Just a few short months ago, many had questioned the decision of former Memphis Tigers star Will “The Thrill” Barton for leaving college after only two years and entering his name into the 2012 NBA Draft. Those questions remained as the prolific scoring guard out of Baltimore slipped into the 2nd Round on Draft night, being selected #40 overall by the Portland Trailblazers.
Although he was once the top rated SG coming out of high school in 2010, and averaged a respectable 12.3ppg and 18 ppg in his 2 seasons at Memphis, earning Conference USA POY in 2012, many were concerned that his rather slight and wiry frame(175lbs) wouldn’t stand up to the much bulkier NBA players at the next level.
But after scoring a ridiculous 72 points in a recent Pro-Am exhibition game against Team Under Armour, made up of NBA players like Brandon Jennings, Derrick Williams, and Kemba Walker, fans and the coaching staff in Portland may be thinking that they may have gotten one of the steals of the Draft.
In the video, the still rather thin Barton regularly torches opposing defenders, as his Team Baltimore squad, including B-More native Josh Selby take it to the more experienced Team Under Armour 124-109, as part of a promotional tour this Summer.
While this doesn’t quite compare to the mythical 105 point game pulled off by former Villanova star Corey Fisher in a Summer League game a few years ago, it’s still is impressive to rack up 72 points in a game, especially with a 40 minute running clock. At least in this case, there’s video proof…….
Check out highlights of Will Barton’s 72 Point game:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
