I think the Nate experiment has to be a short one. I don't think you take 3, 4, 5 years to teach a great offensive player how to be a point guard. After a couple years you have to accept the player for who they are and go out and find someone that already does those things well. If Nate can pick it up in the next year then maybe you stick with it for another year. But for my money it's rare for a PG to pick it up this late in life.

Learning the PG position isn't as easy as learning a mindset or "getting it". It's understanding the game from a complete opposite direction. Understanding situation, who needs the ball, who hasn't gotten it in a while, who's frustrated, who's on a roll, when you need to shoot, what a good shot is. Other players tendencies. There is so much that goes into the position and it is hard to learn.

If you watched the USA/Brazil game last night you saw what a PG can do for a team. The US team was struggling in the beginning. They were taking contested shots. Forcing shots. They were struggling because when things went bad they started to fall back on their one on one skills. Then magically Coach K throws Kidd back into the game. Magically they stop going one one one. They start running the offense again, every shot they get is a wide open shot. Next thing you know it's a blow out. I have no doubt that Nate can bring the ball up, drive and dish to an open man. But when it all breaks down can Nate calm the team down, get it back into it's offense and run the show? Or will he continue to be a part of the breakdown, ignore the offense and fall back on his instincts and rely on one on one like he and Jamal and Steph have done for us the past 2 years? This is a huge question that will determine our success and why I have been consistently amazed at the PG's that we have brought to this team since Charlie Ward.

Nate can be taught to play PG, but he will never be a top 5 point guard. He is what he is, a scorer. I'd rather we were talking up Jamal and Mardy as our PGs. N8 i'd like to keep. Marbury i'd like to get rid of.

Posted by kam77:

Nate can be taught to play PG, but he will never be a top 5 point guard. He is what he is, a scorer. I'd rather we were talking up Jamal and Mardy as our PGs. N8 i'd like to keep. Marbury i'd like to get rid of.

That's what I been talking about for the longest.

In a halfcourt offense with slow-it-up PG like Marbury, and banger(s) down like Curry and/or Randolph, Collins would better fit the tempo.

Send nate out west where he can do some damage.