Dear Nash, quit sucking.

[Covert Rain]

You guys really make me laugh. Yeah, Nash is having a really bad year:

3PT&% - 46% - #6 in NBA

Know where Kidd, Paul, Parker rank? They don't, not even in the top 50.

FT% - 89.5% - #7 in NBA

Only Paul is close. Kidd is #50 and Parker doesn't rank.

FG% - 51% - #23 in NBA (He is one of the top PG's)

He is ahead of Paul and Parker and Kidd is not in the top 50.

Assists - 11.5 - #1 in NBA

What is there to say.


Yes, Steve is 2nd in the NBA in turnovers, but what would you expect from someone who plays the way he does. Wanna see the top 10 in turnovers? Look:

1 Dwyane Wade - 4.4
2 Steve Nash - 3.9
3 Jason Kidd - 3.6
4 Deron Williams - 3.6
5 Carmelo Anthony - 3.5
6 Josh Smith - 3.4
7 LeBron James - 3.4
8 Kobe Bryant - 3.4
9 Ming Yao - 3.3
10 Allen Iverson - 3.3

Prettty good company, isn't it? The point is that to be a great offensive player in this league, you have to take a lot of chances and handle the ball a lot and when you do that you turn it over at a higher rate than most everyone else.

Does Steve play great defense? No, that's been a given since day one. He's not superman. He can't do everything. But to blame him for the team's problems and to say that he's having a bad year are ridiculous statements. He has been the best point guard in the league for many years. The only guy who can be argued as better this year is Chris Paul. He is 22 years old and is the MVP of the future. But to blame Nash for the team's troubles is unfair to him and just not in line with reality.

Malooga. Welcome. However, review your list again. Many of those guys also offset most of the turnovers with high scoring outputs or assists.

Nash, has disappeared for entire quarters and half of games this year. If your not scoring to offset the turnovers and you have as many assists as turnovers during that stretch (which leads to opposing points), how does that that help your team exactly?

This is by no means all on Nash. However, he is not helping. Nash Turnover to assist ratio is usually better. His biggest strength has always been that he can take over a game offensively when need be. That also has been missing this year.

The other thing missing from your stat line is how many times Nash has gotten the ball stolen from him this season or missed routine passes. That is not Nash like regardless of how his numbers stack up. This team can't afford for him not to play like his "typical" self when the offense is built around him.

So this is not on Nash but he definitely is contributing factor. Having said that, D'Antoni to me shares most of the blame right now.

 

[WildBB]

There's alot of D problems on that Suns team. Bottom line is that they lost they're best perimeter defender and someone who could contribute on the boards.

Nash is not the last line of defense, so this thread is senseless.

He's been harassed handling the ball and is trying to force the action, but not getting the support he needs too often. This team is very streaky shooting from the outside especially lately when they've needed to hit more big clutch shots.

And the Defense is obviously pourous in transition. Not Nash's fault. That's something they relied on Marion for. One of the best at running the floor on both ends.

Now the Shaq experiment comes. You'll have to wait for the post-season to see it's real or imagined impact. Like it or not. hopefully they make it there. But this is still a veteran team who's been to the dance. Anything can happen.

 

[Ciani]

With Shaq, our interior defense is great

Uhm, no. We were getting killed by Gasol, Rasheed Wallace, Hackim Warrick and David West, just to mention a few big, and even that pathetic Reggie Evans guy scored season high points against the Suns. Garnett also had a solid game in our only good win with Shaq, but that was the only time when we the interior defence worked well (however, we won that game with good perimeter defense by Hill and Raja).

Both our interior and perimeter D are plain bad.

 

[Covert Rain]

Uhm, no. We were getting killed by Gasol, Rasheed Wallace, Hackim Warrick and David West, just to mention a few big, and even that pathetic Reggie Evans guy scored season high points against the Suns. Garnett also had a solid game in our only good win with Shaq, but that was the only time when we the interior defence worked well (however, we won that game with good perimeter defense by Hill and Raja).

