How dare he? It’s like ripping Ghandi for being too passive. Or calling out Halle Berry for being too beautiful.

But Andre Barrett — now twice bested by Gerry McNamara, most recently in SU’s 83-65 dismantling of Seton Hall at the Carrier Dome last night — dared to question the game of Scranton’s Golden Boy.

‘He knocks down open shots, that’s what we’re supposed to do,’ Barrett said, questioning McNamara’s one-dimensionality. ‘I haven’t seen him play point guard, really. He just hits open shots, like we’re supposed to.’

Down the hall, McNamara, standing as calmly as he does when executing his smooth release, held court while a mob of video cameras, microphones and tape recorders implored him to speak. Finally, when court was dismissed, McNamara stretched his back and, in his typically nonchalant way, answered a few more questions.

He decided, completely unprompted, to praise Barrett.

‘Barrett’s probably the best defensive player I’ve gone up against,’ McNamara said. ‘He was shadowing me the whole night.’

Then he was made aware of Barrett’s remarks.

‘He said that?’ McNamara gasped in disbelief. ‘Well if all I do is hit open shots, then where the hell was he all night?’

Clearly not close enough to cast a shadow on McNamara, who without a shadow of a doubt has established himself as one of the Big East’s best point guards.

Last night, as Barrett pointed out, McNamara nailed the open shots, accounting for 21 points. But Barrett ignored McNamara’s six assists and his defense, which helped limit Seton Hall’s starting guards to 7-of-33 shooting, including 5 of 14 from beyond the 3-point line.

Not everyone on the Pirates’ bench was as blind to the obvious as Barrett.

‘(McNamara’s) one of the better guards in the league,’ SHU head coach Louis Orr said. ‘He’s a good offensive threat, but I’m even more impressed with the way he runs the team. He can hurt you with his shot, but he’s also not going to make many mistakes.’

So far McNamara’s record is flawless. He’s gone up against Barrett twice and outplayed him both times. He stayed with Boston College’s Troy Bell, and, in defeat, outscored Pitt’s Brandin Knight, 19-0.

Seems we got it backward. We heard about how McNamara had to face Barrett. Then Bell. Then Knight. Time to reverse it. Now McNamara’s name comes first.

‘I’m not going to say I’m one of the best point guards in the Big East,’ McNamara said. ‘But I’ve held my own, if not outplayed some of them.’

By doing so, he’s made the players around him better. As opponents worry about McNamara and fellow freshman Carmelo Anthony, things have opened up for others, like Hakim Warrick, who went 8 of 11 with 22 points and 10 rebounds last night.

Off the court, McNamara fits the star role, too. He kindly signs autographs for the flock of youngsters that migrates to his locker after games.

“When you’re a kid, you want someone’s autograph,’ McNamara said. ‘To play that role when you’re older, it doesn’t get any better than that.’

And despite Barrett’s objections, in terms of Big East point guards, it doesn’t get any better than McNamara.

Published on January 22, 2003 at 12:00 pm