WizarDynasty wrote:I am going to keep hammering away at this point. As a basketball player, Barnes is the best offensive player in this draft by a wide margin at the small forward position. All you need to do is compare singleton's offensive game to Barnes. Barnes absolutely destroy MKG playing in a half court playoff style basketball and that's what the wizards need. Secondly, its very difficult to find a small forward with a high basketball IQ who also cares about playing defense. Barnes absolutely destroys marcus morris and markief morris in terms of his offensive half court basketball abilities. You can actually designed an offense around Barnes. The guy is extremely competitive and doesn't back down even from guys twice his size.
MKG is scrappy player but I wizards need a two way three point shooting small forward in the worst way possible. Just think of Singleton and how many opportunities he gets with wall and now imagine if Barnes was in his place for the next ten years. We will not find a player of Barnes ability in free agency because the guy is mentally going to get better and better and better. AGain Wall needs a big scoring small forward with miss match potential who has heart and has proven that he has what it takes to carry a team offensively. I don't see any other players in the top ten that can carry a team offensively. I see alot role players who take shots in wide open situation on catch and shoots but not a player who has been forced to evolve his game to actually carry a power house college team like North Carolina. Barnes is extremely advanced in terms of being forced to evolve his game beyond what he is good at. If he is there are 3, i have no doubt he will be our pick and be cornerstone of our new high iq with great size for his position and our most needed position---and hardest position to fill...a three point threat, highly refined half court game, great perimeter defender small forward.
We have never in the last twenty years, had this type of player and its a huge reason why the wizards have been bottom dweller scum of the earth for so long. We had Butler for a stretch of the season before he re-injured his knee where we thought we had this type of player at the small forward spot. He had injury issues with his knees from his college days so everyone knew anything from Butler wouldn't last for years years and years and it turned out to be true. From all accounts, Barnes has no injury history with his knees and finally getting a future all star who is a refined offensive player at the small forward position for wall, Nene and probably once of hardest things to gain and finally we have our decade long allstar small forward. I even begin to think
who in the east has a young refined offensive small forward who also plays great defense--pierce is in his final days, joe johnson is starting to break down. Barnes main competition will be danny granger and carmelo anthony in the future. Ultimately the wizards will have a tremendous advantage each night at the small forward position and it will be hard for teams find players that can match up with barnes iq and refined offensive game.
I don't see this as the case for MKG, Beal, Davis, PJones, or Lamb. None of these players have a highly refined offensive game and none of these players are going to make the all nba defensive team. If MKG plays a role similiar to what Ronnie Brewer does is great but his lack of offensive half court ability really hurts in the playoffs. CJ watson plays a similar role to Beal. Luol Deng is similar to Barnes except Deng is a great three point shooter or good at creating space to get off his jump shot and not as good a perimeter defender. I think that Davis could play a similar role to noah except davis has absolulety no shot blocking ability compared to noah.
Barnes isn't viewed by any scouts this way anywhere. Maybe three years ago he was viewed as you viewed him, but he's been found out, playing largely unimpressive basketball for 2 years on a loaded team that needed him to contribute a hellvalot more.
You may be telling us something, but nobody anywhere agrees with your perception of Barnes. I think the last of the holdouts jumped off that train a few months ago when he consistently came up short time and again and again and again and again when it mattered most.
He isn't the things you think he was. If he was, he would have showed it at some point, with some modicum of consistency. Unfortunately the only consistency was in him not showing it all. Believe me, I'd love it, if he was who you thought he was, because he'd be well worth the pick and if nothing else, would push down a player I like a little more to us post-lottery if we were to be screwed in the lottery. Instead, he has tumbled down the boards and won't push anyone down to us because he's dropped outside our likely slot zone. He never carried squat. That team was carried by Tyler Zeller, John Henson, and then Kendall Marshall. After that, maybe Barnes, but as McAdoo showed down the stretch, even the young, short on minutes McAdoo, when given a shot, also played vastly better than Barnes. All of these guys carried Barnes, not vice verca. I have no idea. NO IDEA. what you were watching. But it certainly wasn't what was happening on the court. Maybe what was happening on his high school team several years ago, but not what was happening on the Tar Heels. It would not be unfair to say that he totally blew down the stretch when first Henson, and then Marshall went down and UNC needed him most. He played miserably down the stretch, and Zeller, and an injured Henson were forced to pick up the pieces and carry him as he folded under the pressure. Why on earth do you think he's plummeted from consideration at the 1-3 slot pre 2011-2012, to outside the top 10 on some draft boards, and generally 7-12 on most?
He isn't. And there's no evidence to support that he ever will be (though who knows, maybe he'll belie expectations and be the ultimate late bloomer after being found out in college, I just won't hold my breath).
The shots you want are at the rim or from the 3pt line. 34.5% from 3pt range suggests something like 38-40% on longer 2s, which would be adequate -- especially since it's a shot you don't want anyway.
