Mizerooskie wrote:The thing is, MKG doesn't influence everything. He doesn't create opportunities for his teammates through his passing, he doesn't create any space with his outside shooting. Again, he's a slasher that rebounds, but he doesn't score all that much, and gets to the line less than Barnes.
And frankly, I have no idea where anything negative about Harrison Barnes' mental makeup would come from, at all. He's an incredibly consistent scorer who's come up big in big games. He's not even in the same stratosphere as PJ3 in the mental aspect. The fact that you group the two together indicates to me that you don't know much about Barnes.
I'd also like to point out that despite looking 'horrible' for stretches last year, Barnes still scored more, and shot (significantly) better than MKG has this year.
Ugh, never post when you're busy, i didn't explain myself well, though I tried to in the parenthesis. My point about Barnes mental make up, isn't that he's an AJ Burnett, or a Derrick Coleman, it's that he doesn't do much of anything to suggest he will have an impact at the next level as anything other than, as other guys have put it, a volume scorer, and even there he's a borderline passive entity that doesnt enforce his will consistently on games, he appears, and disappears at will, it's why in viewings so many people come away thinking game to game, he's the 2nd or 3rd most influential option on UNC, when he should be the #1. He's simply not a guy who will be a dominating force on the next level, the best you can hope for is a complementary force, a nice piece, but at best, a third or fourth option on a good or very good team. In a season where we are going to stink up the joint to the tune of a .150 to .225 winning percentage and probably a record that would project to 18-20 wins in a full season you need to land more in the draft than that @2 (and I'd argue at any slot in the top 5 of this draft).
As Dat said, as a freshman MKG hit the ground running blowing people away with his intensity, his motor, his influence, and his impact on all areas of the court, I'll grant, except shooting well, which is Barnes strong suit. I feel much much much more comfortable betting on MKG being a great player, and settling for a good player if that's all he can be, than betting on the much lower ceiling of Barnes. Even if MKG never develops much more on the offensive end, he will still be a force at the next level and will be hugely influential on both ends of the court. Barnes will always be limited at the next level, and while he'll be a plug and play piece that we can count on from day one (and if we got screwed in the lotto and ended up at 5-7, I would certainly take him without grimacing at that point), he definitely does not appear to be a guy that will ever be a dominant force at the next level. That's just not good enough for me period. Not good enough at 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5. I'd even be inclined to take Beal over him as Beal is a fantastic shooter as well, and unlike Barnes, projects to have a potentially high ceiling, and has a more complete game in my view, even if he hasn't had a fantastic freshmen season and is a little short for my comfort.
Honestly, if the choice if we were at #2 is Barnes, 10 times out of 10, I'd work my arse off to swing a deal with a team with two picks like Charlotte (if they got screwed in the lottery, or Utah if they end up having both picks) or another team, and simply take a big with one, and a shooter with the other, with guys like Doron and J. Lamb, and Beal, there is NO reason to waste a top 2 pick on Barnes when you could trade down and get a guy with potentially a better future, and add a big with potential to boot (a Moultrie, Leonard, Zeller (not interested personally, but I know some are), Sully, or Henson etc).
