That’s what the headline reads for Paul Coro’s article in the Arizona Republic. It freaked me out. Then I went on to read the article to see if it wasn’t just a slightly sensational headline designed for me to click on the article. But it’s not. “From what I’ve seen so far it’s very different, but he’s not going to throw everything at us at once,” forward Grant Hill told the Republic in the article. “It’ll be interesting to see if we totally get away from some of the old stuff.”
That sounds like a pretty big change. Especially since over the past month all Porter and Kerr have been talking about is how the team will still light up the scoreboard. But then, how much more do the Suns fastbreak than other teams? When I think of the “essence” of the Suns’ offense in the D’Antoni years, Marion and Barbosa streaking ahead of the pack isn’t what comes to mind. It’s Steve Nash driving baseline and passing the ball out to the three-point line.
Let’s take a quick look at the stats. In an article by Roland Beech from 82games.com, statistics show the Suns scored about 17 points off fast breaks in the ‘06-’07 season, with a 6.5 point net fastbreak average. That doesn’t take into account for points drawn on fouls, and the definition of fast break can be somewhat nebulous when tallying stats, but it will suffice for our purposes. The net fastbreak average shows that the Suns only had about three more buckets each game from the fastbreak. Not that impressive.
The real issue here is the motion offense Porter is installing. I think it’s a good idea in the long run, since it will help prepare the team for the post-Nash era somewhat. I don’t know how much good it will do this season though. The reason that the Suns’ offense has been so anemic with Nash on the bench over the past few years is that Nash is the offense. It’ll be interesting to see just how much Porter lets Nash freelance when he’s on the floor. Restrain Nash, and the offense becomes relatively mediocre. And if there’s not a significant change in a mediocre defense, the Suns could be in some trouble.
The NBA Cares. Really, it does. That’s what all the commercials say, where star after star reads to children and builds houses. And that’s a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it seems too staged. I’m a skeptic, yes. That’s why it’s refreshing to see Phoenix Suns of now and then doing good things in our community and beyond in a way that seems authentic, genuine and unforced. I’m a homer, yes.
Grant Hill recently teamed with Stop MRSA Now, a group that raises awareness about the deadly staph infection. Hill, who has been diagnosed with the infection before, said he’s raising awareness because he had trouble getting information about MRSA when he contracted it.
Kevin Johnson, fan favorite and member of the 93 Finals team, is helping out in Phoenix now after assisting in his hometown Sacramento the past few years. Andrew Perna reports that KJ was on hand to endorse the Phoenix Teaching Fellows program that teams regular citizens with young students to teach them math, science, language arts, etc. Sure KJ, is in the mayoral race in Sacramento, but Phoenix seems a bit far to stage a publicity stunt. Unless that’s what he wants us to think…Anyways, here’s another video to remember the good old days (though it sucks that our good old days don’t include a championship). It’s all good stuff, but KJ over the Dream is at the end if that’s all you want to see.
Not to mention other good things Suns players have done this summer, including Boris Diaw hosting a camp in Senegal, Steve Nash doing anything and everything and Amare Stoudemire visiting schools and stuff (I think. It’s more on the PR side anyways).
I read an article East Valley Tribune reporter Scott Bordow wrote last week about how Nash doesn’t know if the Suns will be good enough to sit him for a dozen games next season. “If you can get to the postseason well rested, it’s perfect,” Nash tells Bordow. “But you can’t always afford to do that.” It’s been Steve Kerr’s plan for quite a while now to rest Nash for about a dozen games this season. To this end, he traded up in the draft to get Goran Dragic and recently swung a deal to acquire Sean Singletary, who was taken a few spots ahead of Dragic. And as self-centered as it may sound to suggest that the Suns can’t win without him, Nash has two MVP trophies that back up his claims. Not that I think he is self-centered in any way – he has a pretty extensive track record that suggests otherwise.
I don’t think that Nash is saying the Suns’ new rookie PGs aren’t good enough to hold his jock strap, but realistically the Suns aren’t going to have a large margin of error for making the playoffs. Sure, the Celtics won a championship last year with Rajon Rondo starting, but they had the Big 3 who could create their own shots if the second-year guard was struggling. O’Neal has trouble doing that now, and Stoudemire, Barbosa, Diaw, and Hill are pretty inconsistent. Plus, the Celtics were playing in the Eastern Conference, where the lowly Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs with a losing record. Of course, those same Hawks took the Celts to 7 games i the first round, even with self-proclaimed “World’s Best Player” Paul Pierce playing injury-free. But I digress.
So if the Suns will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year in a tough Western Conference, can they really afford to sit Nash for 12 games? Maybe. I suppose it depends on who they rest him against. Against the Bucks, T-Wolves, and Grizzlies, Nash shouldn’t have to play for the Suns to win. He’s not the same player he was a few years past, when the Suns struggled against the scum of the league without him. If the rest of the team can’t post a winning record against such teams without Nash’s help, the Suns’ championship hopes are awfully dim.
I suppose another school of thought asks why Nash needs to be removed from games entirely. Wouldn’t it be enough to just lower the minutes he plays per game? Surely Dragic and Singletary can fill in for a quarter and a half each game. I tend to subscribe to former coach Mike D’Antoni’s way of thinking. Does five minutes a game really matter to a world-class athlete? Will he really be that much more rested for the playoffs if he sits on the bench a few minutes less each game?
I think Kerr’s plan to sit Nash is a good idea, assuming of course the games are strategically chosen. I don’t think it would be wise to sit Nash the final 12 games of the season. And as much as this plan has to do with winning his season, it also has a great deal to do with the Suns’ future. Stoudemire needs to prove he can win without Nash, and either Dragic or Singletary need to show themselves capable of starting in the NBA. The Suns need to start preparing for life without Nash. Take a break, Steve Nash. The team afford to play a few without you this season. The question is, can they really afford not to?
