http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...otes/index.htmlThe genius of NashTwo-time MVP's savvy allows Suns to run effectivelyPosted: Monday December 18, 2006 9:05AM; Updated: Monday December 18, 2006 9:46AMWatching the Phoenix Suns play basketball speeds up the synapses in the brain, causes the heart to accelerate a few beats and makes the fingertips tingle with anticipation. Points come in bunches, pressing the scoreboard operators to keep up. Dazzling displays of athleticism and three-pointers always seem just seconds away.It's a new way to play, and many teams around the NBA are trying to emulate the Suns' system. Teams are looking to push the ball up court and get open shots before opposing defenses have a chance to set up. This has been an aesthetically pleasing development for fans, and we probably have Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni (and departed Suns boss Bryan Colangelo, who hired him) to thank.In another NBA epoch, Pat Riley, coach of the defending champion Miami Heat, was the general of a team that dashed and dunked its way to four titles from 1982 through 1988. Because Riley had a running, smiling, no-look passing genius named Magic Johnson in his arsenal, it was easy for him to allow Magic to decide who got the basketball and when. D'Antoni is in the same envious place with Steve Nash.But playing basketball the Suns' way isn't something you merely decide to do, and then go out and do it. Most coaches don't deploy someone with the almost mystical understanding of the game that Magic Johnson or Steve Nash have. They make magical plays mere mortal players didn't see, didn't know were even possible.That's why simply trying to play an up-tempo, running style isn't enough. Even having a GM, a coaching staff and players who are committed to relentlessly running and getting good shots isn't enough. You must have a sage and talented catalyst at the point to maximize this style of play, to make it work. Otherwise, you drown in a sea of turnovers, bad decisions and bad shots.That's why it won't work for everyone. Many teams have at least two or three fantastically athletic and talented wing players on their roster. But most teams don't have Magic, Nash or Bob Cousy at the controls.Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News wrote this week about a play he saw Nash make against Orlando. Nash was caught in mid-air with the ball and nobody to pass it to. Nash tossed the ball off the backboard, beat everyone to the rebound and nailed a baseline jumper. Monroe stated: "In 22 years covering the league, I've seen only two other players make similar plays: Larry Bird and Michael Jordan."Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban makes very few player personnel mistakes. But with Nash, who has already won back-to-back Most Valuable Player Awards since leaving Dallas and is playing like the league's MVP again, it's time for even the most ardent Cuban supporters to acknowledge that a five-year, $65 million commitment to the soon-to-be 33-year-old was one move he should have made.Even if the Mavericks, perhaps the NBA's deepest team, win a championship in the next two years and the Suns don't, which is a possibility, you simply don't allow players with true basketball genius go. And Nash is one of those rare players. I agree, I hear fans talking about how their team is implimenting the Suns offense or something like it, and the funny thing is, these fans think it will work. I could see some things working or it being used some of the time but fans that think they are getting anything like the Suns offense are mistaken. You can run the Suns offense and it won't be as good...Nobody will match that offense. I disagree with this writer. Mark Cuban let Steve Nash go for a reason. Nash was good in Dallas but not considered 'special' or a gigantic loss. Blaming Cuban or saying he was wrong is stupid. If resigned Nash would be doing what he's always did in Dallas...which is not having the ball half as much as he does with the Suns. For this writer to call out Cuban for letting a 'basketball genius and special player' go...well I ask him, did you think Nash was a basketball genius his last year in Dallas? I think not.
Yeah if this was written during the last year of nash's stay in dallas it would be completely different. Nash doesn't even make THAT much and why would dallas let go of a player who they thought would win 2 straight MVP awards? They wouldnt and at the time it wasnt a dumb move.
Cuban's a piece of f*cking sh*t anyway, he always has been and always will be, regardless of any dumb-F*ck decisions he makes. That aside, the Phoenix Suns will win an NBA Championship before the Dallas Mavericks do.
Even with what Nash has done, it's still the right move to have let Steve Nash go. With Nash they was doing the same thing every year, going to the playoffs and getting booted out in the first or second round. Avery has implemented an offense that has the ball move around alot more, does not have one person holding the ball forever, like Nash has in Phoenix. So on offense, he would not be doing what Nash is doing now. Cuban has also made this team better defensively by letting Nash sign with the Suns, and the other players that have arrived. With Nash, in last years playoffs, Harris probably never goes into the Spurs games, and you don't find out that he played somewhat decent defense on Parker. That was a huge point of the Spurs series last year, and I don't think you go to the Finals with Nash. It was a good idea letting Nash go, and it still is.
You can't really blame Cuban for letting Nash go. Remember, we are all looking at this in the now. Back then, even though Nash was still a Top 5 NBA PG, he was entering his 30s and Mark Cuban didn't want to sign him for all that money. I wouldn't have done it, I don't think anyone would have done it at that time
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (valo35 @ Dec 18 2006, 11:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Even with what Nash has done, it's still the right move to have let Steve Nash go. With Nash they was doing the same thing every year, going to the playoffs and getting booted out in the first or second round. Avery has implemented an offense that has the ball move around alot more, does not have one person holding the ball forever, like Nash has in Phoenix. So on offense, he would not be doing what Nash is doing now. Cuban has also made this team better defensively by letting Nash sign with the Suns, and the other players that have arrived. With Nash, in last years playoffs, Harris probably never goes into the Spurs games, and you don't find out that he played somewhat decent defense on Parker. That was a huge point of the Spurs series last year, and I don't think you go to the Finals with Nash. It was a good idea letting Nash go, and it still is.</div>Nash brings the ball up but the Suns spread the ball around A LOT. Everyone gets plenty of touches. I don't blame Cuban for making the move at the time but right now it doesn't look too smart but his team ended up alright.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Dec 18 2006, 05:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nash brings the ball up but the Suns spread the ball around A LOT. Everyone gets plenty of touches. I don't blame Cuban for making the move at the time but right now it doesn't look too smart but his team ended up alright.</div>Where do you get that it doesn't look to smart? They have already been to a finals without Steve Nash, and their style of play is different without Steve Nash. Lots of people do get plenty of touches in that Phoenix offense, but Nash still holds the ball way more than anyone else on that team does. He also holds the ball way more than he would in Dallas. Had Nash stayed in Dallas, he would not be doing what he is now, and would not be looking like the MVP that he is these days. Furthermore, the defense is much farther along these days without Nash, which is a huge reason for why I think the team looks better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Noah @ Dec 18 2006, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Cuban's a piece of f*cking sh*t anyway, he always has been and always will be, regardless of any dumb-F*ck decisions he makes. That aside, the Phoenix Suns will win an NBA Championship before the Dallas Mavericks do.</div>You need defense to win a championship. Dirk and Nash on the same team along with not having a defensive center was too weak but I guess the Suns have more defense around Nash than what the mavs had.
Nash to the Suns ended up being great for both teams. The Suns decided to model after the Mavs but even moreso up tempo. Nash was the guy to do that. Mavs decided to spend less on Terry who ended up being good for them, and then didn't let him go since he fit well.
