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.
Comments (19)Suns’ Fans: ‘If Nash Bleeds, We Bleed’
In case your Internet’s down — and someone has been kind enough to print this off and fax it to you — the Suns and Spurs continue their series tonight at 10:30 p.m. EST on TNT.
A must win game for ball fans everywhere, Steve Nash and his All-Star hemophilia are expected to play. But just in case he can’t, 20,000 doppelgangers are ready to go:
Apparently in a show of support for Steve Nash, there’s been a grassroots effort to get fans to wear bandages across their nose tonight when the Suns host the Spurs in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals.
Nash was hurt late in Game 1 when he collided with the Spurs’ Tony Parker. Nash needed six stitches to close up the cut and he will be playing tonight.
Um, I’m not so sure this is such a great idea. Didn’t anyone see how poorly those stupid BandAids (TM!) stayed put? They didn’t! And it basically cost the Suns the game.
Which is why I suggest everyone — Nash and his teammates included — show up tonight dressed like the dude/dudette above. Not only would the excessive gauze fend of Tony P. and his razorblade eyebrows, it would also look a hell of a lot cooler. And isn’t that what’s really important here?
Suns Fans to Don Purple Bandages to Support Nash [KTAR.com]
Comments (2)Nash Has A Potty Mouth
Check out this little gem I found buried at the bottom of Mike Tulumello’s sports update today:
Steve Nash, experiencing the NBA’s lesser tolerance for disputing calls, drew a technical. “He (the ref) said Steve cussed at him,” D’Antoni said. “I said, ‘He’s Canadian.’”
I’m confused by this statement. Does D’Antoni mean, “No way Nash swore, he’s Canadian, Canadians never swear”? Or does he mean, “What’d the fuck you expect, of course he swore, he’s Canadian, they all swear”?
Any idea? Could someone please fill me the fuck in here… eh.
Suns Like Chances of Re-Signing Diaw [EastValleyTribune.com]
Comments (4)Nash’s Jersey Retired And Raised
Two-time NBA Very Valuable Human Steve Nash had his jersey retired by Santa Clara University on Monday afternoon. The AP — or Apsy, as I like to call him — reports:
A banner honoring the Phoenix Suns guard was hung in the rafters at the Leavey Center, and Nash’s No. 11 jersey was raised on the opposite end of the gym. Nash is the first Santa Clara athlete whose jersey has been raised.
“This is obviously very exciting for me,” Nash said. “I don’t get a chance to come back to school often, so for me to be here is just great, and coupled with the huge honor it is to be able to be acknowledged for my career, is amazing and very humbling.”
No word on whether Nash’s new jeans were raised as well, but you can sure as hell bet he still likes soccer.
Nash Is First Santa Clara Athlete To Have Jersey Retired [ESPN]
Steve Nash Buys Jeans … [The Basketball Jones]
Steve Nash Buys Jeans …
At least according to the NY Post he does:
Steve Nash, the NBA MVP, [seen] shopping for jeans with his wife at the Replay store in SoHo and confessing how he loves to play soccer in the off-season …
Wait a second! Steve Nash loves to play soccer? Really? I’ve never heard of such a thing…
And if you believe Chuck Klosterman — and I know I sure as hell do; he wears hipster glasses! — Steve Nash was probably buying those jeans with his wife at a ridiculously fast clip.
From Klosterman’s new book, IV: A Decade Of Curious People And Dangerous Ideas, comes this 2005 Nash article, The Karl Marx Of The Hardwood:
“STEVE NASH IS FAST. This, as stated earlier, probably appears apparent to anyone with access to cable television. You probably think you know how fast Steve Nash is, because he plays basketball at a different speed than everyone who plays against him. However, to truly understand how fast Steve Nash is, you need to watch him buy baby food. At the conclusion of our interview, Nash got a text message from him wife; she told him he needed to buy food for their twin girl infants. We casually shook hands, made some superfluous banter how the conversation had been friendly, and then–because it was raining–I reached down to get my umbrella off a chair. By the time I had returned to an upright position, Steve Nash was already on the other side of the street. It was like someone had taken a laser beam, obliterated every atom in his body, and instantaneously reconstructed his entire anatomy forty feet to the west. This was some Philip K. Dick–Star Trek–vampire shit.”
Hey, didn’t that laser beam scenario happen to Mike Teavee once?
Sightings … Sightings … [NY Post]
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade Of Curious People And Dangerous Ideas [Amazon]
(Actually basketball related: In that same Klosterman article, Nash says Iverson “has the best two steps in the league”, Marbury’s explosiveness is “physically palpable when he blows past people”, Kidd is the “fastest baseline-to-baseline” in the L, and Manu Ginobli “has the greatest agility” … and cousin Larry.)
Comments (1)Nash Shaves Head For Science
Yes, Steve Nash has shaved his head. But don’t worry, don’t worry … put the gun down. He hasn’t changed at all!
