re-signed Steve Nash. No matter how much you want to deny it, it would have only improved the team. And I don't wany to hear about cap or salary problems. That's the same sh*tty excuse CD and Les used for not re-signing Posey. It doesn't fly with me, especially when you guys have "The benefactor" running the team. When you have a team that was getting as deep into the playoffs as yours was, there's no reason to constantly change up the core of the team when you only need to add a few pieces. The '97 Rox can attest to this. (Insert lone whiny voice- "but he got us past the sonics!" ) Now you guys have a three or four headed monster at PG that has yet to be sorted out and an offense that looks too much like it's being coached by Rudy T because of their general lack of experience/competence running a team. Nash's 11 dimes a game would certainly come in handy to your team, on which no player averages more than 3.4 (The Mavs are also last in the league in assists per game btw). Dirk is only getting MVP consideration because he's being forced to carry your team, as he has no choice but to take on the scoring load every night since no one is getting everyone else involved. You say Mavs fans prefer Terry and Dampier (though your boards say differently) but I gurantee Nash and Dampier (which was also very possible) would have been ten times better. No sh*t they did. We signed Charlie friggin Ward to a three year contract. Kinda hard not to have a better offseason than a team that does sh*t like that. Still doesn't mean they couldn't have done better.
Astro, are you deaf, dumb, or just plain stupid? How many times do I have to say that there was no way that Dallas was going to sign Nash and Dampier this offseason? There is no way that Cuban was going to be stuck paying a 90 million dollar contract to Finley, 90 million dollar contract to Dirk, 70 million dollar contract to Dampier, and a 60 million dollar contract to Nash. With the NBA's tv deal expiring soon and the luxury tax on the horizon, no owner in the league would do that, not even "The Benefactor". After all, Nash is only one player. Its not like we traded three of our best players for a guy who is rendered ineffective by a zone. Now that would be stupid. Steve Nash is only useful in the regular season. When the game slows down and gets more physical in the playoffs, Nash sucks ass. He constantly got outplayed every summer by opposing point guards. It was about time that Dallas went in a different direction.
Nice. In the post immediately preceeding yours,which you quoted I said "I don't wany to hear about cap or salary problems" But, I'll humor you to extent. I'm no capologist, but would Nash's contract affect the LT at all, since you guys have his Bird rights? It really doesn't matter if it does. The LT is a cop out, anyway. Rosenbaum's latest BRI projections (based on the current CBA, which this offseason, will either be extended, have the LT abolished entirely, or mire the league in another lockout) show less than a five percent chance of it taking effect next season (which is why we saw the ridiculous contracts being given out that we did this summer), so I'm not even going to discuss it. And also, if you're so sure Dallas wasn't going to pay all those salaries, I guess you don't plan on keeping JT (whom you like so much) around after the next 2 years, seeing how he's probably not going to want less that the 7.5m per he's getting now, and between the ineffective tandem of he, Daniels, and Harris, that'll be much more tied up in annual salary than Nash would've ever recieved. I suppose that would be. (Revisionary wording is fun, huh?) Fortunately, we traded two good players and one servicible one for one great player, two servicible ones and a scrub. Unfortunately, you lost one apparently MVP caliber player for nothing. And, exactly who of those "three best players" was effective against a zone? The endless dribbler that was a league leader in turnovers, the erratic shooter, or the unskilled rebounder/shotblocker? Also, how is T-Mac rendered ineffective by a zone? If you watch him play against one, wouldn't you say its the unreliable teammates he has created shots for against the zone the past two years that has hurt him more than anything? He's been forced into taking more contested shots because of a (justifiable) lack of trust in his teammates. If you watch, you'll notice that this happens just as much against man defense as the zone, yet he still manages to average nearly 6 assists a game. But then, that's only if you watch him. I digress however, and won't be drawn into a comparison between our teams. Not only is it not relevant to the subject at hand, but since I am not at all enthralled with the moves we made this offseason, it doesn't really help your argument. Uh-huh, with the new rules in place, the playoffs this year probably won't be as physical as they once were, therefore cutting down on Nash's "ass sucking," as you so eloquently put it. And "useful in the regular season" seems to be more than what you guys are working with right now, but we'll see if that improves. For now, I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Rosenbaum's latest (October 2003) projections have so many holes in it, it isn't even worth discussing. As for JT, of course Dallas isn't going to keep him after his contract runs out. By then, Devin Harris will be ready to start. Matter of fact, I would be very surprised if Jason Terry is still on the team by the end of next season. Not necessarily. The new rules ensure that point guards like Bibby, Parker, J Williams, Terry, and Sam Cassell will be able to run by him even easier than before. I just don't think they will be able to make up for Nash's liabilities on the defensive end. I agree....or disagree I guess. Whatever.
