Shaquille O’Neal Knows His Role; Steve Nash Has Almost Perfected His

Coach D’Antoni: Here’s the play. Steve, you bring up the ball. Amare, set the pick for Steve. Shaq, get out of the way.

The pick and roll at the top has always been the Suns bread and butter, but then Shaq arrived, and that butter made ya put on an ugly face. Shaq picking and roliing wasn’t working. And, even when the screen was set by Stoudemire, the Big Diesel seemed to get in the way. Steve Nash was having trouble adapting to the big fella. Nash was playing with a dominant big man for the first time in his career, and D’Antoni was putting this big man in a position where he wasn’t going to be successful - at the free throw line and beyond.

Since then, things have been figured out. Shaq either gets the ball in the post, or he gets off the block and watches Steve and Amare work their magic. The key thing is that everyone is doing what they do best. Stoudemire continues to finish at the rim and doesn’t look for Shaq at his spot along the baseline; Shaq isn’t great at finishing from there, but he is useful. Just as the front office planned, he receives the ball down low in post up situations or he gets a feed when he’s stationed only a couple feet from the bucket. Meanwhile, the Nash is free to roam the way he’s been roaming for years. Creating, distributing, getting out on the break, and he’s also hitting his shots.

Which brings us to the two-time MVP that hasn’t won a ring. To me, Nash’s downfall in the playoffs has been that he’s too unselfish. He just doesn’t look for his own shot enough when his team really needs him to. When the postseason gets going and the D tightens up, Nash needs to get a little greedy and stroke that sweet J. I keep thinking of last season, round 2: a game 5 loss to the Spurs when both Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended. As time wound down in a close game, Nash either passed off, or, when he did decide to shoot, his reluctance threw him off just enough so that he’d miss shots he’d made thousands of times.

It isn’t a concern to me that he feels he doesn’t need a ring to validate his career. He has the drive to win; he wouldn’t have come close to this point if he didn’t. I just think he has to change who he is a little bit to get there. Nash has never been a typical NBA player - he’s selfless. Monday against the Nuggets, his 36 point performance was selfish, and it was beautiful. He got hit in the face, he was angry, and he went and got his. Now, we’ve seen Nash score 40+ in the postseason before, but his shots have never won a series. To me, a little helping of “Selfish Steve” would do just that.

The Shaq trade has brought a bit of urgency to the Suns organization, and it surely has made Nash take notice. The front office has made a statement: the time is now. Steve isn’t dumb, he sees it. He also understands that sometimes if you wanna get things done, you just gotta do it yourself.

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By Tas Melas at 3:34 am on 04.02.2008 — Tags: Steve Kerr, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, Suns

Just Another Take On The Shaquille O’Neal Trade


Shaq on the Suns, huh? It still seems so odd. I’m not sure how we’ll look back at this season and all its big trades, but is this a Hall of Famer being traded for what he’s done in the past, or will he be that missing link Phoenix needs?

The Suns have been very, very close the last few seasons. A basket here, some common sense by David Stern there, and we’d be talking about this run and gun Suns team as the one that finally won it all with no D. Trading for Shaq does not change the way we should look at this team. Just because one guy runs slower than the rest, it doesn’t make their style any slower. There is no 5 man fast break.

We all know the game slows down in the post season; defenses tighten up, fast break points decrease. Phoenix had a plodder starting for them in the playoffs last season. Similar to Shaq, Kurt Thomas was in the lineup to take up space, keep Amare Stoudemire out of foul trouble, defend and rebound. Shaq is there for all those reasons, and to add a little more offence. This team was still flying up the floor with Thomas and will continue to do so with Shaq. That’s if he can stay on that floor.

Shaq was brought in to do what he did against the Suns on November 9, 2007. He was a beast that night. He beat up Stoudemire so much that Amare got irritated and was tossed for arguing a call. I’m not sure how much Phoenix was swayed by Shaq’s 25 point, 10 rebound, 3 block performance, but it had to have left a mark on GM Steve Kerr. He’s not the only one (bottom) thinking Shaq has plenty left. I, myself, came away from that game totally convinced that The Big Diesel was back. As he makes this new pit stop, can we really doubt him if he is injury free?

As for right now, Shaq looks good in practice. He may be allowing the cameras to only turn on for the play or two he looks like the old Shaq, but either way, he seems pretty healthy. And this Suns medical staff knows injuries. From Amare’s knee, to Steve Nash’s back, to Grant Hill’s body, these guys have seen some ugly things. You have to assume if they give Shaq a good bill of health, they know something we don’t.

And, so does team management. Only one team gets to the top of the pile. It’s never been a question of talent in Phoenix but there has been something missing from their formula. When several talented teams are pulling for the same thing, there has to be an extra jolt of desire and swagger to get to that peak. Enter The Big Aristotle. Shaq might not make the difference on the court with his shooting or passing, but his teammates will play knowing they have a 4-time title winner riding with them. Shaq’s arrival may simply coincide with the ball finally bouncing Phoenix’s way in the playoffs, but sometimes you have to be good, or at least think you’re good, to be lucky.

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By Tas Melas at 12:59 pm on 02.20.2008 — Tags: Steve Kerr, Kurt Thomas, Shaquille O'Neal, Amare Stoudemire, Suns

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