Barbosa is still growing

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BONUS SHOTS

He turns 24 next month, but guard Leandro Barbosa is apparently still growing. He measured 6-foot-3 1/2 at camp this year, a half-inch taller than last year. “Now that he's taller, he looks even faster now," D'Antoni said. . . .

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interesting. i'm 24...maybe there's still hope! :)
 

Mainstreet

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If LB can consistently finish when he takes it to the basket and only needs to play SG... he will be awesome. I do think that Barbosa, as he gains confidence, will also become quite good at playing PG, at least as a tweener. It is nice he has apparently grown in height but this was never my concern because he plays taller than he is because of his arm length.

Barbosa's 3 point shooting is already a given and he is learning the mid-range shot as well. I also have to say again, I think LB's speed, talent, selflessness and work ethic will carry him further than most fans project.

If Banks can also take his man off the dribble and penetrate to the basket as well, this will put a tremendous strain on opposing defenses.

Needless to say, we already know what Steve Nash can do to opposing defenses.
 

Folster

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Wow! he practically qualifies as a power forward.
 

Errntknght

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Lets agree not to mention the PG position anymore when talking about Leandro. He was distressed at having to play the position on his national team and he didn't do very well.

I think his success this year is going to very bound up with Banks. If the two of them mesh well on the floor then Banks could take the tougher cover among the opponents guards and thereby make it hard for other teams to pick on Leandro. That will be very good for Barbosa's rather fragile psyche and when his confidence is up we all know what a nightmare he can be for other teams to contain. Of course, it will be up to Banks to be the facilitator for this. Then Marcus could benefit from all the attention Leo draws. On top of that they have the speed to push the ball very hard, so if they mesh well in the running game thats another set of problems for the opponents' defense.

Early last year we saw some real offensive outbursts when Barbosa, Diaw and House came on the floor together as the second unit. I don't see Diaw playing that role this year but it could be even more potent should D'Antoni go that route. I do think Diaw is too valuable to be used this way but I have to admit I loved watching those onslaughts powered by the bench last year and this year has the potential for even better ones. Just when the opponents think they've gotten up to Suns' speed the second unit comes in and raises the tempo another notch... how demoralizing!

Of course, if Leandro and Marcus don't mesh well then one of them is going to have a problem getting much PT.

I've ragged on Leandro a lot for his lack of movement without the ball and it probably seems somewhat unfair considering how good he is with the ball but why be satisfied with less. This year he is going to be on the floor with two very good passers most the time (if Amare becomes an adept passer, it will be all the time) so it will be a waste of opportunities if he stands around waiting to get the ball. The more devastating the offense the better I like it. It could even be the case that moving without the ball is just what he needs to do to mesh with Banks.
 
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George O'Brien

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I think Banks will help Leandro a lot on both ends of the court.

On defense, Banks will take the tougher matchup on the ball and Leandro will get to use his ball hawking skills to play the passing lanes. Of course if either gets a steal, it is impossible for the opponent to get back in time.

On offense, I think Banks will be more inclined to pass to Leandro than Eddie was. It seemed like every time down the court, Eddie would simply stop and take a pull up jumper. By contrast, I expect Marcus to drive to the basket and then kick out. Leandro will get a lot of open looks.

I agree that getting Leandro to move without the ball will be important. Having Boris in at the same time would help since he can hit cutters from the high post. As a rule, guys are more likely to move without the ball if they are likely to get the ball when do so.
 

Joe Mama

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If LB can consistently finish when he takes it to the basket and only needs to play SG... he will be awesome. I do think that Barbosa, as he gains confidence, will also become quite good at playing PG, at least as a tweener. It is nice he has apparently grown in height but this was never my concern because he plays taller than he is because of his arm length.


I've never understood the criticisms of Barbosa's ability to finish around the basket. Nobody makes it every time they drive to the basket. I've always thought that Barbosa was a fantastic finisher. He has a great, soft touch around the basket.