The stringy, lank hair is gone but Steve Nash’s view on life and basketball hasn’t changed.
Nash, the two-time NBA most valuable player who grew up in Victoria, showed up at a basketball camp Wednesday with his trademark unruly coif replaced by a buzz cut.
“I just cut it,” shrugged the unpretentious 32-year-old Phoenix Suns star. “I don’t really have a rhyme or reason. I felt like taking it off.”
So there you have it. No word yet on whether he shaved his sweater vest.
Nash the same guy, despite new buzz-cut [TSN.ca]
Steve Nash’s Monstrous Chest Hair. See It. Love It. [Deadspin]
Germany, Dirk, Beer & Nash
Toronto Star reporter Chris Young may be busy in Germany drinking beer covering the World Cup, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t find time to check in on Deutschland’s favourite 7-footer:
Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks tipped off the NBA Finals in the hour of the wolf time zone of 3:15 a.m. here this morning, and it made for some strange Mundial-defying moments:
Jorg and Helga Nowitzki were set to stay up all night, as they have for every one of their son’s games this playoff tournament, Dirk’s mom frequently leaving because she gets too nervous. “She went to bed at halftime of the game on Saturday night, she couldn’t take it,” said 63-year-old Herr Nowitzki, sitting in his office in neighbouring Gerbrunn. “Then she came in with a minute left and they were up by four points, and she’s all mad, ‘Why didn’t you wake me?’”
Damn! 3:15? And here I was whining about a 9 p.m. tip…
But the best part of the piece, by far, is this little gem concerning Dirk’s guitar pal, Steve Nash:
With the World Cup coming to Germany — although Ghana is training in Wurzburg, no games will be played here — the elder Nowitzki wouldn’t be surprised to see Nash, an avid fan, show up to catch some of the action.
“He always stays here. Five years ago he was over and there was a beer festival,” recalled Jorg Nowitzki. “Germans can drink beer — but Canadians! I think he drank about seven litres. He was boiled!”
Nowitzki Germany’s Latest Hero [TheStar.com]
Nash & Nowitzki, Guitar Pals [The Basketball Jones]
Nash & Nowitzki, Guitar Pals
Oh God, please tell me “Simon” is this guy…
Steve and Dirk Singing [YouTube]
(Update: “Simon” is actually Simon Ibell — a high school friend of Nash. Big thanks to Lex for the heads up.)
Comments (9)“Umm … I Ok’d That?”
Did Steve Nash deserve to win a second straight MVP?
It’s a question that’s been debated in excruciating detail over the past few weeks:
No, Kobe carried a team of misfits to the playoffs … Yes, but Nash actually bettered his MVP stats from last year … Woah, LeBron put up Oscar-like numbers and 50 wins … So, Nash made everyone around him better … Hey, what about Chauncey? Best team in the L … Whatever, Dirk’s the real champ … Let’s not sleep on Timmy Duncan either … Oh, just fuck off with that last one …
Yeah, everyone you asked had a different opinion. And well, oddly enough, 9 times out of 10 they could usually back up their choice with some sort of valid support. No one was right, no one was wrong; it just came down to how you defined most valuable in Most Valuable Player.
Well, thanks to the NBA and Reebok, here’s one thing I think we can finally all agree on:
This Steve Nash MVP Shirt is fucking atrocious. Shit, this one too.
I mean, wow, talk about killer-cool graphics man! Seriously, what the hell are those? Why do they always make these shirts so “busy” lookin’? And better yet, why does this make Skeets me so mad? I have no idea.
Oh well, here’s some sweet t’s that deserve your g’s…
Free Darko | You’re With Me, Leather | I Shot Mamba
Comments (9)Lil’ Mamba?
I don’t quite understand this, but apparently rapper Lil’ Wayne – Weezy if you will – sees a Lil’ Black Mamba slithering around inside himself:
“I just done a song with Kardinal Official … Trick Daddy, Fat Joe, T-Pain … and, oh yeah, Ms. Beyoncé. I can’t forget about Ms. Beyoncé. Everybody. Everybody is always sending me something, and I never say no. I make sure the price is reasonable. If they can’t do it, we gonna work something out. I am the Kobe Bryant of hip-hop. I’m gonna get my 81 points this year.”
Umm… ok then. Does this mean Weezy’s new album will just quit playing at like, track 19 or something? I’m confused.
Busy Lil Wayne Says ‘I Am The Kobe Bryant Of Hip-Hop’ [VH1.com]
And oh, in even more pointless music-ball news…
I just noticed that Nelly Furtado’s new song Promiscuous Girl shows some lyric love to fellow B.C.’er, Steve Nash:
“It’s okay, it’s alright
I got something that you gon’ like
Hey is that the truth or are you talking trash
Is your game M.V.P. like Steve Nash”
Ok, that’s all I got. Back to your spreadsheets everyone…
Comments (6)About
The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
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