By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — Turn back the clock a dozen years, and Steve Nash, maestro of the sweet-shooting, fast-flying Phoenix Suns, was getting what Tim Hardaway says is a "butt-kicking" on the summer playgrounds.
This was in the Bay Area, where Nash was in school at Santa Clara, and Hardaway, Jason Kidd and Gary Payton were established local stars in the NBA.
"We used to kind of like beat up on him," says Hardaway, a former NBA All-Star point guard. "But he came back every day for that butt-kicking. He grew from that. He learned a lot from us and never lost his confidence. I think he put all of our games into his own, and it's one complete game."
It's so complete the leader of the run-and-stun Suns — sidelined one game by a shoulder injury but due back Friday at the Atlanta Hawks — has participated in 15- and 17-win streaks in a 39-10 season. Entering Wednesday he was first in assists per game (11.8), second in three-point shooting (49.0%), 12th in field goal shooting (53.6%), 12th in free throw shooting (88.2%) and seventh in assists per turnovers (3.2).
Yet he defies precedents of greatness:
•Nash, headed to the NBA All-Star Game for the fifth time, has won back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards and could be in the mix for a third in a row. Only Hall of Famers Bill Russell (1961-62-63), Wilt Chamberlain (1966-67-68) and Larry Bird (1984-85-86) have won three consecutive MVP awards. All are frontcourt players.
•In a game dominated by inside superstars, Nash is 6-3 with limited leaping ability. Only two other small players, 6-0 Allen Iverson in 2001 and 6-1 Bob Cousy in 1957, won MVP awards.
GALLERY: Point-guard greats assess Nash and his game
•In a sport largely ruled by talent honed on U.S. playgrounds and refined at U.S. colleges, Nash is Canadian, the son of a former professional soccer player. Only two others not born in the USA, Tim Duncan of the Virgin Islands in 2002 and '03 and Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria in '94, won MVP awards.
Nash, who turned 33 on Wednesday, has barged ahead as a fundamentally sound, old-school player who thinks in the future on the court. None pass better than the ambidextrous point guard, arguably the most unselfish player in the league and the consummate leader. Few shoot better. He can beat you with a three-pointer or a twisting, off-balance, left-handed layup in a crowd.
"He's got a little bit of everybody great in him," former Suns all-star point guard Kevin Johnson says. "He's unique. He's going to be the player we say others are going to remind them of."
That's echoed by five other former great point guards interviewed, including Hall of Famers Cousy, Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Lenny Wilkens.
"Steve has no weaknesses whatsoever," says Cousy, the former Boston Celtics star. "If he wins the MVP three years in a row, you can bet that record will never be broken."
Nash's offensive numbers reflect only a part of his value. He also leads the team in charges; is Mike D'Antoni's coach on the floor; produces career years for role players; sets the team's work ethic with his conditioning routine and inspires confidence in a team that Jan. 21 shot 78.3% in a 46-point third quarter against Minnesota, aided by a 31-2 run.
Little wonder the Suns, served a steady diet of open jump shots by Nash, led in shooting threes (the only team at 40%) and twos (the only team at 50%) and were tops in scoring (111.3 points a game) and assists (26.6 a game).
Former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey says Nash is "the nightmare on Elm Street times 10."
Nash runs the break, pick-and-rolls with Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion, probes the paints, prowls the three-point line and exploits defensive mismatches.
Remarkably, his statistics this season — career-high averages in points (19.3), assists and shooting from inside and outside the three-point line — are better than last, which for the most part were better than the previous year. Even more remarkable: He had two 15-assist, no-turnover games in the latest streak.
How six former great point guards break down his efficient game — and Nash's responses:
Bob Cousy:
1950-70
18.4 points, 7.5 assists
"He sees the floor. For a point guard, that is your greatest asset, where, without turning your head, you can take in everything in front of you and chronicle it away. You've already taken that mental picture of where everybody is, then your instincts take over. All this is happening automatically for Steve.
"Coming across half court, psychologically, he's geared to thinking, 'I have to create something wonderful for one of the four other people, and if that doesn't develop, I have to look for my own offense.' Steve is an outstanding offensive player, which makes it more difficult for him to subdue those instincts as a point guard.
"He's an old-school guard. He'd fit into our '50s game, absolutely."
•Nash: "I'm impressed with the things Cousy did that we're still doing today. That's a tribute to how good he was. I'm trying to do the things he did 50 years later.
"Maybe I'm just boring."
Lenny Wilkens:
1960-75
16.5 points, 6.7 assists
"What amazes me the most is how he makes his teammates better. He does everything out there. He has great presence and court vision.
"I love when he gets into the paint. Ninety percent of the time he's going to make a play. Some guards get hung up in the air, and then there's desperation. Most of his are calculated."
