[jaysmith1987Participant]

I see Harrison Barnes getting compared alot to Kobe and other guys but the player he most reminds me of is Tmac. The way he can just go off and make it look effortless. This guy is gonna be awesome the guy is 6″8 can stroke it and is a 2guard. The ball handling problem is overated and if the bobcats ever want to win they go against conventional wisdom take barnes and hell be there stud. Its no doubt in my mind Barnes will be a 20 plus scorer in the league. Can u name one player in the bobcats better than barnes.

[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

Barnes isn’t anywhere close to being the athlete that T-Mac was in his prime.  Mcgrady was one of the most athletic players in the NBA before his injuries and was explosive off the dribble.  Barnes has nowhere near that kind of explosiveness.  Don’t like the comparison at all.

[JNixonParticipant]

 Danny Granger at best

[kobyzParticipant]

Michael Finley/Wilson Chandler

[FUNKYBUNCHParticipant]

A cross between Rudy Gay and Marvin Williams. Not as impactful as Gay but similar to both their games.

[akhan786Participant]

I would argue that Gerald Henderson is better than Barnes.

[chocboywndrParticipant]

 If you think that he is Danny Granger at best you are going to be disappointed. Firstly he is not Tmac you are right, but if you watched the combine you saw that he was way more athletic than given credit for. http://ow.ly/i/Go4T/original that pic is a 43" max vert  which would put him in the 11’7"-11’8" range you cannt do that if you are not athletic. He also did well in the shuttle and 3/4 sprint. Other than off the dribble he really only needs to add consistensy to his game. He is way ahead of where granger was coming out of school.If , which is still an if until he gets done, but he is supposed to have excellent work ethic. If he gets a solid handle he will much more an athletic Paul Pierce than Danny Granger.

[kobyzParticipant]

good as Paul Pierce he will never be, no one has the savvy of Paul Pierce.

[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

akhan, your Duke bias is really coming out there.  Gerald Henderson was a starter on the worst team in NBA history.  He’s got ability, but he’s not better than Barnes.

[bennydabullParticipant]

I think his game is VERY similar to Luol Deng’s. Great midrange shooter and could develop a reliable 3 point shot. Doesn’t have a great handle but rebounds and defends well. Though I feel that Barnes can become a better leader and role model type player. I think his peak stats will be similar to Deng’s but has the potential to be a little better. 2nd or 3rd best player on a championship caliber team.

[JNixonParticipant]

"If he gets a solid handle he will much more an athletic Paul Pierce than Danny Granger."

"If you think that he is Danny Granger at best you are going to be disappointed."

 I dont think he will ever get the handle that Pierce has. I just dont see it, I think my comparison is more realistic because he doesnt even attempt/show tendencies to create off the dribble to create the shots from the spots he likes the way Pierce does. Pierce has always been the type to work off the dribble to get shots in his sweet spots. Barnes needs PG’s to create shots for him in his sweet spots. There is a difference, and the difference between Granger and Pierce’s games is that Granger is less likely to look to work sweet spots off the dribble than he is to use screens and PG play to get shots for himself. 

Dismissing a comparison for something that the player has CURRENTLY shown isnt my way of thinking. I stand by my Granger comparison

[apb540Participant]

Harrison Barnes is one of the hardest players to find one specific comparison for because everyone seems to have a different opinion on him.  I personally think he is going to be a very good NBA player and will not rule out a Pierce type career….but its unlikely.

[royc3yParticipant]

Anybody? Allan houston who use to play for the new york knicks?

 

[So raspyParticipant]

Luol Deng is the closest thing to Barnes without a doubt

[akhan786Participant]

So you would disagree Gerald Henderson is the better player right now? Someone who has been playing in the league for the last 3 years?

I, of course, think Barnes will be better in 5 years, but it is no question that Henderson is better than him right now…

If you disagree you haven’t been to many Bobcats games…

[chocboywndrParticipant]

I will stand by my Paul Pierce just the same. Danny Granger at 20 was no where near as polished as Barnes is right now. He did what was asked of him at Carolina, he has said in interviews that his job was to space the floor and they all had specific jobs and dribble drive was last resort.

If you remember watching Pierce at Kansas he was not the man either, Raef Lafrentz was I believe he went number 2 the same year Pierce went tenth. I think we all know where he is now. Barnes just said in interview that he gained to much weight this year trying to get bigger and he had dropped weight so he could get his explosivness back. He also said he is very aware and working very hard on his ball handling. If you are only looking at what a player currently can do then you are not looking at the draft as most do. The draft is about potential, there is no reason to think that he just like Paul George or Rudy Gay can’t fix his handle. It is much easier than fixing a shot like Wroten or hitch like MKG.

