[NBA Fanhouse] Steve Nash Asked for Shaq to Be Traded

That is pretty funny

 

No way. Yao wouldn't even be able to catch his bounce passes.

 

I meant to post in the earlier thread about Nash supposedly leaving the Suns because Shaq was gone. Nash and Shaq were like oil and water: Completely incompatible with each other. I don't know how they got along off the court, but on the court they were disasters together. It worked a little bit in the partial season with D'Antoni, but last season, Shaq neutralized Nash all by himself on offense sometimes by just being out there, standing around and getting in the way. On the other end, they might be the worst defensive PnR combination ever.

 

I would rather have kept Marion.

 

that's what i said from the start. he knows he is not a halfcourt player.

 

PR spin. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up trading both Amare AND Nash.

Nash is the most popular player among Suns fans. Their fans might act more kindly to a move credited to Nash. It's "Hey Phoenix, there is no salary dump" instead they're just pleasing Steve Nash. This was a salary dump by the Suns, there's no hiding that fact.

 

I hope not, I don't understand what's with everyone and their fascination for wanting an All-Star at every position.

 

I see it coming already.....a rigged, and as in RIGGED championship like the one in 06. Then Nash goes for 81 assists against the....here it comes.....

Toronto Thunder

and then this

"Nash, how does my ash taste."

 

Nash may not have liked Shaq, but it sure doesn't seem to have hurt the Suns offense much. They were still the 2nd best team (113.6 points per 100 possessions) offensively last season. They were at 113.3 and 113.9 in the two years prior to that.

It also doesn't seem like they have slowed down last season, with 96.0 possession per 48 mins, In the two seasons past, they were at 96.7 (07/08) and 95.6 (06/07) per 48 mins.

The offense essentially stayed unchanged as far as efficiency. Nash's complaint, to the extent he hinted at it during the season wasn't that they couldn't score or didn't score, it's there were too many "mouths to feed" with guys like Shaq and Amare demanding touches.



Their problem after the Shaq deal was defense.

They were the 5th worst team in the league defensively last year, giving up 111.6 points per 100 possessions. They were at 108.1 in 07/08 (16th best) and 106.3 in 06/07 (13th best).

Neither Shaq nor Amare nor Nash nor Jason Richardson nor Barbosa defends much. Their hardest working and best defenders were Marion and Bell. Diaw puts in a good effort at times, too, and is versatile.

What happened to all of these guys? Gone.

It's funny that Steve Kerr and Terry Porter talked about getting more focused defensively, but yet keep on getting non-defenders on the team.

 

finally a voice of reason. Shaq wasn't a detriment because of how he bogged the offense, it was because he wasn't quick laterally anymore and Amare refused to cover the paint like a good franchise player with amazing length and quickness was supposed to. Probably the all the whining got to Nash as well, there were essentially two babies he had to look after on that squad last year.

 

I heard an interview with Kerr where he admitted the Suns are NOT a championship contender.

His admission of that to the press says to me they will rebuild.

Trading Shaq was easy. Trading Nash and/or Amare to get good value back will take a little more effort.

 

Why does this sound bad the guy is 35 years of age and time is limited for him to win a championship and he is absolutely right in voicing his displeasure with Shaq being on the team. He just does not fit their style of play and as long as Steve Nash is there it is going to be an uptempo style. I credit Nash for actually talking with the GM and not going to the media first. Plus Shaq is washed up and he can only be a backup if he plays full time minutes then he will wear himself out.

 

Building your team around the wishes of an aging PG. Genius, Kerr

 

Steve Nash was a great PG during his MVP years but the guy plays absolutely no defense. Its this "no-defense-run-and-gun" mentality that has stymied the Suns for the past 4 years.

They scored a ton of points and were exciting to watch but never got to the mountaintop.

Now he pretty much is an old guy who cant bring it every night and routinely gets lit up. I dont know of any team that wants to contend thats going to sign him up for big bucks.

BTW all Nash fans:

S. O'Neal - 4 championship rings
S. Kerr - 4 championship rings

S. Nash - 0 championship rings

 

Ughhh who cares what Steve Nash has to say.. Its like the Suns are going to make some noise next year...

 

Night and Day, amigo

 

well Nash's decision seems based on basketball court incompatibility, whereas Kobe's was obviously based on offcourt incompatibility...

if Kobe and Shaq had done poorly together in LA, then it would have been more palatable for Kobe to have forced Shaq out, but obviously for the LA fans, it was a stupid breakup of a great team simply for 2 players who couldn't keep things professional