Johnny Firpo wrote:He'll come back to earth, I wish he didn't, but it's inevitable. If he couldn't show consistency with the Warriors shooting wide open shots, there is no way he will keep making contested ones at this rate. Sorry, just being realistic. It was obvious that he wasn't going to be as bad as he was during the preseason, but it is just as obvious that he is not this good.
I saw some stuff in him vs. the Rox that I didn't see before in GS. Namely, that was actually calling for the ball and initiating some of the offense down the stretch. The game was a little bit out of reach at that point for the Mavs, but still good on Barnes. I liked his attitude and body language on the floor, forgetting about the stats. He looked like he was really competing out there as opposed to just showing up every now and then to hit a shot.
A couple post ups still looked like old Barnes where he tried to get around a smaller guy and couldn't, but there were also a couple good moves as well and I think he scored on Ariza on consecutive trips down the floor.
Good start for Barnes overall. The big obstacle to note right now is that he did most of his damage offensively at PF, which has always been the case. He works much better offensively as a small ball PF, but it's not something you want him doing for 30 mins a night. He has to still be efficient and productive at SF, which is something he just didn't do enough well enough in GS.
But as a Barnes critic, props to him for his start. Forget the stats, I liked his body language and how he looked like he was really engaged and competing out there. I think I saw sweat on his face for the first time ever, LOL.