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 Julius Barnes |
Mike Lin (Berkeley, CA)
Julius, how has the college experience been for you outside ofbasketball? Was the transition from high school to college tough? Anymemorable moments?
Julius Barnes: It has been tough. Not as tough as I thought it would be, but it's a lot ofreading. Especially when you're on the road, and you're on those longflights and most of the time you say you're going to do some work whenyou're on the plane but you end up falling asleep. It's been tough but I'mtrying to get through. So far, so good. Just looking forward to things tocome. Memorable moments? I don't think I've had any so far. I know so fareverybody's talking about that one play against USC. It was just somethinginstinctual. Hopefully the crowd liked it. They got on their feet. Thatprobably is my most memorable moment to date.
Minju Chang (Pasadena, CA)
What is your favorite basketball move that you like to do the most? Who doyou pattern your basketball game after? Do you like Grant Hill?
Julius Barnes: I think my favorite move is the around-the-back. Guys try to overplay youone way and they really don't expect you to go behind your back, so thatwould probably have to be my favorite move. Who do I pattern my game after?I'd have to say a little bit of Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Bird, Magic,those guys. Not too many of the new-era players, but most of thoseold-school '80s guys. Grant Hill, yeah, I think he's a really goodall-around player. I'm not too fond of him, but I think he's a really goodall-around player.
Ken Carlson (Concord, CA)
Julius, I have been impressed by your play the couple outings you have hadthis past year. I was just wondering what have you learned from MikeMcDonald this past year on and off the court? I'm a big Stanford fan and Iwish you all the best in carrying the Stanford Basketball team in thefuture.
Julius Barnes: I've learned a lot so far. The transition in the beginning was kind of hardbecause I'm so used to scoring. I had to score in high school. A lot ofpeople thought I played the 2 in high school but I actually played the 1. Ijust scored more than the usual 1 does. Mike's taught me a lot on the courtand off the court. He's a quiet leader for us. Hopefully when he's gone andwhen I step in I can be a little bit more vocal than Mike, but he carrieshimself really well on the court, off the court. Always says, "Yes, Sir,""Yes, Ma'am." You learn a lot from guys like that.
Yan Yu (Fremont, CA)
Hey Julius, the few times that I have seen you play this year, it seemslike you have some really nice moves. Would you leave school early if youhad the opportunity? If you stay to get your degree, what area of interestwould you plan to study?
Julius Barnes: I think the only way I would leave early is if I was projected in the topfive. Other than that I don't see myself leaving early. Depending on thecircumstances, I think I'll be here for all four years, and I'm reallylooking forward to it. That's the reason for coming here. I felt if I wasgoing to leave early I would have gone to another school, possibly Arizonaor Duke. But here, it's all four years because you can't get a bettereducation than this. So I'm going to stick it out all four years, andhopefully bring some championship banners into here. I'm looking forward togoing into probably comm -- communications -- or possibly sociology. One ofthose two.
Daniel Yen (Berkeley, CA)
What areas of your game have you improved since coming to Stanford?
Julius Barnes: I think the mental aspect, competing with older guys, (getting) strongerphysically and mentally, quicker, things like that. Before I felt that inorder for me to be happy as a person on the court I had to score as well asget the team involved. But now it's kind of like I'm looking forward togetting the team involved more than looking to shoot first, kind of likethe attitude that Mike has, and hopefully when it's my turn to step intothe spotlight things may go like Brevin and Art, depending on what coachwants and what he needs and what we need as a team. It's been a wonderfulexperience just learning from these guys. I never thought I'd be here, butI'm just happy to be here.
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