Harrison Barnes

[Texas Chuck]

Barnes, Wes and Anderson should be the wings we rely on the most so there is enough there to do some serious damage and defend as well as anyone else can.

PG is the real area were we need someone new to step up and I am hoping Curry can be a decent enough add to get in the rotation almost from day one.


Dirk needs some help backing him up but Powell and Acy may not be good enough and if that is the case expect to see Barnes at the 4 more than we would like to see. Dirk is tough though having not really missed a lot of games over the majority of his career so I worry less about him than Deron and Bogut.

I hope and pray we stay health this season so all 3 of our older vets can last throughout the playoffs. Mejri and Hammons need to step up in order to help out during the regular season so we can keep bogut healthy enough for the playoffs while Curry JJB and Harris need to rest Deron enough.

I would expect Barnes to play a ton of 4 and Dirk to play even more 5 this year. We will play a lot of 3 guard lineups with Wes as an undersized 3. I doubt Curry plays much if any point guard when everyone is healthy. I expect he will be used similarly to JET--running a lot of PNR and spotting up for open shots.

[bwgood77]

https://twitter.com/ringer/status/781489995555172358

[Texas Chuck]

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I hope no one in Dallas really thinks Barnes is a star just waiting on his opportunity. If he can be a solid starter that helps bridge us from the Dirk era to the next one, that will be just fine.

[dc]

I hope no one in Dallas really thinks Barnes is a star just waiting on his opportunity. If he can be a solid starter that helps bridge us from the Dirk era to the next one, that will be just fine.

A good, realistic best case scenario would be that he can be about 85% of what Parsons was on offense while being better and more versatile defensively, all while obviously being younger and healthier. At the very least, that would easily justify letting go of Chandler in favor of Barnes.

Prime Michael Finley or Matrix is being unrealistic. If he turned into one of those 2 guys next year, it would probably be the biggest Year 4 -Year 5 leap anyone has ever seen.

[SOUNDCHASER]

[Texas Chuck]

Yeah I'd expect about the same this year unless Anderson just is too bad to handle minutes at the 3. And even then I'll assume Wes slides up again. I just have no faith really at all in any of our backup bigs which means Barnes needs to play most of the backup PF minutes.

[2011Champs]

It's already time to scrap the idea of turning Harrison Barnes into a star. He is what he is and that is a very average SF/PF. He's a good guy to have in the rotation but the bulk of the scoring will need to come from Dirk,Bogut,Matthews and Williams. Barnes is not a 94million dollar player nor should he be expected to instantly turn into a star because of his contract. Barnes really needs to be 7-8th man on this team playing around 20 minutes a game and not put his contract into the equation. I still feel that Anderson, Powell, Acy and Brussino have more upside than Barnes and minutes should be distributed accordingly.

[Dirk]

It's already time to scrap the idea of turning Harrison Barnes into a star. He is what he is and that is a very average SF/PF. He's a good guy to have in the rotation but the bulk of the scoring will need to come from Dirk,Bogut,Matthews and Williams. Barnes is not a 94million dollar player nor should he be expected to instantly turn into a star because of his contract. Barnes really needs to be 7-8th man on this team playing around 20 minutes a game and not put his contract into the equation. I still feel that Anderson, Powell, Acy and Brussino have more upside than Barnes and minutes should be distributed accordingly.

I really don't think anyone in Dallas had in mind turning Barnes into a star or a big point scorer, number one option. He is a max contract guy because of the context of the market. That doesn't mean that he is automatically given this huge role in Dallas where he has to carry the team. We all understand that.

Now... being 7-8th man, that's crazy. He'd have to really struggle to come to that. He started for the Warriors... and they're a super team, you can say he was their 6th or 7th best player if you want, but he played big minutes and was part of the 'death lineup' for them.

He shot the ball terribly and looked bad going 1x1 yesterday, but... we can't overreact to pre-season, whether it's good play or bad play. I basically just expect him to add some athleticism and defense. On offense, to hit the shots that will come his way within the flow of the offsense. I am not expecting him to be dribbling the ball and create his own offense. In essence, he is expected to be a very expensive role player and go from there, with his main impact being on defense. Kind of like a SF/PF version of Matthews.

[OnceUponADime]

I think some may expect stardom from him because of his contract but that is unrealistic. His contract, of course, is based on the market and not so much his potential for stardom.