I also am hoping that the days of Barbosa at point guard on essentially over. I understand if he plays the position every once in a long while because of an injury or foul trouble. I would just prefer it isn't a regular occurrence. I have no trouble with him bringing the ball up the court as long as he gives it to someone else to actually run the offense. Barbosa is a shooting guard.

Joe
 

Nash

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Apart from moving around without the ball, I would really like to see Barbosa learn to pass the ball back when he gets it. Too often last season, he'd get the ball and it would never come back..the dude would try to shoot the ball at once or drive to the basket when there were other open guys on the team.
 

Mainstreet

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I've never understood the criticisms of Barbosa's ability to finish around the basket. Nobody makes it every time they drive to the basket. I've always thought that Barbosa was a fantastic finisher. He has a great, soft touch around the basket.

I also am hoping that the days of Barbosa at point guard on essentially over. I understand if he plays the position every once in a long while because of an injury or foul trouble. I would just prefer it isn't a regular occurrence. I have no trouble with him bringing the ball up the court as long as he gives it to someone else to actually run the offense. Barbosa is a shooting guard.

Joe

Joe, I think that Barbosa misses too many makeable layups, perhaps because he is so quick that he loses concentration at the basket. Often these missed layup attempts are not even challenged. In a way I'm really complimenting Barbosa here, because if he concentrates more on finishing... he will score just that many more baskets. A lot of players miss layups, but frequently they are challenged. However, one other player that used to miss alot of easy layups was Jason Kidd. I think he has improved in this area.

When I mention Barbosa developing as a "tweener" PG, I am talking about something that will occur naturally. I think Barbosa is a SG right now and he should be used as such. However, I think he does possess PG skills which will develop as he becomes more and more secure in his role. At some point I think LB will just start to take on more PG duties without even thinking about it... again it will just evolve naturally. When this will happen in his career, I'm not sure.
 

Mainstreet

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Apart from moving around without the ball, I would really like to see Barbosa learn to pass the ball back when he gets it. Too often last season, he'd get the ball and it would never come back..the dude would try to shoot the ball at once or drive to the basket when there were other open guys on the team.

This was by design from my observation. Frequently last season the Suns would spread the floor to isolate Barbosa with his defender on purpose. The Suns wanted to get Barbosa the ball so he could take his defender one-on-one to the basket. This is where his occasional missed layup attempts became most noticeable... because he literally was so quick that he was unguarded at the basket.
 

Errntknght

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Mainstreet, "This was by design from my observation. Frequently last season the Suns would spread the floor to isolate Barbosa with his defender on purpose. The Suns wanted to get Barbosa the ball so he could take his defender one-on-one to the basket. This is where his occasional missed layup attempts became most noticeable... because he literally was so quick that he was unguarded at the basket."

I'm not sure those isolation plays were designed by the coaches - at least, not the way he would circle ten feet behind the arc to start his drive. I think he liked to get a good look at the whole floor. The reason I don't think the coaches designed the maneuver that way is that in the playoffs he stopped pulling so far out - and his drives were considerably more effective for it. He didn't get such a good look but the defense wasn't all alerted that a drive was imminent.

One thing about Leandro missing layups - most of the misses occur when he approaches along the baseline. He's very good at using the backboard when he comes more straight in - along the baseline he obviously doesn't have any angle to work with. That was most apparent early in the Dallas series when they were purposefully pushing him to the baseline. After a couple of games he started resisting their efforts to push him that way - he wound up having take more midrange shots but he was knocking those down.
 

Gaddabout

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Maybe if y'all would learn how to samba (I've got a surdo drum if need be), Leandro might develop a mid-range game.

A voz do morro sou eu mesmo sim senhor
Quero mostrar ao mundo que tenho valor
Eu sou o rei do terreiro

Eu sou o samba
Sou natural daqui do Rio de Janeiro
Sou eu quem levo a alegria

Para milhões de corações brasileiros
Salve o samba, queremos samba
Quem está pedindo é a voz do povo de um país
Salve o samba, queremos samba
Essa melodia de um Brasil feliz
 

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