On Roy Williams' Rant About Harrison Barnes

After the Illinois game, Twitter was abuzz about Roy Williams going off in the post-game interview about the media's treatment of Harrison Barnes. I didn't get around to listening to the audio, and the reports didn't make it out to be that big of a deal. But the guy who actually asked the question posted the entire rant, so I gave it a look.

Williams come off much better than he does in the N&O's shortened version. He's really only ticked off about ESPN's graphic declaring him 1,175th in shooting percentage, which was an incredibly lousy thing to do. Especially since, as Barnes-suporters everywhere pointed out, they did so as backlash to the hype they themselves ginned up to begin with.

This is what I find so inexplicable about the recent UNC coverage. Jimmy Dykes spent most of the Illinois game loudly declaiming to everyone watching that the Heels had no business being ranked 10th in the preseason. Which, you know, most UNC fans said at the time. I've joked that Carolina has to be the first team in history to make it to tenth in the polls without a single vote; because with the amount of vituperation directed towards that ranking by the media, obviously none of them cast a vote for the Heels.

So yes, Harrison Barnes hasn't taken the world by storm. Most freshmen don't. Of course, now ESPN has Roy Williams to talk about, which will feed the media maw for another few days. Interestingly enough, I'd had people complain to me that Williams seemed more willing to blame the players this season; this has put an end to that as well. Maybe there's method to the ranting after all.