I think if he can become a similar player to say, Gordon Hayward, then most Mavs will be happy and content with that. Hayward isn't an all star or all NBA or anything but he is a very good starting caliber SF in the league.

[2011Champs]

I'm not convinced that Barnes is even the best SF or backup PF on the team unfortunately. Hopefully that will change but I hate to see better rebounders in Powell and Acy riding the bench along with Justin Anderson just because Dallas feels Barnes contract needs to be rationalized.

[bakesale]

yeah that second game was pretty damning. He's brought along his Finals form to Dallas. He's cursed lol

And it's not just that he's missing. I've seen Klay and Curry shoot poorly but it's never through lack of confidence. When watching Barnes it's that he's severely lacking in confidence in the first place and the more he misses the worse he gets. There's no resiliency, there's no mental strength. I'm not sure he will ever find what he needs to take it to the next level. His talent is limited to the point where it doesn't matter how much he goes to the gym or how hard he works, if you don't have it then you don't have it.

[Dirk]

yeah that second game was pretty damning. He's brought along his Finals form to Dallas. He's cursed lol

And it's not just that he's missing. I've seen Klay and Curry shoot poorly but it's never through lack of confidence. When watching Barnes it's that he's severely lacking in confidence in the first place and the more he misses the worse he gets. There's no resiliency, there's no mental strength. I'm not sure he will ever find what he needs to take it to the next level. His talent is limited to the point where it doesn't matter how much he goes to the gym or how hard he works, if you don't have it then you don't have it.

It's just pre-season... who really cares about pre-season, unless you're talking about guys trying to make the roster?

Give him 10 or 15 regular season games and then see whether he brought his playoff form or not. Commenting now, just makes no sense. Just like if he had scored 25 points, it wouldn't mean much.

[2011Champs]

Yes, it is preseason and a "star" player should be able to own the competition. Dallas paid superstar money to a player that is borderline whether he is even good enough to be a NBA starter. I'd much rather have a guy like Aminu that can rebound. Maybe Barnes will work out just because of the addition by subtraction of Parsons. Barnes will be invisible and not help the team much. If he tries to do too much he will hurt the team.

[dc]

Just a comment about the "intangibles" or "it" factor or ability to "impose his will" about Barnes after watching him for 4 years: He's going to need to flip a switch in this regard to take the next step. Something in him has to change. Maybe more responsibility and more pressure to produce is what needs to get him going; I don't know.

But the main thing that struck me about Barnes after watching him play is that I never got the feeling he ever imposed his will for any stretch of play. Sure, he'd have some moments where he'd make a timely basket and have some good shooting games. But even when he had these types of games, it never felt as though he was ever making the game easier for his teammates or taking pressure off of them. Conversely, it just never felt as if he was putting any additional pressure on the opposing team; didn't feel as though he struck fear in them. Not even when he was having good scoring games. Whenever he'd have a nice scoring game, it felt more like "found money" than a guy who was really impacting the game.

[bakesale]

yeah that second game was pretty damning. He's brought along his Finals form to Dallas. He's cursed lol

And it's not just that he's missing. I've seen Klay and Curry shoot poorly but it's never through lack of confidence. When watching Barnes it's that he's severely lacking in confidence in the first place and the more he misses the worse he gets. There's no resiliency, there's no mental strength. I'm not sure he will ever find what he needs to take it to the next level. His talent is limited to the point where it doesn't matter how much he goes to the gym or how hard he works, if you don't have it then you don't have it.

It's just pre-season... who really cares about pre-season, unless you're talking about guys trying to make the roster?

Give him 10 or 15 regular season games and then see whether he brought his playoff form or not. Commenting now, just makes no sense. Just like if he had scored 25 points, it wouldn't mean much.

You might think I'm giving a knee-jerk reaction except I've followed him his whole career as a Warriors fan. I'm from Australia though so I follow where Bogut goes. I remember having high hopes for Barnes from the very start. And I would always be the first to leap to his defence because I always thought he's young, hard working, high character, athletic etc and kept giving the excuse, oh he's young, give it time and he'll figure it out. I was probably one of the most patient of fans of his. He always showed flashes especially in the Spurs series back in 2013 and I kept saying year after year ok now is his time. Over and over again. Every year I'd stand up for him, every year he'd show a few flashes but never really put it together. After 4 seasons of this I've come to the conclusion that he's not mentally up to the challenge and no matter how hard he works on his handles in the off season and believe me he's had help from everybody with his handles, it never shows out the next season. So, the combination of bad handles and a lack of confidence where he always overthinks things when he's making a move means he'll almost certainly never fulfil his potential.

