Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic couldn’t have been more proud of Scottie Barnes’ all-around performance this past weekend vs. the San Antonio Spurs (30 points/11 rebounds/6 assists/3 steals/3 blocks/9-20 FG/5-10 3-PT/7-11 FT/+14 +/- in 123-116 overtime road win).
(via Toronto Raptors):
Reporter: “What did you think of Scottie’s fourth quarter? He was very dominant.”
Rajakovic: “He’s not shying away from those moments. He’s craving those moments. I’m blessed to have a player like Scottie to put him in those situations. He did it all in the second half: He rebounded the ball, he was pushing the ball in transition, we had only 3 turnovers in the second half as a group, and he shot the ball really, really well. So, he’s a gamer and he loves those moments. He did an amazing job.”
Reporter: “He got that steal on the last inbounds play, and the presence of mind to call timeout. You called timeout as well, but he did too.”
Rajakovic: “For sure, for sure. He’s so smart for a young player, 22-years-old. He understands all of those situations, end of the game. We had really good conversations in the huddle as well. He’s somebody that I’m relying a lot on. That group has a lot of experience, but for him as a young player, it was great. We told our guys that we want to call a timeout, but he was so alert that he did not dribble. He caught it and called a timeout right away.”
