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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns...than-ever.html

Gentry said he followed through on a recommendation from assistant coach Igor Kokoskov, who suggested that the Suns install plays that take the ball away from Nash but have the option to return it to him later in the possession.

The Suns struggled against switching defenses earlier. Gentry felt Nash's teammates were watching him too much and the offense had become stagnant. Nash has been more aggressive in attacking switches, and the new wrinkles take advantage of the slashing by wings Grant Hill and Jason Richardson.

"We felt like we were wearing Steve down," Gentry said. "He had the ball all the time, and he was making all the plays. We had to do something to relieve the pressure from Steve a little bit. One of the things we looked at was having more ball movement and more people movement but making sure he still had the ball at the end of the shot clock and still making plays . . . when he's fresh."

Exactly as I has been preaching for a long while since last season.

Finally they are playing the right way. Nash is one of the best players at making something out of nothing in a low shot clock situation and there's no problem with going back to him if the designed plays don't go as planned. It's a problem when Nash hogs the ball for 12 of the 14 shot clock seconds trying to make something by himself on every possession, teams just try to trap him and force him to make a mistake but if we take the ball away from him more often it becomes much harder to guard him.

I'm glad they finally opened their eyes and their playbook.

It's also a better use of the rest of our players. It gets everyone active on offense, which in turn, can help them focus on defense as well.
Richardson appears to be playing more of a Shawn Marion type of role with the team, which fits him better. Hill has really dropped off from the start of the season, I'd like to see him handle the ball a little bit more.
Give Stoudemire some more shots.

Qwigglez wrote:It's also a better use of the rest of our players. It gets everyone active on offense, which in turn, can help them focus on defense as well.
Richardson appears to be playing more of a Shawn Marion type of role with the team, which fits him better. Hill has really dropped off from the start of the season, I'd like to see him handle the ball a little bit more.
Give Stoudemire some more shots.

Exactly. It kills N birds with one stone!

1. Nash is fresher in general. As the best decision maker, his energy on offense is used as a safety net for our other play sets.
2. Everybody get involved a lot more, feeling engaged. That's a lot of untapped potential under the old Nash-domination offense.
3. He has energy saved to play much better defense.
4. His playing defense gives Amare no more excuse not to put forth effort for the same
5. Amare is particularly motivated overall, given many more touches, as we learnt from all the years. This will help him improve his skill set via more featuring of his post game
6. Our offense is a lot less predictable for general success.

That's my hope that Nash/Amare could emulate the ultimate success Malone/Stockton had. Too bad they couldn't come to this sense sooner.

Every time I suggested playing Nash at the #2 I got attacked.

I'd say the Nash / Stoudemire combo is on par with Malone / Stockton. Ultimately if we keep Amare, it may be better -- Nash has been on an upswing and shows no signs of slowing down yet. He'll probably be even better next season.

At 35, Stockton - 12ppg 8apg
At 36, Nash 19ppg 11apg

Pwned.

Mr. Sun wrote:Every time I suggested playing Nash at the #2 I got attacked.

Same has happened to me. Suggesting that Nash emulate the style of Stockton and play more off-ball has been considered blasphemy among Suns fans. I was even hated for pointing out my observation that the recent win streak perfectly correlated with reduced Nash dribble dominance. They only shut up now as the Gentry confirmed exactly what I said.

hunterxaz wrote:I'd say the Nash / Stoudemire combo is on par with Malone / Stockton. Ultimately if we keep Amare, it may be better -- Nash has been on an upswing and shows no signs of slowing down yet. He'll probably be even better next season.

At 35, Stockton - 12ppg 8apg
At 36, Nash 19ppg 11apg

Pwned.

Nash is a unique at making the best out of limited talent. Really admirable. Yet, sometimes less is more, for the benefit of the whole team. In fact, with less tear and wear from "less",

7. Nash could further extend his already great career well into the 40s like Stockton.

I like what Gentry did in the Dallas game when he took Nash out on important defensive posessions late in the 4th. I feel more comfortable with Dragic + Duds not letting perimeter players penetrate and get open looks. I also think Nash could play longer if he had an athletic defender like T-Will or Iggy to protect him like Marion did. Strong defense behind Nash would completely change the way teams attack us.

DirtyDez wrote:I like what Gentry did in the Dallas game when he took Nash out on important defensive posessions late in the 4th. I feel more comfortable with Dragic + Duds not letting perimeter players penetrate and get open looks. I also think Nash could play longer if he had an athletic defender like T-Will or Iggy to protect him like Marion did. Strong defense behind Nash would completely change the way teams attack us.

I have been saying that for years. Why waste his energy on D when he's clearly not our best defender.

I think the biggest problem we have as a team is that sometimes we just sit back and watch Nash and think "he'll create something". Even when he has the ball some players become very lazy. Even if it's just sliding up and down the sides of the 3pt line to ensure Nash doesn't have to pass *thru* someone is vitally important. Guys like JoeJ and Bell had mastered this even tho it was a very subtle thing it helps Nash out heaps.

When Diaw was here Nash had no problems giving him the ball every couple of possessions to allow him to create. Things worked well in that sort of system and as I said I'd love to see Hill pick up the ball occasionally or post up JRich if he has a midget on him. Even use one of those guys to run the PnR so that when teams switch then JRich/Hill is the focal point down low and can abuse PGs.

We don't want to become too predictable but there's no doubt you want the ball in Nash's hands creating more often then not. You just don't want it 100% of the time otherwise the opposition only has to worry about one play.

There's a difference between having the ball move around more often to everyone, and having nash play shooting guard.

Nash at the 2 was, and still is, stupid.

Mr. Sun doesnt want to hear anymore trade talk, but he will continue to trumpet his desire for the best playmaker in the game to play shooting guard...


Solid.

WTFsunsFTW wrote:There's a difference between having the ball move around more often to everyone, and having nash play shooting guard.

Nash at the 2 was, and still is, stupid.

Mr. Sun doesnt want to hear anymore trade talk, but he will continue to trumpet his desire for the best playmaker in the game to play shooting guard...


Solid.

C'mon, WTFsunsFTW. Are you trying to reason those who think that Porter was a good coach? Don't waste your time