Raptors Scottie Barnes trying not to succumb to the rookie wall by learning to ignore the wear and tear of the long NBA season

It’s Scottie Barnes’ way of navigating tough times that will be the true measure of his rookie NBA season because there can be no question that tough times will come.

There will be games where you have minimal impact on the outcome, games where your body and mind are exhausted, periods where you struggle.

And Fred VanVleet came up with a phrase this week that perfectly sums up what the young Raptors prodigy needs to be aware of.

“I think you should pursue greatness,” VanVleet said.

That means not giving in, not accepting the common wisdom that NBA rookies succumb to “the wall” at some point in the season, is having the mental fortitude to ignore it.

“You don’t have to fall into the trap and pauses of what it means to be a rookie,” VanVleet said. “With his size and his skill set, if he just plays hard, he will be fine. I think he had a couple of nights where he just didn’t. It’s fine. We have all been there.”

Barnes was there during the Raptors’ road trip that ends Friday night in Indiana. For a couple of the first five games, Barnes was normal or a step below that, a fraction of a second slower than he had been, a pace behind the play, agreeing to be reactive rather than proactive.

However, he turned it over. He was average in the first half against Golden State on Sunday, but bounced back with a solid second half; His opening minutes Wednesday in Memphis were brutal at times, but he was completely compromised when the Raptors roared in the second half to win and get out.

In the first four games of this road trip, Barnes was shooting 34 percent (15-of-44) and averaging 10 points per game. Against Memphis, he had 17 points on 57.1 percent shooting (eight of 14); Indiana on Friday night will be the final game of this trip.

“As you find your way in the league, I don’t think you’re always going to be in a great mood and your body hurts sometimes and you’re just trying to be able to ignore them and move on to the next one,” said coach Nick Nurse before the game. Wednesday.

“I think he had a couple of hard drives in a row, but he found a spark, he made some shots, he started to get to the basket, that kind of thing.”

In fact, a lot is already being asked of the 20-year-old and the responsibility is only going to grow. He has already played more minutes (597) in 17 NBA games than in his entire season at Florida State (595) and the level of competition is light years more difficult.

But fair or not, Barnes has a huge responsibility to the Raptors.

The nurse wants him to shoot and shoot often (“I want him to be aggressive. I want him to take more advantage of his opportunity over the course of the offense,” said the coach. “I want him to shoot more from the perimeter while still trying to defend ourselves and bounce for us ”) while sharing a variety of defensive tasks.

The six-foot-nine Barnes spent the end of Wednesday’s game defending Memphis point guard Ja Morant because VanVleet was playing with five personal fouls. Morant, who had 23 points overall, had just four points in the final five minutes of the game.

“(We) asked Scottie to use his size, to really try to keep him up front and give him a bit of cushioning, but if he fired up the jets, try to beat him and make him round out his units a bit,” he said. said the coach. “And if (Morant) stopped and pulled (up and fired), try using his size to do a late competition.”

That’s the kind of responsibility you don’t normally give a rookie striker, but Barnes accepted it and did his job; it is a testimony to the faith that the coaching staff has in him.

“We need him to produce for us to be good,” VanVleet said. “He turned it over (on Wednesday), so it was good to see him.

“The effort, the intensity and the attention to detail, those things have to be non-negotiable.

“Anything else that comes after that, we have to take it easy. I’m just trying to support him as best I can and I thought he was great (Wednesday) from the jump. “