Nash focused on game, but contract issue is always present

[MavsFanFinley]

Nash focused on game, but contract issue is always present

By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News

A good point guard doesn't just see the play in front of him. He has a feel for what's going on around him.

So Steve Nash can focus on Thursday's playoff game all he wants. That doesn't mean he ignores the possibility that it could be the last time he takes the court in a Mavericks uniform with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley.

"It's always sort of there, that uncertainty," said Nash, who will become a free agent at the end of the season. "It's something I can't really control right now. I'm just trying to figure out our team and figure out how we can improve. But yeah, it's there.

"That's the most articulate way I can say it."

It's hard to articulate with any certainty what will happen if Dallas is bounced out in the first round.

We do know the experiment didn't work. It doesn't matter how many offensive players you add to a good offense. That doesn't guarantee you'll become a better team.

We do know owner Mark Cuban and coach Don Nelson are two strong-willed individuals who aren't afraid to lock horns. That can be a volatile mix in the best of times.

And we do know Nash will opt out of his contract. Forget how he stacks up with the league's other elite point guards. If Nash returned next season at his scheduled salary of $6 million, he would rank behind Tariq Abdul-Wahad on the Mavericks' payroll.

All that was in play before the series with Sacramento. Now that the Mavericks find themselves down 3-1, these issues are likely to be broached sooner rather than later.

Coaches and personnel directors around the league believe the Mavericks will take a step back if Nash doesn't return to run Nelson's offense. Remember how long it took Nash to catch on to what Nelson wanted done.

But what if Nelson isn't back? What if Cuban decides to make a coaching change? Nash can adapt to any style, but he may no longer be the central piece to the team's success. Even though Nash wants to return, a coaching change would introduce a new dynamic into the negotiations.

You also have to wonder where Cuban stands. He signed Nowitzki to an extension. He signed Finley to an extension. Yet to this stage, he's been unwilling to commit long-term money to a 30-year-old point guard, no matter how much he's meant to the franchise.

That's what lies ahead for Nash. But right now, the Mavericks point guard has his hands full with the present.

Nash had a chance to send Monday night's game into overtime. But his off-balance, 17-foot shot with three-tenths of a second left wasn't close.

"I would have liked to have gotten the ball to Dirk on the mismatch, but with the clock winding down I didn't know if there was time," Nash said. "If I passed it to him, they could have double-teamed him then he wouldn't have had time to make a pass. Then our spacing broke down. There wasn't much room to maneuver.

"I had a tough shot."

He's had a tough series.

Nash has averaged 11 points and shot 35.3 percent from the field in the four games. Those are his worst postseason numbers since he was a bit player for Phoenix his first two years in the league.

Sacramento has made stopping the two-man game between Nash and Nowitzki its defensive priority. The Kings put defensive ace Doug Christie on Nash in key stretches. The team traps him constantly to get the ball out of his hands. They flood the pick-and-roll with three defenders, forcing Nash or Nowitzki to swing the ball to whoever is open on the weak side.

"Sometimes I feel out of the game," Nash said. "I feel like I haven't had as much impact on it as I normally do or would like to."

The perception is that Sacramento's Mike Bibby has outplayed Nash in this series. He's averaging nearly twice as many points (20.5) and has come up big late in games.

But the Mavericks haven't focused on slowing Bibby. Dallas has turned its defensive attention to Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic.

Now the Mavericks must turn their attention to the improbable task of winning three straight games, two at Arco Arena.

"We don't feel like we're on top of the world by any stretch," Nash said. "We have a lot to overcome.

"But you know, hopefully we can prove to ourselves that we are still alive."

The thing is, even if the Mavericks stay alive for another game or two, that doesn't make the future any more certain.