Check the stats: <u>WITH NASH</u> <font color=""Orange"">PHX</font> : 115 pts, 54% shooting <font color=""Red"">LAC</font> : 90 pts, 43% shooting <u>AVG OF LAST 3 WITHOUT NASH</u> <font color=""Orange"">PHX</font> : 101 pts, 43% shooting <font color=""Red"">OPP</font> : 117 pts, 52% shooting Also keep in mind 2 of those 3 opponents without Nash were Atlanta and Seattle. It's pretty clear Nash is valuable, wouldn't you say? Even defensively the Suns are worse without Nash (yes, I said without). Nash is a good team defender, but the real reason he's an asset on the defensive end is because of his offense... follow me: Marbury used to average like 8 assists per game with the Suns, but his assists weren't "true" assists, sure he passed it to somebody and that person made it, but Marbury didn't create that person's shot, he just happened to be the last person to touch the ball before the scorer. Nash actually creates shots for players, that's why the Suns lead the league in FG% and 3P%; open shots are easier to make (we call that common sense). Without Nash the Suns struggle to get open shots, so they miss more, the misses lead to easier baskets for the opposing team (the Suns know all about the transition game). The Suns best defense is their offense, their offense is better with Nash... thus Nash helps their defense. This isn't just some paradox I came up with, the stats back it up.
Yeah, you have great point and that's true, but he wouldn't be as good as he is in another team , cause he has nice shooters beside him and he just fits in so good with Suns tempo. Also the numbers show that Suns wouldn't be a nice team without him, without Nash they'd struggle in PO's for sure.
<div class="quote_poster">SpeeJ Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">he wouldn't be as good as he is in another team , cause he has nice shooters beside him</div> The Suns are the only team in the league with nice shooters? Dirk, Ray Allen, Redd, Kobe, Arenas, Ginobili, Mike Miller, Korver, etc. Of course his numbers wouldn't be as good if he played in Scott Skiles' system, but if anybody traded for Nash, do you really think they'd keep their same system? Most coaches aren't idiots, they will either get players that fit their system, or adapt their system to their players. I think Nash could make Golden State a 55+ win team and have very similar numbers because Nelly already has the system in place with some good pieces, they just need a Steve Nash to run it. I also think he could turn Boston around, Pierce, Green, and Szczerbiak are top 20 in 3P% and they've got athletic guys; maybe with Nash, Perkins and/or Jefferson could reach their potential. So I wouldn't say Phoenix is the ONLY team Nash could be successful in, he did have All-Star years in Dallas, it's not like he was riding the bench. He was an 18 & 8 guy in a system not known for assists -- they only averaged around 23 APG as a team (led the league in scoring, but never in assists). Granted on some teams his numbers wouldn't be as good, but the team would win, Nash's teams win games. Put Kobe on the '97 Bulls, would he have the same numbers? Of course not. But is he any less of a player because of it? No.
