Nash: “I Feel Like I’ve Been Traded”
With only two carryovers (Amare Stoudemire & Leandro Barbosa) from a Suns team two years ago that won 61 games, Steve Nash feels like Rip Van Winkle. Sure he’s still wearing a uniform that says Phoenix on it, but seemingly overnight the culture and team that America (and Nash) had grown to love is gone.
“I feel like I’ve been traded,” Nash said, chuckling. “I feel like I’m on a different team because everything’s changed so much around here. We have a lot of differences now after quite a bit of stability but change can really be positive. Amidst that recent chaos could come strong order. We’re all optimistic but it’s a strange point with Mike coming and all the changes.”
The Mike that Nash is talking about is Mike D’Antoni, as he and the New York Knicks take on the Suns at the US Airways Center tonight. If the Knicks win, a feat that is entirely possible this evening, look for Nash’s tone and demeanor to become a lot more hostile.
Do you feel for Nash? How far can the Suns go with their new roster?
Source: The Arizona Republic
December 15th, 2008 at 11:21 am
fallinup says:
Blame the owner.
I can’t blame Nash in all of this. Not the way he blew up when getting with PHX. Credit all of that to D’Antoni’s system. Colangelo left because of the owner. Kerr comes in and makes changes, next thing ya know, D’Antoni’s gone. They blew up that team without really seeing how it works and now Mike’s doing a pretty good job experimenting with his system in NY.
The last real chance that D’Antoni’s Suns had was the first chance in my mind. And they never shoulda let Joe Johnson leave. They shoulda jumped at his every request.
Funny, that when it comes down to paying players, coaches etc. That’s when the players and coaches that made that system work were the ones that bolted.
Seeing Kerr scramble now, with the JRich trade, to get some sort of offense back is hilarious.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Ansonious says:
As a Suns fan I hate everything their doing to my team from pissing off Amare to still going to the lob to Shaq down in the post. It deeply offends me what has happened since that queer steve kerr has taken over he is slowly but surely ruining the team I love but hopefully the all is not lost and they can make a decent run at the prize at hand.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Michorizo says:
Suns need to trade Nash before his trade value decreases. Obviously Kerr has a different vision for the Suns…The whole team has been traded. As much as Phoenix loves Nash, the players put around him are not maximizing his talent.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Mamba says:
I really dont’ understand why they are doing what they have there,
I go could be way off but it doesnt even seem as though management even cares what Nash thinks about these various move, as the centerpiece of that team he seems fairly cut out from the articles I have been reading,
I do feel for him because I still think he has several more very good years remaining and whose to say what will happen with this new team that they have put around him, I wonder if Kerr really knows what he is doing
December 15th, 2008 at 11:46 am
CitizenB says:
Steve Kerr sucked as a player and is doing the damage as a GM. I really didn’t think PHX should have changed anything after they were screwed over in that SA series.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Ravi says:
The Sarver/Kerr braintrust has dismantled what used to be one of the best teams in the league. It’s a really sad thing to witness.
Seriously, they should just trade Nash to Toronto or New York and let him end his career happily.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Kobeef says:
This is like the Shaun Marion situation all over again. Nash is not going to last long….
Nash for Kidd. Do it. Do it.
Nash gets re-united with Dirk for a final kick at the can. The Suns finally get some D in the backcourt and Kidd and Richardson at the guard spots is pretty exciting.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
dagwaller says:
Nash has always been one of my absolute favorite players, but I wish that he would be a little more professional about this. After he left the Mavs, how do you think the rest of those players felt?
