NCAA Basketball: 8 takeaways from first month of 2018-19

1) Why is everyone hating on R.J. Barrett?

Ever since Duke lost to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational, R.J. Barrett has mostly been talked about in a negative light, almost as if he’s a problem for the Blue Devils and not a good player, let alone a great one.

Funny how one game can change everything, huh?

There are a couple of factors to this. First, Barrett was bad at the end of that Gonzaga game. He went full hero ball and failed miserably every time. Secondly, he has gone through inefficient stretches that look worse than they are because he plays with Zion Williamson, who is one of the most efficient players in the country. Zion has been a machine and the most exciting player in the country but, with Barrett having such a high usage rate, he’s become the “selfish guy” keeping the ball away from Williamson.

There’s also this thing we do with all top prospects. It starts with us hearing about how great they are, then the hype train starts rolling, and then we reach the point where we start nitpicking weaknesses and downplaying how great that prospect is. This is where we are in the media cycle with Barrett. Eventually, we get out of that and come to terms with who that player is, as we have with Zion (remember when he was criticized all offseason because he allegedly couldn’t shoot?).

Barrett has given detractors plenty to point to (he is shooting over 20 shots per game) but the guy who came into the year as the consensus No. 1 pick is averaging 23.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on the No. 3 team in the country.

Barrett’s game is not a finished product – he won’t be 19 years old until June – and there are areas he can and should improve upon. But let’s enjoy his greatness instead of trying to pretend he’s some overrated bum.