Why Pascal Siakam is Scottie Barnes’s favourite player
Scottie Barnes mentioned in his IG stories on Monday that Pascal Siakam was his favourite player. The Toronto Raptors rookie discusses why that is and how the forward has impressed him in the early portions of the season.
Video Transcript
- All right. Go ahead.
- [INAUDIBLE] game yesterday?
SCOTTIE BARNES: I will say, I enjoyed it a lot. We won, played great together, and did things that we needed to do, executed game plans very well.
- [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: It's my third plan. You know? Really good player. I was in the stands. I saw him. I just wanted to touch his hand. It's a good moment for me.
- [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: Yeah.
- [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: Just the amount of hard work and effort he puts in every single day. He comes to the gym extra early, and then, when you just see him on the court, he's just like, he's just really good, be able to get to the spot, score. He also is a great defender.
- [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: Yeah. You see every day he comes in, works hard. He's a good example for us young guys.
- [INAUDIBLE]
I am curious, big picture [INAUDIBLE] mentally, physically what's it felt like to play in front of [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: It's something to just enjoy. You could just see how grateful they are for us to be back, and it's just an amazing thing to be a part of. They're showing so much love. Just being able to play here every single time we're here.
- [INAUDIBLE] how can you tell [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: They show it at the game, on social media. No matter where it is, they just love us. They're really there for us, no matter what.
- Scottie, how much did you know about Pascal [INAUDIBLE] is there anything that stood out [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: I would say, probably like two or three years ago, I really watched his game, some in pre-draft. Watched his game, watched this film a little bit, how he works his way in, post-ups, do so many different little things, so he could be able to score the ball. So yeah.
- How often do you get to [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: I don't really say I pick his brain so much. I really just talk to him, try to be a good friend of his. Yeah.
- [INAUDIBLE] Pascal draws a lot of fouls. Can you learn anything from the way he does that?
SCOTTIE BARNES: The way he gets to the paint, pro, pro, pro. So he can get to that spot where he wants to shoot it. No matter if it's a turnaround J, being able to finish over any shoulder, just tries to get to the rim and score. Yeah.
- Scottie [INAUDIBLE]
Are you getting a feel yet for what kind of [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: I think, being we know the potential that we have, we know we can be really, really good, we just got to keep working. And when the injuries come, we'll see how it is.
- [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: I would say I've been comfortable. I've been comfortable with defensive schemes, and really it's just me going out there and just trying to execute it.
- Scottie, how do you feel the game is different playing alongside someone like [INAUDIBLE] running up and down the court [INAUDIBLE] versus someone like Malakei?
SCOTTIE BARNES: I would say, they both really run. They both we try to get in the game, and I always do the same different things when we try to get a rebound on fast breaks. So it's not really much of a difference. It's really just trying to run the floor, get to your spots, just so things can open up for everybody on the floor.
- We got to watch [INAUDIBLE] yesterday, ball dominant, dropped 30. Was there something that you were able to see about his game that maybe you don't when you're playing with him or [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: You can see its potential in practice, where he does a lot. We know he can do push the ball, be able to get to the rim. He can create for others. So I would say, we know what he can really do. I would say besides that, it's probably like a little more opportunity for him to just go and do what he really does.
- [INAUDIBLE] Obviously, you're happy for him, when he gets to do what he did yesterday, but is there almost a little part that's also you're excited for you and just like long term that you guys can really build something special here in Toronto?
SCOTTIE BARNES: I would say, we know we got a lot of young guys. We have a really good young core that we know for the future it'll be something great at hand. But I would say, really just focused on now. Don't really think about the future that much, but I'll just say, we're really focus on that.
- [INAUDIBLE] another one of those top guys in the draft. We've seen a couple already. [INAUDIBLE]
SCOTTIE BARNES: It's not really no extra juice. He's a good player, of course, but we just really are trying to think about getting a win tomorrow. That's our game plan, trying to get that at home again.
