[ChrisCrossParticipant]

 Yes, I know another forum about Harrison Barnes, but the thing I’ve noticed most troubling is his shooting struggles. I can live with him be an average athlete, or not being great at creating his own shot, but he’s really struggled shooting, 5-14 vs Kansas very bad. Considering this is supposed to be the best part of his game, it’s definetly got to hurt him. I know Kendall being out hurts Harrison getting good looks, but still, 5-14 is still bad and not acceptable especially for Barnes. Do you think this is just Barnes going through a rough patch without a pg or do you see this a sign Barnes isn’t a great shooter. If that’s the case, I think this makes Harrison Barnes at best Luol Deng in the nba, which isn’t a bad thing, but Deng isn’t a superstar, and was sort of lucky to be an all-star, and should be the 3rd guy on a championship team. Thoughts?

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

He’s a great shooter that needs a point guard in order to get him his shots and therefore be effective. He tries to do it without him but its hard to replace someone that is so vital to the team’s success. He is good shooter but just like any good shooter, he needs a pure point guard in order to reach his potential and be effective.

[BlazermannParticipant]

I haven’t seen much of Harrison outside of 2or3 games and I noticed his main flaw,, his ball handling and lack in confidence in it, once he masters that flaw I believe it will just open up his game, he needs to carry a handball and run some point in practice and a ton of dribble drills

[MJBrownParticipant]

 I feel like people are afraid to admit that he’s not the prospect that we thought he would be because of how much hype there was for him coming out of high school as well as the fact that he chose Carolina. I don’t consider him to be one of the top 5 best prospects right now. He’s not a great defender, doesn’t rebound all that well from his position, and when his shot is off, he really doesn’t have a whole lot to offer. That’s what I see, and when I compare him to Kidd-Gilchrist, I see a player that won’t have close to the same success at the next level that the latter will have.

[Wejustwin504Participant]

Henson averaged a double double and Zeller damn near did the same. Team led nation in rebounding behind these two guys. Its pretty tough for anyone to get boards with those two cleaning the glass every night.  Barnes improved in every stat this season.   Who would be your top 5?

[MJBrownParticipant]

Personally, I feel like Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, Robinson, PJ3, Drummond, and Brad Beal are all better prospects than Barnes for what they can offer to an NBA team. I’m not saying these are my top 5 picks. I also have a gut feeling about Tony Wroten for Washington who is a freak of an athlete at the PG spot who turns the ball over too much right now. I just don’t see Barnes as a guy with a super high ceiling. He’s not a good enough shooter to be known as a jump shooter, and he’s not a good enough athlete to the consistently get to the tin. He doesn’t guard his position all that well. I can’t give you an NBA comparison right now, but at the end of the day I see him as a 12-14ppg guy over 12+ seasons — and, BTW, I’ve been a huge Tar Heel fan my whole life, so I’m not hating at all, just trying to analyze objectively.

[NashyMingParticipant]

I am not high on Barnes anymore. If a supposed star SG/SF cannot create for himself and plays badly without a good PG.  He won’t be too good in the NBA. 

Most star SG/SF can create shots for themselves in the NBA.  Harrison Barnes had not shown the ability to consistently create.  Without a good PG, he hasn’t played well.  It’s a repeat of his horrible freshman start when the team used Marshall as a backup last year.

I think Harrison Barnes is way too overrated on this site.  I would take Davis, MKG, Robinson, Sullinger, Drummond over him for sure.  I would even consider taking Bradley Beal and Terrence Jones over him.

[rickybobbyParticipant]

 Barnes actually shot good today until the last two minutes when he forced some shots trying to keep UNC in distance when Kansas was pulling away. He was like 5-9 or 5-10 before the span. He was just playing in the flow of the game until that point because everyone was scoring and was involved. But he needs to improve his ballhandling drastically in order for him to take over the last monutes of games unlike today.

I think Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, and John Henson  return to UNC with something to prove next year something like Hansbrough and company and bring the title back to Chapel Hill. Barnes especially have something to prove, Marshall may feel like he cost his team a chance with his injury, and Henson just loves college and another year can take him from potential lottery pick to a sure one with the way he improves every year. 

Also next year team will have an abudance of talent and depth. McDonald and Strickland back from injury, transfer Luke Davis, and a very good four 4 man recruiting class. Thats adding 7 more talented guys to an already talented team and you only lose three guys, one that was really important(Zeller graduation) and two guys that became more important late in the season(Watts graduation) and (Stilman Whites 2yr morman mission). 

If those three return next year team would be the most talented team in the nation by far. And this year NCAA tournament has maded them alot more tougher and will be the main reason i see them staying and likely winning it all if they return.

 

[kanyedabestParticipant]

barnes is just a puss-y, nothin more, nothin less….. he has a very weak handle, his jump shot is streaky at best….. he reminds me of a deer in the headlights at certain times during games, this is a guy who is 6’8 and struggles to create shots against smaller and inferior players, smh he has BUST written all over him…..  #buyerbeware

[JonOatsParticipant]

 If you watched the game at least three of those attempts were taken late in the game when they absolutely had to shoot quickly. Another was a terrible blown foul call against Whithey (that was credited a block) that put the game out of reach. 

I agree he has looked off without Marshall, but the whole UNC offense changes without Kendall on the court. 

I felt like Barnes beat his man off the dribble time and time again throughout the tourney. He just didn’t convert to end the game against Ohio or several times today against KU. 

