Barnes showing signs of old self after mourning mother
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 01/19/2008 02:56:40 AM PST
CHICAGO -- Warriors forward Matt Barnes tried so hard to be stoic in the face of his mother Ann's death on Nov. 27. In the end, however, it just wasn't possible.
Barnes spent the first month of the season attempting to play despite the anguish of watching his 50-year-old mother be ravaged by cancer, then spent the following month trying to recover from his grief.
"I thought I could hide it," Barnes said. "I thought I could just go out there play through it, but there's nothing like losing your mom."
Nearly two months after Ann Barnes passed away, her eldest child is once again enjoying some of the form that made him such an indispensable piece of the Warriors' playoff run last season. Against Minnesota and Indiana in the first two games of the Warriors' current four-city road trip, he combined for 29 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
"I think that he's starting to turn the corner a little bit," Warriors forward Al Harrington said. "I mean, to me, the biggest thing in this game is confidence, and the only way to get confidence is being out there on the floor and playing well. Hopefully this gives him a lot of it and that'll carry him for the rest of the season."
Barnes' re-emergence could hardly come at a better time. Swingman Stephen Jackson, guard Baron Davis and forward Austin Croshere are all suffering from various maladies, so there are minutes to be had, especially for a guy who seemed to give the Warriors a burst of energy every time he got onto the floor last season.
"He played his two best games of the year," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "I feel good about that. I've been waiting on him a long time. He may be starting to come around."
Things may be getting better for Barnes on the court, but that success is a far cry from replacing what he's lost.
"It's getting a little easier, but at the same time I think about her every day, and I dream about her at night," Barnes said. "It's just a healing process, and I think I'm making strides in the right direction."
