You make valid points, more so for offense...
But last I checked defense wins.
And last I checked Nash isn't by any means a defensive upgrade. To continue, Lin isn't exactly a defensive stalwart and our best perimeter defender is a year away from regaining form (which he needed to improve in certain areas also).
Add the fact that STAT in relation to his $ is overrated, and he too may be a defensive liability.
That means FOUR positions are lacking on D, with ONE (Melo) receiving a pass due to his offense.
That's a recipe for disaster. That in no way is an improvement thus we'll be a step back from where we were which is nowhere close.
Nash may be a consolation, but he ain't the answer.
Nash is one of those players you take even if his d isn't great. He'd help us in so many other areas
Nash isn't even a bad defender. He gets in the right place at the right time.
I agree Nash is not a defensive upgrade, but he's not Terrible either he puts in the effort to keep his man in front of him, he's not always successful but he does put in the effort. The run and gun suns were never a defensive mentality team and Nobody on the Knicks were Defensive minded to begin with minus Shump, Chandler and jeffries and they were the reason this Knicks team improved on defense gradually.
Defense does win games, but what happens when you do play defense then rely on one man (Carmelo) to make every shot for you because your offense is stagnant? I've witnessed Mario Chalmers put his foot up Lin's a$$ and completely take him out his game, Lin will be good for us for long time purposes, but right now we want to win Melo is in his prime,Chandler is in his prime, Stat is still somewhat in his prime on the road to declining.
I dont think keeping Lin and signing Nash is a step back it's a huge improvement. Nash can mentor Lin, and Nash is probably our best shot to beat the heat in reality. Last i checked Nash almost took his Suns team to the playoffs this year in the WEST with a limited roster, and if im not mistaken he led the league in assits. Pairing him back up with Amare, gives us the best of Amare, takes a load of pressure off Melo and also makes chandler effective on both ends of the floor. If you have a chance to bring nash to the knicks you do it. a Nash/Lin tandem at the point is probably the best PG rotation in this league.
What do you prefer? A floor general Steve Nash OR Lin coming pass half court to set up Melo or Stat for a 1 vs 1 iso?
sign a Knock down shooter who also plays defense and insert him into the starting lineup and you got yourself a legit playoff run.
Plus you'll have shump coming back in January, i think the defense would be just fine in the long run. Mike woodson is a defensive minded coach and when ever your coach demands defense your players will make the effort to play defense, we saw it with Melo and Jr last season. We also saw Woodson get on Amare when he would not put in the effort on defense, i think next season overall we will see a much higher defensive effort from this team.
Last edited by NYk_Reloaded718; Jun 21, 2012 at 08:47.
It;s like having Joe Montana mentor Steve young or Bret Farve Show Arron Rodgers how it's done. Having Nash to help develop Lin is an AMAZING opportunity that would be fantastic for the knicks. Nash is one of those rare specimens of people that has his conditioning to a very fine point. I think the guy could play in the NBA until he was 50 if he wanted!
He is also a very good human being, a very well rounded athlete, a great locker room presence and floor general. He is a better defender then people give him credit and with tyson chandler in the paint he would be able to play his preferred defensive style (up-tempo, active hands/feet, in shooter space). He is a 3 point sharp shooter, which is a weakness for us. He spreads the floor and is an adequate scoring threat to give melo and amar'e the space they need to co-exist. I honestly believe with Nash and a full training camp we would be a contender next year.
Now i've got my biases because he's a Canadian like me, but it doesn't take away the fact that even at 38 he's among the top PG's in the league. If you could get John Stockton on the knicks at any point in his career, wouldn't you??? Only PG that may have held a candle in the last 20 years is starbury
Don't rule out him coming here for less money. People here really have ignored the first sentence of the post, "everyone knows Steve loves New York." I'm telling you guys this is an understatement...There was talk of LeBron coming here bc New York is so great, blah blah blah, but Steve Nash actually lives here during the summer, and has been doing so for a decade. He has kids who live in the city...the man is 38; maybe a longer contract for a little less money is OK for him to see his kids on a more frequent basis. Also, the whole lin situation might be an enticing challenge for a guy like him.
Of course, if miami, Okc or La offer the MLE, we will probably be out of luck bc i'm sure he is dying for a ring.
If we get Nash, Melo has to continue playing passionate D and STAT has to start it. With Chandler and Shumpert as our primary defenders and Nash/Anthony/Stoudemire holding down the O. Our starting unit would be fine. Smith, Fields, Novak, Jeffries and Lin all play their roles and not try to do to much *cough*Lin and Smith*cough*. We'd get the 2 seed in the East
I could be off but IMO the "come and mentor" **** is overblown. Guys don't want to come and be some ones coach. Given the circumstance where say a player has already achieved success and is on his last contract, perhaps. But most want to win and think they can contribute (not by coaching a youngster). I think this is far fetched. Especially if you think a player will for less $.
These guys think they can still compete.
And as far as defense, my point goes back to what I analyzed a month back when we were bumped. If we are to be taken serious, our team must be built to compete with the HEAT, at least our starting 5 must be.
Minus TC (DPOY) & Melo, no one left can berelied upon on D. How can we rely on Lin when he's hurt? When healthy he was a bit soft on D.
Or Shump... knee injuries? That's no good. My point is even when HEALTHY they needed improvement.
And STAT has the matador defense down pat.
So is Nash an improvement in the areas we need? No, IMO he may improve the offensive flow, but on D no. So why would we want to spend the little remaining $ to get something we don't need? That's not wise IMO.
I've had enough of the courting the "vets" who state their interest and use that as leverage. We must use whatever assets we have (sans TC & Melo) to improve our back-court or we will fail. That means trade, draft, or open up to sign a F/A. And that player must be an IMPROVEMENT (on O & D) or what's the point?
The problem with that strategy is that we have very little wiggle room when it comes to who we can sign. Our best bet to sign someone halfway decent is the MLE if we get Bird Rights for Lin and Novak (highly unlikely) and even with that there aren't too many players who can play both sides of the ball who would accept that, including Nash. I'm hoping we get lucky and draft a decent PG (Scott Machado is what everyone is raving about on here so hopefully we can get him) to back up Lin but I would certainly take Nash if he was willing. I'm betting that he's just pulling a Lebron on us though.
If Nash said something like "I love the city so much I would play for the Knicks for free", I would say you had a point but it sounded to me he was just being politically correct.
I think his priorities at this point in his career are 1. championship, 2. money. If he's able to wrangle a multi-year 20M deal with a respectable team, that's where he'll go. I don't see him going to a team other than OKC or Mia if he has to take the min.
I think Nash coming here was only realistic while MDA was our coach.
There is no question about this now.
He'll go to a team that can compete, he lives in NY so I think he'll take an reasonable offer. If not, hey... so be it. It'll be his lost.
Nash has made is money and is looking for an opportunity to win in the last 3 years of his career. I think coming to the knicks makes the most sense for him of any situation outside of going to the miami heat, which I'm not sure if that is possible or not.
Nash, Shump, Melo, STAT, TC - That looks like a pretty stacked team to me!
EDIT: I would be obligated to buy a Nash Jersey for pure awesomeness. Would he have #13? hmmm
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