Could Barbosa Start?

[Apollo]

We've all assumed that Barbosa will take the same role he had on the Suns. However, with Bosh out and Johnson or Davis in, the Raptors are going to need an offensive boost elsewhere. Maybe what they decide is to start Barbosa at the two, shift DeRozan to the three and play that small ball lineup Colangelo has been talking about. I don't really like the prospect of DeRozan guarding guys like Artest, Deng and Melo who are all far bigger but by the sounds of it Colangelo doesn't care.

[Marz]

Barbosa has made a living as 6th man. Playing him as a starter is going to be like playing Hedo as a spot-up shooter. I'm not saying it won't work, just that it's not what he's known for. Leave him coming off the bench as the 6th man and play to his strengths, rather than get him to play to our weaknesses.

[Apollo]

Has he shown that starting is his weakness?

[Apollo]

Just looked at his stats from last season. In the five games he started he played slightly more minutes at 18MPG but his FG% was 2% higher at 44%. He averaged slightly more rebounds, assists and steals. 4PPG more. Less turnovers. That's a small amount of games though. Maybe I could go back five seasons and use the total 57 games he started in that time... Not sure if I can find game logs for all that though. Probably too much work.

Leandro Barbosa Stats

[MangoKid]

I like the idea of Barbosa starting. Make Belinelli the backup 2-guard.
I think Derozan could handle guarding Deng. Demar has bulked up. As for guarding Melo..who can contain Melo? ANd we'd only see him twice a year.

[mo-sales]

Has anyone watched Barbosa in the last couple years? His game fell off a cliff with the Suns and he was often the fifth worse bench player on the floor. I'm not saying he can't get his game back, but not as a starter playing against top level competition. From what I saw last year he also hates to pass, lost his ability to shoot 3 and doesn't have a great move to the rim. Barbosa needs to get his confidence back, at 28 he is still in his prime and hasn't lost any of his speed. Putting him at the 2 seems like another defensive disaster, it almost makes me puke to think how bad Jose and Barbosa would be in the backcourt.

I think Kleiza will be fine at the 3 or Weems. Guys who dominate in Europe usually play well in North America. I'm interested to see how much he can contribute. As far as Barbosa goes, i'd rather have Beli take his minutes and see if he can translate all that potential into consistency.

[Marz]

Has he shown that starting is his weakness?

No, I said our weaknesses, implying that our starting SG spot is a weakness. I also neglected to mention the horrible defensive impact this would have.

[LBF]

Has he shown that starting is his weakness?

nah, used to watch alot of suns ball. he's good it's just he's been kind of injured. but, he can start.

[blaze89]

nah, used to watch alot of suns ball. he's good it's just he's been kind of injured. but, he can start.

really, hows his vision, is he a better distributor then DD?, if so, i say condisder it just for the sake of having more fluidity to the starting line-up

[Buddahfan]

Right now DeRozan is better than Barbosa and the gulf will only grow much wider over the season.

So if Triano wants to start the inferior shooting guard than Barbosa could start.

[Matt52]

Barbosa starting would be an EXTEMELY small back court. No way. He is a spark off the bench. Hopefully he turns in to our version of Jason Terry.

[SirChillyMost]

I'd make him the 6th man and let him run till he drops. If Barbosa is 100% healthy he will be a spark plug off of the bench.