continue to keep improving his activity. Fairly clear-cut, but not always so simple coming off an excellent rookie season.
“We have been all chatting about what is his ceiling? What is his ceiling? What is his ceiling? And for me, it’s he proceeds to perform as tricky and competes as difficult as he can … with encounter and time and ability function and the competencies improving, he’ll just continue to keep heading toward that ceiling,” Nurse stated.
“But I think which is a challenge, ideal? I believe it’s a obstacle,” he extra. “Kid played difficult past year and the kid competed very last year, and can you keep on to do that each individual time the ball goes up?”
The 21-year-outdated Barnes, drafted fourth over-all by Toronto, gained NBA rookie of the year honours previous year, averaging 15.3 details on 49.2-per cent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 helps a game.
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Four days into instruction camp at the University of Victoria, Nurse has witnessed an enhancement in Barnes’ taking pictures.
“It feels like it is superior and he’s generating much more in the rhythm of what we’re doing,” Nurse explained following Friday’s exercise. “He’s not hesitating to consider them at all, the threes. He’s even now doing the relaxation of the things. He’s acquired that long, sluggish, powerful generate the place he places it in the basket.
“He’s acquired that pull-up thing when he has a dimensions benefit. But the frequency with which he’s permitting them go is surely on the rise.”
Nurse claimed Barnes has designed advancements to his six-foot-nine 227-pound entire body as perfectly.
“Every time I observed him in the summer season I would go ‘Wow!’ … He’s in great shape. He appears potent and I consider the very good issue is he feels it as nicely, and he’s employing it proper? He’s a actual physical player, person, which is very good.”
Struggle IS ON
The fight for closing roster spots in between Toronto native Dalano Banton, Justin Champagnie, D.J. Wilson and Josh Jackson has been fierce so far in camp.
“We do a staff members vote each single day and that vote improvements each one day,” Nurse said. “You can explain to it is competitive.”
The Raptors have 20 players in camp, and have to whittle that down to a roster of 15, plus two gamers on two-way discounts involving the NBA workforce and Raptors 905, the club’s G League affiliate.
“It’ll be attention-grabbing,” Nurse mentioned. “You can make a scenario for just about every person. We’ll start off dialing it in appropriate now.”
The evaluation of bubble players will carry on in Sunday’s pre-season opener in Edmonton.
Notes: The Raptors practised in orange T-shirts Friday to commemorate the Countrywide Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This report by The Canadian Press was initially released Sept. 30, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
