Questions about Barbosa

Sambonius · Post #1 » by **Sambonius** » Wed May 14, 2008 8:44 pm

Just wanted a breakdown on the guy... I'm a Blazers fan and wouldn't mind Barbosa as an option to start next to Roy, if some of the other options like Calderon, Harris, etc are not available. How is his D? Ball handeling? Ability to play the point?

Sun Scorched · Post #2 » by **Sun Scorched** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:14 pm

Defense

You'd think with Barbosa's speed he would be able to stay in front of his defensive assignment. He cannot. You'd think with his length and dexterity that he would be able to constantly pester his assignment. He cannot.

His defense can be improved. He has simply never really worked with a defensive minded coach.

Ball Handling

Fantastic for a combo guard. He is one of the best finishers in transition and it's largley due to his ball control.

Ability to Play the Point

Non-existant. He doesn't have the court vision you would expect from a PG. He seems to have a great deal of tunnel vision when it comes to driving through the lane. He lowers his head when he's driving and he normally gets caught up in the air with nowhere to pass.

Now to address some other points.

Scoring

Barbosa would start on other teams. Plain and simple. Off the bench for the Suns he can score with the best of them and is ussually the only thing keeping us up and with it while Nash is out of the game. He is a first rate scorer and when he is hot, he is unstoppable.

Contract

He has one of the best contracts in the league today. His punch per dollar is one of the highest non-rookie contracts in the NBA.

Personality

People may not care about this. I do. It's something that sets the Suns apart from alot of other teams. Barbosa is sincere, humble and creates absolutely no drama. All of this from a guy who admires Marbury.... You can't begin to understand how nice it is to have a guy who can win games for you and think nothing of it. To Leandro, he is in heaven. He is playing basketball in the US for a great team and making millions. To him that is more than enough. Ego be damned.

Sambonius · Post #3 » by **Sambonius** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:30 pm

I think he would work well next to Roy as Roy is most effective with the ball in his hands, so I don't think a true PG is necessary next to him. I think Barbosa could work. Maybe an expiring like Raef plus Jack and another peice could get Barbosa as it seems the Suns want to dump him due to payroll issues.

b-ball forever · Post #4 » by **b-ball forever** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:33 pm

Like Sun Scorched said, he just isn't a point guard. He just doesn't have the BB-IQ or court-vision it takes to run an offense.

However, he is a fantastic scorer that can take the ball all the way to the rim and is a very good shooter. He's most deadly off the fast break with his lightning speed.

So long as isn't the primary playmaker when he's on the court he makes a lethal scoring guard. Every time he starts next to Nash he puts up monster games.

That's why he'd be a great fit in Portland.

Cuz if he's with the Blazers then when he's on the court he'd always be playing next to guys like Roy/Blake/Fernandez/Rodriguez, who are all very good playmakers with high BB-IQ.

enigmatics · Post #5 » by **enigmatics** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:35 pm

Sun Scorched wrote:Defense

You'd think with Barbosa's speed he would be able to stay in front of his defensive assignment. He cannot. You'd think with his length and dexterity that he would be able to constantly pester his assignment. He cannot.

His defense can be improved. He has simply never really worked with a defensive minded coach.

He has poor body control on the defensive side of the ball. He gets caught at bad angles and over-persuing all the time.

Ball Handling

Fantastic for a combo guard. He is one of the best finishers in transition and it's largley due to his ball control.

I'm going to have to add a negative here. He's one-handed. I can't begin to recount how many times he goes up to the hoop using the opposite hand on a lay up. When you combine that with how he keeps his head down when driving, it creates problems.

jlove_26 · Post #6 » by **jlove_26** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:55 pm

Sambonius wrote:I think he would work well next to Roy as Roy is most effective with the ball in his hands, so I don't think a true PG is necessary next to him. I think Barbosa could work. Maybe an expiring like Raef plus Jack and another peice could get Barbosa as it seems the Suns want to dump him due to payroll issues.

Couple of things. First, the Suns aren't looking to dump Barbosa due to payroll issues. If the Suns trade Barbosa at all, it will be to get extra pieces for our team. Period.

Secondly, Raef can't be traded. Something in the CBA:

LaFrentz is in the last non-exercisable year of his contract and cannot be traded. However, next season is currently an early termination option and if is not exercised, then the player can be traded.

However I, along with numerous Suns fans, and Blazers fans (according to numerous chat forums proposing trades for Barbosa) agree that a trade of Barbosa for Jack, Outlaw, #13 pick works for both teams. It gets a scoring monster in Barbosa to team with Roy, Aldridge, Webster, and Oden. It gives the Suns a reliable PG to back-up Nash, a SF/PF guy in Outlaw to help with depth and #13 pick to go after another rookie like Westbrook to be our PG of the future.

Sambonius · Post #7 » by **Sambonius** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:59 pm

For some reason, I don't buy that Raef can't be traded actually. I think Pritchard has commented on how valuable his contract would be to other teams, so I'm not sure it's 100% accurate that he can't be traded. Second, giving Jack, Outlaw, and the #13 pick is far too much for Barbosa. Outlaw in himself, is what Barbosa is except at a different position. Outlaw was 2nd or 3rd in points off the bench and one of the highest in the 4th quarter for a bench guy as well. It would have to be at most, Jack and Travis or the 13th pick, not all three. With that price, Portland could probably pull off a deal to get Devin Harris or Calderon, players that are a bit higher on the food chain than Barbosa.

jlove_26 · Post #8 » by **jlove_26** » Wed May 14, 2008 10:13 pm

Sambonius wrote:For some reason, I don't buy that Raef can't be traded actually. I think Pritchard has commented on how valuable his contract would be to other teams, so I'm not sure it's 100% accurate that he can't be traded. Second, giving Jack, Outlaw, and the #13 pick is far too much for Barbosa. Outlaw in himself, is what Barbosa is except at a different position. Outlaw was 2nd or 3rd in points off the bench and one of the highest in the 4th quarter for a bench guy as well. It would have to be at most, Jack and Travis or the 13th pick, not all three. With that price, Portland could probably pull off a deal to get Devin Harris or Calderon, players that are a bit higher on the food chain than Barbosa.

Well, that's not what other Blazer fans and basketball fans think if you look at the trade forum on RealGM, or AZSportsfannetwork, or ESPN. They were the ones that supported that trade as I stated. Actually it was a Blazer fan that proposed a deal that had Jack, Webster and #13, but was shot down by just about everyone due to fairness. They all said take out Webster and replace him with Outlaw instead. On top of that, if you look at the CBA and trade rules, Outlaw would have to be packaged with Jack to match Barbosa's salary. Personally, I love Barbosa, but I'd give him up to Portland in any of three possible trades for as little as: Jack and #13 or Outlaw and #13 or Blake and #13 or Webster and #13 or Jack and Outlaw or Jack and Webster. or Pryzbilla and #13 or Frye, Rodriguez and #13.

Sambonius · Post #9 » by **Sambonius** » Wed May 14, 2008 10:35 pm

I would do Jack and the 13th or Outlaw, or Jack, Outlaw, and next year's pick, or Jack, Frye, and next year's pick. I think the Blazers need to make a decision on whether they want Outlaw or Frye as the backup PF. I think Jack and Outlaw would be fair, I'd probably even throw in a 2nd rounder.