Mavs' Barea Thriving In International Game

LAS VEGAS — J.J. Barea found himself in a position Thursday night that he’s never experienced with the Mavericks, although he does try to prepare himself for such a day.

Barea, playing in the FIBA Americas tournament with his native Puerto Rican team, had watched as Canada reduced a 19-point deficit to only two with 20.3 seconds left in the game.

Barea entered, was fouled with 16.3 seconds left and calmly drained both free throws.

“I had a chance to make some big shots,” he said happily after the game, “and I made them.”

Puerto Rico went on to defeat Canada 72-66 to advance to the tournament semifinals as the No. 4 seed. Their tournament will likely end today when they meet the U.S. at the Thomas & Mack Center with tipoff at 6 p.m. In the first meeting between the two teams, the U.S. won by 39 points. But simply to be in the game is a bonus. Puerto Rico had to win three of its last four games to advance.

For Barea, it’s another chance to add to the experience that he needs to get regular playing time with the Mavericks. The Mavericks like him as their No. 3 point guard, but he’d like more.

“I’m still going to be patient,” he said. “We’ve got Jason [Terry] and Devin [Harris], but I know coach [Avery Johnson] is going to have more confidence in me because of the summer. I’m going to get more playing time than last year, but I just have to keep improving. I know my time will come sometime.”

Barea had had an active summer, playing for the Mavericks in the Las Vegas summer league, playing for Puerto Rico in the Pan American games in Brazil and now playing in this tournament.
He’s also had an excellent summer. He averaged 14.4 points for the Mavericks in summer league play and was second in the league in assists with 6.2 a game. He led Puerto Rico to a silver medal in the Pan Am games, averaging 16.4 points and 5.4 assists.

In this tournament, however, his playing time has decreased because of the presence of veteran Carlos Arroyo, the Orlando Magic point guard. Still, Barea is on the floor in key situations and is averaging 9.2 points and 2.8 assists in 16 minutes a game.