TRENDING: Why RJ Barrett reminds Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic of Manu Ginobili

Barrett has always respected Ginobli’s style of play very highly. His coach is now hoping that he can add it to his.
While talking about RJ Barrett’s development and potential, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic casually brought up the similarity.

It took a beat for it to fully register because he snuck it in so fast.

“Manu Ginobili,” declared the coach.

Excuse me? You mentioned Ginobili? The multiple NBA champion from San Antonio, the Olympic gold medallist, the cornerstone of Argentina’s golden age that dominated international basketball for nearly a decade, the Hall of Famer?

Ginobili, that one? That Ginobili and this youthful Raptors forward who is only beginning to explore the full extent of his abilities?On the court, Ginobili was a magician with his deft moves, accurate shots, and darting drives to the left that the other players could not stop.
Barrett is only 23 years old and, while he is not yet at that level, you can see the potential with the correct commitment, game development, and coach guidance.

Barrett has always respected Ginobli’s style of play very highly. The Mississauga native had a deep admiration for the Argentine during his formative years as a young player.

Barrett remarked, “He was good, really good, I especially always liked watching him.” “Being a huge fan of LeBron James, I didn’t want Ginobili and the Spurs to win the (2013) championship against the Heat, but he was playing incredibly well. He dunked on Chris Bosh, and I was incensed about it.

“It was his intelligence—making reads, the right reads, the right plays—always reliable and steady throughout every game.”

Naturally, Barrett has a long way to go before he can compare to Ginobili, but there have been some encouraging breakthroughs in his play with the Raptors.

“His mindset of striking a good balance between aggression and truly identifying his teammates really helps,” Rajakovic remarked.

“He had a season-high seven assists at the end of that game (against Brooklyn), and to be really honest with you, I expect that from him every single night.”

It appears that Rajakovic would like the style that Ginobili introduced to San Antonio and the Argentina national team to be emulated by his Raptors.
These teams, especially the Argentine gold medalists from the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, played a stunning, visually stunning kind of basketball where players moved in unison, touched the paint, and kicked the ball out to shooters repeatedly until an easy, open shot presented itself.

Rajakovic wants the Raptors to go there, and it will be simpler if he can find Barrett to be a Ginobili clo

As the season draws to a close, Rajakovic will be working to enhance Barrett’s playmaking. Barrett is developing into a fine passer on the move; in the first few minutes of Thursday’s thrilling victory over Brooklyn, he got in the paint and kicked the ball out to open shooters on three incredible play

Yes, that Ginobili and that Barrett.

“I told (Barrett) I see some of that type of play in him during our conversation a few weeks ago,” Rajakovic recalled. “We need him to be able to score and attack, as well as make the right plays and be a playmaker for us. That’s what he can actually do, that he sees the floor really well.”

That’s one step done; the Raptors already have a southpaw in Barrett, who consistently finds a way to get to his left side even though his opponents are aware that he will, as Ginobili did for years.

Now, the young player is seated with the coach to go deeper into how the Argentine Hall of Famer performed his magic.

Rajakovic declared, “I’m going to sit down with (Barrett) and just watch that film together and just enjoy that film together.”