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BlueSeats
Posts: 27272
Alba Posts: 41
Joined: 11/6/2005
Member: #1024
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Posted by tomverve:
Marbs for Nash, Q, picks and young talent (which is effectively what Phoenix did) isn't a bad deal at all though. Sure that's a great return, but it's one they had NO way of knowing they'd get when they shipped Steph off. One has to keep in mind that in Steph the Suns traded what was then considered by some their best player, with no guarantee of getting anything comparable in return. Why would one take that risk if all was kosher? Posted by efw:
Plus, you don't really know that Phoenix "decided" to trade Stephon. They may have gotten a call from Isiah asking them if he was available and that he could put together a very attractive "financial relief" package. That may have been more enticing to the Suns at the time than wasting a season with Stephon shouldering most of the scoring load. Wait a minute, it wasn't exactly financial relief. Instead of "wasting a season with Stephon shouldering most of the scoring load" as you say, they paid McKnee and Eisley the same amount to do absolutely nothing of merit for them, with no guarantees of replacing Steph with comparable talent. Sounds like a risky proposition for a great talent like steph if he's fitting in, no? I'll tell you why I think they moved Steph. Because Marion and Amare were weary of Steph, they weren't comfortable with the structure of the offense, D'Antoni wanted to usher in his European style of play, and Steph and Penny refused. Amare was instrumental in recruiting Nash, BTW, as was D'Antoni. Please read these passages more than once, they're very telling: PHOENIX - Penny Hardaway and Stephon Marbury departed Phoenix 13 months ago when they were traded to the Knicks. They returned to America West Arena last night to find a vastly different Suns team that leads the NBA with 109 points per game and now ranks as a legitimate title contender with its fast-paced style.
Asked last night if he's shocked by the turnaround, Hardaway said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't able to sell his European-style offense to his players last season, but that changed when Phoenix added point guard Steve Nash and small forward Quentin Richardson as free agents, using the salary-cap space created by the Marbury trade.
"Coach D'Antoni is a great coach," Hardaway said. "He tried to have us buy into this system when we were here, and we really didn't. There was so much turmoil going on. Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson came in and had the type of game Coach wanted. That's up and down, push the ball, kick it ahead and it doesn't matter who shoots or who scores ... We had enough on the team to get it done, but we just didn't buy into the system."
Hardaway was upset in Phoenix because his playing time was reduced to make way for younger players. Marbury was in the middle of the turmoil that enveloped the Suns.
"It was like guys talking behind each other's backs, guys being selfish, everybody was trying to get their own," Hardaway said. "That leads to trades, and that broke the team up. It doesn't seem like they have any of that going on right now."
Some suggest Marbury may be best suited to play shooting guard, rather than point guard, to maximize his skills and keep him from dominating the ball. "I think a lot of people expect him to be a great point guard, but I don't think that's his main suit," D'Antoni said.
---- Edge points to Steve
Nash's passing scores with Suns
BY OHM YOUNGMISUK
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Steve Nash
PHOENIX - Contrary to what Stephon Marbury thinks, the best point guard in the league does not reside in New York. He doesn't play in New Jersey, either.
"(Steve Nash) is right now the best point guard in the game," Jason Kidd says.
If Marbury needs proof, he should look at his old Suns team. Tonight, the game's top point guard will play at the Garden when Nash leads the Suns against Marbury's Knicks.
Since Marbury proclaimed himself the NBA's best floor leader at the start of the year, the Knicks have lost 10 of 11, not to mention their coach.
Meanwhile, the Suns (32-10) are one of the league's biggest surprises. They started 31-4 before Nash suffered back and thigh injuries that led to a six-game losing streak.
They halted the slide with a 113-105 win over the Nets on Sunday, and are an example of why it is better to build around a pass-first point guard rather than a high-scoring one. After all, look at what Nash is doing with Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, two forwards who played with Marbury for a season and a half.
"Why average 22 (points) and seven (assists) and lose when you can average 15 and eight and win?" one Sun said yesterday when talking about the difference between Marbury and Nash.
It was only four seasons ago that the Suns believed they had the best point guard for years to come when they acquired Marbury for Kidd. However, after watching Kidd carry the Nets to two straight NBA Finals and Marbury make it to the first round just once, the Suns, like the Nets before them, decided they were better off without the 27-year-old Marbury after only two and a half seasons.
The Suns traded him to the Knicks midway through last season. They saved their money and set their sights on the older, cheaper but more team-oriented and personable Nash.
