Simmons on Nash

I can only assume you didn't actually read the column, Starman. It was not critical of the 7 or less offense, in fact I believe Simmons has been praising it ever since it showed up a few years ago. He was just pointing out how it may've skewed our perception of the abilities of Nash and others who've played in it. I'm no fan of Simmons, but you're way off with this line of criticism.

 

No, it's exactly what starman said it is.
Nobody qualifies quarterbacks based on systems. Quantifies them, yes. But a great player is a great player no matter what system he plays in.

 

The best situations are a marriage of talent and system. For all of the criticism Donovan McNabb has taken in his career, if Andy Reid ran an offense that demanded McNabb stay in the pocket at all times, he would have been much less effective. D'Antoni's offense was perfectly suited for Nash's skills. Placed in a conventional NBA offense, Nash's statistics and effectiveness decrease. Pointing that fact out isn't automatically proclaiming the greatness of a Larry Brown mindset on offense. D'Antoni's offense is a joy to watch and it does make players seem better than they really are offensively. But until D'Antoni wins an NBA championship while running Seven Seconds Or Less, the knock is always going to be that you cannot win a championship by running it.

 

Maybe so, but won't you concede that some systems can make players greater than they would be in another? And perhaps even look better than they actually are?

It's hard not to notice the number of guys who seemed to instantly become better players the moment they started playing for D'antoni. Guys who were considered disappointments, washed up or bench ornaments on prior teams suddenly were not after arriving in Phoenix (Diaw, Tim Thomas, Raja Bell, Jim Jackson, James Jones, etc) and others became instantly worse the moment they stopped playing D'Antoni ball (Q Richardson, Marion, Diaw, Barbosa, etc.). As for Nash, he was a 2nd tier all-star his first 8 years in the league, but then at an age when most point guards slow down he suddenly vaults to MVP calibur the moment he starts playing for D'Antoni, but now falls back the moment he leaves. I think it's fair to presume Nash would not have two MVPs and be considered as great as he is had he not met that system.

 

Not to -- gasp! -- defend Simmons ... but the guy has been overflowing with praise for the D'Antoni offense. In fact, I think that's the point of the column you obviously didn't bother to read.

 

Thanks to D'Antoni's revolutionary "seven seconds or less" offense (SSOL, for short), Duhon's big game was perfectly logical. The mind-set is simple and brilliant. When you exert a seemingly chaotic run-and-gun pace, opponents invariably get caught up in that tempo—you know, because deep down every player really wants to shoot every seven seconds—and that's exactly what Coach Mike wants. He trains his teams to play that style and looks for players who make it work, giving him an inherent advantage every night.

Where are you getting that Simmons doesn't like D'Antoni's system?

 

In the third paragraph:

Granted, they were three verbose, bloated, interminable paragraphs, and it probably would have been about the tenth paragraph in a competently written and edited story, but there it is, right up near the top.

 

So pointing out the obvious - D'Antoni's entertaining system has not produced playoff success equal to its regular season success - is an endorsement of walk-it-up-and-slow-it-down basketball?

 

The fact remains that nowhere in the piece does he say this. Not even close. He likes the system but thinks it inflates players' stats. There's nothing in there that advocates walking it up and grinding it out, Larry Brown style.

 

d'antoni's system is the nba's equivalent of football's spread offense...just as nfl gms have a hard time evaluating college quarterbacks in the spread, it's hard to measure the true greatness of a quarterback in d'antoni's SSOL. i think nash used to be a hell of an offensive player and a lot of fun to watch, but even at his best, i would've taken the quicker and equally selfless tony parker over him in a heartbeat

 

Starman, those "meatgrinder" Celtics did win three NBA championships.

 

And the "Showtime" Lakers, whose style of play in comparison makes Dantoni's SSOL look like Henry Iba, won five.

Hell, the 1985-86 Bird/Parish/McHale "meatgrinder" Celtics attempted 7312 field goals in 82 games. That would have ranked them No. 2 in the NBA in FGA last season.

Unfortunately, it was none other than Pat Riley who went over to the dark side and embraced the sludgeball style, in large part ruining the entire sport in the process.