Christmas brought with it some great games. If you want to read about my thoughts on the Lakers/Celtics matchup, check here.As for the Tony Parker, Steve Nash matchup that ended with the Suns going home disappointed, here are some thoughts.
TP missed at least 5 shots he normally always makes. 10-23 is not good, though 15 for 23 would have been. Even still, he killed Nash. Along with his 27 points, he had 8 dimes and only 1 turnover along with 4 steals. Nashty? 8 dimes, 6 turnovers, 1 steal, 13 points. Nashty indeed.
Which brings me to my larger point. Is Shaq’s 16 points and 8.6 rebounds and 22.79 PER really worth the downfall of Nash? The Canadian’s assists have plummeted while his turnovers have gone way up. In fact, his assists are the lowest they've been in 5 years while his turnover percentage (23.3) is by far the highest its ever been since his rookie season (24.2). In his other 10 seasons, he's never broken 22, let alone 23. Check is stats.
Can somebody please explain how bringing Nash off the bench wouldn’t be the best thing for the Suns? O’Neal kills Nash’s value. He kills J-Rich’s value too. I know, I know, I know. The thought of benching a two-time-MVP is ludicrous, but the Suns got popular and very, very good off of going against traditional thought.
This notion of trying to be the Spurs, who are always going to be better than anybody at being the Spurs, is a stupid game plan. Blame Kerr, blame Shaq, whatever. Now that that game plan has forced Shaq onto the team, why not allocate the assets the team does have into something more useful?
The best teams in the league have the best benches: Celtics, Lakers, Denver, Portland, Houston, and even the Cavs (the lone exception being the Magic, who, recently have been bringing Pietrus off the bench as a means to boost their second unit). If the Suns brought Nash off the bench, they could have a starting lineup of Barbosa, Richardson, Hill, Amare and Shaq.
If Porter brought Nash in when O’Neal and Hill sit, he could have a crazy running group that would rival the SSOL squad: Nash at point, Barbosa at shooting guard, J-Rich at small, Barnes at power and Stoudemire in the middle. While Barnes ain’t no Marion, he’s a better 3-point shooter and has played the PF position before and can act as a poor-man’s version.
That team could run, run, run, and pick and roll other tired starters and/or not nearly as good second units to literal exhaustion. Amare would get to do his offensive thing, put up his gaudy O STATS, and Nash would be able to run free. His best defense has always been his tireless, breakneck offense.
Porter could then bring back in Shaq, Hill, Amundson and/or Lopez to spell Amare and any combination of Nash, Barbosa, and/or J-Rich.
With Shaq back on the court, that squad would go back to feeding the big guy (while Amundson/Lopez works to block shots and grab rebounds, something Amare refuses to do) and Hill facilitates the offense. This lets Barbosa play 30 plus minutes a game and utilizes his talents. It lets J-Rich have more time in the offense and utilizes his full range of offensive talents. And it also rests Shaq, Nash and Hill by cutting down their minutes while maximizing their skills.
Other teams wouldn't know how to prepare for the Suns. It would be like playing two completely different teams and it would establish a concrete Phoenix Suns playing style by having both. It would also let Shaq and Amare acrue fouls on the other team early, so that when the second group is in there, they, the far superior freethrow shooting team, would be the ones to benefit from being in the penalty.
No matter what one thinks of Phil Jackson's coaching style, with his deep team, he has established clearly defined minutes for his starters and bench mob. Except for last night (and what will probably continue due to Farmar's injury) where Kobe played extended minutes, the Lakers have utilized two different squads. All of the talk of how poorly they have been playing doesn't dismisss their 24-5 record. Porter should implement the same strategy with his team, only his second unit would be fortified by a guy who actually is experienced at running a team (unlike Odom and Farmar).
It’s a win, win, win situation, and it could have produced a win last night.
Speaking of which, having Raja Bell could have also helped. J-Rich leaving his man (Roger Mason) and running and then jumping to try and block TP’s layup attempt over a much taller and in great defensive position Grant Hill that at worst would have tied the game, was the reason the Suns lost.
By the way, is somebody going to try and guard Mason at the end of games? How many buzzer beaters is that? He’s the guard version of Big shot Rob.
Oh yeah, Spurs are dangerous…duh.
