WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — Almost a year ago to the day, Golden State Warriors forward was coming off a break-out performance in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, especially against the San Antonio Spurs in which he scored 19.0 points per game, including outputs of 26 points in Game 4 and 25 in Game 5, before suffering a concussion prior to halftime of Game 6, where he ended up with a series-low 9 points.
Naturally, there were high expectations for Barnes before last season started. His play drew raves from scouts and national NBA writers across the league. However, before training camp got started nearly 365 days ago, the then-sophomore remained even-keeled with reporters.
When asked by Steve Berman of BayAreaSportsGuy.com how Barnes would take his newfound stardom from both the Denver Nuggets and Spurs series into the 2013-14 campaign, he answered, “Just be better than I was last year. You look at my shot chart, it wasn’t great for 82 games, so it’s definitely something I want to improve upon, just be consistent.”
Fast forward a year, coming off a disappointing year in which he started just 24 regular season games behind veteran Andre Iguodala while averaging 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 40% from the field, and under 35% from beyond the arc, and Barnes seems to be facing the same predicament.
“I just wanna hoop, man,” Barnes said yesterday at the annual Warriors Media Day (#TweediaDay), “Obviously, last season didn’t go as well as I wanted to so, I just i’m just looking to get back on the court, man.”
Barnes spent the summer training with the Warriors’ Summer League team and USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) in Las Vegas, as well as supporting the USA World Cup soccer team in Brazil.
On his days away from travel, his regimen included lifting weights five times per week and being on the court, be it in workouts or pickup games, every day.
His top priorities this off-season?
“One, getting in better shape. Two, getting stronger. Make sure my body’s durable for the season. Last year, I didn’t feel like I was in (the) peak shape I wanted to be in, especially to do what I needed to do, so doing that and clean up my diet, making sure I have energy for games. It sounds like something that should just be very basic, but (it’s) something I had to focus on this summer,” Barnes explained, confirming that he was 100% healthy last season, “It’s just doing things to make sure your body performs at the highest level it can.”
Shooting was also on his to-do list for the summer.
“Just, you know, make shots and be more aggressive. That’s what I can contribute, whether it’s starter or come off the bench. Whatever it is, just doing my part,” Barnes added, noting that he has been working with assistant coach Ron Adams on making adjustments to his shooting stroke.
“I played poorly and I know I need to get better on the court.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
