In losing, maybe Raptors’ Scottie Barnes has found what is necessary to dominate

BURNABY, B.C. — Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jama Mahlalela was ascending into the double digits, yelling the numbers out loud, as he pumped passes out to a few of his players who were launching corner 3s.

“Nine,” Mahlalela yelled, with Raptors forward Scottie Barnes and two-way guard Javon Freeman-Liberty drilling their shots. “Ten.” Two more makes. And so it went: 11, 12, 13.

Finally, on No. 14, Barnes hit, but Freeman-Liberty couldn’t match him. Barnes had emerged victorious in the shooting drill after the second day of Raptors training camp. Barnes smiled widely, pumped his fist, and the pair, along with Precious Achiuwa, crossed the court and went over to the opposite corner. Barnes won in that spot, too. More celebrating.

“It was a good comeback from yesterday,” Barnes said Wednesday. “They got me yesterday, so I came back and tried to put on a performance.”

His second day of training camp was better than his first, and now Barnes will try to make sure his third season is better than his second. As his team did, Barnes disappointed last year, with only his assist numbers taking a significant jump from his Rookie of the Year campaign.

As glaring as the numbers, though, was the way Barnes looked on a day-to-day basis. It became notable how much trouble he had impacting entire games, and that was clear by how often he excelled in the fourth quarter of games. At times, he looked like an entirely different player depending on time and score. His ability to shine in a game’s biggest moments bodes well for his future, but last year’s team needed more from him — among others, clearly — at various points.

Especially as the Raptors struggled in November and December, the nature of the Raptors’ offence sometimes left Barnes on the periphery of things. Barnes, who often found his way into games on the offensive glass in his first season, couldn’t find a path to the same level of contribution in his second. He was behind Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet in the offensive pecking order, as was the case in 2021-22, but he was less impactful elsewhere.

“I would say it (was) an energy drainer,” Barnes said of last season’s overall feeling on media day. “Sometimes I did feel like it (was) every man for themselves. That’s what we’ve just really got to change.”

Barnes backed off those words Wednesday, saying he still had fun last year even through the struggles. Whatever the case, a disappointing season was relatively new for him.

In 2019-20, the Monteverde Academy boys varsity team went 25-0. A year earlier, the University School boys team from Davie, Fla., went 27-5. In 2020-21, Florida State went 18-7, with a trip to the Sweet 16.

Over those three years, then, Barnes’ teams won more than 85 percent of their games. That made the young forward’s rookie season in the NBA, when the Raptors surprised their way to a 48-34 record, a shock to the system: Compared to the three years before, Barnes’ winning percentage fell by nearly 27 percent.

Imagine, then, following that up by going 41-41, an even .500, and falling well short of expectations — as a team and individually.

“I think the biggest thing that I really learned,” Barnes said Wednesday, “is just how hard it is to win basketball games (in the NBA).”

“There is no other way to learn,” new Raptors coach Darko Rajaković added. “All of us — when we win and when everything is going right in our lives, we tend to relax. Our brain is wired that way. But once we are going through rough times and failing, that really motivates us to find answers and ways to get out. … You’ve got to fail (to) learn to get better.”

To that end, Barnes has made some changes. He mentioned improving his conditioning, and that was at the forefront of his offseason work. Rajaković mentioned that he believes Barnes’ left hand has improved. So long as his shot is developing — drills at the end of the practice notwithstanding, it would be silly to expect him to suddenly be an efficient shooter off the dribble in his third year — his ballhandling is going to have to improve rapidly to be an effective playmaker, especially in an offence that figures to involve fewer on-ball screens and post touches.

Also, Barnes is just bigger. He mentioned adding nine pounds in the offseason, so specific that it is hard to doubt, and that he feels stronger. Strength has always been Barnes’, well, strength, and Barnes seems intent on leaning into that by leaning into his defenders.

Barnes says he did more running this summer. He mentioned conditioning as a focus after the season.

— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) October 2, 2023

The trick will be to do that without over-dribbling. He is going to have to use that strength to outmaneuver opponents without the ball more often than he is with it. Even as the Raptors put the ball in Barnes’ hands more often, he cannot forget how big of a weapon he can be without it. Barnes’ desire to be great, and his wish to have fun in the process, has been clear from the moment he was drafted.

“I think last year, I had a lot of (good) spurts and moments, not able to just go through a whole game (at the same high level),” Barnes said. “When I’m out there on the floor … every game, I just want to set that tone, have that dominance on the floor, make my presence known.”

Whatever happens with Siakam and O.G. Anunoby, the Raptors still see Barnes as the bridge to their next significantly successful team. Whether or not that can happen will depend on what the Raptors do around Barnes, but it also requires Barnes to do his part, too.

A sophomore slump isn’t the end of the world, so long as it yields change.

“Scottie is an all-star type of player,” Rajaković said. “He is a guy who can do so many things. He should be the guy (who in) two, three years down the road, teams are really having a headache when they are preparing (their) scouting and they have multiple coverages on him. … If you switch, he’s going to punish you. If you don’t switch, he’s going to punish you with good decision-making. If you give him room, he’s going to knock down a shot. If you close out, he’s going to go by you.

“We’re trying to make a complete player out of him.”