Can Jose Juan Barea continue to give San Antonio problems?
Who would have thought 2 years ago that then 12th man JJ Barea would be giving anyone problems on the basketball court, much more the 4-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs? But that is the situation that Dallas is in, the Mavericks have shown their hand here and it appears as though they have an Ace in JJB. Inserting Barea into the starting lineup was the key to their dominating game 3 win and was the reason Bruce Bowen started in game 4.
After Barea dominated (yeah I said it!) game 1 off of the bench with not only getting to the basket at will, but getting the rest of his teammates involved into the game on offense. On defense he forced Tony Parker into an offensive foul, a travel, and 2 ball handling mistakes leading to 2 more turnovers. Tony Parker shot 2-6 from the field in that fourth quarter.
In game 2, the Spurs made a conscious effort to deny penetration to JJB and, in some situations, deny him the ball. Barea only scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting but did have 4 assists. Defensively, Parker ran wild and Barea was a non-factor.
Rick Carlisle didn't lose confidence in his backup point-guard after his performance in game 2. The Mavericks coach decided to start Barea for game 3, this turned out to be a pretty good decision. JJB showed that had learned his lesson from game 2 and figured out a way to keep going to the basket. He didn't see as much action on defense against Parker, (with J Kidd defending him for most of the game) but continued to be a ball of energy for the offense. Barea was efficient from the field, missing only 3 of his eight shots for 13 points and also led the Mavericks in assists with 7. He committed only 1 turnover for the game.
Game 4 was no different as Barea was viewed as important enough by his coach to start for the second game in a row. Even though he didn't play as well as his game 3 break-out game, he started off attacking the rim which immediately got his team and the crowd energized. Barea dropped 4 assists and scored 9 points in 25 minutes and only had 1 turnover again. He was 3-8 from the field while going 1of 2 from behind the arc. The most important statistic of these 2 starts is the effect on the win column: 2 wins - 0 losses.
If you watched the Dallas Mavericks this year, you might have seen a couple of games in which JJ Barea led this team to victory with his tenacious play coming of the bench. This series has shown that his play was not an aberration and he is ready to contribute (and has contributed immensely) during the most important part of the season: the playoffs. He is no longer the player you cheer for to succeed because he is "that D-league guy" at the end of the bench and it is extremely unlikely; now Barea is a player who you expect to do well and cheer for because of how he get's fans into it from the start and his positive effect on the game every time he takes the floor. JJ Barea has averaged 10 points and 4.5 assists for the series, but people who watch the games know that his effect on his teammates, the game, and the crowd goes much deeper than his statistics.
JJ Barea has only been in the league for 2 years, and is only 24 years old. His game (compared to when he first came into the league) has vastly improved and as he gains experience he can only continue to improve. In the words of Jason Terry, "The best is yet to come."
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