While the Suns were reluctant to publicly compare Marbury to Nash, they were more than willing to praise the 30-year-old Canadian and rave about how happy they are to play with one of the rare point guards who thinks pass first.
"You've got to realize the way our team has developed (since Marbury was a Sun). You've got so many guys who can score," said the underrated Marion, a statistical monster who seems to do it all. "We don't need (a point guard) thinking to score. When you got somebody who wants to get everybody the ball, that is what you need. That is what a point guard is supposed to do."
Stoudemire flew with management to Dallas to recruit Nash when the free agent was considering his options.
"I knew what kind of point guard he is," said Stoudemire, who with Nash's help has developed into one of the league's most dominant forces, averaging 25.7 points, fourth-best in the NBA. "He is a true point guard. He gets me a couple of easy baskets here and there. That is what a point guard does. Steph is the kind of guy that is a shoot-first and pass-second point guard. There is nothing wrong with that because it is always good to be aggressive."
But then Stoudemire said, "It always helps if you've got a *pure* point guard on any team."
With Nash orchestrating the show, the Suns are scoring a league-best 108 points per game. Marion, who played with both Kidd and Marbury, says Nash is a combination of the two. Like Kidd, Nash thinks pass first and loves to run. Like Marbury, Nash can score points in a hurry, like the 30 he scored on 10-of-15 shooting against the Nets.
"I've been saying this the whole season: He is the best point guard in the league," the Suns' Quentin Richardson said of Nash, who averages 15.7 points and an NBA best 10.9 assists.
On one telling play against the Nets, Nash delivered a perfect bounce pass in traffic to a cutting Stoudemire for a layup, like a quarterback hitting his wide receiver on a timing pattern.
"Lefthanded!" Nets coach Lawrence Frank added.
"You got to consider him for the MVP," Rod Thorn said. "He is just what they needed."----- ON HAVING PLAYED WITH THREE ALL-STAR POINT GUARDS: JASON KIDD, STEPHON MARBURY AND STEVE NASH Jason likes to throw the lob, and he's a great rebounder. Steph is a great scoring guard. Steve is a lot like J-Kidd, except for the rebounding and that J-Kidd can guard bigger guys. Steve's so small out there! But they're comparable players. The only adjustments I had to make came when I was playing with Steph. With him I had to create more shots on my own. With Steve and Jason, they create shots for you. ----- These are Isiah's thoughts on why Steph was available from Phoenix:
"When we got him here in New York, the reason why we were able to get him is because he has flaws," said Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' president, who acquired Marbury in a splashy trade last January. "And you don't correct those flaws in four months. But I look at where he is at today and this year, he's laying a great foundation for him to springboard to success in this league. And it's not easy."
"The type of leader I think he's developing into, he's accepting of his teammates' criticism. Before, it was like nobody could say if he was doing anything wrong. Teammates were afraid. So everybody kind of sniped behind his back, as opposed to trying to help him and teach him."
Thomas speculated that Marbury had tried to lead through intimidation. That certainly seemed to be the case in New Jersey, where Marbury publicly criticized Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn; and in Phoenix, where Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion reportedly grew weary of his demeanor.
"Steph is really a very unselfish player," a Suns official said. But once divisions arise, he added, "Steph isn't good with breaking it down, with the way he acts." ----- Look, Marbury is not without talents, but he has his issues. If people want to tell me they like him and think he's worth holding onto, okay, fair enough. I think if ever there was an opportunity made in heaven for him to improve it's under the mentoring of Isiah and the tutelage of Brown. But when people want to tell me he doesn't have personality issues or that his playmaking skills are beyond criticism I say "no way". Even his former coach, D'Antoni, doesn't think PG is his strong suit, and recently we read that Melo was surprised LB even took the Knicks job after what Larry and Steph went through during the Olympics. So add that on top of Marion and Amare having trouble with his 'demeanor" and it's little wonder why the Suns moved him for a mere chance at something better, let alone Nash and a 62 win season. Ditto the his situation with the Nets. Now we also know that he had issues with Kurt and TT here, we know Isiah took off the "untouchable' status and publicly called Steph out more than once on his defense, and one report last year suggested the reason Wilkens was asked to 'retire' was he recommended Steph be traded. Time will tell how his tenure in NY will be viewed years from now - I make no predictions. But his past can't be viewed all that favorably, IMHO. |
Not to get on your case, just letting you know.