http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/592/steve-nash "BornFeb 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa (Age: 38)"
Actually, we do have more than Phoenix. Aldridge, Batum and Gerald Wallace are all better than their counterparts on the Suns. Where our shooting sucks is our guards. Replacing Felton with Nash would be a HUGE upgrade in our perimeter shooting. BNM
You'd be surprised how much better our players would shoot if we had Nash. A lot of our players like Matthews, Crawford, lma and Batum shoot so much better when they get the ball in rhythm.
Our starting 2, 3, 4 vs. Phoenix: Aldridge 0.506 FG% Warrick 0.449 FG% Wallace: 0.488 FG% Dudley: 0.477 FG% Batum: 0.465 FG% Hill: 0.416 FG% Our starting 2, 3 and 4 shoot better than their starting 2, 3, 4 - and that's with Felton "setting up" our guys and Nash setting up their's. Replace Felton with Nash and we actually have a very good shooting starting 5. BNM
I think it had more to do with a system he runs that needs solid point guard play and he didn't have anyone worth a damn playing PG. Shumpert was horrible at it and Douglas failed miserably. You bring in Lin and bam, your getting guys like Novak and Fields good looks. I don't think D'Antoni's a great coach, but if he gets players that fit his system he can be a very good coach. His style fizzes out deep in the playoffs though when they start facing quick, elite defenses.
....and all this Nash talk is hilarious. We don't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting him. We aren't parting with Batum and besides that we don't have anything to offer. Other teams are going to have a lot more pieces to part with.
I know I'm a little late to this party, but coaches offensive systems don't make players Hall of Famers.
I think coaches offensive systems can make really good players into great players, if the system is practically tailor made for them.