Why The Suns Should have Traded Nash Part 2!

But first part 1...

WHAT!?

Yeah, oh yeah.

Here's why. But first a little background info.

I am from Connecticut and became a casual Suns fan with Marion's emergence as an All-Star earlier this decade. Then I became a die-hard fan with the drafting of Amare in 02. A year ago today I spent my college spring break from Uconn taking a trip out to Phoenix for a 4 game home stand (was actually 5 game stand, but I saw 4). This was actually 4 of the best Suns games to attend. The first game was beating the Spurs, then rolling Memphis and Sac-Town, and beating GS. Shaq's crowd leap and fake crowd leap were both apart of this trip. It was great.

Now the bad. This doesn't speak for all Suns fans in the Phoenix area, and certainly not the gentlemen running this site, but I can say with 100% certainty that the average fan, in large part due to how the franchise markets its players, is completely off base with the players. Nash is incredibly overrated in the city, he is treated like Jeter is treated in NY (I'm also a huge Yankees fan, yeah let the hate responses begin). It's poposterous. Treated like a savior of the city, but hasn't won a single thing.

I hope the city is finally realizing how good Amare is, and why he is by far the best player on the team.

Nash's golden boy status was achieved because the Suns had the 5th worst record in the league in 03-04 signed Nash and won 50 or 60 some odd games. So the city of Phoenix automatically associates the turnaround to Nash (much like the city of Boston attributes the Celts turnaround to Garnett). There are so many other factors that must be recognized to understand the Suns turnaround. 1.) Amare. It was incredibly clear that Amare was going to be a big time player in the league. Big men usually take more time to develop so the fact that Amare came out of HS and won ROY was pretty strong proof. Also the first player to come out of HS and win ROY. 2.) The progress of JJ. This isn't a difficult argument seeing as he is an all-star now, but yeah 04-05 was the year he came into his own. 3.) Q Solid FA signing that off season. Of course Nash was another large piece of the puzzle, but 4 of our 5 starters that year we either didnt' have or weren't the same caliber as the previous losing season.

Why Nash is no longer a fit for this team:

Nash was so very necessary with that 04-05 team. None of those guys excel in pushing the ball and working in space with the ball in hand. JJ could of course handle the rock, but not very well in the open court. Q, Amare, Marion of course are great fast break players, but they are great finishers in Amare and Marion's cases, and bombs away in Q's case. So yes Nash was needed to orchestrate those weapons. Barbosa wasn't quite the Brazilian Blur yet either.

05-06 we had Boris, Marion, Bell, Barbosa, James Jones, Kurt Thomas. Bell is awful in the open court, he just spread the court well and chucked threes like JJ and Q were so good at. Boris works well in space in the half court. But isn't very impressive on the fast break. So again, Nash was needed to orchestrate these talents.

More of the same until...

Now we have Hill, Barnes, J-Rich, Barbosa. All four can push the ball finish, shoot, and pass in space and on the break. And, those 4 know what an outlet pass looks like, typically receiving the ball at half court, ya know, like a high schooler would do. Nash has an annoying habit of receiving the ball around the foul line. This just slows us down. And when Nash is in the game those 4 guys will defer to Nash because he is the point guard, instead of pushing the ball up the court and playing to their strengths.

Another thing Nash lacks is the ability to get Shaq the ball in good positions in the post. Without Nash we pass the ball around the perimeter and let Shaq post, repost, seal, and spin all before he gets the ball. Then when he gets that oh-so-special Shaq position on the guy. We would get him the ball and he would take 1 dribble or less and dunk it. With Nash on the court he just dribbles, posts and reposts, Shaq is forced to do more with the ball in his hand usually resulting in a contested hook. Tuesday night watch Shaq, if he takes more than 1 dribble he misses. Against the Spurs I nonchallantly tracked it and counted 0 for 6 with more than 1 dribble.

Oh yeah, defense? This is beating a dead horse because its pretty widespread that I could score 40 points with Nash guarding me. As awesome as Nash's pull up threes are late in the game. It doesn't really matter when his counterpart is having a better offensive game. It matters less when the counterpart is named Aaron Brooks. I mean really, Aaron Brooks nuetralizes Nash, c'mon now. Of course I know Nash rarely guards the other point guard. But in the broad scheme of Nash's value it's still his responsibility. NBA 3's guard other NBA 3's on real NBA teams for a reason. And NBA 3's don't guard other NBA 1's for a reason.

The reason Kerr hasn't dealt Nash yet is because the city of Phoenix would riot and he would lose fans and dollars. So Phoenix, your lousy team was your doing, your Golden Boy is more of a bronze. I loved the run, it was fun to watch. But Nash's time to be traded was before this deadline when a team like the Blazers would have loved to give up a 1st rounder or 2 an expiring contract and Sergio Rodriguez for Nash.

That was fun....Part 2!!

Part 1 had Shaq on the team. Part 2 doesn't. Part 2 isn't as fun either. Now, without Shaq, it's different. I love that someone used this post as an argument against me though. Clever to bring up a post that's outdated because of LARGE roster changes, but hey, no one will notice, right? WRONG! I still think they could move Nash and get better, but now this team is more in need of Nash without Shaq's halfcourt presence. Amare is that presence at times, but there are certain body types and athleticism combos that will give him trouble. With Shaq, that problem didn't exist.

The window to trade Nash closed at the aforementioned previous trade deadline, it wouldn't make any sense to trade him now. I do think it would be wise to trade Amare though. But not having anything to do with making the team better, because you don't get better by trading an All NBA 27 year old scoring stud. You just don't. But if he finds greener pastures this offseason then the Suns get nothing for him. And honestly, I hope he goes elsewhere. He gets no respect from the Suns fanbase and it bothers him. Just like it did with Marion and JJ. Only he's not the 3rd or 4th wheel, he's the 2nd so it's okay, for now. But even still, it's not even looked as like a partnership. Jordan and Pippen, Kobe and Shaq, Duncan and Parker, Stockton and Malone. For whatever reason the media and fanbase viewed all those duos as duos. In Phoenix it's Nash and his underlings. All NBA players aren't underlings. Plain and simple. GO SUNS!! Until Amare is gone. Then we'll all be happy. Personally, I hope he lands with Bosh or Wade or Lebron or Paul.