Scouts views: observations from an Eastern Conference scout.(NBA)

The best chance to beat the Suns, and I think everyone's starting to pick up on this, is you've got to make Steve Nash a scorer instead of a passer. He's good enough that if you force him to score, they still might beat you. But if you make him a distributor, they'll definitely beat you. Whenever he gets into the paint and a defender leaves to help right away, it's a 3 or a dunk for whoever's left open. But if you send help late, you might get him caught up in the air. Hold him under 10 assists, and you're in pretty good shape. Getting his field-goal attempts up is most important.... Gary Payton is playing head and shoulders better than last year. 1 figured he would be the worst pickup of the summer because I thought he would be a bad guy to have around such a young team, but he's been just the opposite. He's doing what Doc Rivers expects of him, and he's been great for Marcus Banks. I really like the Celtics' rookies, AI Jefferson and Tony Allen. A player Allen reminds me of--I know he's not as good--is Ron Arrest as a rookie. I don't think Allen will ever develop into a shooter like Artest ...