North Carolina Coach Roy Williams calls press "hypocritical"

[tornado]

http://www.thesportsbank.net/illinois-illini/uncs-roy-williams-calls-out-espns-hyprocritical-coverage-of-harrison-barnes/

Kudos for Roy taking a strong but probably media-unpopular stance to defend his kid, Harrison Barnes...especially hitting on ESPN...

"And I get sick and I don??™t mean to jump on anybody, but after the first game
we play, and he had six turnovers or four turnovers or something like that,
and ESPN does a special on how great he is. And then he struggled a little bit
and ESPN did something to me that was very embarrassing to me today ??“ put
up that that a kid??™s 1,175 in field-goal percentage in the country; that??™s just
ridiculous. And then somebody says, ???Well, if he hadn??™t have gone 0-for 12 against Minnesota, I??™m sure he??™d be in the top 1,000.??™"

and even our local press chimed in...and are extremely candid...

"Our business has some people with no common sense or shame. It is
ludicrous ??” absolutely ludicrous ??” to declare (unilaterally, or by vote) a
freshman the best player in college basketball before he plays even one
game. Heck, it??™s ludicrous ??” and I might as well add stupid, too ??” to make
the same player a preseason all-American. But that??™s what happened to
North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes. Now, I think Barnes is going to be a
heck of a player, and it??™s more likely than not that he??™ll be really good this
season. But anointing him before his first game is insane. And then, because
he??™s off to a sluggish start to his debut college season, he??™s held up for
ridicule by some of the same media people who were over-hyping him in the
first place. His coach, Roy Williams, had it right the other night. ???Sick???
and ???ridiculous,??? Williams called this media behavior."

The same blogger says...
"How much more can go wrong for Bradley basketball?
..The Braves have had a ridiculous number of their best players miss
extended playing time over the past nine years. That??™s a reason for losing
some games that otherwise might have been won."

so there...CASE CLOSED.... we can legally use injuries as an excuse...

[lefty]

I've always liked Roy Williams....I'm glad he took a stand for Barnes

[BradleyBrave]

He must have been referring to the PJ Star.

[amckillip]

I've always liked Roy Williams....I'm glad he took a stand for Barnes

I hate Roy Williams. Not for any rational reason. But I agree with you, I like how he took a stand for his player and defended him against the unreasonable hype he was receiving.

[BradleyBrave]

I hate Roy Williams. Not for any rational reason. But I agree with you, I like how he took a stand for his player and defended him against the unreasonable hype he was receiving.

For some reason this made me laugh at my desk. I love irrational hate in sports.

[tornado]

does schadenfreude = hate ?

[shaunguth]

..The Braves have had a ridiculous number of their best players miss
extended playing time over the past nine years.

This is clearly JL's fault!

[BradleyJD]

I've always liked Roy Williams....I'm glad he took a stand for Barnes

I am too. Great to see the coach do that. He's right too.

[AZ BU Fan]

What do people expect?

The 'press' are responsible for NCAA College Basketball generating hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, for Conference hacks, Universities, Athletic Depts, media star COACHES, and some of the players while in school (wink wink), or ultimately in the NBA.

It is an entertainment business. In order to fork over $$$$$ to those involved in College Sports the media must make $$$$$$$$. The media makes their money through circulation and advertising. In an age with almost unlimited communication (tv, radio, paper, internet, teets/twitters/facebook, smartphones) the media is going to create attention....stories will be more sensational, accusations fly overnight, critical analysis is the bread and butter, gambling and fantasy leagues proliferate. Everyone is an expert.

This is the age of reality TV, stories about nothing....is it any wonder college sports reporting has changed?

The media's treatment of college athletics and athletes today is a reflection of today's culture. Protests against the media are quaint, a desire for a kindler gentler time in the past, before BIG MONEY and ENTERTAINMENT took over.

Not saying I agree or disagree, but it is what it is, dollar driven. The media coverage reflects this.

[Braveman]

http://www.thesportsbank.net/illinoi...rrison-barnes/

Kudos for Roy taking a strong but probably media-unpopular stance to defend his kid, Harrison Barnes...especially hitting on ESPN...

"And I get sick and I don??™t mean to jump on anybody, but after the first game
we play, and he had six turnovers or four turnovers or something like that,
and ESPN does a special on how great he is. And then he struggled a little bit
and ESPN did something to me that was very embarrassing to me today ??“ put
up that that a kid??™s 1,175 in field-goal percentage in the country; that??™s just
ridiculous. And then somebody says, ???Well, if he hadn??™t have gone 0-for 12 against Minnesota, I??™m sure he??™d be in the top 1,000.??™"

and even our local press chimed in...and are extremely candid...

"Our business has some people with no common sense or shame. It is
ludicrous ??” absolutely ludicrous ??” to declare (unilaterally, or by vote) a
freshman the best player in college basketball before he plays even one
game. Heck, it??™s ludicrous ??” and I might as well add stupid, too ??” to make
the same player a preseason all-American. But that??™s what happened to
North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes. Now, I think Barnes is going to be a
heck of a player, and it??™s more likely than not that he??™ll be really good this
season. But anointing him before his first game is insane. And then, because
he??™s off to a sluggish start to his debut college season, he??™s held up for
ridicule by some of the same media people who were over-hyping him in the
first place. His coach, Roy Williams, had it right the other night. ???Sick???
and ???ridiculous,??? Williams called this media behavior."

The same blogger says...
"How much more can go wrong for Bradley basketball?
..The Braves have had a ridiculous number of their best players miss
extended playing time over the past nine years. That??™s a reason for losing
some games that otherwise might have been won."

so there...CASE CLOSED.... we can legally use injuries as an excuse...

I am sure it was inadvertent- bu t the blogger had one additional line you left out in relation to Bradley basketball. He ended with this statement....
"It is not, however, an excuse for lack of effort or playing bad fundamental basketball."

[BradleyJD]

I am sure it was inadvertent- bu t the blogger had one additional line you left out in relation to Bradley basketball. He ended with this statement....
"It is not, however, an excuse for lack of effort or playing bad fundamental basketball."

Very true in his last statement. We need to see good, solid bball, no matter who is on the floor.

[BradleyBrave]

This is clearly JL's fault!

Yup. Just like it was Barry's fault at MSU. They should both have lifetime contracts.

[JBinPeoria]

I think Roy is full of it. I didn't hear him complaining about all the undeserved hype of being ranked in the top 10 before the season started, while doing absolutely nothing to earn that ranking. I didn't hear him complaining about all the undeserved hype prior to this phenom choking in their early season games.

And to think that Barnes, Williams and UNC had nothing to do with creating all this hype is very naive. You're talking about a kid that calls an ESPN press conference to announce his decision where he Skypes Roy Williams on national TV to announce his decision.

I just think it is pretty hypoctitical to be whining at this point when you call this much attention to yourself. Nobody from UNC was complaining before the phenom and his team stunk it up in all their major preseason games.

[BradleyJD]

I think Roy is full of it. I didn't hear him complaining about all the undeserved hype of being ranked in the top 10 before the season started, while doing absolutely nothing to earn that ranking.

Actually, Roy has talked about UNC not deserving their preseason rankings each of the past two seasons. He talked about it just last week on ESPN.

[JBinPeoria]

Right...but Roy doesn't start talking about it until after racking up a few embarassing losses to non-ranked teams.