Columns

Leandrinho Barbosa Profile

by Hoopville Staff

Guard
Brazil
6-4, 185

 Leandrinho Barbosa
Notes:
The Skinny:

Barbosa is generally considered the best foreign point guard in this year’s
draft. Blessed with good size and quickness, he has already drawn comparisons
to Gary Payton in the way he can score and distribute, as well as excel inside
on smaller players – and even defend, which is unusual for a foreign player.
He’s a tremendous athlete and has been extremely explosive in Brazil as one of
the country’s top scorers and assist men. He made the Brazilian national team
as a 19-year old and has been improving his game ever since.

The big question is can Barbosa’s achievements in Brazil translate to the NBA?
He’s definitely got the athleticism working for him, but playing the point is a
huge undertaking for a young player – especially one that has a limited grasp
of English at this point (one thing Tony Parker has working for him was he
already knew the language). Still his raw scoring ability has plenty of teams
interested and he’s a late lottery or mid-first round selection.

Related Hoopville Articles on Leandrinho Barbosa:


6/2/03 – Jed Tai – Projecting the Lottery
With Gilbert Arenas wanting the dough and the Warriors not able to pay for it, there’s no doubt Golden State needs a new point man. Bring in Barbosa, who has drawn comparisons to Gary Payton. He’s the best point guard left on the board at this point and has that incredible “upside” and the mystique of being a foreigner that will have the Warriors brass drooling and the impatient fans incensed.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.