This game could turn out interesting, but I'm really starting this thread to complain about Mike D'Antoni. Is that guy ever not complaining? Every time I see the Suns on tv he's always crying about something.
the cavaliers are just...horrible. well i've only seen them play against us and this game and it seems like they dont even know what theyre doing.
Can't believe the Cav is the No. 1 team in the East. They will just be a borderline playoff team in the West.
Haha, I read you're post, then I turned on the game, and there was LeBron chewing his nails. The East just sucks. Detroit might be their only legit title contender, and of course Miami w/ the refs help. The East probably has 3 playoff worthy teams (Cavs included) if those teams played a Western Conference heavy schedule.
21 assists in 30 minutes. That's unreal. This guy is averaging double-digit assists the last 2 seasons and this season. And he's shooting 51% 3pters (53% overall as a perimeter player) so far, averaging 20 ppg. Yeah, he's not much of a defender. But he is the best offensive player in the league right now.
what if he wasn't playing on a team with insane offensive talent that is extremely fast paced. would he still be considered the best? he may be the best pg for the suns, but you couldn't ask for more as a pg than what the suns give you. 2 athletic freaks who run the court and can basically finish on any pass in the halfcourt with amare and marion. and they can both hit a jump shot. then you've got another guy like barbosa who can fly. and then their 3 point shooters are 40% 3 point shooters, meaning you get lots of assists passing to them, but even more importantly, teams can almost not help at all on pnr's. when nash runs a pnr with amare or marion, the D either has to give nash or the other guy a clean look by doubling one, or creates a huge mismatch with nash on a big guy or amare on a little guy. most defenses fix this by rotating over with someone else, but with the suns, you're rotating off a 40% 3 point shooter, or kurt thomas and his automatic 15-18 foot jumper. and then they throw in diaw being all versatile with his ability to post up smalls, drive on bigs, and pass extremely well. it's basically unfair the talent they have on offense, and when they run like they do, you can't stop it. it's not just nash. it's like putting a really good, but not the best, qb in a texas tech-like offensive system. the system benefits from the qb, but the qb obviously benefits, too. but it's like no one ever thinks nash is helped, just everybody else on the team. and if he wins a 3rd mvp based on the "he's playing even better than last year" factor, someone should be shot. this is the first year his numbers and play would really deserve mvp mention (thus the reason he can do better than his "mvp" seasons) but he shouldn't get it since he already got 2 undeserved ones. geez, somehow mvp voters have made me not like a guy who i once loved to watch. it's just such a slap in the face to everyone who has come before that he has 2 mvp's with 15.5/11.5 and 18.5/10.5 seasons while playing horrible defense, especially when no one would say he was the best or even 2nd or 3rd best player in the league in either year, which generally is how it works. you're a legendary player, you have a career or semi-career year and your team has a great record, and you basically get your lifetime achievement mvp award. now it's like you're a solid point guard who goes to a new team, you get a little better, your stats spike and the team is good for a variety of reasons and you just start running off a string of mvp's. especially with guys like wade, lebron, kobe, dirk, duncan, etc in the league right now, all very worthy mvp guys.
I understand what you are saying. So the question is what came first, the chicken (Suns) or the egg (Nash)? In this case, the egg came first. Nash would be great anywhere, though he does benefit from having so many good offensive players around him on the Suns. On the other hand, the Suns would not be nearly as good without Nash. In 04/05 and 05/06, the Suns struggled very badly without Nash. He is the heart, soul, brain & lungs of that team. It's his greatness that pulls out their close wins and it's Nash that usually steps up to hit key shots when nobody else on their team wants to take a shot. Give it up for Nash. What's he has done the last 3 seasons is nothing short of amazing. Should he be MVP again? Maybe not, but don't hold that against him.
The Cavs are definitely a sign of how weak the East is. But, they certainly didn't play as good as they can. The lesson here is, that when you play against the Suns, the absolute most important lesson is PLAY YOUR GAME. You don't think you're doing it, but the Suns play so fast, that they get you to play just a little bit faster than you normally would, even if only 3-5 seconds faster a possesion....that plays right into their hands. You'd be hard pressed to find a team in the history of the game that has ben so uniquely tempo based. The good news is, the Suns are definitely beatable. But you have to make them slow down 3-5 seconds a possesion, become a half court team, play defense.
I watched the first quarter last night and thought that was it. Cavs had no answer for Nash at all... While Nash did dish out 20 assists and his team won, I was just thinking about how should Rockets play against them, or you may say, him. History didn't look so good and it seems that JVG still hasn't find an answer. So what if we meet them in the playoffs? As far as I can see, there are only two things that can stop the suns, injury and stop Nash. Forget about injury for now as that is purely depending on your luck. How do we stop Nash if we meet him. I find it amusing that the only way to stop Nash, in my opinion, is to free Nash while tightly lock down the other guys, make Nash dribble but not pass, shooting the jumpers but not 3. You can think of controlling the tempo but for it is hard to do a 7 game matchup. What is your opinion?
Who's fault is that? Go ahead and hate on Nash all you want while whining about systems and MVP voters...the rest of us will sit back and enjoy the basktball.
the suns are the perfect storm. I don't think nash should have a third mvp, but in terms of most valuable to his team, its hardly deniable. its just a perfect fit. but I do believe there are other pgs who could get close to the production out of that team. imagine kidd back with the suns with marion and stoudemire. or imagine chris paul with that team. would it really fall off that much. the thing that separates nash from those guys is his shot. the case against nash is that dallas didn't miss a beat without him.
I don't think its as black and white as that... especially since Nash's replacement in Dallas (Jason Terry and now Devin Harris) offered pretty damn good skill-sets, along with the change in mind-set at coach which made them a better defensive team (and thus a better overall team). If Dallas got a chance to have Nash in the finals last year, I think the outcome would have been different.
I think Nash should just become a player/coach. D'antoni is nothing. Nash is what's driving this team. Ya, and the guy just cries every single time. He's worse than Ginobili or Dirk.
Nash is just unbelievable! He definitely should win the MVP again this year. If only rafer had half his skills or smarts. http://archives.seattletimes.nwsour...70109&query=Nash+stars+in+Suns'+solar+system+ But the comparisons do Phoenix guard Steve Nash a disservice because as Ray Allen noted: "Nash is playing at a time when players are so much more physically gifted then they've ever been. And while he may not have those gifts, that's what makes him, in my mind, the best player in the NBA." And yet, there's something genuine and sincere about the respect Nash receives from peers and opposing coaches. Said Allen: "In my book, he's one of the greatest players to play the game. But I'm sure in his mind, he probably feels he's got something more to prove." "I was up early this morning watching tape and I watched him play three games," coach Bob Hill said. "They're talking about him winning the MVP award three years in a row and after watching those games, I agree. He's unbelievable. He's just unbelievable. "If I lived here, I'd be at every practice and every game watching him play. "Nash is the system," Chicago coach Scott Skiles told reporters. "I don't mean to shortchange anybody else, but he's the best basketball player on the face of the earth, in my opinion. I don't think it's even close. "He can shoot the ball. He can go right or left. He can finish right or left. He has a middle game. He has the best vision in the league. He's probably the best-conditioned player in the league. People may say he's not athletic. What they should say is he's not a great leaper. But everything else athletically he does well. He moves well laterally. He's fast. He has great hand-eye coordination. He pivots on either foot. He has no real offensive weakness. And he is responsible for a style of play. Not many guys are that good."
