RIO DE JANEIRO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The dust has finally settled on Brazil's magnificent summer.

The men's team, led by veteran Spanish coach Moncho Monsalve, captured the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship by beating hosts Puerto Rico in the final.

It was a far cry from Japan three years ago when Brazil crashed out of the FIBA World Championship at the group stage.

The next year they missed out on a top-two finish that was required to play at the 2008 Olympics and the South Americans then failed to reach the Beijing Games when Barbosa and a host of other Brazilians skipped the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for a myriad of reasons.

"We were not having (good) results and we were having pressure from everybody in the country (Brazil), the people," Brazil star Leandro Barbosa said to FIBA.com.

"They were kind of embarrassed for us.

"We have such a talented team and we never had good results. So that was affecting our heads.

"I think we're good, now.

"We set up the team really well. The air that we have been breathing is totally different to what we had been breathing before.

"People have been expecting a lot of things from us and that means we can give it back."

Barbosa was outstanding this summer, leading the Brazilian team in scoring at more than 21 points per game.

He was second in the whole tournament, in fact, to Argentina’s Luis Scola, who poured in an average of 23.

Brazil’s top-four finish qualified them for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

That means that Barbosa, if he avoids injuries that have disrupted his summers in the past, will lead the national team he adores.

"It's very important for me," he said, when asked about playing for Brazil.

"It's the only time, now, that I can play for my country.

"It's the only time the people in my country can see me play.

"But it's not only for that. I think it's the pride.

"That's the most important thing for me, to play for my country."

Barbosa is also doing something else that has been important to him since his childhood.

He's playing the game professionally and in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns.

Barbosa remembers how it all began.

"It was a dream," he said.

"When I was a little kid, when I was three, I used to play soccer and my brother played basketball.

"I used to follow him wherever he went.

"I started to like it.

"It was a dream for me to come and play in the NBA."

One of his biggest fans was his mother, he says.

"Before I went to the NBA, I promised to my mother, I told her that I wanted to play in the NBA and that came true," he said.

"It means a lot, especially now that my momma's passed away.

"She also told me to make sure I she would be proud of me so every time I go to the court, I do my best and play as hard as I can."

FIBA