Steve Nash Discussion: Epidural Nation

odom1year wrote:Nash's defense will kill Lakers badly.

lol no it won't, we already aren't getting any from duhon or morris. might as well get some offense out of the point since we won't be getting defense

I don't understand why people think Nash wont make us better. Yea, he doesnt play great defense, but neither do any of our other pgs. Nash will help our offense score, energize our guy and most importantly will lower our TOs. That, I think, will be the most help because temas are crushing us on fastbreak points and with less turnoers there will be less fastbreak points. Also, having players in position for open shots with rebounders under the rim will help us get back on defense, since we have a fair chance of getting back to the other end. He isnt going to solve all of our problems, but IMO, he will solve MANY.

odom1year wrote:Nash's defense will kill Lakers badly.

not like the rest of the team is playing D any better

Nash is slow and old but hes a smart defender and knows HOW TO GUARD certain players correctly. He'll know how to defend his man so that if and when he gets beat, his teammates will already be in the right spots to help.

We'll see plenty of times he gets blow by but well also so a lot of smart decisions on D and his ability to attack on the break on O and put the pressure back on them. Both things our current PG's can't do.

Even Blake is better defending than what we have...I'd kill to have a Blake at PG right now while Nash is out. It would be so much better which is saying how bad it is now. Blake gets blown by or screened 3 times so he has no chance but hes scrappy, doesnt back down, doesnt give up, and plays hard on D which is more than what we have now.

Nash/Blake PG rotation will be bad defensively but way better and smarter than what we have now

Nash actually tried on defense in the games we saw him play, he wasn't "terrible" at it, same with Jamison...

Ariza3 wrote:Nash is slow and old but hes a smart defender and knows HOW TO GUARD certain players correctly. He'll know how to defend his man so that if and when he gets beat, his teammates will already be in the right spots to help.

With all due respect.... are you crazy?...... Nash, over the years has been one of.... if not the worst defensive guard that plays big minutes..... He won't go through a screen because of his back issues... he's not quick enough to stay in front of anyone and has never played for a coach that valued that end of the floor.

Think of this for a minute..... Nash on Westbrook..... or Nash on Rondo.... or on D-Will....

Duhon is playing better defense at the point than we have seen on this team for 15 years..... and that's not saying much at all, that's the sad part.

WTS.... our defensive issues are less about the "on ball" defenders and more about playing as a team behind the on ball defender.... Nash will not help on the ball but if the guys behind him actually start playing that end of the floor with some pride and effort we may be able to get enough stops to do what MDA wants...... for us to out shoot our opposition.

this is like the Karl Malone Injury 2.0 smh Nash like Malone holds the keys for Us to Win the Championship

Rooscooter wrote:

Ariza3 wrote:Nash is slow and old but hes a smart defender and knows HOW TO GUARD certain players correctly. He'll know how to defend his man so that if and when he gets beat, his teammates will already be in the right spots to help.

With all due respect.... are you crazy?...... Nash, over the years has been one of.... if not the worst defensive guard that plays big minutes..... He won't go through a screen because of his back issues... he's not quick enough to stay in front of anyone and has never played for a coach that valued that end of the floor.

Think of this for a minute..... Nash on Westbrook..... or Nash on Rondo.... or on D-Will....

Duhon is playing better defense at the point than we have seen on this team for 15 years..... and that's not saying much at all, that's the sad part.

WTS.... our defensive issues are less about the "on ball" defenders and more about playing as a team behind the on ball defender.... Nash will not help on the ball but if the guys behind him actually start playing that end of the floor with some pride and effort we may be able to get enough stops to do what MDA wants...... for us to out shoot our opposition.

You forgot Nash on Curry, Lillard or CP3. Portland's rookie PG is proving to be very valuable . Just another thing to piss you off on why can't Lakers draft young talent anymore. Ty Lawson, Parker. Hell, even if they are the same age or speed they will beat Nash.

Ariza3 wrote:Nash is slow and old but hes a smart defender and knows HOW TO GUARD certain players correctly. He'll know how to defend his man so that if and when he gets beat, his teammates will already be in the right spots to help.

So basically he's a smart defender like Derek Fisher is? Flashback: let's them penetrate so Bynum or another big can get in foul trouble?
And Howard gets in foul trouble. I watched Dwight while living in Florida for a year. He gets silly fouls. Nash did not win one game with Lakers in pre-season and his 1st reg season game. He is not a savior but he will help others get more shots and maybe uplift them to play harder b/c right now Kobe takes a lot more shots.

frankrj wrote:

Ariza3 wrote:Nash is slow and old but hes a smart defender and knows HOW TO GUARD certain players correctly. He'll know how to defend his man so that if and when he gets beat, his teammates will already be in the right spots to help.