I don't want to be a downer, I'm not trying to disappoint everyone but I've gone through a lot with him. Bogut still likes him and reckons he'll be a good scorer in this kind of role but I'm not so sure. We'll see, he might increase his scoring a bit but it will likely come at the cost of efficiency.

It's just pre season yes, but this is his chance to shine, when there's no pressure to perform and defence isn't intense yet, he should dominate but doesn't.

I am encouraged by what I see from Wes Matthews though.

[Suka Bongcic]

yeah that second game was pretty damning. He's brought along his Finals form to Dallas. He's cursed lol

And it's not just that he's missing. I've seen Klay and Curry shoot poorly but it's never through lack of confidence. When watching Barnes it's that he's severely lacking in confidence in the first place and the more he misses the worse he gets. There's no resiliency, there's no mental strength. I'm not sure he will ever find what he needs to take it to the next level. His talent is limited to the point where it doesn't matter how much he goes to the gym or how hard he works, if you don't have it then you don't have it.

It's just pre-season... who really cares about pre-season, unless you're talking about guys trying to make the roster?

Give him 10 or 15 regular season games and then see whether he brought his playoff form or not. Commenting now, just makes no sense. Just like if he had scored 25 points, it wouldn't mean much.

You might think I'm giving a knee-jerk reaction except I've followed him his whole career as a Warriors fan. I'm from Australia though so I follow where Bogut goes. I remember having high hopes for Barnes from the very start. And I would always be the first to leap to his defence because I always thought he's young, hard working, high character, athletic etc and kept giving the excuse, oh he's young, give it time and he'll figure it out. I was probably one of the most patient of fans of his. He always showed flashes especially in the Spurs series back in 2013 and I kept saying year after year ok now is his time. Over and over again. Every year I'd stand up for him, every year he'd show a few flashes but never really put it together. After 4 seasons of this I've come to the conclusion that he's not mentally up to the challenge and no matter how hard he works on his handles in the off season and believe me he's had help from everybody with his handles, it never shows out the next season. So, the combination of bad handles and a lack of confidence where he always overthinks things when he's making a move means he'll almost certainly never fulfil his potential.

I don't want to be a downer, I'm not trying to disappoint everyone but I've gone through a lot with him. Bogut still likes him and reckons he'll be a good scorer in this kind of role but I'm not so sure. We'll see, he might increase his scoring a bit but it will likely come at the cost of efficiency.

It's just pre season yes, but this is his chance to shine, when there's no pressure to perform and defence isn't intense yet, he should dominate but doesn't.

I am encouraged by what I see from Wes Matthews though.

Your comment is definitely not a knee jerk reaction. It's spot on. While his handles are his biggest deficiency skill wise, his mental make up is his downfall. No question about it. That being said, he's one of the hardest working players in the NBA. If he can get on a roll maybe his frame of mind will improve. It must if he's going to take his level of play up a notch.

[Lord Cuban]

I know it's preseason but I'm a little concerned to see Barnes still shooting poorly. Holger should work with Barnes...

[Pinkyring]

I dont think anyone has a expectation that he will be any thing other than a low level all star. If he can be 17-7 on solid efficiency I'd be happy, he'd still be grossly overpaid. Just a bad unnecessary signing.

[dc]

I dont think anyone has a expectation that he will be any thing other than a low level all star. If he can be 17-7 on solid efficiency I'd be happy, he'd still be grossly overpaid. Just a bad unnecessary signing.

A low level all-star would be a guy like Michael Finley (2x all star), Sean Elliott (2x), Caron Butler (2x), Josh Howard (1x) or Igoudala (1x). Barnes isn't as good as any of these guys and it should be noted that all these guys at age 24 were better than what Barnes is at 24 right now.

Right now, Barnes isn't better than Rudy Gay, who has NEVER been an all-star and was regularly a 19/6 guy for teams that made the playoffs.

Harrison Barnes has a long way to go before he and the word all-star should ever be mentioned in the same sentence. I like the guy. He's a hard worker and a good guy, but so far that hasn't translated to anything close to being an NBA all-star.

[Mr B]

I think you guys are underestimating him a little. Is he a dominant player? Of course not, but it's not like the guy sucks. I think it's going to take a little bit of time for Carlisle to figure out what he does best. Once he does though we will all see a productive player. At very least as productive as Josh Howard.