There's no doubt that without Duncan and Garnett, those teams would be lottery material. Eric Neel is simply bringing attention to Steve Nash's old-school unselfish style of play in the way a lot of journalists do: by making a somewhat exaggerated statement to generate discussion and interest in what they're saying. That being said, Nash is proving a lot of people wrong. Some people in Dallas were waiting for him to crash and burn in Phoenix but it hasn't happened. With the more athletic Suns, Nash has an ideal situation. He has two or three teammates who can finish and go strong to the hoop, instead of looking to Dirk only in Dallas. His assists will come in bunches and with five teammates averaging in double figures for points, he has enough options that he can conserve his strength for the end of the season and playoffs. Amare Stoudemire said it himself about his ppg going way up: "all the easy baskets are Steve." Of course, it doesn't hurt that along with his assists, Nash is shooting 53% from the field himself, along with a 43% career 3 point average and 90% free throw shooting. Meanwhile, Dirk may be getting more points in Dallas with Nash gone, but the wins are rarer, and are usually nailbiters. Reminds me of a certain situation in LA with Kobe: his points are up without the Diesel, but the wins are down. Way down. At the same time, the Suns are winning by an average of 12 to 13 points a game. As the Warriors' Jason Richardson said last week when the Suns went on a 20-2 run in the 4th quarter to blow out the Warriors: "Nash ran us right out of the gym." Props to Garnett, Duncan, et al. But give Nash credit where credit is due.
posted by calisunsfan at 01:02 AM on December 21, 2004
Steve Nash for MVP
There's no doubt that without Duncan and Garnett, those teams would be lottery material. Eric Neel is simply bringing attention to Steve Nash's old-school unselfish style of play in the way a lot of journalists do: by making a somewhat exaggerated statement to generate discussion and interest in what they're saying. That being said, Nash is proving a lot of people wrong. Some people in Dallas were waiting for him to crash and burn in Phoenix but it hasn't happened. With the more athletic Suns, Nash has an ideal situation. He has two or three teammates who can finish and go strong to the hoop, instead of looking to Dirk only in Dallas. His assists will come in bunches and with five teammates averaging in double figures for points, he has enough options that he can conserve his strength for the end of the season and playoffs. Amare Stoudemire said it himself about his ppg going way up: "all the easy baskets are Steve." Of course, it doesn't hurt that along with his assists, Nash is shooting 53% from the field himself, along with a 43% career 3 point average and 90% free throw shooting. Meanwhile, Dirk may be getting more points in Dallas with Nash gone, but the wins are rarer, and are usually nailbiters. Reminds me of a certain situation in LA with Kobe: his points are up without the Diesel, but the wins are down. Way down. At the same time, the Suns are winning by an average of 12 to 13 points a game. As the Warriors' Jason Richardson said last week when the Suns went on a 20-2 run in the 4th quarter to blow out the Warriors: "Nash ran us right out of the gym." Props to Garnett, Duncan, et al. But give Nash credit where credit is due.