Sure, at the time it seemed innocent enough. He's a solid defender and 3-point shooter, and as Kobe Bryant can attest, he gives the Magic a little bit of a needed edge. I respect Dwight Howard put he doesn't exactly have a tough guy persona.
I actually liked Matt Barnes enough to add him to my fantasy team during my championship game. I was especially impressed with his ability to go a clean looking UCLA bruin to someone who covered his upper body in tattoos. I remember the first time I saw Barnes resurface in the NBA after a few non-distinct years, I had to do a double-take and a "Wait? That's the same guy."
Ultimately though, Barnes and the Magic played 4 games last week and that's why Barnes warranted a spot on my team for the most important week of the season.
That's when it all started going terribly wrong. Barnes averaged just over 3 points a game during the week and struggled shooting the ball. Then Sunday I think the frustration set in over his terrible week and Barnes decided it was a good idea to get tossed from the game.
What you have to understand is that our league includes ejections as a category and this ejection put what was once a blowout matchup into some serious question. It's a silly category, but one that was included in anticipation of something like this. The incredible amount of frustration that comes when one of your players gets tossed at an important time. I never considered that it would happen to me, and with a player who had only been on my team for a week.
In a way I probably deserved it for trying to force 4 worthless games out of a journeyman NBA player. And thankfully for Mr. Barnes I did end up winning the championship after all was said and done.
But I put that ejection as the 2nd worst moment in Orlando Magic history. Normally I'd say worst, but even I'll admit that this doesn't surpass Nick Anderson inexplicably losing the ability to shoot a free throw.
I recognize that Matt Barnes may not even be playing for Orlando after this season, but I just can't root for the team after Barnes caused me so much frustration last Sunday. I blame the Magic for putting him in.
The first man to single-handedly eliminate a team.
No comments:
Post a Comment