Barbosa Helps Brazil Strike Gold in FIBA Americas Championship

[Sun Tzu]

For the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Leandro Barbosa stripped away the Suns’ orange and purple and replaced it with Brazil’s blue, yellow and green. However, by the end of the tournament, he was wearing gold, as well.

 

Barbosa led his country to their fourth-ever championship in the tournament after Brazil narrowly defeated host Puerto Rico, 61-60, in the final this past Sunday. The “Brazilian Blur” netted a game-high 24 points, while former NBA draft pick Tiago Splitter added 13 points and nine rebounds to the cause.

 

The Brazilians held a 50-37 lead heading into the fourth period before Puerto Rico engineered a massive comeback. However, Brazil was able to stave off Puerto Rico and capture the title after Puerto Rico’s Carlos Arroyo misfired on a three-pointer as time expired.

 

Brazil stormed into the semifinals as the tournament’s top seed, capturing a 7-1 record along the way. After the Brazilians qualified for the 2010 World Championships in Turkey with a victory over Canada last Wednesday, the team rested Barbosa for the next two games.

 

In Brazil’s last quarterfinal game against Puerto Rico, the team incurred its only loss of the tournament while LB sat on the bench resting. However in the semifinals, Barbosa registered a game-high 22 points as his country earned a trip to the final after notching a 73-65 win over Canada.

 

Barbosa finished second only to Argentina’s Luis Scola in the tournament in scoring after pouring in 21.1 points a game. According to FIBA’s statistics, he shot an astounding 72 percent from the field on two-point shots, while only connecting on 29 percent of his three-point shots.

 

The fourth gold medal in the nation’s history ranks them only two behind the United States in FIBA Americas Championship history. Brazil finished fourth in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, behind the United States, Argentina and Puerto Rico.

 

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/barbosa_goldmedal_090909.html