He still shot 37% from three this year. In the two years at UNC he’s shot 73.8% on free throws. Paul Pierce who I feel like is most similiar to Barnes’ game shot 34.5% from three his junior year and (drum roll) 73.8% on free throws.

They ran similiar type offenses in college (both under Coach Williams). The main difference is the players around them. UNC has Zeller, who was basically unstoppable this year, to share touches and who takes up room on the block along with Henson. They have 6 NBA first round picks that will be taken in the next to drafts so the wealth is spread around a little more than Pierce who had Raef LaFrentz with him. 

[Future_Scout]

 so now everyone is a terrence jones fan a barnes hater? i don’t know what barnes y’all were seeing before that made you change your mind so drastically… i posted before… "perhaps UNC lacks a go-to scorer" and got mad negs… he’s never been able to be that guy that can consistently create off the dribble or that guy that’s going to be looking to create for others, mainly because of his handles. he is very strong and to clarify things he’s not slow and can attack the basket if given the open lane (which he can’t create for himself)

like youngdave said, it’s hard to get that many rebounds when you share the frontcourt with zeller and henson… not to mention unc up-tempo offense which relies on barnes to get in shooting position early. also having marshall as the pg could’ve hurt his ability to look for his teammates and maybe even his handles…

he will be a good scorer but like underkanter said (idk why he got negged, cuss its true) he will need someone to create for him, either a PG or a big man that he could play inside-out with. he has tremendous soft touch off the dribble he just has trouble to get open

[JonOatsParticipant]

 On a related note, I’m watching Reggie Miller on the 30 for 30 putting up brick after brick in the classic game against the Knicks. Even great shooters have off nights…even in big games.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I Believe Barnes struggling the pass 2 games without Marshall might hurt his draft stock…

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

Barnes is an incredibly cerebral player, and by all accounts a very hard worker. He will never be an elite athlete, or have elite handles. But I still think he will be a really good player for a long time. The guy that said bust is a clown. Barnes is a really good defender, a pretty solid rebounder (despite what his numbers say), and his offensive game is good. If he improves his handles then the biggest hole is his game is patched up. He will always be a shooter first, but he has a solid post up game, good one dribble pull up, and in an NBA offense, he will be coming off alot more screens then he does now because UNC uses their bigs as iso scorers alot more than most NBA teams.

[r377Participant]

Barnes might be only slightly better than marvin williams.  He aint gonna be a 20ppg all-star

[ggyyParticipant]

 Besides his lack of leadership or aggression, one thing that bothers me a lot is I don’t get why people always say he has a good body control. Because he does not! In fact, this is something that hurts him the most. Yes, he does have a great turn-around nd pull-up jump shot. But when you see him dribbling or doing lay-ups, you can clearly see his moves appear more robotic compare to other perimeter players. 

I personally think he did too much strength training but forgot to increase his body coordination and flexibility (especially when there are bunch people kept telling him "you are good at this"). This limited his ability to do many moves and have a soft touch on shooting. 

Mentally, he is a lot like Perry Jones, who is afraid of being the leader of the team even though they should. But at least he act much more aggresively on defense. My best suggestion for him will be staying in UNC for one more year to develope his skill and confidence in game. Being humble while learning is good, but he needs to learn how to take control over the game w/ and w/o Kendall because he has the ability to, otherwise I think people will eat him alive in NBA regardless of their acutally ability.

[DondiJohnParticipant]

He might even fall below top 5 depending on the lottery selection. Davis, Drummond, MKG, Robinson and Lamb. Those are the 5 players I’d select before him. I was a big fan of him since Day 1. I still recall him giving a press conference regarding his College selection but now I’m having doubts whether if he can succeed (All Star like) in the NBA.

I strongly agree with everyone saying that he has ball handling and leadership issues. With the injury to Marshall and Henson, I expected him to stand up and take the lead, but hell no, he just stayed passive took jumpshot after jumpshot because he has little confidence on his drive game. I know he’s a shooter/scorer but when your cold, be more aggresive attacking the rim to create more opportunities especially via the foul shot line. I thought he should have demanded the ball more often especially if Zeller is out of the court.

He’s currently compared to Glen Rice (good comparison). IMO, he should stay for another year to hone his skills more but the temptation of being in the NBA is too good to pass on.

[rwd5035Participant]

Barnes has stepped up in big moments, but yesterday he failed too. I’m not sure what the deal was, but he never really seemed to get going. He’s got all of the tools, but he just didn’t apply them yesterday. He would make great athletic moves, and miss layups, and open jumpers. You could tell he missed Marshall, but I think he’s also missed McDonald’s ability to hit 3s and spread the floor for him this year.

Tough game for the Heels. They were better than Kansas if all of their players are healthy, but that’s the way the ball rolls sometimes.

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

Of everyone, Barnes has reminded me most of Danny Granger.  That’s very good, but is it worth top 5 status?

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

Yeah. I think if you can get a guy who compares favorable to Danny Granger/Luol Deng you definitly take him in the top 5.

Some people have overrated Barnes to the point now where he is almost underrated. The guy didnt live up to his HS hype…join the club. That doesnt mean he still isnt better then every other wing player in this draft.

[khaled_a_dParticipant]

Someone posted this article on twitter about him,I like it even though he was somewhat harsh on the kid http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7737280/harrison-barnes-two-years-north-carolina-tar-heels

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