Andre Barrett bounced back to have a much better showing than yesterdays outing, although hes still struggling to shake off much of the inevitable rust that accumulated from barely playing over the last two seasons.
Barrett looked much more like the pass-first point guard we remembered from college today, pushing the ball up the floor extremely well and finding all his teammates with crisp passes all over the perimeter, mostly on the drive and dish. Hes a dominant ball-handler for sure, sometimes resorting to over-dribbling, but hes clearly an unselfish guy.
Barrett isnt as freakishly quick as you might hope from a player his size, but hes a phenomenal ball-handler with either hand and has great timing and smarts, which lets him get by players at this level virtually whenever he pleases. He has a nice mid-range game as well, creating separation off the dribble with a pull-up jumper quite often when he couldnt find a teammate to pass to, and hitting most of the shots he took from that range. Like most little guys, hed rather find a shot in the mid-range than take the ball all the way to the basket (he only attempted one free throw), but he does have some ability to finish craftily around the hoop over bigger defenders. He was a little bit hesitant to shoot the NBA 3-pointer early on in the game, but looked more aggressive trying to prove his ability to hit this shot later on in the contest. This isnt a real strong-point of his (it looks a bit flat when rushed), but hes not someone you can leave open, since hes pretty reliable with his feet set.
This was Barretts second and last game at the D-League showcase, and we came away with some mixed feelings about him. He might be the top point guard prospect here, probably by default, but you dont get the feeling when watching him that hes a cant miss NBA talent. His lack of size, perimeter shooting, freakish quickness and just average leadership skills certainly dont make for an ideal package, even though it wouldnt shock anyone here if he got a callup at the end of the day just to find a spot on the bench as a 3rd point guard. Considering the type of overseas offers hes turned down this season already (one for as much as $80,000 a month from Russia reportedly), you have to hope for him that he eventually gets his wish.
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