Pro Basketball: Spurs’ Barry brings new mentality to season
Life lessons learned in offseason make big impact on Spurs guard.
Web Posted: 10/12/2007 12:12 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
Crammed into the short off-season between the Spurs’ 2007 NBA title run and the opening of training camp were events that changed Brent Barry’s outlook on what could be his final season as a Spur, perhaps his last in the NBA.
There was a lot of time with sons Quinn and Cade; too few days riding waves with his surfing buddies; pickup games at UCLA with the likes of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce; plus two weddings, two funerals and many meaningful hours of introspection.
“Yeah, some personal things happened along the way this summer,” Barry said after the Spurs finished a two-and-a-half hour training camp session at their practice facility. “With a friend of mine passing away and other friends getting married, and then spending time with my kids, it ran the gamut for me emotionally with all the different things I had going on.”
If Barry seems to take a slightly different approach this season, it will be a result of a summer filled with life lessons.
“I’ve always put basketball in perspective, but for some reason or another it seemed to take another form this summer, so I’m coming at it from a little different angle this season.”
Serving as pallbearer at the funeral of a lifelong friend left a lasting impression.
“A friend of mine that I grew up with suddenly passed away at 35 years old,” said Barry, also 35. “I was a pallbearer at his funeral and it was an opportunity to go home and see some people I hadn’t seen for a long while, a lot of guys from De LaSalle High School and guys I grew up with at Catholic High School and Christian Brothers High School, guys I was together with for 14 and 15 years. We had a chance to reflect and catch up a bit. All those things are perspective moments. It was an interesting time.”
Barry’s 2006-07 season, his third with the Spurs, was markedly better than the first two. More relaxed and more familiar with the Spurs’ system, he made 44.6 percent of his 3-point shots (128-287), third best in the NBA. Making 47.5 percent of all his shots and 88 percent of his free throws, he averaged 8.5 points in 75 games, enjoying his most productive season since signing a free-agent contract with the Spurs in 2004. He also started 28 games, during which the Spurs went 21-7.
Since he became a Spur, Barry’s coaches sometimes fretted that he was too earnest, letting mistakes and missed shots affect his aggression. Coach Gregg Popovich and his assistants have liked what they have seen of Barry’s new approach during training camp and in the preseason opener against the Dallas Mavericks. He made 4 of 6 3-point shots against the Mavs and scored a team-high 14 points.
“He was aggressive looking for his threes the other night, and he’s even been a lot better in camp,” said Mike Budenholzer, now Popovich’s top assistant. “I think he’s had a great camp, and he just has to take that kind of mind-set and freedom and just that aggressive play from practice to games. He has to get to where if he turns it over it doesn’t matter. I think he is getting very close to that.”
Barry comes into the final season of the four-year deal that made him a Spur intent on enjoying the ride and waiting to see what the future holds.
“I haven’t really thought about playing beyond this season,” Barry said. “I’m just trying to prepare myself for this year. I thought I had a really good year last year. I tried to do everything that was asked of me, and I thought I did that. This year I’m just coming in and playing a little bit more freely, relaxing a little bit and trying to enjoy it, because I don’t know what the future holds for me. We’ll just see what happens.”