CBS Sports
A bizarre 72 hours for Michael Carter-Williams. Reports surface suggesting he stole something from Lord & Taylor at the Carousel Mall. Jay Bilas says he’s the best point guard in the nation. Then SU Athletics tweets a happy factoid about MCW’s assist total. What should we believe/care about/question?
First, the story about MCW at the Carousel Mall. The picture is far from convincing. The Big Lead’s story is inconclusive to what happened. Worst case scenario is that MCW had a knucklehead moment and decided to snatch some stuff from a high end department store at the mall. Then SU found out about it and made it go away.
Best case scenario is he bought something, walked through the door, and the thing still had that damn magnetic tag on it, alarm went off, and Lord & Taylor security freaked the (bleep) out, escorting him out of the mall.
Seems weird that if it A) the pic wasn’t MCW or B) nothing happened that the store owners and Carter-Williams wouldn’t have just denied everything. But was it anything to get bent out of shape about? Seems unlikely. It’s been “taken care of,” whatever that consists of. ¬†There’s one of these stories seemingly every year about the hoops team. Some rumor that gains traction on message boards, gets people riled up, then eventually just dissipates like a fart in the air.
Most importantly is his game right now, which is next level. Here was a thought Bilas had on ESPN.com.
“This not a stellar year for point guards, but there are several point guards out there who can play. If I am considering a long-term prospect, and which point guard will best take me into the future, I don’t see a Chris Paul or Deron Williams in this year’s crop. But there is one I believe could be the best of the bunch in time, Syracuse point guard¬†Michael Carter-Williams. He is very good now, as best evidenced by his assist numbers, but Carter-Williams also has the most potential to grow as a player and become truly special.”
MCW has raised his game, and is now the engine pumping this dominant Syracuse offense. It’s a remarkable development from a young man who couldn’t crack the lineup at the end of last year. But with his maturity and play-making, the Orange is a legitimate title contender. That’s the only MCW story that’s really means anything right now.
Posted: D.A.