So basically he's a smart defender like Derek Fisher is? Flashback: let's them penetrate so Bynum or another big can get in foul trouble?
And Howard gets in foul trouble. I watched Dwight while living in Florida for a year. He gets silly fouls. Nash did not win one game with Lakers in pre-season and his 1st reg season game. He is not a savior but he will help others get more shots and maybe uplift them to play harder b/c right now Kobe takes a lot more shots.

Nash was running the Princeton in preseason...

Nash could help on transition D, if he is setting up our guys with good shots it would prevent less TO's and bad shots that lead to leak outs.

khmrP wrote:Nash could help on transition D, if he is setting up our guys with good shots it would prevent less TO's and bad shots that lead to leak outs.

^^ Bingo. The problem remains though, Nash has nerve damage. That just threw a big wrench in this entire season and maybe his career.

I was cautiously optimistic about his return a few weeks ago because it was just a fracture. I was someone here who was trying to calm posters down.

Now I'm very very concerned. The guy's leg fracture is healed but he can't run. That's not good.

Nash isn't a great defender, but he's a hard worker. He tries not to jeopardize his health, but he'll make good plays every now and then. Yes, I'd compare him to Derek Fisher defensively in terms of production and ability. Obviously he's not as strong as Fisher, but he's a little sneakier with his hands and feet.

Steve isn't going to come here and lock anyone down, but that's not what he's here for anyway. And it's not as if the defense being played by Duhon/Morris is All-NBA caliber. Nash is going to come here, use his talent to make the offense click, which in turn will help the defense click for so many of the reasons already stated.

Lakerjones wrote:

khmrP wrote:Nash could help on transition D, if he is setting up our guys with good shots it would prevent less TO's and bad shots that lead to leak outs.

^^ Bingo.

This. Giving away possessions has been a huge issue so far this year, you limit that while increasing your efficiency on offense = better defense.

I remember even Phil talked about this sometimes missed shots (especially corner 3s from our PG/SG or SF) almost being as bad as a turnover because it presents fastbreak opportunities for the other team with poor floor balance.

Interesting. Greg Anthony said the same thing on NBATV; bad shots are turnovers. Le't add up our bad shots with our TO's; we have a disaster. Those two areas Nash should address. Limit TO's and get higher quality shots. Additionally, easier baskets in halfcourt & transition.

Mark Medina ‏@MedinaLakersNBA
Mike D'Antoni said Steve Nash has done some running. Still no 2 on 2
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Ken Berger ‏@KBergCBS
At Lakers shootaround, D'Antoni says Nash has been running "a little bit" and is getting "closer," but it's "still going to be a while."
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Can we get Delonte, so we don't have to see Morris. The longer Nash is out, the longer Morris brings down the team.

Ugh. I feel for the guy. He's so close. This is the most important part of the healing process though.

Right when things are their closest, you're going to want to push harder. The problem is it's not there yet and you could make things a lot worse. As tough as things are right now, we've got to take his recovery slowly.

While I hate not having him on the floor I am glad the Lakers aren't overreacting to the losing by pushing him to return to quickly. Take your time.

Doc Brown wrote:

Mark Medina ‏@MedinaLakersNBA
Mike D'Antoni said Steve Nash has done some running. Still no 2 on 2
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Ken Berger ‏@KBergCBS
At Lakers shootaround, D'Antoni says Nash has been running "a little bit" and is getting "closer," but it's "still going to be a while."
Expand

Can we get Delonte, so we don't have to see Morris. The longer Nash is out, the longer Morris brings down the team.

^^ Agreed. Just get West. Drop one of these guys (Morris, DJO) and do what you have to do. Try a 10 contract to start if West is willing. He's not playing so he should be willing.

Nash is too old to push harder to recover...he need to take that slowly bc if he rush at some point that can be disaster

Mike Bresnahan ‏@Mike_Bresnahan
Ray of hope for Lakers? Steve Nash says he hopes to start practicing next week.
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So next week + a week to get back into shape.....

Looks like Duhon will be the only PG that plays, while Kobe plays 40+ and Meeks plays 25+ minutes to compensate.

If Steve Nash can magically turn this horrible excuse of a team around and get 5th seed, I'll take back everything bad I said about his two MVP awards. Book it.

@SteveNash tells our @LakersReporter that the time for his return is imminent.

There's that magical word

i really think the FO needs to move on West. like its not okay for this team to be playing this bad. now a lot has to do with dantoni's lack of defensive ability and does things like switching dwight on pg's EVERYTIME for pnr d.

i think getting west would be a smart move for d and aggressiveness. i think the team needs to play at a slower pace like the 2nd half of the knicks game to really do damage. granted they didnt have melo but we out scored them 3rd and 4th quarters.