Every so often, Ol' Roy Williams has to tee off on Duke and Coach K. It may be in his contract for all we know. Latest example:
âI went to freaking Ames, Iowa, 11 times and his (rear end) went twice. Donât tell me I'm not going to go head-to-head.â
Aside from the grating noise you're now hearing from Central Iowa ("What do you mean that slick country boy wasn't sincere when he said he loved our town?"), look at what he got for his freaking 11 trips to Iowa: a vastly overrated forward who can't function without a point guard, as some people learned, belatedly, after Kendall Marshall's injury during the NCAA Tournament. Barnes shot 8-30 and 2-14 from three point range after Marshall went out for 26.6% and 14.3% respectively.
Check out these NBA scout's quotes from SI.com:
- "He's going to be a legitimate NBA scorer, but he's a catch-and-shoot guy. He needs to play with a really good point guard so he can get free looks."
- "I think his lack of creativity and ability to create his own shot were exposed. He's going to be a solid player at the next level, but I think he has limited upside."
You'd think after 11 trips to "freaking Ames, Iowa" that Williams would have noticed some of the deficiencies in his game.
Then, the man who impresses himself with his own loyalty to his players topped it all off by saying this about his recruitment of the Wear twins:
"It was one of the dumbest things Iâve ever done, because I needed two post players and all of a sudden I get a phone call from the Wear family."
You know, when you factor in how Barnes turned out, the Wear twins and then Larry Drew II, he's done a lot of dumb things lately.
On the other hand he has helped fill the UCLA roster with subs, so that's something.
By the way, check out the table in the SI article about how Barnes played with and without Marshall. Most of it makes perfect sense, but his rebounding dipped by 1.5 without Marshall, which is kind of odd, since rebounding is really an exercise in hard work and desire.
Oh, wait, maybe we answered our own question.
By the way, in case UNC ever seriously considers cutting down the nets in Cameron again, may we just suggest that the baskets go up before they can do it?