The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Leandro Barbosa returned to Phoenix at 10 a.m. today without anyone knowing until he walked into the locker room. He has been in Sao Paolo, Brazil, with his ailing mother since the start of training camp two weeks ago but her condition has improved.
The East Valley Tribune reports: Barbosa participated in the full workout Monday but is not expected to see action in preseason games until next week as he works to get his conditioning back and learns new coach Terry Porter’s new offensive and defensive schemes. His first action will likely be the Oct. 20 home game against Charlotte. Porter said Barbosa looked good Monday from a physical standpoint but has a lot of catching up to do.
InsideHoops.com editor says: It’ll be interesting to see the slower, more halfcourt-oriented Suns offense this season. I haven’t caught any of their preseason games yet. But with Shaq, Steve Nash and Grant Hill advancing in age, new coach Terry Porter figures the team should slow things down a bit. They’ll take advantage of O’Neal while he can still move a bit.
