Dime Magazine

NO70 2012

Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.

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IN 5 YEARS, HARRISON BARNES WILL BE…MARVIN WILLIAMS Harrison Barnes' future in the NBA is destined to mirror that of former Tar Heel wing players. But no, not Michael Jordan. Not even Jerry Stackhouse or Vince Carter. Unfortunately for Barnes, his career looks to be headed more towards that of Marvin Williams or – even worse – Rashad McCants. Barnes is an interesting case. He ar- rived at North Carolina as the most highly touted first-year player in quite some time, the only freshman to ever be named to the Associated Press preseason All-American team. But as lofty as those expectations may have been, Barnes has been underwhelming in his two years since. Sure, he's had his moments (drop- ping 40 against Clemson in the 2011 ACC Tourney), but they were drowned in a barrage of lackluster, 16-point, 5-rebound, 1-assist performances (his college career averages). Furthermore, his game has seemingly regressed in the face of all the hype. Can you remember a single Harri- son Barnes moment from last season? In fact, in his team's biggest moments – the Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament – Barnes came up noticeably small. Over the course of those five games, he shot a paltry 37 percent from the floor and only 26 percent from beyond the arc. In the squad's narrow Sweet Sixteen overtime victory against the No. 13 seed Ohio Bob- cats, Walter Offutt helped hold Barnes to 12 points on 3-16 shooting and 2-9 from three-point range. "Obviously he's very 41 talented and will continue to get better because of his skill set," says Offutt, who was giving up about five inches to Barnes in their tournament matchup. "But you should be physical with him. I think mentally, we just got in his head a little bit." Barnes followed that effort with only 13 points in the Elite Eight loss to Kansas, going 5-14 from the floor and 0-5 from deep. Harrison Barnes certainly has the body WORDS. JUSTIN WILLIAMS PHOTO. JEFFREY CAMARATI/ UNC ATHLETICS (6-8, 228 pounds), athleticism (38-inch no step vertical leap) and skills to garner a lottery selection in the NBA Draft, but he doesn't appear to possess any of the in- tangibles (overwhelming quickness/speed, length or an insatiable desire to win) that could mask his weaknesses at the highest level of competition. He has the ability to do multiple things on the floor, but isn't great at any of them. He's a 6-8 jump shooter not named Kevin Durant. He clearly under- stands the game, but doesn't seem to have a sense for the "moment." He has yet to prove he can be anything more than a role player. And if he couldn't show it to us in college, why should we believe that we'll see it anytime soon in the NBA?

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