What are Dan D'Antoni and Barbosa Up To?

by ZonaFlash on Mar 11, 2008 10:47 AM MDT

Ed note: Bumping this up to front page. Original sarcastic humor is always appreciated here. - srp

When Phoenix Suns Guard Leandro Barbosa emerged as the sixth man of the year last year, every Suns game had a segment about Dan D'Antoni's contribution to Barbosa's amazing success in the league's most potent offense. Much to-do was made of the former high school basketball coach's use of short hand-written notes to LB. How sweet - it was the feel-good story of the NBA.

However, as Barbosa has struggled a little this year, we rarely hear of what, exactly, Dan D'Antoni and "Barbs" are doing and talking about.

Following another poor shooting day against the San Antonio Spurs (a dirty, no good team) where Barbosa missed all of his wide open 3-point attempts, we decided to follow-up on this important subplot.

Asking around the locker room, we were able to obtain Dan's most recent note to Leandro, and as a BSOTS exclusive, we post it here for your benefit. (Note: Many Bothans died to bring you this information.)

Of course, the "Brazilian Blur" may not be shooting 45% from 3 this year, but 39% ain't too shabby!

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hahahahaha

That just made my day... haha

by PanamaSun on Mar 11, 2008 10:31 AM MDT reply actions

Nice

Your sources are clearly impectable...we look forward your next big scoop!

Phx - where sweet victory happens

by Seth Pollack on Mar 11, 2008 10:46 AM MDT reply actions

I love it too!

Well, except for the repeated, cringe-inducing references to "Barby". Worst. Nickname. Ever. LOL.

Just kidding. Great stuff, ZonaFlash! srp beat me to the punch on bumping it up to the top. (Hope you don't mind if I made the drawing display a bit smaller to keep from bumping the diaries off the screen on a 1024X768 resolution).

by TexSUN on Mar 11, 2008 10:58 AM MDT reply actions

Nickname

I like LB, or 'Barbs' or 'The Brazilian Blur'. That other one needs to be retired.

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Mar 11, 2008 1:01 PM MDT up reply actions

Hah! I had no idea the nick would be so hated.

Thanks, srp, for the bump and TexSUN for the editing. I'm flattered.

"You can never have too many shooters." - Cotton

by ZonaFlash on Mar 11, 2008 10:52 PM MDT up reply actions

what they're doing...

i believe that's called "second base".

Posting and Toasting: Unabashed Knicks fanaticism with the occasional poop joke.

by Seth @ Bright Side Of The Sun on Mar 11, 2008 11:16 AM MDT reply actions

lol

we need to update that pic with a pg-13 rating

by jasonsuns1 on Mar 11, 2008 2:18 PM MDT up reply actions

Ok Seth - tell us

How do you live with that Knicks team! They are the biggest joke in professional sports right now for reasons that you can surely recite in your sleep (and maybe do).

We are spoiled here in Phx having NEVER had a team that insane (has there ever been any team as crazy as this year's Knicks?) and I hope we never have to find out what's it like. But just have to know:

What does a Knicks blogger do to survive a season like this? Tell us your secrets!

Phx - where sweet victory happens

by Seth Pollack on Mar 11, 2008 2:24 PM MDT up reply actions

Coaching

Haha, it seems coaching does go beyond what happens on the court - "Just do what you do L.B"......

by dang on Mar 11, 2008 2:57 PM MDT reply actions

Nice article about LB And Dan D'Antoni

...in the AZ Republic today:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0312sunsnotes0312.html

LB wants to lead the league in steals someday. (He has a long way to go on that).

by TexSUN on Mar 12, 2008 10:20 AM MDT reply actions

LB

I saw it. Here's to large aspirations, like Amare wanting to be the 'best ever', which, by the way, I think he can has the tools to become the best PF, but I don't know if he is ever going to do it. It has to do with making others better. Look what he has done, though. When he came to the Suns, he was a dunker, now he is a reliable shooter.

'07-'08 Suns: It's clobberin' time!

by Hawk42 on Mar 12, 2008 10:52 AM MDT up reply actions

What do you think?

Paul Coro reads BSOTS?

I thought the article was a good update, but I'm not sure about being #1 in steals. To me, that sounds like a lot of gambling in the passing lanes and not much of staying between your guy and the basket.

One should have some steals, but being #1 to me is an ignoble goal. Certainly, that's not Raja Bell's goal and he's our role model all-NBA defensive player.

I also felt the article was a little glossing over Barbosa's struggles this year. 48% 3PT shooting in Feb means that Barbosa was shooting about 35% in Nov-Jan. Of course, this fall off could simply be the overall offense is not working as well as last year. However, when you see a lot of open looks bounce out, you hope he's okay and that he'll come around to his old self.

"You can never have too many shooters." - Cotton

by ZonaFlash on Mar 12, 2008 6:21 PM MDT up reply actions

LB on D

I had the same thought. I don't want the guy to be number 1 in steals. That's not the issue.

There was actually a great discussion recently on a ESPN podcast w/ Chad Ford and Hollinger talking about defensive stats and how specifically some guys get a lot of steals - Iverson - but do so by gambling and not playing good team D but other guys like CP3 gets his steals by playing his man solid and gets them without gambling in the passing lanes and ending up out of position.

LB's problems on D are more about being out of position on rotations and playing smart. Compare him to DJ. They are both about the same size. LB is a lot faster while DJ has more hops. But DJ played 4 years in college and had good (obviously) coaching. While LB has always focused on his offensive game.

LB needs to get smarter - not better. And to do that his love notes from Dan need to read "help off the your man to stop the roll but be ready to recover and close out on your man".

That's what's so impressive with DJ. It isn't his on the ball D which is good. Its his positioning on the court which is so good for a rookie.

I had a nutty though on this topic the other day. Los Suns should hire Van Gundy as an assistant coach and make him the "defensive coordinator".

As much of a joke Balky can be, he is a solid defensive coach and would make a big impact.

Although, if you read/listen to what the team is saying lately (both Coach and Kerr) they are finally at least talking the talk instead of when the trade first happened and it was all about the offense.

We'll see what happens Thursday.

Phx - where helping a big friend doesn't happen

by Seth Pollack on Mar 12, 2008 8:27 PM MDT up reply actions

Yeah, good insight

Barbosa is being short-changed a little on the defensive coaching, in that the suns emphasize deflections and "disruptions" rather than other metrics. Deflections and disruptions are maximize by poaching the passing lanes.

I like the idea of bringing in a better defensive mind. Our coaches are good, but perhaps we could be better.

"You can never have too many shooters." - Cotton

by ZonaFlash on Mar 13, 2008 8:49 AM MDT up reply actions