Posts Tagged ‘gerald wallace’


NBA Trade Deadline: Why was Nash not traded?

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Steve Nash (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

The NBA Trade Deadline came and went yesterday. My initial reaction was simple.

Steve Nash, Canada’s greatest basketball ever, is still a Phoenix Sun and his chances of winning a championship are dwindling. He’s 38 years old, passes the ball with absolute ease, but at this stage off his career is stuck as a Sun on a team that needs a couple of years at least to rebuild in order to be a contender for a Championship.

Sure, they beat the Clippers last night without him, but last night’s performance by the Suns simply doesn’t happen often.

I’m not saying Steve Nash should be another Ray Bourque and be a professional athlete that asked to be traded to win a Championship before he retires, but that the Suns should have looked into it. Nash deserves a chance.  The likelihood of Nash being a Sun next season is 50/50, and the Suns missed a great chance to get something for him.

Sure, there were trades yesterday. The Portland Trail Blazers traded Gerald Wallace to the New Jersey Nets for Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and a first round pick. The Milwaukee Bucks traded Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown, and then the Warriors traded Jackson to San Antonio for Richard Jefferson.

We also saw Washington acquire Nene Hilario from Denver, Houston acquire Derek Fisher from the Los Angeles Lakers and Marcus Camby from Portland, Indiana acquire Leandro Barbosa from Toronto, and two coaches leave–Mike D’Antoni in New York and Nate McMillan in Portland.

But with all of the movement, Steve Nash, the greatest point guard in the game remains playing under the sun in Phoenix. Are you as disappointed as I am?

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NBA Western Conference Playoff Preview

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Tony Parker (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

A lot of times when people analyze the NHL or NBA, they start with the East. But www.anysportanytime.ca is founded in the West, so I’m going to start with the West!

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies–

Spurs Top Three–Tony Parker 17.5 PPG, 6.6 APG; Emanuel Ginobili 17. 4 PPG, 4.9 APG; Tim Duncan 13.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG.

Grizzlies Top Three– Zach Randolph 20.1 PPG, 12.2 RPG; Mike Conley 13.7 PPG, 6.5 APG; Marc Gasol 11.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG.

Analysis: The Spurs come into the series as the hands on favourite, having won four NBA titles since 1999. The fact that 2011 is an odd year as well will help San Antonio because their four previous Championships came in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Gregg Popovich is as good of a coach as any in the entire NBA and has maximized the performance out of his players. The question in San Antonio is the health of Manu Ginobili, who injured his elbow in a meaningless game last night in Phoenix and is doubtful for Game One.  This will be the fourth playoff appearance in franchise history for Memphis since moving from Vancouver in 2001. They have yet to win a playoff game, going 0-12 in the process. The X factor in the series is Randolph. The tenth year power forward has a criminal past dating back to his days in Portland, but seems to have everything under control now. Still the Spurs have the three best players and will win in six.

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