Media Day Press Conference: Harrison Barnes

 

Several people have been asking when the Media Day interviews will be released so here’s a brief transcript of the main points each member touched on.

 

 

Harrison Barnes spoke on a lot of different topics surrounding his first season with the Mavericks. First off he talked about accepting his new role on a new team:

 

“I’m really excited for this season, you know there will be bigger expectations, a larger role on this team. The biggest thing I’ve learned in my four years of being in this league is, winning is the highest priority… Hopefully we can all come together and do something special”

 

 

When asked about Coach Carlisle he revealed that Coach actually came out to Ames, Iowa (where Barnes is from) and spent a lot of the summer with him:

 

“Coach has been great, he came out to Ames, Iowa, spent some time with me there. That’s something that I’ve never seen anyone do, so that let me know that he was different.”

 

 

When asked why he chose Dallas instead of a team “on paper closer to title contention” (reporters words), Harrison responded with high praise for this squad:

 

I like this locker room, there’s a lot of high character guys… Coach Carlisle in my opinion is one of the best coaches in the NBA. He always puts his guys in good positions. You look at guys have come here and gotten better throughout the years. Then, like I said, learn from a guy named Dirk. He’s pretty much built this place.”

 

 

 

Then he was asked about playing the 4 (power forward) and answered it directly:

 

“I’ll probably play a lot of 4, everyone has a small ball lineup, Dirk to 5 or Dwight is the 5, Justin is the 3, what it may be”

 

“The biggest difference [between playing 3 and 4] is just, your responsibility defensively. As the 3, as the small forward, you’re able to roam a little bit, but you mostly lock into your man while as the 4 you’re call out a lot of pick and roll coverages. Rebounding wise, you know, that responsibility falls more on you. You have to just be smart and, you know, you are the rim protection. You are the last line of defense, there’s not someone behind you that will cover up for you.”

 

 

Finally, he was asked about his ball handling skills, which have been in question, and answered politically:

 

“If my number is called, I’ll definitely do it. Coach is very meticulous with the details and it’s all about preparation. So I have to go through a lot of checks and balances before I get that privilege, for sure, so we’ll see.”

 

 

Overall Harrison seemed excited (as excited as he can seem) to start this season with the Mavericks and be in an environment where they stress player development. He’s going to be asked to do more this season but if he has worked as hard as people have claimed then he should be in good shape to try and take on the challenge.