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Gear Up For Suns Basketball

Nash Has Too Many Mouths To Feed

 
By Adam Brennan
January 27th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa; each one individually is capable of being a superstar. However, as a team, at times it looks like a bunch of individuals trying to get their stats and as a consequence are inconsistent and on the verge of not making the playoffs.

Steve Nash is the always relenting superstar, who would rather see his teammates get involved offensively rather than himself. This is evidenced over the last 6 games where the Suns are 3-3 and Nash is averaging 13 assists per game. Various reporters are criticizing Nash this year for having far too many turnovers. However, that stat is somewhat convoluted because many of these turnovers are products of Amare and Shaq not being able to handle passes that hit them in the numbers. The problem with Steve Nash right now is that he is simply deferring too much. He is shooting two less field goal attempts per game than last season. That may seem like a small number to some, however in reality for a 44% career 3-point shooter that translates into a lot less points in the grand scheme of things. Spacing is becoming an issue for the Suns of late, which is problematic due to opposing guards being collapse down low to help on Shaq and Amare down low without the threat of getting burned by the three pointer. This of course is not all Steve Nash’s fault, a lot of it lies on Matt Barnes who is shooting only 21.3% from downtown in the month of January (down from %41.9 and 40.6% in November and December respectively).

Bottom line is Steve Nash is one of the best all around shooters in the NBA and he needs to do just that….shoot it!!!!!!

Suns Notes: Nash goes green..check out some of the specs of the shoes he wears.

The upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching. The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory production The outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxics and incorporates Nike Grind* material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste. The Phoenix Suns’ colorways will have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials and will be packaged in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

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Comments
  • Den
    Adam,
    It is difficult to comment on the Bulls game. Grant Hill was fantastic and Barbosa had one of his best scoring games of the season. What I saw was a Bulls unit that just knew that they were going to win. That is just what they did. Confidence can go a long way with a young team.
    Terry Porter was once again a confused coach guiding a confused team. The Suns will not make the playoffs this year. Pretty sad.
    As for Adam Morrison, he is not even close to 6'8". Larry Brown would play him if he had any ability to play defense because that team needs to score some points. He is weak in a league of very strong athletes. Perhaps in a year or two he will mature physically so that he can compete. I really didn't think much of him as a college player.
  • Den,
    Yeah tonight should be interesting. The Bulls mopped the floor with them early this year. I think Joakim Noah even did well in that game...and thats saying something. Nothing upsets me more than when Nash has to stop his play and wait for Terry Porter to call a play. The defenses are catching on that means "throw it to Shaq" because Porter is incapable of creativity on offense....I truly believe if Nash was gone they would score 80 points a game.

    I agree Rose looks very promising...kind of in the mold of Deron Williams, he just needs to hone his jumper in. Speaking of high draft picks, Adam Morrison started again last night and only had 5 point on 2-5 shooting....he needs to get away from Larry Brown ASAP...he can still shoot the lights out and at 6'8" he can get his shot off in the NBA, if he were on the right team "Suns, Warriors, Mavericks, Knicks" he could average 15-20 a game.
  • Den
    Adam,
    I will admit that the refs were terrible. 'Inconsistentcy' would be my bigest gripe. We sit 7 rows from the court on the baseline so we see some of the hacking that takes place under the basket. We also see when there is no contact. Ginobli was basically untouched about half the time that fouls were called.
    I am surprised that there isn't a bigger call to get rid of Porter. The Suns are underperforming. What other measure is used to evaluate a coach?
    I keep going back to the idea that they are confused on court. The coach looks puzzled and confused on the sidline. When he sat Grant Hill, I thought it was for a brief rest. I didn't realize it was for a dinner break. This team is very close to total disaray.
    The thing about Amare is that his kind of talent/size combo is a rare thing and we all want him to be a hall of fame player. You are of course correct in that he is certainly not there yet and he may well never have a hall of fame carrer. It is just that most basketball fans can see what he brings and what he is capable of doing. Perhaps Terry Porter has other ideas as to what Amare should be doing and has some 'wraps' on him. I just don't know and it is puzzling. Is this another case of 'the only person who could hold Michael Jordan under 20 a night was his coach Dean Smith'?
    Another game tonight VS the Bulls. I will enjoy watching their rookie guard as he continues to grow into his position. This kid, Rose, looks like another unique talent.
  • Adam
    I compared him to Corey Magette, because he has that same mentality of as long as he gets his numbers he could care less about the win or loss. I wouldn't put Amare in the hall of fame just yet either, he is incredibly gifted but most hall of famers are all around players and we know that this is not true of Amare...at least not yet. Statistically, he has had a similar career to Antawn Jamison; a good player sure...hall of fame doubt it.
  • Adam
    Den,
    Yeah Shaq played horribly down the stretch. He was only 5-14 but Terry Porter I assume kept calling the play to feed Shaq. I really don't understand some of the personnel decisons that Terry Porter makes in the game. Grant Hill was hot and he sat him for over 10 minutes straight. Same with Barbosa, he started getting hot and then he sat forever!
    I thought the NBA was going to crack down on the flopping crap....any time Ginobli drove it was an automatic foul.
    I think they will still make the playoffs but they need to incorporate their bench more...which was a big knock on D'Antoni and now Porter does the same thing!
  • Den
    Adam,
    Just returned home from the game VS the Spurs. It was not as close as the score indicated as the Spurs took it to the Suns in all aspects. The Suns did manage to win the 'technical' battle racking up 4 or 5 Ts' from the usual whinning about fouls not called. Even Shaq got into the act and he can ill afford the fine.
    The refs have little respect for the Suns.
    Several of the Suns had good games with both Grant Hill and Amare Stoudamire scoring double doubles. Nash racked up a bunch of assists but scored few points and made a key turnover in the fourth quarter. But don't put the blame for this loss on Steve. The Spurs were simply a tougher/better TEAM.
    The Suns predictable offense is just terrible. Their defense allowed the Spurs big three to score over 20 points apiece with many of the shots coming on layups and point blank shots. Barbosa was Parkerized in the fourth quarter. It was as pretty a series of moves as I've seen and resulted in an uncontested layup.
    The big cactus was stripped on 3 consecutive plays in the middle of the fourth quarter and that sealed the game for the Spurs.
    Perhaps Steve Nash should rethink his 'green' shoes. He seemed to be continually slipping and sliding on the court.
    This team is not going to make the playoffs. Perhaps that miss will cause the management to disband this cast of players and start laying the foundation for a new team. We all know that the Suns are the oldest team in the NBA and now they are nothing more than a 500 team. They do not deserve to make the playoffs. There is no reason to go to the games to see a bunch of underperforming 'stars' lose game after game.
    This team has too many problems. It starts with ownership/management, and goes to the coaching staff and some players that appear to be just going through the motions.
    The team has no fire, no identity, they are thinking too much, they are confused and are a step slow. I'd rather see a group of young players on the rise than this bunch.
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