Both our interior and perimeter D are plain bad.

Not when Shaq is in there. Our interior defense has been pretty good. It's when Shaq goes to the bench and they move Amare back into the middle. Out interior defense falls apart.

That's all on D'Antoni. Instead of moving Amare over, replace Shaq with Skinner to keep some resemblance of an interior defense. Not to mention that if you put Skinner at the top of the key he can probably hit that shot.

 

[Ciani]

Not when Shaq is in there. Our interior defense has been pretty good. It's when Shaq goes to the bench and they move Amare back into the middle. Out interior defense falls apart.

Sounds good, but not true. Remember those fade away jumpers Sheed shot over and over Amare all day long? What about West and Warrick who scored on Amare at will? Also Odom had a very good game against Amare while Shaq guarded Gasol.

Amare doesnt understand the fundamentals of defence. Its partly the fault of our coaching staff, but also the result of skipping the college.

 

[Covert Rain]

Sounds good, but not true. Remember those fade away jumpers Sheed shot over and over Amare all day long? What about West and Warrick who scored on Amare at will? Also Odom had a very good game against Amare while Shaq guarded Gasol.

Amare doesnt understand the fundamentals of defence. Its partly the fault of our coaching staff, but also the result of skipping the college.

Yes and nobody in the league on any team would have stopped those shots. Amare was in his face and those still went in. Amare is not where he should be on defense no doubt.

However, this year I have seen more half point guards get layups on the Suns then any other Suns teams in recent years. That was until the Shaq trade. So the Suns might still struggle with big guys, the interior defense is better with Shaq.

 

[malooga]

I always laugh when I read the "wisdom" of all the armchair coaches who love to second guess everything. Phoenix fans are spoiled - rotten. They have been treated to an amazing run of wins in the Nash era. The team has had probably its most successful period in history. Where would this team be without Nash? It ain't pretty to think about. I get really tired of all the blaming. We haven't won a title yet. So what? Winning a title is difficult. Just ask Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Elgin Baylor, Kevin Garnett, George Gervin, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Reggie Miller, and Pete Maravich. None of them ever won a title either. Stop the constant whining and be thankful for what you've got.

 

[TBaslim]

You guys really make me laugh.
...
Prettty good company, isn't it? The point is that to be a great offensive player in this league, you have to take a lot of chances and handle the ball a lot and when you do that you turn it over at a higher rate than most everyone else.

Does Steve play great defense? No, that's been a given since day one. He's not superman. He can't do everything. But to blame him for the team's problems and to say that he's having a bad year are ridiculous statements. He has been the best point guard in the league for many years. The only guy who can be argued as better this year is Chris Paul. He is 22 years old and is the MVP of the future. But to blame Nash for the team's troubles is unfair to him and just not in line with reality.

Agreed.

BTW - 'Malooga' - is that you, Bob? "1 Malooga, 4 Loogas"!

 

[malooga]

BTW - 'Malooga' - is that you, Bob? "1 Malooga, 4 Loogas"!

Fahkoolahka! Yes it is!

 

[joshstmarie]

I'm convinced that Shaq playing the high post is our single biggest problem on offense. It's not like he can roll for a 15-footer like KT did.

youre so right chap, since our second game with shaq i was telling my roomate..this pick and roll crap isnt going to work.. i want to gouge my eyes out everytime i see him with the ball above the ft line.

why is it so obvious to us yet dantoni will not adjust? is it that he cant? IMO i think we should stop running, we have 3 amazing half court low post players in shaq/amare/diaw. all three of them can score on anyone in one way or another.

im pretty bad at putting thoughts into words but i honestly think the way we are playing is falling on the shoulders of mike D.

 

[Chaplin]

Sounds good, but not true. Remember those fade away jumpers Sheed shot over and over Amare all day long? What about West and Warrick who scored on Amare at will? Also Odom had a very good game against Amare while Shaq guarded Gasol.

Amare doesnt understand the fundamentals of defence. Its partly the fault of our coaching staff, but also the result of skipping the college.

