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nixluva
Posts: 56258
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 10/5/2004
Member: #758
USA
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Sorry but this is a bit long :)
OK let's not go back to the 1st rd thing as somehow a sign that Steph isn't a good PG. That's just STUPID!!! He's ONE MAN and NO ONE can all by himself make a team win. Just ask KG about that. I can't tell you how many times i've argued these points over the years, but statistically players don't avg fewer shots when playing with Steph.
FACT:
Marion avg'd 15.9 and 16.8 shots a game with Nash
Marion avg'd 17.2 and 18.0 shots a game with Steph
KT avg'd 7.3 shots with Nash (in only 53 games)
KT avg'd 11.2 shots with Steph in his last yr in NY
Now also realize that Steph was playing under a different system and Coach when they played together than the system Mike D'Antoni has Nash playing under for the last 2 years.
This is one article about the year Steph had in Amare's 1st year in the league when they made the playoffs:
"Steph was huge," Suns coach Frank Johnson says afterward with requisite amazement. "He wouldn't allow us to lose."
"Most importantly, in his second season with the Suns, Marbury has pulled this preseason lottery lock into playoff contention with hard-nosed play and solid team leadership. Simply put, there's not a point guard in the game who's outplaying him. And Marbury's clutch-time performance--measured by the NBA as production in the last two minutes of games and in overtime--has been among the best in the business all season long."
www.findarticles.com/p/ar...i_99848989
I'd like for some of you to read these statements from the coach and owner at the time in PHX just before Steph came to New York. Remember the Suns had gone to the playoffs the year before and Amare was in his 2nd season now:
From Dec 2. interview with the Coach:
"Ray: Everybody looks to Stephon Marbury. HeÕs the point guard on this team. Clearly the leader of this ball club, just by virtue of not only his position, but really his nature, as well. You want to be a running team, but itÕs hard to be a running team when it seems like not everybodyÕs on the same page (with respect to) running. Is that still something that this team is having to work on very hard each day in practice? Because you see opportunities to run but it doesnÕt seem like thereÕs anybody to fill the lane.
Johnson: We do a good job at times, and then at other times we donÕt. WeÕre just not consistent there. Sometimes our rebounding is not as strong as it needs to be. We need to get those rebounds without having to run them down. Clean rebounds without them being poked out of our hands. And sometimes when we do and we get steals and we get those clean rebounds, we have a better chance of running. As youÕre seeing, we just have a tough time sometimes holding onto those defensive rebounds that weÕre getting."
(This is what the Owner Colangelo had to say about things On Dec 4. the Day before Amare was injured}:
"Colangelo: I think thatÕs accurate. Shawn has been very tentative. He came off this ankle injury and he doesnÕt even look close to being the same player that he was previously. But he needs to be much more aggressive in his game overall. AmarŽ is letting too many things bother him, it appears to me, on the court, be it the officials, the conversation from the bench, whatever. But heÕs not on a synch that he should be. Marbury (Wednesday) night took the bull by the horns offensively, to pick up slack, and I think heÕs been so conscious of distributing the ball; he lost part of his effectiveness in a number of games. When you hear things like, ÒWell, youÕre out of synch,Ó I think thatÕs a pretty good representation, individual players and the team collectively.
Caller (Brian, Phoenix): Noticing the games, IÕm seeing a lot of the offense being run from the top of the key. YouÕve been around a long time and you know that throughout history a lot of the great teams have run their offense from the low post out. When youÕve got a presence like AmarŽ, it seems like we can pound it down in there and when they start sagging in on him, then things can open up out top more.
Colangelo: In a general sense, thatÕs correct. So your question is, what can we do to better utilize the talent that we have?
Burns: I think what he was getting at was maybe more of a change in the focus of the offense, to run it around AmarŽ in the low post rather than Stephon at the top of the key.
Colangelo: HereÕs one of the issues. Number one, thereÕs an awful lot of match up zone being played in the NBA today and thereÕs not a lot of one-on-one guarding of offensive players, but then again, teams are mixing it up, and again the coaches are looking at the rules, (and) they figure out ways to circumvent. ThatÕs exactly the way it is in the NBA today. So, itÕs difficult to get the ball where you want to get it, and one thing I donÕt like is we do a lot of side to side, up front, rather than penetration and getting the ball into the low post, but part of that is dictated by the defense."
I posted all of this to help destroy some of the negative perceptions of Steph and deal with facts of what happend and how he was viewed. OK so now a bit more background on how things transpired in PHX just before Steph got traded: On Nov. 26th they were 7-7 and had just gone 4-1 at that time things were looking better, the team was playing better and Steph had a couple of double, doubles with 12 and 11 assist games. They still had setbacks losing the next 3 games, then in the next game they won but Amare was injured. This was the turning point for the team. Had Amare not been injured they likely would not have had such a bad stretch and neither the Coach nor Steph would have been let go. They may still have made a trade after the season in order to make the type of Cap room they wanted, but Amare's injury gave them the out they needed to justify trading Steph during the season.
Steph's shot attempts have gone down since he's been here in NY. When Steph got here he was playing great and until the KVH and Doleac trades he was playing up to his potential and setting up teammates. He ended up avg'ing 9.3 assists in NY, but he would've been higher had the trades not happened. That was an adjustment that set things back a bit. Imagine how this team would've looked with a healthy H2O and Steph? You can't tell me that he wouldn't have been spectacular in that situation. Its interesting that his performance looked similar during the streak this year when he played his game and had a SET LINEUP for a change. In truth there isn't really much wrong with Steph's game. If we continue to develop the around him, we'll be a very good team. We have to allow him to be who his is or he's not going to be as effective as he could. Like Arenas and AI, Steph needs that level of freedom and support from his coach and team. YEAH he's capable of playing like those guys we just never seem to want to let him do that. Steph always has coaches who want to change him instead of using his great ability to help the team win. Maybe this year Isiah will be the one coach who doesn't hold him back from being who and what he is.
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)... Marbury made great passes to front court players for easy jumpers (Frye) and dunks (Lee, Curry). He's not an orchestrator, he's a playmaker. Kidd and Nash use all 4 teammates to set up one guy, Marbury uses himself. Kidd and Nash have their whole team in motion, the Knicks stand around waiting for MArbury to create, or a set play is called.