Steve Nash Exposed???

[BullsDynasty]

Steve Nash's numbers this year are quite pedestrian to say the least. He's shooting under 50% for the first time in like 5 years under Terry Porter's half court system. This season he is averaging about 6.5 assists a game which is way below what we are used to seeing from him. Do you think his numbers and dual MVP awards were inflated by Dantoni's system? He is more than struggling in Porter's half court sets and is having as many turnovers as assists. Is he just getting old and losing it? Or is he finally getting exposed?

[BUMP]

Steve Nash's numbers this year are quite pedestrian to say the least. He's shooting under 50% for the first time in like 5 years under Terry Porter's half court system. This season he is averaging about 6.5 assists a game which is way below what we are used to seeing from him. Do you think his numbers and dual MVP awards were inflated by Dantoni's system? He is more than struggling in Porter's half court sets and is having as many turnovers as assists. Is he just getting old and losing it? Or is he finally getting exposed?

kind of unfair to say "exposed"

we all know Nash thrives under the Run n Gun style of Nellie and Dantoni.

as does Kidd. you put them in a half court offense where they cant play to their strengths then they dont do as well

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

He's 87 years old; some decline was inevitable. He's been so good offensively for the last few seasons that people started believing he was Superman.

[monosylab1k]

This is retarded. Nash is still shooting much better than most guards in the NBA. He's averaging 7.6 assists (not 6.5) and his turnovers aren't significantly higher (in fact they're actually slightly lower than in previous seasons). Sure, he's not as effective in a half-court offense, but he's also 34 years old. If this season is Nash at his worst, it only speaks volumes about how great a player he's been, because he's still great.

[stretch]

This is retarded. Nash is still shooting much better than most guards in the NBA. He's averaging 7.6 assists (not 6.5) and his turnovers aren't significantly higher (in fact they're actually slightly lower than in previous seasons). Sure, he's not as effective in a half-court offense, but he's also 34 years old. If this season is Nash at his worst, it only speaks volumes about how great a player he's been, because he's still great.

:tu

[sook]

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/stampsetimg.jpg

[pauls931]

I imagine a new system and having the center of the court clogged up is effecting his play. The current system does not maximize his skills, but perhaps can compensate by maximizing other player's skills more?

[JamStone]

mono pretty much said it. 49% FG, 44% 3PT, 90% FT. His shooting numbers, particularly his FG% for a guard, are still outstanding. The Suns are playing about 5 fewer possessions a game than the previous few seasons. While his assists are down considerably, he's still ranked #5 in the league at this point.

Considering the change in style and tempo, Shaq getting more touches, adjusting to Terry Porter and his system, Nash's age, and not having much help at point guard and losing Barbosa for a few games, his stats don't expose much at all.

Everyone knows that Nash benefited from D'Antoni's style. It still takes considerable talent to actually execute that style to the degree of success the Suns had with it with Steve Nash. It's not like Chris Duhon is all of a sudden an MVP candidate.

[Anti.Hero]

The Nash/D'Antonio system probably would have netted them at least 1 ring had the Spurs not killed their era.

[Kai]

Who sees Nash going to NY in 2010 after they sign LeBron and/or Bosh for his last hurrah?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The Nash/D'Antonio system probably would have netted them at least 1 ring had the Spurs not killed their era.

Maybe, maybe not. Supposing they bypassed the Spurs and made the finals in 05 I think the Pistons give them all the same problems the Spurs did. And the Jazz team waitng for them in the 07 WCF were physical and absolutely would have dominated the boards, not an easy out by any means. Amare's bum knee in '06 was probably the biggest thief in the night. With a healthy STAT I think they take the Mavs and probably run combo of Shaq and Zo into the ground in the finals.

[Findog]

Maybe, maybe not. Supposing they bypassed the Spurs and made the finals in 05 I think the Pistons give them all the same problems the Spurs did. And the Jazz team waitng for them in the 07 WCF were physical and absolutely would have dominated the boards, not an easy out by any means. Amare's bum knee in '06 was probably the biggest thief in the night. With a healthy STAT I think they take the Mavs and probably run combo of Shaq and Zo into the ground in the finals.

They were never a good defensive team, and would they have been able to beat Miami + Bennett Salvatore and David Stern? Remember, the Mavs went 4-0 in the regular season over two years against the Shaq/Wade Heat. The games were called very differently in the Finals.

[sook]

The phoenix suns during that Era were a great team, but still, the Mavericks were a notch higher and maintained that when they beat the Suns in the West Semi Finals.

I don't think the Suns would have gotten a ring even if the Spurs weren't there. If you wanna talk about bad luck talk about the Mavericks. The finals vs Miami and that insane 67 win season that netted them their worst possible matchup.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

They were never a good defensive team, and would they have been able to beat Miami + Bennett Salvatore and David Stern? Remember, the Mavs went 4-0 in the regular season over two years against the Shaq/Wade Heat. The games were called very differently in the Finals.
Fair enough. I was so disgusted by the way the Spurs/Mavs series ended that I just couldn't bring myself to watch the finals that year, so I don't really have a good feel for what that Heat team really looked like. Would have at least been interesting to see if the refs could still send Wade to the line a thousand times when the Suns defense wouldn't even be in the frame when Wade went for a lay up.

[MarHill]

mono pretty much said it. 49% FG, 44% 3PT, 90% FT. His shooting numbers, particularly his FG% for a guard, are still outstanding. The Suns are playing about 5 fewer possessions a game than the previous few seasons. While his assists are down considerably, he's still ranked #5 in the league at this point.