•Nash: "My court vision is instinctual. I don't want to sound arrogant, but ever since I started playing the game, I always liked to pass the ball. I really liked to find ways to get my teammates open shots. From the first game I started playing, it was a natural.
"You have to think in the paint. I try not to go down a road that has only one option. So if I'm going to pick up my dribble, I better have a couple options. If I don't I have to be real careful. I don't anticipate or try to make up my mind before. It allows you to be more creative and clever, so you see less desperation."
Nate Archibald:
1970-84
18.8 points, 7.4 assists
"People ask me, 'Is he a "one" or a "two"?' I say, no, he's the consummate floor leader. He epitomizes a big man in a small man's body. … He has the vision to put people in place. You don't see it, but the ball is there and the next thing you know the guy is scoring. He's thinking ahead, and you can't teach that. …
"Point guards have to be a little crazy. I saw Steve Nash show up at a New York playground, and he was on roller skates like all the other crazies in New York. He took his skates off, played on the court, put his skates back on and left."
•Nash: "Maybe I'm a little crazy. I don't know."
Kevin Johnson:
1987-2000
17.9 points, 9.1 assists
"He was the third guard behind Jason Kidd and I when he broke in with the Suns in 1996. I said time and time again, he was by far the best point guard of the three of us, even then. In practice every day, he would drill us. …
"What makes him so good is he can shoot and dribble, go left and right. He has a high basketball IQ. He's competitive. He has composure. And he's so unselfish, even though he's a great scorer. He also has unbelievable footwork, which most people don't recognize."
•Nash: "Kevin did tell me I was as good a guard as any he's played with or against and that was an eye-opener for me, because I came from a small school and small town and didn't necessarily believe in myself as much as he did. That was a huge boost."
Tim Hardaway:
1989-2003
17.7 points, 8.2 assists
"He knows what his team needs. If it's scoring, he scores. If it's assists, he gives assists. Or, if it's defense, he plays defense. Whatever you need, Steve Nash does. That's what an MVP does. … What also amazes me is how he makes shots in the lane. He's so ambidextrous. He has all types of ways to make a shot. …
"In those playground games he took my jump shot, Jason's penetration and ability to get up and down the floor fast and Gary's defense. He's playing some defense. He moves his feet and gets in front of you and makes you do some things you don't want to do. His defense is underrated."
•Nash: "The No. 1 thing I learned from all three was confidence and competitiveness. The way I like to push the ball and pass is something I definitely watched Jason do and, obviously, the way Timmy shoots in transition."
Mark Jackson:
1987-2004
9.6 points, 8.0 assists
"What stands out the most … is he's been able to sustain this level. He's playing as good as a point guard can possibly play. … Watching him these last three years, if you take Magic Johnson out of the picture, Nash is in the discussion with anybody who has ever played the position.
"He's the best to ever play the pick-and-roll. … He's a prober. What's so important, playing the pick-and-roll, is not deciding, until the decision is made for you, what play to make. He's so good at waiting to make the decision. He allows the defense to make the decision.
"I love the fact that he loves the game. He's passionate. He gets it — and he's humble."
•Nash: "On the pick-and-roll, you try to gather all your resources. If you're a threat to shoot and pass, you play them off one another. You put the defender in a position where he has to make a decision. Then, in some ways, they make the decision for you. In other ways, you have to make the decision and be aggressive.
"I like to use my passing as a threat to get open for shots. I like to use my shooting to make open lanes for passing."
hes not a good individual defender but he makes his teammates better on defense
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by doeboy
Since you idiots like to quote Superhead so much, don't leave out where she said Jay-Z was packing. Maybe Jay satisfied Nas' baby mother in ways Nas never could. How you like that lil boy?
I wonder what KJ is doing nowadays anyway...he prolly would make a good coach
__________________ Handsome-Unit GOD
"they say it ain't no hope for the YOUTH, then the truth is, it ain't no hope for the FUTURE...and then they wonder why we crazy..." - 2PAC the GOAT
smh at this dikkriding
how come he hasnt made the finals?
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life was hell every day the devils tryin me but i paid my debt to society after 27 months ill tell you one thing i know why the caged bird sings
me and my boys werw talking about basketball the other day giving our top 5 players. one dude said he would put nash in there but his d was too bad. some white dude we don't even know jumped in and said
"what are u talkin about nash has good defense"
couldn't do shyt but laugh
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by doeboy
Since you idiots like to quote Superhead so much, don't leave out where she said Jay-Z was packing. Maybe Jay satisfied Nas' baby mother in ways Nas never could. How you like that lil boy?
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Tim Hardaway on Steve Nash: "His Defense is Underrated"
