This is article from the S.A. press so there are several cheap shots thrown in at Amare and Coach D. But still worth a read.
San Antonio Express News. Web Posted: 05/13/2007 01:24 AM CDT
Nash puts onus on himself
Steve Nash recuperated on a training-room table in the AT&T Center late Saturday night, perhaps trying to determine whether he still had any vulnerable body parts the Spurs hadn't yet punished.
A crowd of various Phoenix Suns staffers and hangers-on bustled around him, and someone muttered something about how "Greg Willard just had the worst game in the history of officiating." At a locker just outside the door, Amare Stoudemire ? already riled up by Bruce Bowen's "dirty" play ? was expressing his frustration about another night of foul trouble. And in a news conference on the other side of the building, Mike D'Antoni responded to a question about physical play by crumpling up a piece of paper, throwing it down and storming out of the room.
Nash couldn't possibly have noticed all of this at once. But with seemingly everyone around him losing either perspective, patience or their cool, he figured out what it all meant.
"I better do something," Nash said.
That much is now obvious. With the Spurs having re-taken control of the Western Conference semifinals with a 108-101 victory on Saturday, the only way this doesn't turn into another Phoenix playoff meltdown is if Nash can find a way to dominate like a two-time NBA MVP.
The supposed genius of having Kurt Thomas guard Tim Duncan? That made for a nice storyline for a while, but it was wildly overstated. Raja Bell's stranglehold on Manu Ginobili? That's gone, maybe for good. And Stoudemire? When he isn't worrying about Bruce Bowen's footwork, he's struggling just to stay on the floor.
Nash is the only factor that really matters, and it was his dismal performance on Saturday that doomed the Suns from the start. He missed his first nine shots and committed five turnovers, and even though he finished with 16 points and 11 assists, he never had the Suns playing near the same level they did when they ran away with Game 2.
Nash said afterwards that he couldn't explain his rough night, other than the fact that such things happen every now and then.
"It's frustrating to have it in such a big game," Nash said. "But that's basketball, and that's life."
He didn't complain once about the officiating, even though he was clearly hacked on several moves to the basket in the second half, and he also didn't mention his most painful moment of the night. That came when he jumped out to guard Bowen on the perimeter, only to have Bowen pivot into him and land his knee squarely between Nash's legs.
"He was up close on me," Bowen said, "and unfortunately, he got the blow."
Nash crumpled to the floor, and everyone on the Phoenix bench yelped and hollered in outrage, but in the end, it was Nash who seemed the least angry about the incident. When asked after the game about rough play, Nash didn't flinch.
"That's great," he said. "That's the way it should be."
For the Suns, that's a much more encouraging response than the one Nash's coach gave. Before his angry exit, D'Antoni scoffed at a question about the physical nature of the series, saying, "Half of it is ? their half."
This is where coaches get in trouble, because worrying about such things can become an obsession if it isn't kept in check. George Karl learned that in two separate playoff series losses to the Spurs, when he became so enraged by the officiating he didn't notice his players were missing all their shots.
Nash, so far, doesn't appear to be in danger of making the same mistake. Unlike Stoudemire, he realizes the futility of taking his exasperation public, and he knows what the next step is.
To do something.
Not to say it.
San Antonio Express News. Web Posted: 05/13/2007 01:24 AM CDT
Nash puts onus on himself
Steve Nash recuperated on a training-room table in the AT&T Center late Saturday night, perhaps trying to determine whether he still had any vulnerable body parts the Spurs hadn't yet punished.
A crowd of various Phoenix Suns staffers and hangers-on bustled around him, and someone muttered something about how "Greg Willard just had the worst game in the history of officiating." At a locker just outside the door, Amare Stoudemire ? already riled up by Bruce Bowen's "dirty" play ? was expressing his frustration about another night of foul trouble. And in a news conference on the other side of the building, Mike D'Antoni responded to a question about physical play by crumpling up a piece of paper, throwing it down and storming out of the room.
Nash couldn't possibly have noticed all of this at once. But with seemingly everyone around him losing either perspective, patience or their cool, he figured out what it all meant.
"I better do something," Nash said.
That much is now obvious. With the Spurs having re-taken control of the Western Conference semifinals with a 108-101 victory on Saturday, the only way this doesn't turn into another Phoenix playoff meltdown is if Nash can find a way to dominate like a two-time NBA MVP.
The supposed genius of having Kurt Thomas guard Tim Duncan? That made for a nice storyline for a while, but it was wildly overstated. Raja Bell's stranglehold on Manu Ginobili? That's gone, maybe for good. And Stoudemire? When he isn't worrying about Bruce Bowen's footwork, he's struggling just to stay on the floor.
Nash is the only factor that really matters, and it was his dismal performance on Saturday that doomed the Suns from the start. He missed his first nine shots and committed five turnovers, and even though he finished with 16 points and 11 assists, he never had the Suns playing near the same level they did when they ran away with Game 2.
Nash said afterwards that he couldn't explain his rough night, other than the fact that such things happen every now and then.
"It's frustrating to have it in such a big game," Nash said. "But that's basketball, and that's life."
He didn't complain once about the officiating, even though he was clearly hacked on several moves to the basket in the second half, and he also didn't mention his most painful moment of the night. That came when he jumped out to guard Bowen on the perimeter, only to have Bowen pivot into him and land his knee squarely between Nash's legs.
"He was up close on me," Bowen said, "and unfortunately, he got the blow."
Nash crumpled to the floor, and everyone on the Phoenix bench yelped and hollered in outrage, but in the end, it was Nash who seemed the least angry about the incident. When asked after the game about rough play, Nash didn't flinch.
"That's great," he said. "That's the way it should be."
For the Suns, that's a much more encouraging response than the one Nash's coach gave. Before his angry exit, D'Antoni scoffed at a question about the physical nature of the series, saying, "Half of it is ? their half."
This is where coaches get in trouble, because worrying about such things can become an obsession if it isn't kept in check. George Karl learned that in two separate playoff series losses to the Spurs, when he became so enraged by the officiating he didn't notice his players were missing all their shots.
Nash, so far, doesn't appear to be in danger of making the same mistake. Unlike Stoudemire, he realizes the futility of taking his exasperation public, and he knows what the next step is.
To do something.
Not to say it.
