RE: SonicsCentral.com Brent Barry Scouting Report

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ravi, thanks for your thoughts on Brent Barry. You've obviously seen
more of him than I have.



The thing that surprises me the most is that he's not a leader. I
thought he had become the floor leader for that team, especially since
the Payton trade. In fact, I thought he was one of the reasons they felt
comfortable making the Payton trade (not THE reason, of course)... the
fact that even last season, Barry was starting to become the floor
leader for the Sonics.



If he's not a leader out there, then the trade might not work out. I'm
convinced the Celts would make a significant leap forward with a floor
general out there who could take the ball out of Pierce's hands. I was
hoping Barry could be that guy. Even if he's not, he's a clear upgrade
over James, isn't he?



Anyway, Barry is one of those guys I like to watch play. Is he perfect?
Obviously, he isn't. But look around the league. See how many good
veteran point guards are out there and available. The list isn't just
short - I'm not sure there is a list. Barry and Van Exel may be it.



As it is, I've been advocating more minutes for Jiri at PG, and Barry
brings a lot of what Jiri brings, only with more experience at the
position and more athleticism (although not as much defense). I'm still
in favor of going after him, although my expectations for him will be
tempered by some of these scouting reports.



Thanks again, Ravi.



Mark



--- --- ---



Ravi wrote:



Barry is one of the best open floor players and he is an exceptional
passer so I can see Ainge's fascination with him especially given the
braintrust's desire to put in place offensively gifted players that can
score in explosive fashion.  Barry would facilitate an excellent fast
break assuming the Celtics address their rebounding deficiencies as well
as reign in Paul Pierce's overcontrol of the ball.

In the half court, with a proper motion based offense, Barry would excel
as he does move well without the ball and as stated before he is an
exceptional passer.  He is not able to take his defender off the dribble
and thus is unable to create shots for himself but again, with enough
motion, or solid penetration by a teammate and kick out, he will knock
down open looks. Put a guy in his face and he won't give you any
scoring. However, a team that has a Pierce and Davis on the floor would
make it very difficult to put a defender in Barry's face.

He is not a leader.  He does defer to more aggressive teammates.  His
game became much more passive when Ray Allen returned from injury and
consequently his performance and minutes have dropped.  He is perfectly
fine distributing the ball to guys that want it. That can both be a good
thing and a bad thing. Good in the sense that, as Mark pointed out, he
is unselfish, bad in the sense that Paul Pierce really really wants the
ball in his hands...all the time.





Mark