Is Barbosa Coming Of Age

[George O'Brien]

If I had a buck for every knock on Barbosa over his first few seasons, I could probably retire and just live on ASFN ! I realize he's only played in 25 games this season, but his performance so far has been pretty impressive.

Leandro Barbosa
Phoenix Suns
Position: G
Height: 6-3 Weight: 188
From : Brazil
Player file | Team stats

2005-06 Statistics
PPG 13.0
RPG 2.2
APG 2.6
SPG .52
BPG .08
FG% .502
FT% .710
3P% .449
MPG 26.0

He gets compared to Bobby Jackson, but Jackson is shooting only 36% compared to Leandro's 50.2%. Last night Leandro scored 24 points on 7 of 11 shooting including 3 of 4 for three and got 4 assists.

Clearly Leandro has come a long way on the offensive end. The next step will be to develop his defense. With his quickness and arm length, he could become very good. I don't think he's even close to being as good as he will.

 

[Yuma]

More importantly, it's his style that is so much of a change to me. He backs up and resets against bigger players he is going to blow by for a layup, just like Nash. He has started to dribble through the lane, circle the lane, and use the baseline, ala Nash. A couple games ago I saw him circle through the lane then go back in for a layup! JUST LIKE NASH! He's now reaching around people to get passes to shooters off the dribble. That reminds me of who? Then he is pulling up before drawing charges, where he was almost fouling out early on from doing that. He's looking more like a PG now than in any time ever!

I for one, kept telling people to back off on Barbosa. He is so young and inexperienced. You can't teach that speed. Plus his natural hand eye coordination has always made his laser beam jumpers go in. Now he's adding some arc to the shot.

 

[playstation]

If I had a buck for every knock on Barbosa over his first few seasons, I could probably retire and just live on ASFN !

there's just too much i could do with that...

 

[Mainstreet]

More importantly, it's his style that is so much of a change to me. He backs up and resets against bigger players he is going to blow by for a layup, just like Nash. He has started to dribble through the lane, circle the lane, and use the baseline, ala Nash. A couple games ago I saw him circle through the lane then go back in for a layup! JUST LIKE NASH! He's now reaching around people to get passes to shooters off the dribble. That reminds me of who? Then he is pulling up before drawing charges, where he was almost fouling out early on from doing that. He's looking more like a PG now than in any time ever!

I for one, kept telling people to back off on Barbosa. He is so young and inexperienced. You can't teach that speed. Plus his natural hand eye coordination has always made his laser beam jumpers go in. Now he's adding some arc to the shot.

He's even starting to spit on his hands and touch his shoes like Nash. I get a kick of this.

 

[George O'Brien]

He's even starting to spit on his hands and touch his shoes like Nash. I get a kick of this.

Once he starts growing his hair too long ...

 

[JCSunsfan]

Once he starts growing his hair too long ...

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[Yuma]

Once he starts growing his hair too long ...

That won't happen until he moves to Dallas....

 

[boisesuns]

This is kind of long the lines of what Yuma said.

My wife and I go to all the Suns games when they come to Memphis. We went to the playoffs last year as well. She said something when watching warmups about Barbosa watching Nash all the time. Each game we went to, Barbosa was continually watching Nash. Even when he was struggling, he would still watch Nash and try and get something out of it.

It's beginning to pay off for Barbosa. Nash has been his mentor and he's taken things from Nash and put them in his own game, making him a better overall player. There's been a change in confidence with Barbosa as well. He fits better on this team without Q and JJ.

 

[boisesuns]

Once he starts growing his hair too long ...

 

[ProdigalSun]

Hahaha ....he looks like rick james

 

[zett]

I didn't see were it listed how many missed layups he had?

 

[F-Dog]

Barbosa is playing well again, just as he did at the beginning of the year. His passing is much better than before, but I think he's actually copying Diaw more than Nash there--he seems to make the decision to pass beforehand, just like Diaw does.

IMO Barbosa has to start worrying about pull-ups and mid-range floaters again, which is something he's gotten away from recently. What the Suns need most right now is a crunch-time perimeter scorer, and Barbosa is the one Suns player with the tools to be that guy.

 

[MastersofCombat]

I raise my hand and say Im still confused how Barbosa will ever be anything more than a role player off the bench...

The Phoenix Suns style is get the ball, create, or dish, but think of scoring fast....

Barbosa thrives in that enviroment, but not sure if it would be the same for him on another team...

I definitely know he plays with his head down when he has the ball too much to have great court vision like Diaw and Nash...

But with all that said he is doing great for us.,,

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure I understand the Barbosa as role player comment. What seems to get people confused is that they think since he's only 6'3" he has to be a point guard. He's the same size as Wade and that seems to be big enough.

Leandro has frustrated many fans because he did not have any high level coaching before coming to the Suns. When added to the fact that he didn't understand English very well and it got injured last season, it seemed like he was taking a long time to develop. However, it is clear he is a lot better than a year ago and keeps showing signs of improvement.

 

[planaria]

I raise my hand and say Im still confused how Barbosa will ever be anything more than a role player off the bench...

The Phoenix Suns style is get the ball, create, or dish, but think of scoring fast....

Barbosa thrives in that enviroment, but not sure if it would be the same for him on another team...

I definitely know he plays with his head down when he has the ball too much to have great court vision like Diaw and Nash...

But with all that said he is doing great for us.,,

Well,

Barbosa scored 28 ppg, being the scorer lead in brazilian league (when he was really young). Even with the weak level here, this number is almost absurd for a player not called Oscar Schdmit in a 40 mpg game.

This year in Brazilian NT, Barbosa was simply brilliant. He created all his own shots and also for his teammates and was unstoppable.

Plus, that 6 threes in a row against Argentina in the final was fantastic. Actually, I think he'd have numbers even better if he was playing in a team with less scorer options.