I bet cuban is kicking himself now paying damiper all that money when he could have kept Nash instead. The mavs just aren't the same without Nash and only Mavs fans in denial think otherwise.
You are right, the Mavs aren't the same without Nash. They are better. They are better suited for the playoffs. They don't have to play gimmicky lineups anymore and their defense has greatly improved.
Ooooooooooh. See, now I realize that you don't really know what you're talking about at all. Got it. Good. No worries. Rosenbaum is good, but he also didn't see the contracts getting handed out this summer before writing that up. Salaries are higher than the estimates he used, IIRC, and that's a pretty big factor in the Lux Tax. Even if the CBA is expiring this summer, it doesn't change the fact that it, and the Lux Tax rules with it, is still in affect for this season. So your thought process is, a team should only make a move for a bargin player if he'll come cheap for the extent of his career? I should insert a Tommy Boy quote here. Nash is MVP caliber? You've got be joking. If Cuban is convinced that Harris & Co won't pan out (Harris will be fine with some more experience, IMHO), he can still pull the trigger for Kidd. Hey! That's a PG that really has been an MVP candidate over the years! Nash is certainly having a good year, but don't get confused. He wouldn't have Dallas at 20-1 and surging to the O'Brien trophy. Evan
Just like last year with Nash? Nash's body will not hold up to heavy minutes. Late in the season he will let every point guard drive right around him. I should know as I have watched every game Nash played the last 4 years. I must admit that Nash has certainly been surprising this season. But the Sun's starters play heavy minutes so they will have to be lucky to make it all the way to the playoffs without one single injury.
I think it's funny that someone argued against trading Steve and Cuttino for TMac because the latter is supposedly ineffective against the zone. Steve and Cuttino. The zone defense is like kryptonite to those guys.
Nope, it's no joke. He still probably won't win it though, but at least one other person thinks the same. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/041215 A candidate we can all root for. By Eric Neel Page 2 Let's hear it for Steve Nash for MVP. Let's start the campaign right here and now. Steve Nash for MVP. The Suns won 29 games all last year. They're going to win that many by mid-January this season. Steve Nash for MVP. It's only December, but groundswelling and grassrootsing take time. On a thing like this, we have to get the ball rolling early. He isn't your typical candidate. He's averaging just about 16 points a night, and MVPs are usually good for well above 20. He's playing the pure, pass-first point, and you can ask John Stockton and J-Kidd how much hardware that's been good for over the years. (Magic didn't win an MVP until he bumped his scoring to 23-plus in '87). He's a long shot, but he's the right call. The Suns score 109 points a night these days (14 above the league average, seven better than their closest competitors). They run good teams into the ground. They come in waves, they go on 21-0 runs (against Golden State last week) that turn NBA games into spirit-crushing, basketball-bully scenes straight out of "The Great Santini." His numbers aren't the gaudiest -- but he still deserves some hardware. Nash makes it happen. He's as fast from circle to circle as anyone in the league, and he's pushing the ball up the floor like he's got the hounds of hell at his back. He averages 11 assists a night, and 15-plus per 48 minutes. He hits guys filling lanes and guys spotting up; and when the defense sags, he calls on his own junebugging jumper to the tune of a .533 field-goal percentage (and .414 from 3). Look at those last two numbers. Think on them a minute. Tape 'em to your set for Wednesday night's game against the Jazz; and while you watch, try to reconcile them with the speed and aggressiveness of his approach. (You might need that TiVo slo-mo feature.) They do not compute. But there they are. The game is flowing off his fingers. He's crackling. Think Mickey the Magician at the heart of the "Fantasia" storm. Think of popcorn going bang under the Jiffy-Pop foil. Ask Amare, who's up six in-perfect-stride points a night over last season, what I'm talking about. Ask Shawn Marion, if you can get him to come down off his alley-oop cloud. Ask Joe Johnson about his career bests from the field and from beyond the arc. Ask the good people over at 82games.com, who'll tell you the Suns, with the addition of Nash at the helm, are thus far 69 points better than the next-best five-man unit in the league (San Antonio's starting five). Ask the fans in Phoenix, many of whom, rumor has it, are growing