Was it too many brewskis or did Will Barton play more under control(for him) then we have ever seen? He was making the extra pass, I liked what I saw.
Will "the Chill" Barton definitely dialed it back, as we saw in pre-season. He's probably trying to not look like a chump in any minute he gets.
I noticed it too. Was kinda shocked he was playing point. But he seemed to want to make the most of his early minutes and did a fair job.
Under control, good decision making and played 7 minutes without taking a shot. Usually that is enough time for 'The Thrill' to get up 5-8 shots but 'The Chill' played it cool, grabbed a couple of rebounds, dished out an assist and was a +6 in his time on the court. That is the 'good' Will.
I thought he played well. He was aggressive,and there were a few times where he pushed it up the floor, (Which was good) and then made the quick pass and I had to hold my breath. I see he had 1 TO but I don't recall it. He hit the boards and he played solid D. The fact that he did all this without taking a shot was kind of nice, because it is hard for young players to come into the game cold and make their first shot. My one complaint with the bench last night was when TRob was passed the ball towards the end of the shot clock while he out on the perimeter. He plays the same position as LMA, but he is not the same type of player. That has to be addressed.
Seeing Will push the ball under control like that, and seeing that Stotts has trusted him at the PG spot makes me think a bench combo of Will/CJ might work really well. Barton needs to continue to mature, but he has a feel for the offense that can't be taught. His handles looked good too. It would be great if he could help run the point when CJ is in the game and then they could switch on D if needed. I really hope they hold onto Barton. I think he could end up being a really good player in another year.
The combo of Barton and CJ would be nice. (Maybe next year?) The potential is there, he just needs to keep working hard to improve. Tough with out playing time though, but unless there is an injury he will just have to be patient.
The problem I see is Will's value to the team is his scoring. I don't want to see him taking those circus shots, but he has to find a way to get a good shots up while he is in. He might get an assist or rebound here or there, but won't be making much of an impact if he isn't scoring some.
With Mo's suspension, it was a mild surprise, and implied criticism, that Stotts completely changed the rotation order so as to play Earl Watson over Barton. The coaches probably told Barton he'd lose the game for us if he played normally, so he got serious for once. Barton and Leonard have many of the same adolescent faults.
Small doses probably mask his deficiencies. I doubt we'll see if he's really learned to play under control unless he got pressed into a larger role.
Not sure I agree on this one. Leonard is pretty clueless as to where to be on the court. Barton has a good flow of where to be, just tries to do too much at times. Barton only needs some seasoning.
Brewskis. He didn't handle the ball much, and then there's the "pass me the ball while I am standing out of bounds" thing. That happened.
Baton isn't a PG. When Dame needs to rest, would we really prefer Barton handling the ball ahead of Watson? I could not have been surprised, even if Watson came onto the court with an arm sling.
