Should the Suns limit Nash's role?

[albasuna]

In your opinion do you think the Suns should keep the ball in Nash's hands for more than 50% of their possessions, also do you think he should be playing 36+ mins a game?


IMO I think he should be handling the ball 25% of the time. The past two games we've seen him handle the ball way to much and thus rendering Shaq less effective. If you remember in the games he was out the Suns had Barnes, Hill, Barbosa, Richardson, Gragic all handle the ball for short amounts of time. Having all those different looks change the dynamic of the opposing teams defense, when we have Nash handle the ball 100% the offense becomes somewhat predictable.


This new group of players are not well suited for Nash's game that hes put on when Marion, Bell, Diaw, and Amare were playing. The old Suns team was a finesse run and gun team, on the contrary the team now holds half the finesse of past Suns team, they're a more traditional run n gun team [if there is such a thing]. In the halfcourt sets Nash sometimes passes the ball to players in awkward positions that they have a small chance of scoring on, with Marion this wasn't the case because he was so good close to the basket. As you seen in the games without Nash and Amare, the offense seemed natural and not forced, even the defense was a bit on key. With Nash the half court offense is too erratic for these types of players [dudley, amundson, hill, shaq, richardson, barnes].


In terms of his minutes he should be getting 32 mins tops. The less he's on the court the less the Suns struggle on defense.


The truth is Nash doesn't have the same impact he did have on the Suns teams of the past, that basically revolved around him.

[TASTIC]

This is why we really needed that John Salmons/Francisco Garcia BIG guard who can handle the ball and allow Nash to take more shots.
You simply can't argue with his shooting %, but with Dragic we don't have that competent ballhandler, and Barbosa does his best work with Nash spoon-feeding him, and Hill seems to be running a lot more iso's rather than playing the set-up guy

[ihateginobili]

We definitely ask too much of Nash. I don’t want to dwell on all our missed opportunities in the past; but letting Joe Johnson go was probably the reason why Nash will never win a championship here in Phoenix.

[ray ray]

We definitely ask too much of Nash. I don’t want to dwell on all our missed opportunities in the past; but letting Joe Johnson go was probably the reason why Nash will never win a championship here in Phoenix.

I agree with you 100%. The reason why the Suns never won a title in the last four years is because the mistake that Robert Sarver made not resigning Joe Jonhson.

[albasuna]

Even if we dont have another handler I still think we should limit Nash's role abit.

[eastsidecrossover]

I think that makes us a worse team. yes, they did well without him, but when he comes off the court, most of the time this team is a mess. I think they have to move the ball more, but he is still a good ball handler. About about sarver, he said that was his biggest mistake by not signing JJ to that contract. At least he manned up about that and knows his mistake. But you also have to understand the reasoning and those around him (the F'O) who was telling him what to do. JJ would have been perfect on this team.

They should have never signed Q and kept the draft pick. Maybe instead of Iggy or Deng, you go after Biedrins, Josh Smith or Al Jefferson. Ok, sorry to go off on the past. Damn, it makes me made with some of the bad decisions we have made.

[eastsidecrossover]

We should limit his mins, but I think if we did, we would be throwing in the towel and this team needs its bester players out there.

[albasuna]

Why doesn't Nash ever pass the ball to Shaq in the block, I'm not talking about Nash doing his usually penetration dish but I mean a simple dump pass to the post for Shaq. Though the Heat did a semi good job denying him the ball by doubling from behind. I think what disappointed me was that we didn't see much Shaq moments like we seen when Nash was out.

[lilfishi22]

I think the original plan to limit Nash, Hill and Shaq's minutes were pretty much thrown out the window when we lost Amare. Not only do they have to play more minutes collectively because of the even more apparent lack of depth when we lost Amare, but they also have to pick up their scoring. It's just one of those situations where we no choice but to play them for extended minutes just to make playoffs.

The signing of Swift will help alleviate the stress on the team by allowing everybody to shift back to their natural positions, but it still won't help Nash's minutes. We need a a good ball-handler, someone who won't panic and cause a TO in the back court (cough* Tragic cough*).

[Mr. Sun]

I wouldn't limits his mins but would limit his games. Some teams like the Lakers he is just a liability because of his slowness and inability to slash.

[realsunsfan]

I think we do need to limit his minutes, but only to avoid fatigue and injury. I think when we run there is nobody better than nash, however, when they slow us down and force us to a half court set, I think nash should defer the point to Hill or Barnes, they are both much better at passing the ball down into Shaq on the block. That also allows Nash to become another kick out option for Shaq and with his shooting % that would be a good thing. When we have the tempo up nash will do his normal thing..............