their hair out and wetting it down on game days in the hope that some of the Nash magic might wind its way into their lives. Because, see, Nash's first pass, the selfless, quick-draw way he's kicking the ball to open space and to open teammates, is infectious. Look at highlights from the beat-down the Suns put on Orlando Monday night. Quentin Richardson's rising up for what looks like a Quentin Richardson jump shot on the right wing, but he's just duping ... in mid-air, the shot becomes a little dump-down to Stoudamire, which becomes a big ol' dunk, which becomes five smiles on the way back down the court. I'm telling you, Steve Nash isn't a Sun, he's the culture of the Suns (as a team, Phoenix is averaging a fourth-best 23.09 assists per game). He's who they are. And what they are is 18-3. Amare Stoudemire's got to love getting dunks off Nash's dishes. I'm telling you, Steve Nash for MVP. He's worthy. He's worthy on his own merits; and he's worthy because his energy, style, and skill have done a remake on the Suns that puts the surgeons and stylists at "The Swan" to shame. And just think of the way the vote strikes a symbolic blow. Here's a guy who turns the MVP tradition inside out. Here's maybe the least predictable winner in history. You don't have to be a dominant big man to win. You don't have to lead the league in scoring to win. You don't have to dunk to win. You don't have to be KG, Shaq, Kobe, or T-Mac. You can be a wiry, hang-dog, thirty-something, 6-foot-3 point and be the center of the basketball world. A vote for Nash is a vote for the points of old, too. It's a vote for Cousy. It's a vote for Kevin Porter and Tiny Archibald. It's a vote for Isiah and Stockton, and for Kidd, as well. Call Steve Nash the MVP and you recognize a whole team. You acknowledge all the players who flow with his flow, from Amare to Bo Outlaw, and every Casey Jacobsen in between. More than that, call Steve Nash the MVP and you recognize the whole idea of team. The Suns have five guys averaging more than 14 points a game right now. There are stars on this team, to be sure, but there's no traditional superstar. They are balanced, and a threat from every corner and angle. If Steve Nash is the MVP, basketball is fun again. Up-tempo ball is back. Pat Riley is dead and Jeff Van Gundy is on life support. If Steve Nash is the MVP, we're not about wars of attrition, muscle-bound match-ups, and watch-the-paint-dry isolations. We're about pace, about play, about players, and about the game we know and love from the schoolyards and those grainy Showtime games on NBA TV. Steve Nash has simply transformed the Suns in his first season in Phoenix. It's a statement vote. It's a style vote. It's a philosophical vote. So who's with me? Steve Nash for MVP! Steve Nash for MVP! Steve Nash for MVP! Make it a movement. Make it a shibboleth, one of those code phrases by which believers of the same faith recognize one another and gather together. And let the word go forth. Paint a sign on a wall somewhere. Write it in the dust on somebody's back windshield. Get a tattoo. Put it on your answering machine. And kids, next time the teacher asks a question, raise your hand, flip a no-look eraser pass to your friend in the next aisle, and say ... "Steve Nash for MVP." Eric Neel is a columnist for Page 2. His Basketball Jones column will appear each Wednesday during the NBA season.
It's no use arguing with Mavs fans in denial. They know what they missed out on. The dynamic duo, no more. Nash for MVP, chumps.
What were they destined for with Nash? They tried the same gameplan for five years and it never worked. Why should they commit to it for the next six years? Tell me Xeno, what sense does that make? They weren't even close to competing. What would have changed from last year that would have made the Mavs a better team?
Actually, its no use arguing with Rockets fans in denial who use articles , one-liners, and pictures (somehow), to prove their point instead of using common sense and coherent sentences. WTF does that mean???
There is nothing wrong with Dampier's numbers. His per 48 numbers are as good or better than centers like Yao Ming. Dampier is on a team with a power forward averaging over 10 rebounds, a small forward averaging over 7 rebounds, and two guards averaging 4 and a half rebounds a game. He isn't even 7'6. What excuse does Yao have?
(Wow, there he goes again with the irrelevant comparisons to our team) Who said we were happy with Yao's rebounding? Like Dampier, he can obviously do better than he is (And he is improving steadily for the month of December, btw). For now, I guess we'll have to placated by his 40 point games. So why do you keep doing it? Isn't there some Mavericks board you can go to instead of constantly submitting yourself to this supposed exercise in futility?
