I think Nash is the best case scenario of the system. He was perfectly built for it. He was a good player that the D'Antoni system made great. I'm saying that Nash will go back to being "good" with a chance that he might be "average" in Nate's system. Felton is below average in Nate's system.
I'm kinda curious how Nate would play an allstar pg. I think he may do well actually. Unfortunately our management never gave him one to work with that had a decent shot. I think Nash would do quite well here.
How about we be real and admit that felton came in fat and out of shape? Feltons performance is based on that IMO. Why is Aldridge doing better?
Felton has always been kinda chunky. Are you asking why Aldridge is doing better this year or why he's doing better in general?
He's still a great player, though, and his ASST% is the highest of his career this year, and last year's was is the 2nd-highest. You realize that D'Antoni hasn't been Phoenix's coach for 4 years now, right? People keep pointing out the difference in Pace between PHX then and PHX now, but you seem to simply ignore it and lump Nash's entire PHX career as being credited to D'Antoni. You're way out on a limb on this one, aren't you?
What I'm saying is if Nate brings players down, then why did Aldridge constantly improve his game? Why has Batum improved? Why did Matthews have such a great year last season? Why was miller better last season under Nate than he is under Karl? I don't like Nate as a coach for our team, but he's not a terrible one. I just hate his mid game adjustments and stubbornness to keep players in when they are failing.
I disagree. He went from chunky to portly and he was very out of shape. The mansion we could build with the bricks from his missed layups is a testament to how overly large he is and how out of shape he is. It has fucked his game up entirely. That has little to do with Nate.
If you felt he was "great" in Phoenix (I didn't), then he was great in his last three years in Dallas. There was a slight uptick in Phoenix (in actual performance, not raw stats), but nothing amazing. I think Nash has been excellent for years, starting from before D'Antoni was his coach, and that's probably the guy the Blazers will get. I don't think McMillan is going to make him worse. Felton was below average most of his career. His good partial season with D'Antoni was probably more small sample size than anything else.
Gentry implemented the same system as D'Antoni, so in essence it was the same system regardless of whether the man was still there or not.
Sure. I consider "great" to mean someone who's a clear Hall of Fame level talent. Someone like Kobe Bryant in his prime or LeBron James. I never thought Nash was on that level, two MVP awards notwithstanding. Excellence, to me, just means a really good player.
Your argument completely breaks down if: We don't trade Batum. Nate is no longer our coach. If we can get Nash without giving up Batum, I say go for it. Nash will make Batum and Aldridge much better. He would be a godsend with his passing, court vision and ability to create for others. He currently has an AST% of 57.7. If he maintains that, it will be an all-time record. He is simply the best passer in the game. He is also one of the best shooters in the game. Let's face it, our current guards (ouside of the recently converted Batum) can't hit the broad side of a barn on anything approaching a consistent basis. Nash's outside shooting would open things up a lot more for Aldridge posting up and Batum cutting to the basket. Combine his passing and court vision with his outside shooting and Nash would make this team so much better. I agree, Nate is not a good fit for Nash (or any offense that involves ball movement). Either Nate agrees to turn the reins over to Nash, or he's gone. Simple as that. I would hope Nate's job is already on the line. Trying to turn Steve Nash into a billionaire's Steve Blake would be the final straw. BNM
I agree with everything you said, BNM, though I think the high ast% is also partially because his teammates all blow/can't create for themselves.
Same (similar) system, but FAR less talent. I mean shit, look at the Suns current roster. The only two average, or above, players on that team other than Nash are Gortat and Jared Dudley. Compare that to the teams that has Amare', Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, Quentin Richardson, etc. and what Nash is doing now (on pace for all time AST% record) may be even more amazing than what he did in his MVP years. Look who he's passing to: Hakim Warrick .449 FG%, Robin Lopez .420 FG% (horrible for a 7-footer), Grant Hill .416 FG%, Channing Frye .405 FG%, Markieff Morris, .395 FG%, Shannon Brown .390 FG%, Michael Redd 0.374 FG%. Basically, if you take away Nash (he can't pass to himself), he's playing with a bunch of guys who miss 6 our of every 10 shots - and he's on pace to set the all-time AST% record. If he played on a team with some decent shooters, his AST would be over 60% and that's totally insane. In fact, his AST% the past three seasons (50.9, 53.1 and 57.7) has been higher than during his two MVP seasons (44.4 and 50.1) and the three highest of his career. I'd love to have this guy setting up Aldridge and Batum! I know he's old, but for the record, he's not 38 (as has been implied several times in this thread). He just turned 37 three weeks ago. BNM
Well, they also can't shoot, which reduces his AST%. Imagine if he played on a team loaded with good, or even average, shooters. BNM
