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Republic: Barbosa wins over fellow Suns
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
Amare Stoudemire has him bring doughnuts to shootarounds. Veterans have him carry their bags to the bus.
Leandro Barbosa is the Suns' lovable rookie, and they found out Saturday how much they love having him on the court.
Sidelined with the flu, Barbosa sat out the blowout loss at San Antonio and the Suns were two steps slow all game without their Brazilian blur.
Barbosa leads the NBA in steals per 48 minutes (3.0), feasting off passes to the top of the arc that underestimate his long arms and quickness. Other than that and 38.6 percent three-point accuracy, it may be hard to see how much good 38 starts have done for Barbosa in pure numbers.
"He's improved so much from last summer, it's not funny," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He gets us going up and down. He's become important to us."
Barbosa, 21, arrived from a vastly inferior Brazilian league with his older brother, little grasp of English and a score-first background. Now, he conducts interviews in English and is learning how to run an offense against the world's best.
"When I play in Brazil, I play different than here," he said. "When the ball came to me, I'd make a layup. Here, I have to go to Joe (Johnson), Matrix (Shawn Marion), Amare, (Antonio) McDyess. In Brazil, they make the play for me to score. It's a big difference. I just want to be here. For me to be here, I have to do it."
He will be here all summer to that end, except for plans to follow his mentor, Stephon Marbury, in the playoffs and train with him in Los Angeles. They still talk twice a week.
Their next talk will be about how much Barbosa hates to watch his team lose.
"I felt really bad seeing my team play that bad," Barbosa said. "I hope I can feel better so I can play (tonight) and help the team. I'm really mad because guys on the Spurs were making layups like they were playing around. It was too easy. Last year, Tony Parker wouldn't do what he did because Stephon would kick his (tail)."
See, he is grasping the language. He hears plenty of it from Tim Grgurich, the Suns assistant famous for his work ethic and leaguewide respect.
"I love him," Barbosa said. "I think he loves me, too. I learn a lot of things from him. He's given me more minutes. I'm really happy with this."
Beyond his affection for "coach Mikey" (D'Antoni), Barbosa said his best lesson came from Stoudemire, his elder by 12 days.
"He tells me all the time, 'Play hard, play hard, play hard,' " Barbosa said. "This is the key to the game."
The team is eager to see how his personality, work ethic and improving communication come together next season. But that will deny D'Antoni moments such as when Barbosa came to the sideline in a game and asked, "What just happened?"
"He's endearing to everybody," D'Antoni said. "They've accepted him and root for him. They want him on the floor."
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
Amare Stoudemire has him bring doughnuts to shootarounds. Veterans have him carry their bags to the bus.
Leandro Barbosa is the Suns' lovable rookie, and they found out Saturday how much they love having him on the court.
Sidelined with the flu, Barbosa sat out the blowout loss at San Antonio and the Suns were two steps slow all game without their Brazilian blur.
Barbosa leads the NBA in steals per 48 minutes (3.0), feasting off passes to the top of the arc that underestimate his long arms and quickness. Other than that and 38.6 percent three-point accuracy, it may be hard to see how much good 38 starts have done for Barbosa in pure numbers.
"He's improved so much from last summer, it's not funny," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He gets us going up and down. He's become important to us."
Barbosa, 21, arrived from a vastly inferior Brazilian league with his older brother, little grasp of English and a score-first background. Now, he conducts interviews in English and is learning how to run an offense against the world's best.
"When I play in Brazil, I play different than here," he said. "When the ball came to me, I'd make a layup. Here, I have to go to Joe (Johnson), Matrix (Shawn Marion), Amare, (Antonio) McDyess. In Brazil, they make the play for me to score. It's a big difference. I just want to be here. For me to be here, I have to do it."
He will be here all summer to that end, except for plans to follow his mentor, Stephon Marbury, in the playoffs and train with him in Los Angeles. They still talk twice a week.
Their next talk will be about how much Barbosa hates to watch his team lose.
"I felt really bad seeing my team play that bad," Barbosa said. "I hope I can feel better so I can play (tonight) and help the team. I'm really mad because guys on the Spurs were making layups like they were playing around. It was too easy. Last year, Tony Parker wouldn't do what he did because Stephon would kick his (tail)."
See, he is grasping the language. He hears plenty of it from Tim Grgurich, the Suns assistant famous for his work ethic and leaguewide respect.
"I love him," Barbosa said. "I think he loves me, too. I learn a lot of things from him. He's given me more minutes. I'm really happy with this."
Beyond his affection for "coach Mikey" (D'Antoni), Barbosa said his best lesson came from Stoudemire, his elder by 12 days.
"He tells me all the time, 'Play hard, play hard, play hard,' " Barbosa said. "This is the key to the game."
The team is eager to see how his personality, work ethic and improving communication come together next season. But that will deny D'Antoni moments such as when Barbosa came to the sideline in a game and asked, "What just happened?"
"He's endearing to everybody," D'Antoni said. "They've accepted him and root for him. They want him on the floor."
