One knock on Barbosa that makes me laugh!

[Yuma]

I have read several articles where the knock on him is that he doesn't speak english. C'mon, the Suns are in Arizona! Half the state doesn't speak english!! I think we can find people to interpret for us. Not to mention, probably half the staff can speak some spanish already!

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Yuma
I have read several articles where the knock on him is that he doesn't speak english. C'mon, the Suns are in Arizona! Half the state doesn't speak english!! I think we can find people to interpret for us. Not to mention, probably half the staff can speak some spanish already!

I'm assuming Barbosa speaks Portuguese since he is from Brazil. It's very close to Spanish, but definitely not the same thing. I believe one of the regulars on the message board went to a Mormon mission in Brazil. Perhaps we'll have to have him do some translating.

Joe Mama

 

[slinslin]

All brazilian soccer players that come to europea either speak spanish already or learn it very very quickly.

Italian is also very similiar. D'Antoni, Iavaroni both speak italian. Frank Johnson also might.

And Colangelo said that Barbosa speaks better english than Nene at the same point.

 

[fordronken]

Frank Johnson does speak Spanish(or at least did). As for Barbosa, he speaks Portugese as well as Spanish. Brazil is an almost completely bilingual country, I believe, although the official language(I'm almost positive) is Portugese.

 

[elindholm]

Brazil is an almost completely bilingual country, I believe, although the official language(I'm almost positive) is Portugese.

I visited Sao Paulo for a week in 1994. When I asked whether someone spoke Spanish, half the time I got a response of "Sure, everyone in Brazil speaks Spanish." The other half the time, I got a blank look, almost as though I had insulted the other party by not honoring the difference between the two languages.

 

[Matrix31]

Portugese is a very hard language to learn, and is much different from spanish. My friend at West Point is a double major with Spanish and Portugese (pretty weird for a military institute). If he does speak spanish it would help, but either way i dont think it will be a huge problem.

 

[PetryJr]

Hey guys, I'm from Brazil, and a Suns fan since the Suns went to the Finals against the Bulls.

I couldn't be happier with this draft! Yet another more reason to be a Suns fan!

A while ago, I posted a couple of times on azprosports.com, using Suns_Brazil as my screename. That time I was hoping the Suns would draft Nene. But now I have to say I'm quite happy with Amare

Anyways, most people DON'T speak Spanish here in Brazil. Brazil is not a bilingual country. Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and all the South American countries speak Spanish, EXCEPT Brazil. And Spanish is close to Portuguese, but like Joe Mama said, definitely not the same thing.

But I think Leandrinho (to clarify, Leandrinho means "Little Leandro") will be fine. If FJ indeed speaks Spanish, I think it'll only make things easier.

I'm really excited about the future of this team, and looking forward to see Leandrinho wearing the #10.

GO SUNS!!

 

[jbeecham]

Welcome to the board Petryjr and thanks for posting that information. It's always good to hear from fans all over the world, especially when they can give insight to what kind of a player a guy is. So have you seen Barbosa play much? From what I have read and the little that I have seen of him, it sounds like his game is very similar to Marbury or Gary Payton.

 

[PetryJr]

Well, unfortunately I didn't get to see Leandrinho at all this season. Actually, he played only 10 games before he left to US.

But I watched many games the season before, when his team (Bauru Tilibra) won the Brazilian League. He was the ROY, and averaged something like 15 points and 5 assists a game. He wasn't the first option (actually he was the third option) on that team, as he was still very young.

This season though, he was on his way to be the MVP. He was the second leading scorer (only behind Oscar Schmidt) and among the league leaders in assists and steals.

About the comparisons, it's really hard to compare his game to any player. His game is kind of unique. He's ultra fast, VERY good going to the basket, and is a good shooter despite his shooting mechanics.

Sometimes he looks a little bit out of control with the ball, since his ballhandling is as unique as his shooting mechanics.

He definitely plays taller than 6'3, and I think he could play some SG, (although I don't think it will be necessary, as the Suns already have Penny, JJ and Casey to play the 2). But from what I've seen of him, he's a POINT guard, definitely. He likes to pass, to involve his teammates.

The good thing about him is that he loves to run, so I think he'll fit perfectly into the Suns system.

 

[Joe Mama]

Thanks again for that info, PetryJr, and welcome back to the message board.

Joe Mama

 

[Jerbob]

Re: Re: One knock on Barbosa that makes me laugh!

Originally posted by Joe Mama
I'm assuming Barbosa speaks Portuguese since he is from Brazil. It's very close to Spanish, but definitely not the same thing. I believe one of the regulars on the message board went to a Mormon mission in Brazil. Perhaps we'll have to have him do some translating.

Joe Mama

That would be me, but I wouldn't call myself much of a regular these days. Darned pesky job keeps getting in the way of message boards. To back up what PetryJR said, Portuguese is similar to Spanish, but they are still quite different as well. In areas that border Spanish speaking countries, there are alot of bilingual people, just like in AZ. PetryJR is wrong on one thing, though, not all of South America outside of Brazil speaks primarily Spanish. Guyana, French Guyana, and Suriname are the exceptions.

Regardless, it is not as if learning a language is an impossible task. The amount that you need to know to play basketball is very small. Heck, I don't think Shawn Kemp ever approached what I would call fluent English and he has lived in the USA all of his life.

 

[Joe Mama]

Jerbob, you've got to stop letting that job it in the way of what is important in life... posting on a Phoenix Suns message board.

It's nice to hear from you. Thanks for the info.

Joe Mama

 

[Yuma]

In an AP story today:

"He said he's (Barbosa) spending two hours a day to learn English, something that will be important for someone expected to run the team on the court."

Problem solved!!

Also, Barbosa on Marbury:

"I really enjoy his game," Barbosa said. "I think we have a very similar style of game, so I'm going to learn a lot from him. I'm always going to be asking questions."

These answers were through an interpreter. Hopefully after the summer he will be doing the interviews by himself!!!

 

[PetryJr]

Re: Re: Re: One knock on Barbosa that makes me laugh!

Originally posted by Jerbob
PetryJR is wrong on one thing, though, not all of South America outside of Brazil speaks primarily Spanish. Guyana, French Guyana, and Suriname are the exceptions.

That's right. I forgot about Suriname and the Guyanas. In Guyana they speak English, in French Guyana they (obviously) speak French, and in Suriname they speak Dutch.