Barbosa Returns

mojorizen7

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Very good news.
Suns guard Leandro Barbosa was a surprise return to practice today.
Barbosa returned to Phoenix on Sunday night without anyone knowing until he walked into the locker room this morning. He has been in Sao Paolo, Brazil, with his ailing mother since the start of training camp two weeks ago but her condition has improved.
Barbosa is practicing with the team but will not play in this week's two preseason games in Atlanta and Syracuse.
Amare Stoudemire also is joining his first full practice today after suffering a torn iris in Tucson.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/art...013spt-sunsbarbosa.html?source=nletter-sports
 

Mainstreet

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Glad to see LB back. I've got a gut feeling Porter will want to look at LB again at the PG position... at least to bring the ball up the court.
 

shazaam6

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So glad to hear his mom is doing well. Good moms are the best thing to have for as long as possible.

Now your mom says play hard defense.
 

TJ

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"Tell them....dee Blur sent you!!" Welcome back LB. We love you
 

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Excellent, hopefully he can regain his form quickly. Our early season schedule is very tough.
 
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mojorizen7

mojorizen7

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Glad to see LB back. I've got a gut feeling Porter will want to look at LB again at the PG position... at least to bring the ball up the court.

Well, i hope your gut is wrong Mainstreet.
I don't want to see Barbs bringing the ball upcourt unless its him going 100 mph in transition off a long rebound or a forced turnover. If D'Antoni couldn't turn Barbs into an effective PG....no one can.
 

leclerc

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Yes!! Welcome "home" Leandro! I wish him and his family all the best.
 

TheHopToad

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I've got a gut feeling Porter will want to look at LB again at the PG position... at least to bring the ball up the court.
There should be no need to use LB at the point guard position. That's the whole reason we went out and got Dragic.

The only time I want to see Barbosa handling the ball is when he is racing past the defender on his way to the basket. Hopefully he won't miss too may of those layups this year.
 

Griffin

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There should be no need to use LB at the point guard position. That's the whole reason we went out and got Dragic.
The problem is that Dragic is a rookie, and rookie point guards generally do not fare very well, especially second-round draft picks. Barbosa still has more experience playing point guard than any other player on the roster aside from Nash. And with the new offensive schemes, he might have an easier time running the offense than in past seasons. Dragic will get his minutes, but he may not be very reliable anytime soon.
 

BC867

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Dragic will get his minutes, but he may not be very reliable anytime soon.
The more Dragic plays, starting early in the season, the better he'll be, down the stretch and through the playoffs.

And if his learning curve is disappointing, that will leave plenty of time to go to a backup plan. I don't expect that to happen, though.

He'll be tutored by two of the NBA's best Point Guards -- Porter and Nash.
 

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Cant wait til Porter makes him a mediocre+ defensive player! :D

But it will be an improvement.... :bang:

The team is moving Hill to the bench, so this may be part of their plan to alter the way the offense is run when they go to the bench. My read on using Leadnro at PG is:

1. He's very fast bringing the ball up court.

2. He's better off the ball, so passing to Hill is the extent of his "starting the offense".

3. Leadnro has proven he CAN drive and kick, but this was not emphasized under D'Antoni.

4. Leadrno should wait to get the ball back when shooting threes. He's not much of a "pull up shooter" in the Nash class.

INHO, they should use Leandro in the same way they's use him as an SG and play to his strengths rather than looking for creativity.
 

Errntknght

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3. Leadnro has proven he CAN drive and kick, but this was not emphasized under D'Antoni.
You can pin lots of things on Mike but I don't this is one of them. Now he may well have objected to Leandro leaping up into the air and then starting to look around for anyone he could get the ball to but who wouldn't...
 

Mainstreet

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LB has never impressed me with his decision making once he starts driving to the basket. Once LB decides to drive to the basket I wish he would continue rather than risk a TO. This is where Shaq or Amare might clean-up on a miss. Also a good option for LB off the drive would be to pull-up for the short jumper or a teardrop.
 

Irish

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LB has never impressed me with his decision making once he starts driving to the basket. Once LB decides to drive to the basket I wish he would continue rather than risk a TO. This is where Shaq or Amare might clean-up on a miss. Also a good option for LB off the drive would be to pull-up for the short jumper or a teardrop.

It'd go for teardrop. Leandro has a very flat shot that makes it hard to shoot mid range.
 

Errntknght

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Leandro has always looked decent shooting mid-range but he clearly doesn't like to pull up - for a bit year before last Dan D' had him doing it a fair amount then last year it essentially disappeared. I hope Porter gets him shooting from mid-range again because in the playoffs he needs every bit of offense he can muster but he's got to develop it in the regular season.
 

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