[tsherkin]

Ideally, the Suns would have a player yonger than Grant Hill who could perform the backup ball-handling duties, a pick-and-roll partner for him (Swift?) and then someone (who may be the same as the first person in this list) who can score on his own from the perimeter, like a slasher with a decent mid-range J and a pull-up.

But for sure, in SSOS, let Nash play the up-tempo parts and defer in the halfcourt to someone else while Shaq gets his touch, and then it's a simple kick to Nash on the perimeter and then let him PnR if other stuff isn't working...

[realsunsfan]

Ideally, the Suns would have a player yonger than Grant Hill who could perform the backup ball-handling duties, a pick-and-roll partner for him (Swift?) and then someone (who may be the same as the first person in this list) who can score on his own from the perimeter, like a slasher with a decent mid-range J and a pull-up.

But for sure, in SSOS, let Nash play the up-tempo parts and defer in the halfcourt to someone else while Shaq gets his touch, and then it's a simple kick to Nash on the perimeter and then let him PnR if other stuff isn't working...

tsherkin, yes ideally someone younger than Hill would be great, but I don't see Hill as being over the "hill" (lol), I think he still has two or good years left in a limited role, but as for what we have now, I think this would work, but only if Stro pans out like I think he will.

[tsherkin]

It's not that Hill is past his prime, a backup role is something for which he is eminently suited and he'll be around a while yet.

My problem is that he's frail, prone to injury and can't be as aggressive as the Suns really need. They need an athletic slasher. Richardson would be great if he weren't a faerie, but he has never developed sufficient handles and loves his J way too much to be effective in that role. He's flat-out not aggressive enough going to the rim in the halfcourt.

And of course, defense is definitely missing from most of the players on this team.

Grr.

[realsunsfan]

It's not that Hill is past his prime, a backup role is something for which he is eminently suited and he'll be around a while yet.

My problem is that he's frail, prone to injury and can't be as aggressive as the Suns really need. They need an athletic slasher. Richardson would be great if he weren't a faerie, but he has never developed sufficient handles and loves his J way too much to be effective in that role. He's flat-out not aggressive enough going to the rim in the halfcourt.

And of course, defense is definitely missing from most of the players on this team.

Grr.

Well can't argue with you there....lol.... but you know Hill I think can get the job done if that is what his focus is, I think he still has enough lateral movement and quickness to be effective, especially if he will be guarded by a smaller player, problem would be Shaq would need to realize that and slide out from under the basket. Actually, I think if Shaq was denied the pass into the post, if he would simply roll out to the free throw line, take the ball and look for a cutter, it would open the low post for him even more without having to force it in. Hill and Jrich can both slash to the hole, as well as Stro........sorry getting a little off topic.......

[tsherkin]

I think that the Suns made a mistake going after Richardson, is what I think, lol. Sarver's dumb for taking on that contract when he wouldn't take cheaper deals like Rudy (athletic set shooter, hmm...) and Rajon Rondo. They'd collectively cost lest than Richardson and that would be better for us all around.

Ah, the mistakes of the past, they haunt us forward...

[JohnVancouver]

I think that the Suns made a mistake going after Richardson, is what I think, lol. Sarver's dumb for taking on that contract when he wouldn't take cheaper deals like Rudy (athletic set shooter, hmm...) and Rajon Rondo. They'd collectively cost lest than Richardson and that would be better for us all around.

Ah, the mistakes of the past, they haunt us forward...

--- this whole team has been undone by false economies. Is Sarver this dumb in his other businesses?

[tsherkin]

I would suggest given that he didn't diversify appropriately after making his money that yes, it's possible... But given that he made that money in the first place, probably not. I think he's just ignorant about the basic nature of running a franchise and got into something where he was over his head.

[realsunsfan]

I would suggest given that he didn't diversify appropriately after making his money that yes, it's possible... But given that he made that money in the first place, probably not. I think he's just ignorant about the basic nature of running a franchise and got into something where he was over his head.

With the illusion that he could trust his minority owner/friend/former player, Steve Kerr to actually run the franchise without any experience in the front office, on the bench, or even as a player scout. That my friend is the biggest mistake he has made so far. Everybody is a rookie owner when they first buy a team, but you should always have a lot proven experience around you to learn from........

[tsherkin]

Yeah, hiring Kerr and not having enough money to properly float a competitive franchise were both big issues.