McDonald: Spurs have no Nash stopper

[duncan228]

Spurs have no Nash stopper
Jeff McDonald

PHOENIX — Tony Parker knew how Steve Nash was feeling Tuesday night.

Everything Nash tried in Phoenix's 116-104 victory over the Spurs seemed to work. He had his jumper going, and he had his passing going, finishing with 25 points and 13 assists. .

“It was one of those nights, when you're rolling, and everything you're doing is working,” said Parker, who finished with 15 points. “I've known those nights.”

In the past, the Spurs often had a Nash stopper available for just such an occasion. Bruce Bowen, however, has retired to the television booth.

Instead, the Spurs ran a handful of players at Nash, most often Parker and George Hill, with little success.

“Steve's always in a zone,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He's an MVP, he's an All-Star, he's a great player.”

Entering the game, the Suns were 7-0 in games in which Nash doled out at least 14 assists. With that in mind, the Spurs set out with a game plan to force Nash to score and limit his assists.

It didn't work.

After the Spurs carved what had been a 20-point lead to one early in the fourth quarter, Nash responded with a 3-point play on Hill, a nifty dish to Amare Stoudemire for a dunk and a pass to Goran Dragic for a 3-pointer. By the time the run was over, Phoenix was back ahead by 10.

“Steve is tough to guard whether he's in a zone or he's not in a zone,” Hill said. “He's Steve Nash. He's going to be tough scoring, and he's going to be tough passing. If he gets both going, it's a long night.”

From Russia, with love: In a Twitter post Tuesday afternoon, Nash joked that Popovich's success as a head coach was derived from his time as “an American spy in Russia.”

“He's absolutely correct,” Popovich said. “I spent all my military time in Russian basketball courts and different cities collecting as many out-of-bounds plays as I possibly could. Now I finally get a chance to employ them.”

Hack-me-not: In the 2008 playoffs, Popovich made news by purposely fouling then-Suns center Shaquille O'Neal in order to put the poor-shooting big man on the foul line.

Asked if he would continue the strategy against O'Neal's replacement, the sharpshooting Channing Frye, Popovich said no.

“We'd only do that with Shaq, because he expects it, and I think he'd feel badly if we didn't keep doing that with him,” Popovich said, adding, “I can't wait until we get to Cleveland.”

[HarlemHeat37]

Hill killed Nash last year..he had some good moments tonight, but Nash had his way for the most part..I don't know what changed from last year..the D on him was poor in general though..the bigs didn't come out to defend him properly, nobody was rotating when he drove, Parker was getting torched on the individual front..it was sad..

I would have liked to see Bogans or Hairston get a shot on Nash, since he isn't really the fastest guy, he's just creative..putting a bigger guy might have made a difference..

[blkroadrunners]

Bowen is terribly missed.

[exstatic]

I was actually expecting a big Nash night. What I wasn't expecting were poor outings from both Manu and Tony.

What a wasted great effort from Tim.

[Rapper]

We used to have one

[exstatic]

Hill killed Nash last year..he had some good moments tonight, but Nash had his way for the most part..I don't know what changed from last year..the D on him was poor in general though..the bigs didn't come out to defend him properly, nobody was rotating when he drove, Parker was getting torched on the individual front..it was sad..

I would have liked to see Bogans or Hairston get a shot on Nash, since he isn't really the fastest guy, he's just creative..putting a bigger guy might have made a difference..

Hill actually did a nice job in the 2nd half. The Spurs played it differently. When Nash turns the corner on the PnR, he almost never quickly attacks the rim. Hill was following over the pick and recovering to bother the passes, or just bother Nash. Even if he wasn't great, he was better than the corpse of Tony Parker's former defense.

[greyforest]

“We'd only do that with Shaq, because he expects it, and I think he'd feel badly if we didn't keep doing that with him,” Popovich said, adding, “I can't wait until we get to Cleveland.”

lololol

[ElNono]

I think Nash played great, but he was far from the only reason we lost this game... We got outrebounded by a Suns team that basically played small all game. I mean, Jason Richardson collected more rebounds than McDyess and Bonner combined...
Not enough intensity on defense, outside of Duncan. Just another tough loss...

[Sean Cagney]

“We'd only do that with Shaq, because he expects it, and I think he'd feel badly if we didn't keep doing that with him,” Popovich said, adding, “I can't wait until we get to Cleveland.”



^^^^^^^^ I can wait now since we can't beat any good teams at all it seems, so I will wait for that there although this was funny.

[Danny.Zhu]

Now they can not even beat the Suns.

[fyatuk]

Hill killed Nash last year..he had some good moments tonight, but Nash had his way for the most part..I don't know what changed from last year..

Hill has a tough time getting around screens, whether he goes over or under. It's something he needs to improve on if he really wants to be an elite defender. With the bigs letting Nash just walk around them without stepping out in the first half, anyone guarding Nash was going to get toasted.

[SenorSpur]

I thought that's part of the reason why we have Hill

[da_suns_fan]

Spurs have no Nash stopper
Jeff McDonald

PHOENIX — Tony Parker knew how Steve Nash was feeling Tuesday night.

Everything Nash tried in Phoenix's 116-104 victory over the Spurs seemed to work. He had his jumper going, and he had his passing going, finishing with 25 points and 13 assists. .

“It was one of those nights, when you're rolling, and everything you're doing is working,” said Parker, who finished with 15 points. “I've known those nights.”

It KILLS Parker to give credit to anyone!

[Dex]

“We'd only do that with Shaq, because he expects it, and I think he'd feel badly if we didn't keep doing that with him,” Popovich said, adding, “I can't wait until we get to Cleveland.”

[Spursmania]

The surprise of the night:

Goran Dragic and Frye killed us. Wide open 3 after 3 after 3....
A combined 7-9 from the 3 point line

[z0sa]

Both our team and individual D were disgustingly bad.. Phoenix was at practice on that end of the floor. It really shows how much work we need on that end when the least talented Phoenix team in years does the best offensively, especially against supposedly the most talented Spurs roster ever.

[Darthkiller]

wrong le. Spurs have no Dragic stopper

[ducks]

now they can not even beat the suns.

the suns won the first meeting last year then lost the last 3

[TDMVPDPOY]

spurs still missin that long 3

[Chomag]

spurs still missin that long 3

It's crazy how many seasons Spurs have been looking for one.

[SA210]

Bowen is terribly missed.

[SpuronyourFace]

Why can't we have someone moonlight as Horry. Then we'd have a Nash stopper.

[dbestpro]

It KILLS Parker to give credit to anyone!

Solution! Maybe, TP should give some effort to play defense.

[spurspokesman]

i was actually expecting a big nash night. What i wasn't expecting were poor outings from both manu and tony.

What a wasted great effort from tim.

^^ this

[ffadicted]

This is what keith bogans was suppose to be. Unfortunately, not even close.

I want Battieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer lol