An aggravated Williams condemned the criticism Barnes has received for his woeful 33.8 percent shooting through seven games, singling out ESPN in particular for hyping the McDonald's All-American and then tearing him down for not meeting expectations.
"After the first game we play, and he had [several] turnovers, and ESPN does a special on how great he is," Williams told reporters. "And then ESPN did something to me that was very embarrassing to me [Tuesday] -- put up that the 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.' That's sick. If you've got enough [gumption] to make somebody a big hero like that, admit that you were wrong, and stop picking on a kid."
It's certainly true that early hype can put undue pressure on a top prospect and expose him to backlash when he struggles, but ESPN is hardly the lone culprit in the case of Barnes. In fact, Williams is as much to blame as any media outlet for building up the legend of Harrison Barnes before he played his first college game.
In Williams' first public comments after Barnes signed with North Carolina last year, the coach called his star recruit "a big-time player," adding "It's like Coach (Dean) Smith would say about Tiger Woods -- he's got the total package." Then in a preseason interview with the Raleigh News & Observer in August, Williams compared Barnes to former national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.
"He is the high school version of Tyler in some ways, because he's the most focused high school player I've ever recruited, the most disciplined high school player I've ever recruited," Williams said. "Tyler was that way and took it to another two or three levels after he got here."
Instead of making a spectacle out of the criticism Barnes has received, Williams might have been wise to ignore it and move on. Barnes is the most decorated player on one of the nation's most celebrated programs, so Williams should know that praise and put-downs come with the territory.
What Williams should be focusing his attention on is how to get more consistent production out of Barnes.
In North Carolina's three losses this season, Barnes has shot 6 of 33 from the field including Tuesday night's quiet eight-point performance on 2-of-9 shooting against Illinois. Sometimes he's looked passive. Other times he's settled for jump shots. So far he hasn't shown the dominant streak we've seen from the likes of Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Durant in previous years or Kentucky's Terrence Jones and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger this season.
To his credit, Barnes has handled the criticism he's received with the utmost class, telling WRAL on Tuesday night that "Everyone's entitled to their opinions."
Perhaps his coach should take that sentiment to heart.
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