So the question of the day, at least until 4pm, is ‘Where is Harrison Barnes going to go?’. I’ll post that when he announces, but I wanted to post some thoughts on Barnes’ game, the skills which he will take wherever he ends up.
Barnes is built like a SF, but he’s got serious ballhandling ability, is extremely fluid and poised with the ball and can play defense. He’s definitely got the skills to become an NBA 2 guard.I hesitate to say that he would ever play PG in the pros, because moving him there would limit his offensive options and I really don’t know if he’s the type of player to direct an offense. In my mind, he’s an offensive catalyst and unlike a lot of NBA and college ‘big’ guards who carry the ball and push off in order to play the position, Barnes actually can handle the ball, can slash to the hoop and can shoot from outside.
I’ve seen knocks on Barnes ability to create his own shot, but honestly I haven’t seen that as an issue. If anything, I’d like to see how well he can shoot from outside when he’s guarded by better defenders at the collegiate level; his release seems fluid but a tad slow, but that might just be because he makes it look so easy. Time will tell. All in all, he’s got a great game.