Fade away jumpers? You mean those jumpers that are actually mid-range when Sheed releases them? There's a reason why he took so many FADE AWAY jumpers.

 

[TJ]

I love how joshstmarie considers me a "bandwagon" fan. How little you know about me or my fandom, my child

 

[Chaplin]

I love how joshstmarie considers me a "bandwagon" fan. How little you know about me or my fandom, my child

You have jumped off the wagon, after all. You love to lecture everyone here about how the Suns are done and there is no hope.

 

[TJ]

You have jumped off the wagon, after all. You love to lecture everyone here about how the Suns are done and there is no hope.

Yet, I still find it in my heart to tune the TV to the Suns game whenever they play and root like hell for them, to the point of losing my voice screaming at the television set. Love your assessment of the wagon

 

[cly2tw]

youre so right chap, since our second game with shaq i was telling my roomate..this pick and roll crap isnt going to work.. i want to gouge my eyes out everytime i see him with the ball above the ft line.

why is it so obvious to us yet dantoni will not adjust? is it that he cant? IMO i think we should stop running, we have 3 amazing half court low post players in shaq/amare/diaw. all three of them can score on anyone in one way or another.

.

Because Nash is the System. Putting Shaq downlow would be tantamount to making Nash look like the lowly Stocktons and Paytons of the league past. DA just couldn't do it to Nash.

Someone tell me why we couldn't just copy the styles Malone/Stockton's Utah played and be more effective and successful? Individually, we are better at every position, at some some much more better, with a deeper bench. Amare=Malone, Nash=Stockton, Shaq way better than whoever played C, Hill > Russel, Bell = Hornacek, plus Diaw/LB/Giricek/Skinner/DJ.

The answer: because DA want's Nash to dominate the ball like Iverson without the shot numbers, not approaching it a la Stockton.

 

[French Fries]

Shaq way better than whoever played C

it was, i believe, greg ostertag. just saying...

 

[MiamiHeat]

Because Nash is the System. Putting Shaq downlow would be tantamount to making Nash look like the lowly Stocktons and Paytons of the league past. DA just couldn't do it to Nash.

Someone tell me why we couldn't just copy the styles Malone/Stockton's Utah played and be more effective and successful? Individually, we are better at every position, at some some much more better, with a deeper bench. Amare=Malone, Nash=Stockton, Shaq way better than whoever played C, Hill > Russel, Bell = Hornacek, plus Diaw/LB/Giricek/Skinner/DJ.

The answer: because DA want's Nash to dominate the ball like Iverson without the shot numbers, not approaching it a la Stockton.

while that is certainly interesting theory, this can't be put into practice because shaq is 36 and has lost a lot of his game. he can be covered 1v1 now and he has to play limited minutes

 

[Shzm13]

youre so right chap, since our second game with shaq i was telling my roomate..this pick and roll crap isnt going to work.. i want to gouge my eyes out everytime i see him with the ball above the ft line.

why is it so obvious to us yet dantoni will not adjust? is it that he cant? IMO i think we should stop running, we have 3 amazing half court low post players in shaq/amare/diaw. all three of them can score on anyone in one way or another.

im pretty bad at putting thoughts into words but i honestly think the way we are playing is falling on the shoulders of mike D.

Its his ego.. he said in the beginning of the year that he was not going to adjust. That he wanted to run on anyone and everyone and outshoot opponents.

The thing is, teams have caught up to us.. Nobody is surprised by how fast we run or how well we score anymore because everyone has adjusted to us.


I agree with you on the Shaq PnR sets.. Who the hell does he think he's fooling? Shaq struggled setting those from the key even when he was in his prime with the Lakers.. What the hell makes him think he can do it now? He needs to quit trying to use Shaq like Amare and realize that the only way Shaq will be effective is if he's within 5ft of the rim.

 

[Shzm13]

Nash v Roy should be fun tonight.. Portland can run like no other.. Our guard D has got to improve, or we're gonna get smoked.