CHAPEL HILL, NC — It's gotta be the shoes, right?
Harrison Barnes is all for bringing awareness to breast cancer and any kind of
cancer. But he's also a basketball player, and by halftime of North Carolina's
93-81 drubbing of visiting Georgia Tech on Sunday evening, Barnes ditched his
pink foot wear for the more standard Carolina blue look.
UNC wore pinks shoes to raise consciousness to breast cancer while coaches
around the country wore sneakers this weekend to bring awareness to cancer, in
general. Barnes likes Carolina's pink look, but they just weren't happening.
"It's all in the shoes," Barnes said, having some fun. "As one
guy used to say, 'It's all in the shoes, it's all in the shoes.'"
The 6-foot-8 small forward scored 11 points in the first half, but they were
messy points. He missed half of his eight field-goal attempts on ill-advised
attempts, most of which were in the lane and while he looked disproportionately
contorted. It was almost as if Barnes didn't have the explosion that normally
accompanies — and enhances — his sometimes-breathtaking game.
"Every time he attacked the basket in the first half it was a bad
play," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "He made one circus shot, and to
go back and look he was 4-for-8 and one circus shot he made and the other three
were wide open. Weren't very good decisions."
So Barnes changed his kicks at halftime.
Actually, he decided before the game he'd make the switch at the intermission
because he didn't find the new shoes comfortable. He did a half for cancer,
then it was back to the Kobes.
Point guard Kendall Marshall said all of the players are superstitious, with
Williams clearly the head of the pack. Marshall acknowledged Barnes is quite
superstitious, though, but wouldn't elaborate, citing locker room code for keeping
quiet.
But Barnes didn't mind sharing some of his superstitions.
He eats the same pregame meal regardless of when the game starts.
"I always eat mashed potatoes, rice, spaghetti, chicken and steak,"
he said. "Two pieces of chicken, one piece of steak, (and the) steak's
cooked medium.
"I like to spread it out, mix a little apple juice in there."
Anything else?
He takes a nap and listens to John Legend after his pregame meal. "It
relaxes me, calms my nerves," he acknowledged.
Barnes is generally a soft-spoken young man. He isn't long-winded by any
stretch, and is usually thoughtful. Respectful, but guarded is another way of
describing him. So that he revealed as much about his pregame ritual must mean
he was feeling pretty good about things.
And why not?
Barnes has scored at least 20 points in half of No. 7 UNC's last eight games
and is averaging 19 points per contest in that stretch. Given that he totaled
just six points in a blowout of Miami indicates how well he's playing. More
than just scoring, Barnes is beginning to come out of his shell on the court,
too.
A new on-court personality is evolving. He's become more demonstrative when he
dunks, even taking the time to look down an opponent from time to time. Barnes
even did that after draining a 3-pointer against NC State last Thursday and a
couple of times Sunday.
"He's more intense than a lot of people realize," senior center Tyler
Zeller said. "And he's really competitive."
Barnes scored 12 points after the break and would have tallied more had the
game not been so far out of hand. Plus, the manner he scored indicates quite
clearly that there's no way he will don the pink shoes any time
soon.
Barnes plans on sticking with his routine off the court, in preparing for
games, and what he wears on his feet during games. Carolina fans probably don't
mind one bit so long as he keeps producing, too.
