And tonight they are losing to the Sonics.....that is 3 in a row without Nash. The Suns would not be a playoff team without Nash. DD
Suns were a lottery team the year before nash came. Suns are terrible without nash. They've now lost 3 in a row and it would have been 4 in a row if travis outlaw dunked it instead of blowing a layup. D'antoni does not coach that team. He just gives nash the ball and nash does the coaching while playing. Suns don't make the playoffs without nash, and are probably a .500 team.
the suns lost 2 of their last 3 with nash. was that because he was sinking them? they won 2 or 3 without him, then they lost diaw and lost the last 2. when you go 7 deep and lose #1 and #4, you're not going to be good. everything helps nash. the suns focus their whole strategy on him, then they have no backup point guard to make him look even better when injured, then diaw gets injured at the same time so it looks like it's all nash, and he gets hurt right as the suns were already coming down off their high and had lost 2 of 3 and were struggling a little. he's great, not a god. he didn't make anyone in dallas and they survived once they changed their style. the suns would be a first round out but would still make the playoffs easily w/o nash if they had a style to fit their talent w/o nash. marcus banks is not the guy to back up nash b/c of his style. losing their second best passer, diaw, is really going to make things bad.
No, they would not make it. Phoenix is pretty much what you see when all the right ingredients fall into the pot by accident. D'Antoni is an average coach at best with most NBA personnel. Steve Nash is a good but nowhere near great PG on most NBA teams. Put these guys together and they maximize each other's strengths. Throw in a bunch of freak athletes and you have covered the remaining weaknesses. What you end up with, in terms of team production, is the most over-achieving group I've seen. None of these guys would put up numbers like this or win like this with any other combination of players/coaches. Look at Nash in Dallas. He leaves and Dallas gets better yet he is now an MVP. Trade Amare for Dwight Howard and Phoenix would be a better team and Orlando would be worse and Amare would be a 18/9 guy again. I could go on and on. Still, they will never win rings because they don't understand defense.
Despite the 3 losses, I say yes, they could make it. Barbosa is a good PG. If they had to go the rest of the season without him, I think they would start winning eventually after some adjustment. I just don't see Marion and Amare turning into the celtics with their best guy out.
So basically the Suns without Nash are similar to the Rockets without McGrady: drunk and can't find their way.
Sort of tiger. Nash is the catalyst for that team. They run because of him. Pre Nash PHX had some pretty pathetic records. Believe me, all of that he has all stars talk is just talk.
That is a good analogy. The difference is they can't fall back on tough defense or any philosophy to guide them when Nash isn't there. Without Tracy, we can still keep games close, only to lose them in the end. Without Nash, the Suns lose their head, heart and soul. How else do you explain a team with so many good players crumbling like they do when he doesn't play? This is the 3rd year in a row.
I've been mocked for saying this, but out of the elite teams in the West, the Suns are, imo, the first team to go by the lotteryside (and not thanks to Atlanta either, I mean the real, rough and low, 35-wins route). Without Nash, they're just terrible.