December 15th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
d says:
for once I feel for the dude. I hate nash, but you can’t argue he’s a great offensive player. He’s not being utilized AT ALL. here’s to hoping he goes to NY once he’s a FA. Mike D seems to be the only dude who knows how to maximize Nash.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
¢ says:
they had their chances for about 4 seasons. then they fired d’antoni. i mean, they really fired d’antoni. whos now making a barely watchable knicks team “sportscenter watchable”. so much for “anyone can coach a team full of stars” huh.
oh yeah, steve still has a team full of cats that can run with him. and a starting 4 that will jam anything that gets lobbed in their direction.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Dagomar says:
lol Kobeef, not sure if you’ve been watching, but Kidd is pretty helpless on D against the young points out there.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
karizmatic says:
No I do not feel for Nash if he balls with the talent they have they can win. The have a decent squad, and the weren’t going to get a ring with that team anyway.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Lanfeas says:
Can’t blame this all on Kerr. He came in with Sarver almost immediately telling him to cut costs and sell picks. He had to immediately sell away Kurt Thomas (who was one of the few people that had some success defending Duncan or at least slowing him) and then get rid of the Rudy Fernandez pick for I think like $3 million when he could have just stashed him in Europe. I doubt Kerr signed on with all these immediate changes and cost cutting in mind, but with the team chemistry in chaos, the Marion trade was a must. He was killing the spirit of the team, the players were all asking for it…Marion wanted it, and Amare was unstoppable after Shaq came on board.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Lanfeas says:
Also, the JRich trade was a steal.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
chaos says:
Man, they’ve had so much talent before d antoni was fired. Q-rich, joe johnson, shawn marion, kurt thomas,etc. They always seem to get rid of the players they need so with the constant changes they could never win. Look at the spurs.they essentially hae the same team. If nash is half the mvp he once was, he would step up to the challenge.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Max says:
I feel for Nash, and blame Suns management for the way things have gone down the last couple of years. Nash is declining pretty significantly, though, so at this point the changes may be inevitable.
Acquiring JRich could be the Suns best move, though there is something about the construction of the team that feels really awkward, given that there is so much talent. I feel like the Suns could actually make a run toward the conference finals, or they could get swept in the first round…just so hard to figure out how the pieces will eventually fit.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ Dagwaller
c’mon, man. You know Dallas was done with Nash when he left. It’s common knowledge that Cuban thought Nash was done. They lowballed him huge and thought Jason Terry would be the savior with Devin backin him up and Phoenix offered more years and cash. Hindsight is 20/20 but I don’t think anybody gives a phuck about how the Mavs feel. They coulda kept him if they wanted him
December 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
dagwaller says:
K Diz – you’re right, they could have kept him. Just like Phoenix could have kept any number of the players that they’ve gotten rid of. The point remains – they’re playing professional sports. He should be more professional about “wishing for the good ol’ days”.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
K Dizzle says:
Dag – I think it’s more frustration of knowin you can still contribute and even dominate on some nights and havin your franchise in schizo mode. It was all offense with D’Antoni, then they got rid of him and decided to turn up the d (which is translation for we need someone to match up with Duncan or even neutralize him ) so they trade for Shaq. Problem is, Marion wasn’t the problem. Marion was the best defender on the squad and Amare and Tim usually played each other even. The problem was Parker usually put Nash into the torture chamber so bringin Shaq in didn’t solve anything and now it’s not fun to play, and it’s not fun to watch. It’s not just Nash, it’s Amare, it was Bell and Diaw, Barbosa. It wasn’t broke, but because of a couple bad series and bad breaks against the spurs, they quit on a good thing. That’s like the Bulls tradin Pippen before the six chips cuz detroit beat on them 2 years in a row. No patience. So now, they decide they gonna bring in JRich cuz they wanna up the d?????Or what’s the plan?
As a player, you gotta be watchin this and thinkin management don’t got a plan. Apparently, D’Antoni and Colangelo were the smart ones cuz they bounced before it came to this…
December 15th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
dagwaller says:
K Diz, I agree that they gave up on what they had too soon. My point remains, though, that Nash is the one being impatient now, and should be more professional.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
spindlest says:
Steve Kerr blew up the suns a little too early I think. Even if they absolutely had to trade Marion, couldn’t they have done it for someone who fit into their system a little better? But also, you’ve gotta put some of the blame on the moves that Colangelo made. Look at the suns recent draft picks that were all traded away: Luol Deng, Nate Robinson, Rudy Fernandez, Rajon Rondo; aka ALL guys they could have used at some point (especially Rondo, who they REALLY NEED).