Steve Nash Discussion: Epidural Nation

Easily his worst game for me as a Laker.

And even so he hit that great jump shot in the lane... That was some veteran ice.

back issues. explains it, says he should be fine by Sunday

Dunno what was up with his shot today. HE had so many good looks

lakersyunowin wrote:back issues. explains it, says he should be fine by Sunday

Yep I caught that. That's no good.

This is the huge downside of trying to win with an ancient roster. Every game it's just like you're crossing your fingers that someone's hip doesn't give out or it's back to square one. Just not a recipe for success.

Struggled all game but came through in the clutch.

couldn't hit a shot but still dropped some great dimes.

He said it was his back?

Random thoughts:

How to score in final minutes...
In terms of scoring ability, I think Kobe, Nash, Gasol and Jamison are above average scorers and can create their own shot. However, Gasol and Jamison may not on the court in final minutes. Who would be on the court then? Howard, Kobe and Nash for sure. Who else? At 4, we have Gasol, Clark and Jamison. However, Gasol is ineffective to play alongside Howard, Jamison too no D, Clark may be the answer here. However, he is at best an average player and is unproven. His defender may leave him to double team Howard or Bryant. Can he play PnR with Nash? Or can he be a consistent shooter to take the pass from Nash after running PnR with Howard? At 3, we have MWP and...Clark again. MWP's shooting will allow his defender to leave him wide opened and go to help defending Kobe etc. so I think MWP shouldn't be on the court. It hurts our offense in fact. For Clark, he is not as effective as at 4. So Lakers may consider Kobe at 3 and play Meeks or Blake at 2. Meeks is an good defender and shooter. He is good to be here to take the pass from Kobe, Nash or Howard. However, he needs to be more consistent on his 3. Blake's ability to key the ball and set play would be brilliant as Kobe and Nash would be checked all time. However, he is too passive most of the time. It puts pressure on other teammates. So, I really suggest Lakers to acquire a guard who could key the pall, set play, take 3 and penetrate...like Ridnour, Barea, Billups, Miller, West...my ideal lineup is Howard, Clark/Pau, Kobe, Meeks/Blake, Nash...and I hope Nash and Howard develop PnR ASAP...and Howard to stay away from foul trouble...and Nash save enough energy for final minutes...next year, hope we could land another SF. Pau for PP:)

The guy shot horrible and had "just" 6 assists, but he really gave a passing clinic last night.

Congrats to Steve, one of my favourite players; on passing Magic, my all time favourite player in assists.

Now let's see this team keep rolling into the playoffs and make some noise when it counts.

Maybe the wrong place i realize, but also loving Rudy Gay on the Raps right now. Finally something to cheer for there, even though i was a big Calderon fan.

He's clutch as hell, every time he shoots in late game situations I feel like it's going in.

Took over in the 3rd and generated a lot of easy looks for everyone on O. Clutch as usual down the stretch.

Aside from being clutch, Nash has a very good tolerance for pain. He's a real warrior.

So clutch

I think it might be worth pulling a Popovich here and resting Nash tomorrow. He would have until Thursday off then

Not gonna happen but it might be a good move

Nash is 12/17 in the clutch ( 5 min left in the 4th , game score margin within 5pts) this season ... 5/7 from three pts land

By the way the new NBA.com stats database is great

There was a point yesterday when Steve took over the game. I want to say it was in the 3rd.

But I was watching him do his thing and I just couldn't help thinking "why the f*** are we fighting for the 8th seed?"

Were we THAT banged up?? Was our chemistry THAT awful?... Geez. We've got an amazing PG, the best C, and the best SG. What the hell?

Yes, our chemistry was that awful, and we were banged up. Then we got a new coach and no one, except one player, knew how to play in his system.

If we played like this from the start we'd be a .650-.700+ team and probably top 2 in the West. So... yeah. It was that awful. Once MDA made some adjustments, Dwight and Kobe figured everything out, Nash said "eff it, I'm going to shoot the ball" and Clark&Jamison became major factors... we became a .700+ team. And that's without Pau Gasol.Perhaps too late, but at least we're watching some good basketball right now. Better then nothing.

^^^ At least it makes it way easier for the FO this offseason in addressing what this team needs to put them over the top.

Nash/Kobe/D12/Clark/Hill/Jamison/Meeks......they work and are starting to work well with each other. Now the FO has to decide how to incorporate 1-2 wing players in that scenario to plug the holes we have on this team right now.

We still have some weaknesses though, no reliable backup big, no speed out in the perimeter, no 3 point shooting SF/PF who can defend. I think we can win grindout games, thats the Lakers style but how can we control tempo when we're going 4 on 5 these days on offense. We're doing ok now with Kobe dropping 40 a night but he cant do this every game

Doc Brown wrote:^^^ At least it makes it way easier for the FO this offseason in addressing what this team needs to put them over the top.

Nash/Kobe/D12/Clark/Hill/Jamison/Meeks......they work and are starting to work well with each other. Now the FO has to decide how to incorporate 1-2 wing players in that scenario to plug the holes we have on this team right now.

Yep. Now it's clearer than ever that Pau isn't necessary for our team. He's a luxury. Trade him for either a star if we can land one, or some young pieces and picks. Next season, health permitting, we'll make a better run than this season.

^ I wouldn't go that far. These last 3 wins were against an ECF 7th seed in Boston, a 10th seed in Portland, and an 11th seed in Dallas.

I like Pau but I am ready to move him as well, but I wouldn't say he is a luxury. He did play well in that OKC game we pulled out a few weeks back.