Suns get Barbosa back soon; now Barnes hurting
November 21st, 2008, 12:18 am · Post a Comment · posted by jerrybrown
The Suns have Leandro Barbosa booked on a flight from Sao Paulo to Phoenix on Friday and are hopeful to have the speedy guard back in the lineup soon.
Even if Barbosa returns Friday, his status for Saturday’s home game with Portland would be up in the air. But the Suns don’t play again until they open a two-game road trip in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, which would give Barbosa enough time to recover from the long trip and get a few practices in.
*Forward Matt Barnes was moving very gingerly after the game Friday. He said his back locked up on him in the second quarter when he got hit trying to box out on a rebound. He played the entire third quarter (five points, four rebounds) through some nasty pain.
”This is the first time I’ve ever had back spasms. It was tough,” Barnes said. “But I wanted to keep playing. I’ve already missed enough games already (two due to suspension, three to be with his wife for the birth of their twins) and I don’t want to miss any more. I’m going to play Saturday if I can. I hope this isn’t anything that’s going to affect that.”
*Raja Bell was asked about the offensive struggles, but politely declined to address the issue. But he did offer this assessment of the loss: “You get beat like that, you failed your test. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
*Sean Singletary was told after practice Wednesday that he’d moved ahead of Goran Dragic on the point guard depth chart for now. The rookie from Virginia had a 3-pointer and two assist in his 13 minutes but also had two turnovers, three fouls and had trouble keeping up on defense.
”I tried to get out there and make a couple of things happen,” he said. “I wanted to bring some energy, but we didn’t match their intensity. I was excited to be out there, it’s been awhile. Now I have to prove I belong but bringing some offense, getting the guys involved and defending. Now it’s on me.”