Considering the change in style and tempo, Shaq getting more touches, adjusting to Terry Porter and his system, Nash's age, and not having much help at point guard and losing Barbosa for a few games, his stats don't expose much at all.

Everyone knows that Nash benefited from D'Antoni's style. It still takes considerable talent to actually execute that style to the degree of success the Suns had with it with Steve Nash. It's not like Chris Duhon is all of a sudden an MVP candidate.

I agree as well with this assessment. Steve Nash is a terrific PG!

[kcplayboi_26]

2 rebs away from tripledouble right now

[Red Hawk #21]

Honestly I think Terry Porter is killing that team...

[Spur-Addict]

Honestly I think Terry Porter is killing that team...

If you are going to blame Porter, who put Porter there? Who wanted this style of basketball? Who made major roster decisions? Rethink that statement.

[Red Hawk #21]

If you are going to blame Porter, who put Porter there? Who wanted this style of basketball? Who made major roster decisions? Rethink that statement.

Robert Sarver and Steve Kerr are killing that team. :toast

[Findog]

Fair enough. I was so disgusted by the way the Spurs/Mavs series ended that I just couldn't bring myself to watch the finals that year, so I don't really have a good feel for what that Heat team really looked like. Would have at least been interesting to see if the refs could still send Wade to the line a thousand times when the Suns defense wouldn't even be in the frame when Wade went for a lay up.

I bit my tongue for so long on that because I'm a Mavs fan and people will just call you a sore loser, but Phil Jackson, Tracy McGrady and Bill Simmons, three guys that have no love for the Mavs franchise, can't all be wrong.

http://sports.espn.go.com...story?page=simmons/081028



Random Miami note: I watched Game 3 of the 2006 Finals on NBA TV earlier this month, which features at least eight incomprehensibly bad calls or no-calls and should always be mentioned on the short list of NBA playoff games with the fishiest officiating. I look at the Donaghy Saga as a good thing now; there's just no way that anything like "Game 3 of the 2006 Finals" will ever happen again. You will never see three referees collectively decide either consciously or subconsciously, "We're giving every borderline call to Team X and that's that." Anyway, I blocked this out of my mind, but seriously, how bad was Miami's "every fan wears white" gimmick for those games? They looked like they should have been rooting for Zac Efron's team in "High School Musical 3." What an appalling Finals in every respect. Maybe the league's worst moment since the Kermit Washington punch. And yet I digress

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070722



After Dwyane Wade and Miami received some Vince McMahon-level assistance in Games 3 and 4 of the 2006 Finals, I wrote an angry column about the "officiating crisis" (my words) that prompted Mavs owner Mark Cuban (tired of being fined) to post the link on his blog along with the sentence, "I never have to say a word again." After Dallas squandered that series, Cuban was so traumatized by the officiating that he nearly sold the Mavericks before family and friends talked him out of it.

The Mavs have made the playoffs 8 straight years. Eight straight years where the season ended with a loss. I don't make excuses for my team. Here is what I thought after each playoff exit:

2001: Just didn't have the size up front to handle Duncan and Robinson
2002: Not good enough defensively in allowing the Kings all those uncontested layups and dunks
2003: Lost our best player halfway through the series and couldn't handle Kerr hitting all those threes
2004: Not a very good team, too many scorers and not enough role players
2005: Couldn't guard Steve Nash
2006: Robbed. Plain and simple. Robbed.
2007: Avery sucked, Dirk sucked, the entire team sucked. Total implosion.
2008: Totally outclassed by NOLA in every way. Nobody showed up except for Dirk.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

If is all just system of D'antoni how come Knicks guards do not average 15 assists?

[sook]

If is all just system of D'antoni how come Knicks guards do not average 15 assists?

you smell

[Biernutz]

I bit my tongue for so long on that because I'm a Mavs fan and people will just call you a sore loser, but Phil Jackson, Tracy McGrady and Bill Simmons, three guys that have no love for the Mavs franchise, can't all be wrong.

http://sports.espn.go.com...story?page=simmons/081028




http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070722



The Mavs have made the playoffs 8 straight years. Eight straight years where the season ended with a loss. I don't make excuses for my team. Here is what I thought after each playoff exit:

2001: Just didn't have the size up front to handle Duncan and Robinson
2002: Not good enough defensively in allowing the Kings all those uncontested layups and dunks
2003: Lost our best player halfway through the series and couldn't handle Kerr hitting all those threes
2004: Not a very good team, too many scorers and not enough role players
2005: Couldn't guard Steve Nash
2006: Robbed. Plain and simple. Robbed.
2007: Avery sucked, Dirk sucked, the entire team sucked. Total implosion.
2008: Totally outclassed by NOLA in every way. Nobody showed up except for Dirk.


http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb270/systime/zzzzzztinfoil-hat.jpg

[YellowFever]

I didn't understand what all the fuss was about Nash when he was with Dallas.

I thought Stoudamire was better with Portland and Bibby was better with Sacramento.

No doubt he demolished the league under Dantoni's sytem and did infact, deserve those MVPs but let's just say Dantoni deserved just as much credit, if not more, for Nash's success there than Nash did himself.

Now if Nash has close to the success he's had in the past playing with Shaq and the slow down offense they are currently playing, I would consider Nash as one of the greatest PGs in the last 20-30 years.