'That's a big man': Scottie Barnes on Steven Adams screen

Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes discusses taking more three-pointers and the adjustments that come with it, maintaining focus and dealing with the grind of an NBA season and what it felt like to take a screen from Steven Adams.

Video Transcript

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: I would just say I'm just taking it-- getting my game-- just trying to get-- they're still helping out. So I'm really still just getting wide open looks. We drive, penetrate, kick. That's a good thing that we do as a team. We drive and penetrate and kick. And most of the time, I'm wide open. So I'm gonna just try to take wide open shots.

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: I would say for sure. They've been just telling me-- so other people could drive and get those lanes and for our bigs to just be able to roll, get lobs and things like that. You got to space it out. Usually, I really just try to cut, try to look for open spots on the floor. But really, they just been telling me to get out just so we get our spacing right.

I think space is a key thing in our offense that we need in able to be successful. So just trying to be able to space out.

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: I still do it in a game. You just got to pick and choose when it's right, certain times. But really just try to go in there, get offensive rebounds all the time. Sometimes they're going to come your way, sometimes they're not. But really just trying to get in there, find open spots on the floor so you can just get easy baskets.

- Is it hard right now to find that balance and be everything that's going on at [INAUDIBLE]

--or do you just sort of follow your instincts?

SCOTTIE BARNES: No, it's not really that hard. I will say that I really just follow my instinct, skin and roll, big drives if I'm in like a certain spot on the floor. Just be able to slot cut throughout. It just depends on what's happening in the offense.

- Now that the sample size is a lot bigger for you, what's the biggest difference you're finding in terms of playing at home and playing on the road? Is it the [INAUDIBLE] Is the in-game stuff, pre-game, post-game stuff? What's the biggest difference for you?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Biggest difference? I don't really know. I don't really know.

- It's the same wherever?

SCOTTIE BARNES: It really is. Routine is really the same.

- [INAUDIBLE] when he was coming into the league, he felt a little bit more comfortable-- [INAUDIBLE] your college stats, what's-- [INAUDIBLE] Is there something about being on the road that the fans are against you, and therefore it frees up your energy level on the road?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I don't know. I like playing on the road. It isn't-- I really don't say it's, like, super much of a difference. But of course, there really is a difference. The fans are going against you. They're trying to hype other teams. So you're going to get that hostile environment a bit. But I don't really know. I don't really know what it is.

- Do you like playing in a hostile environment?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I like playing away. I like playing at home too. But I don't know.

- You and most lottery picks have played on typically-- [INAUDIBLE] in college and high school, that's typically how it goes. How do you keep yourself positive during less successful times as they come?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Oh, I know our time's going to come. We're going to get back on-track. We just got to keep trying to take it game by game. We can win these games easily. We just got to cut some mistakes and do things like that.

But of course, we all believe in each other. We know we can get back on the right track. So we're just taking it game by game and practice by practice.

- How's your [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: Oh, it's pretty good, pretty good.

- In the last few games, have been like [INAUDIBLE] the game, you played really, really well. And kind of parts of the game, you've kind of struggled [INAUDIBLE] within a game [INAUDIBLE] Have you kind of noticed that? How do you kind of address that?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I don't know. I'm just trying to play hard play to win. Sometimes you get caught not being focused out there. Just got to try to pull yourself within it, pull yourself together. That's all I got to say for that.

- Two games in a row where you've maybe struggled a little bit at the start and really found your footing your footing as the game's gone on. How different is each game? Do you have to feel out each specific game before you're comfortable, or is that just a random sample of three or four games, and it doesn't really feel that way?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I would just say, sometimes at the beginning of a game, I'd say like, the intensity-- I don't know. We're just really playing really hard, trying to get our flow, our offense trying to get it started and different things like that. So some guys are feeling it at the beginning of a game, sometimes you're not.

I'm just being patient. It depends on how the game is going.

- In college, it's obviously a shorter game. You didn't play as many minutes in a game. Is there any difference playing 35, 35-plus per game?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Yeah, for sure. You have one night off. And then the next one, you got another game. And then you play a lot of minutes. So I'd say the main difference is just putting my body through a lot more than how it feels in college.

And then you come in. And you got a few days off. Didn't really play so much, especially with the COVID and stuff like that. But yeah, you just start feeling it as the game goes. As soon as you're done, you start feeling it right away.

- Good, you're learning how to manage that, or [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: Oh, yeah. You just got to keep coming and getting more treatment. You got to learn how to take care of your body. I would say that's the main thing.

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: No. I'm just funny man. I don't know. It just happened, bruh.

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: That's a big man.

[LAUGHTER]

Big man, big body. Caught me right in the neck. But I still feel the bone. God, that's a big boy. That's all right. You try to fight through a screen. He got me one time, man. It's all right. It happens.

- [INAUDIBLE]

SCOTTIE BARNES: He don't scream like that. I know that for sure.

- Thanks, Scottie.

- Thank you, Scottie.