Offensively ball handling is his only real weaknes he shoots off screens, pull ups, jab steps, mid range, step back, and a fade in the post. Will he have Paul Pierce savvy, no but if he does get a handle, he is a high IQ guy as is Pierce he will be a much better all around offensive player than Granger.

[kobyzParticipant]

no! even if he will fix his handle he will never be Paul Pierce cause he’s too technical and lacks spontaneity and imagination in his mind of the level Pierce has.

[Zeke313Participant]

You really think it’ll be 5 years before Barnes surpasses Henderson? I say he does it the first week of camp.

[topotamolderParticipant]

I like the Danny Granger comparision, but Barnes is definitely more athletic

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I Like the Glen Rice Comparision now..

 

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Will Fans in North Carolina Pull out Jordan’s hair if he doesnt select Barnes?

[strobox88Participant]

If Jordan doesn’t get Barnes, here’s the reason why. lol j/k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSJZwR9Oe8

[MKG_AllDayParticipant]

 Best Case: Paul Pierce

Worst Case: Something like Dorell Wright

 

[surveParticipant]

When I get a chance in the next few weeks, I am going to try and dig up some old VHS tapes I have. I think I have the McDonald’s All American game that Pierce was in, which that shouldnt be too hard to find online, but I think I have a Capital Classic or Magic Roundball Classic that had Pierce, Garnett, Marbury, Vinsanity, Abdur-Rahim, etc.  It also had some of my other favorites that never made it to the league like Terrence Roberson and Doug Gottlieb.

Anyway…Pierce was a fairly decent athlete.   I would say that Barnes is a mildly better athlete.   (Remember, I am a UNC guy) Pierce was all around better than Barnes at the same stages.  The only thing I can recall that Barnes has over him is a slight edge in athleticism and that he had NBA range coming out of HS.   So when comparing the two I have to say I doubt Barnes will ever be as good as Paul Pierce….he can be very very good in his own right though because of his defensive potential.  He really has the tools but has a lot to work on that Pierce already had naturally, like handle, passing, ability to score in variety of ways.  Pierce just had better IQ at the same stage where Harrison settles for his jumper too much.  Pierce also had a lethal first step.

The reason why I mainly compare the two is because of Roy Williams.  Other than that, Pierce was much more polished at the same stages in all areas.   Barnes can close to as good as Pierce but it will have to be from a 2-way perspective because offensively he is not as well rounded.

[surveParticipant]

 yes, I have to say, thinking back on Pierce, Finley, and Elliott comparisons, at this stage Barnes compares most to Glen Rice…..which is damn good.  Maybe throw in some Lamond Murray.

[HitsterParticipant]

Luol Deng and Glen Rice are the best two comparisions that I’ve seen since Barnes came on the radar. Another early one was Ray Allen but I could never quite see that one as he isn’t the exceptional shooter or off the ball player that Ray is.

Barnes’ ceiling is a bit hard to call, at worse we can see him being a solid complimentary starter maybe like Marvin Williams has panned out to be or at the next level maybe being a 16 to 18ppg, 2nd best player on the team like say Deng. But he maybe doesn’t have the ultra upside to take him to a regular All Star guy type level.

With Barnes it’s almost a what you see is what you get type guy, someone who won’t be a risky pick and could be a great running mate for a star player buy not someone who could turn a team around off his own back.

[nick5354Participant]

 I am so excited to see Barne’s vertical and athletic results. He is a better athlete then people give him credit for. 

[WizardofOzParticipant]

Barnes isn’t on the same stratosphere talent wise as T-Mac.

Okay, maybe I overreacted a little, but you get the point. His upside is Luol Deng IMO, which is a good player.

[chocboywndrParticipant]

Nobody thinks he is going to be a Pierce clone, the point is he can become a very good all around scorer and defender. He more athletic than Granger, Deng, and Pierce at same age. He will be his own player and everyone has a best case worst case senario, I just don’t think with his work ethic he will be at the bottom of his potential. When a coach says this about you: Creighton coach Greg McDermott

 “Harrison’s responsible for a lot of [son] Doug’s development because Doug saw in Harrison a guy with an unbelievable work ethic. And when other high school aged students were going to movies and going to football games and going to the prom, Harrison was working out. And I really believe that Doug saw in Harrison a guy that he wanted to emulate and saw the improvement and said, you know what, I think that I now know what it takes. He could listen to his dad and his high school coach, but when you see it in Harrison, the improvement he made each year of high school because of his work ethic; it was certainly impactful for Doug.”

 

 

If you believe in MKG because of his work ethic you should believe in Barnes too.

 

 

 

 

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