Two things at once

As we all know, it’s a short week.  I hate to disappoint, but I most likely won’t be around tomorrow or Friday, as I’ll be too busy playing football, watching football, and shoving mashed potatoes and stuffing down my gullet.  The good news is you get Pick and Roll AND the “Friday” links today. Kick.  Ass.

Steve Fan is recovered from the awesomeness reduction surgery I mentioned last week and is back for more Pick and Roll.  Here goes…

Steve Fan: Steve Nash is not a happy basketball player, not anymore. Gone is that lightness of playing his beloved “free flow” style. Gone is that feeling of things coming so naturally, going out there having fun every night, which allowed Steve to win two MVP awards.. Gone is that soccer-feeling of perfect passing and open lanes. Gone is the light in his eyes.”Seven seconds or less” has now turned into a “Thirteen seconds or more.”

These are the post-up, controlled-offense, defense-first Suns: Steve Nash is not the PG you need to play this kind of game. Deron Williams is, Tony Parker maybe, not Steve. The Suns are still Nash’s team but they’re not playing his game anymore.

He’s a great pro, a great man above all, so you won’t hear him yell his frustration to the media anytime soon. But Nash is trapped within this system and I can almost feel his pain. His 2008 stats are the worst of his Suns career: 13.5 ppg, 7.6 apg, .492 shooting, .442 3-point shooting. Last season, not his best by any standard, Steve averaged almost 17 points a night and an amazing 11 assists per game, not to mention his amazing shooting percentages. Even his steals are way down…so much for a defensive system.

Of course Steve is not getting any younger, time will take his toll eventually, but he’s still in great shape and it’s early in the season. His hard times have nothing to do with age, right now.

Mark: It’s difficult to disagree with your assessment of Nash thus far this year.  Something is definitely missing from his game.  All signs do indeed point to frustration with the system and a loss of the joy in playing a score at all costs offense, but things could be a heck of a lot worse.

Nash has been saying the right things and playing hard all year.  He’s struggled and hasn’t been himself numbers-wise, but I still see the same effort from him every night, as he continues to lead his teammates and put in the work to get them continually moving in the right direction.

Again, his numbers are down, but so are the numbers for everyone else.  Despite a full training camp, preseason, and two weeks of the season, the team is still learning and it’s a process.  Nash is still learning as well.

If the joy looks to be gone from his game, it’s because he’s frustrated with himself and his team for not getting there sooner.

Steve: While I agree on the fact the Suns are playing a different ballgame this season you have to consider that it’s really no different than the game the Suns played under Coach D’Antoni during the last two months of last season when Shaq was on court.

Coach Porter took that approach from 15-20 minutes Shaq was in to the whole game. It’s Kerr ball, actually.  With a “new” focus on defense it’s even worse as Nash’s weakness is often exposed in one on one situation having to contain penetration from opponents’ point guard.

Nash is giving a solid effort in implementing the new system, but I really feel like he could have enough very soon.  At this point of his career, a player of Nash’s caliber will be guided either by a chance of winning a championship ring or by the fact he’s enjoying the game.  Once he realizes the Suns are not going to win the championship this season (just check their record against the Conference’s top teams) he’ll start considering the fact that he’ll soon be 35 and at best could play 2 more years at this level.

Don’t forget the fact he might be willing to conclude his career in Canada or maybe in his beloved New York City.  Well, you get the idea.

Mark: I think you’re putting the wagon before the horse or however it is that silly expression goes.  Nash did play with Shaq for a quarter of a season last year, but that doesn’t mean all that much.  What Coach Porter is attempting to do with Shaq and this team is different than what Coach D threw together.  It’s even more extreme.

New coaches, new system, hell, even new players.  It’s a lot to soak up and adjust to.

I would agree the defensive focus is especially tough on Nash but that’s an aspect of his game where I see him working hardest.  Admittedly, I haven’t been analyzing his defensive prowess a great deal, but for the most part, I see him getting after it.  The carrot Coach Porter dangles is that defensive stops lead to more running.  Perhaps Steve is looking for a beta carotene shot.

I don’t buy into Nash ever putting himself before the team or looking for greener pastures.  At least not at this point in regards to the latter.  He recently said so himself in discussing 2010 with Coro.  Nash should retire a Sun, return for his Ring of Honor ceremony, and go into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a Sun.

The real question I’m interested in having answered throughout the year is if Nash is truly capable of adjusting his game accordingly and getting this team over the hump and running on all cylinders again, albeit in a totally different manner than Coach D asked.

Do you think Nash can do it?  Or is he simply not that kind of player?

Steve: I agree it’ll take some time to build a new system. While I hope to be surprised by some positive results during the season, right now I can’t help thinking that Coach Porter is asking Nash, and a few other players, to go against their nature, so to speak.

Steve is possibly the most intelligent point guard in the NBA, and I mean it on and off the court, and he’ll give his best to help the Suns winning games. I am afraid it’s not going to be enough. Nash will be a better than average guard even in this half court system, but not the MVP type of player he could be in a fast pace run-first team where he could still make the difference between a good and a great team.

Mark: You may be right.  Coach Porter may be able to take the player out of the fast break, but not the fast break out of the player.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

Last night was definitely evidence of Porter needing to loosen the reins at times and really let Nash do his thing.  They all need to do a better job of adjusting and adapting to each other, both the coaches and players.

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Onto the links.  Today’s selections for your listening pleasure are the Descendents of course.  Duh.    “Bikeage” and “Kabuki Girl.”

-I always thought Pryzbilla’s nickname was “Vanilla Godzilla.”  It should come as no surprise that I was wrong.

-power rankings are a fun exercise.  Especially when Kelly Dwyer hits the nail on the head for the Suns with his comment.

-Marc Stein’s head just about explodes with the endless possibilities in New York in 2010.  I’ll worry about Nash leaving Phoenix when is contract is actually up, thank you very much.

-does your special lady friend hate the NBA and the time you put in watching your team, thinking about your team, going nuts about your team, loving your team, and hating your team?  Dime is here to help.

-an interesting analysis of what makes Steve Nash such a great free throw shooter. (BDL)

-thanks to TrueHoop, I recently began reading the Basketball Refererence blog.  I’d encourage you to do the same if you want a different look at the league.  Start here and look for the Suns.

-Boris Diaw would have been on this list last year for sure.  This year, not quite.  He may never get back to what he did to earn that bloated contract and will always continue to frustrate, but he’s been a pleasant surprise so far this year.

-Paul Forrester at SI in regards to the race to cap space in 2010.  I love it:

Here’s the question I want to ask every GM who is clearing out cap space with a vacuum: What is your Plan B? There’s only one LeBron, one Wade and one Chris Bosh. With seemingly half the league readying itself for maximum-bid offers, plenty of clubs are going to be stuck outside of the velvet rope. Without a contingency plan, it could make for a number of hard years ahead; just ask Jerry Krause after the Bulls struck out on Tracy McGrady in 2000.

-Barstool Sports (NSFW’ish…cleavage) gets an email from a guy in a full Shaq uniform asking if his beer can trophy is lame.  The answer is yes, but not as lame as wearing a matching jersey AND shorts.  Good God, man.  Get yourself together.

-Amare Stoudemire was honored with the NBA’s Community Assist Award.  Slam has all the details.  Keep up the good work, Amare.

-last but not least, Kelly Dwyer (I know, another BDL link.  What can I say?  I’m a fan, and they’ve been more than good to me) goes behind last night’s box score and tells us Steve Nash is sick and tired.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  Best to you and your families.  Enjoy the holiday weekend, and remember, if you’re drinking, don’t drive.  And if you’re driving, don’t drink.

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