Apr. 25, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash in the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Steve Nash is one the greatest Sun of all time, maybe behind Charles Barkley in terms of stardom but in terms of popularity  Nash trumps sir Charles. Since he’s arguably the greatest Sun ever and it’s only appropriate that we dedicate a couple more articles to this guy before he comes into the valley on January 30^th 2013 in enemy purple and gold.

One thing people always slam Nash for, his defense. HE’S A TERRIBLE DEFENDER, HE’S NOT ATHLETIC, HE NEVER WON A RING, HE DIDN’T DESERVE HIS TWO MVP AWARDS. It just upsets me when I hear these things, because I’m a die-hard Suns fan who grew up in New York; I love Steve Nash, I love the Suns. You want to call Nash a bad defender because he can’t guard the Russell Westbrooks of the world? You name me 3 players who can shut down a guy like Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. Basketball is a team game, Steve Nash throughout his career has never had a good defending big behind him; for heaven sake the closest thing he ever got to a good defending big was a 36 year old Shaquille O’Neal.

People claim Nash isn’t athletic, what 37 year old with a chronic back problem can do this? Any true basketball fan knows that skill lasts longer athleticism. Nash gets to where ever he wants on the floor at any given time. If a basketball player is capable of doing that, why does he need athleticism? Not to mention Steve Nash broke the 50/40/90 mark 4 times(Highest of mark of all time), which means he can score and do it efficiently, any more questions?

Nash never won a ring which is probably the best argument about his greatness, but most of us Suns fans know that we just ran into some god awful luck in the playoffs during Nash’s golden years. During 2004-2005 playoffs, Joe Johnson falls and breaks a bone near his eye socket and misses the first two games of the Spurs series in the western conference finals; yes the Suns lost both games and went on to lose the series in 5.  In the 2005-2006 season no Amar’e? No problem. The Suns got all the way to western conference finals again, but guess what? It was Raja Bell this time that missed game 2 & 3 due to injury after a game 1 win; the Suns lost both of those games because they literally were playing about 6 players due to lack of depth. Then finally the western conference semi-finals, the Suns vs Spurs series of 2007, big shot Rob checks Nash into the scorer’s table which ultimately lead to the suspension of Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for game 5 back in Phoenix with the series tied 2-2. The Suns went on to lose that game and lost a pivotal he series in 6. How about the most recent playoff run? Back in 2010 when the Suns got all the way the west finals and the all famous Ron Artest put back at the buzzer at the end of game 5 with the series tied 2-2 which was nothing short of miraculous. Not to mention it was an obvious over the back foul as he just shoved Jason Richardson out of the way.

Feb. 19, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (13) puts up a shot against Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE.

Now this is the one that really ticks me off, when people say Steve Nash didn’t deserve his two MVPs? This guy turned a 29 win team into a 62 win team, leading the league in assists as well as posting great shooting numbers that were nothing short of legendary. The following year people claimed that Shaq should of won the MVP award and not Nash. Okay fair argument  but how many teams will remain to win 54 games despite losing their leading scorer and rebounder for the entire season? During that 2005-2006 season Steve Nash along with Shawn Marion carried that team! Nash and D’Antoni made Boris Diaw into the player he was, after Diaw left Phoenix you all haven’t heard much about him have you? Exactly!

Steve Nash is without a doubt one of the top 10 greatest point guards ever and the most popular Sun of all time. It’s a shame that people outside of Suns fans don’t truly appreciate this guy’s talent, class and competitive spirit. Laker fans are lucky to have that guy wear their jersey for the next three years maybe Laker fans will understand what a truly special player Steve Nash is. The Steve Nash era is finally over but the foot prints he left on the Suns organizations will never be washed away.

Suns MVP

Steve Nash. Often I feel we take Nash for granted and overlook his efforts and performances. At 37, battling injuries, with an unstable supporting cast he played 75 games and 2,497 minutes of basketball (33.3 per game). Nash led the NBA in assists and showed his best assists/turnover (3.23) ratio of the last 5 season.  But even without considering stats he showed “solid” leadership, not by talking to the media but leading by example every day. Without him the Suns would be a pain to watch and not worthy of more than 30 wins.

Rookie of the year

One of the biggest problem of the Suns recent era is their inability to develop young players. The history of recent drafts has more or less been about picks traded, cash considerations and not a single impact player: Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin in ’08, Lawal and Collins in ’09 just to name the latest. Technically speaking the Suns don’t have a single rookie on their NBA roster so I’ll just make this an award for the best newcomer on the team and assign it to Marcin Gortat. Nobody expected him to be such a solid NBA player (13 Points, 9 rebounds per game as a Sun) despite showing some potential in limited action in Orlando.   

Defensive player of the year

Defense and Suns in the same sentence? This has to be the most difficult award to assign. The Suns system tends to expose each player’s weakness on defense instead of protecting them. The best defender in Phoenix is Grant Hill, despite being 38 he still has decent mobility, positions himself well and is a solid defensive rebounder.  

Most Improved player

Has to be Marcin Gortat who happens to be also the “first-year Sun of the year”. On the opposite side, the biggest disappointment of the year has to be Robin Lopez even if this category could be a bit overcrowded from Childress to Hedo Turkoglu, a strong candidate despite playing only 25 games with the Suns). Lopez was given a chance to play and show his ability on a team desperate for defense and rebounds that should also be his strengths.

6^th Man

Jared Dudley. JD played in all 82 games and improved his numbers from the previous season. He came off the bench in 67 games and was always ready to play. An very good shooter he’s dynamic and has sxcellent basketball instinct.

All-Suns First team

It’s gotta be Nash, Hill, Dudley, Frye and Gortat. 

Coach Gentry

How do we judge the Coach’s work? Overall the Suns didn’t perform like they could or we hoped. They ended up 40-42and out of the Playoffs but many predicted just that before the season, somewhat considering the 2009-10 run a unique miracle. Coach Gentry did an adequate job but failed to make a difference in 2010-11. The Suns appeared to be generally well prepared to play but in some cases seemed to lack a bit of fire nor they could deliver in the clutch (on both side of the ball).

Chemistry was an issue for the Suns: The December trades probably didn’t help nor getting Vince Carter who played like he simply didn’t care.  A few of the Suns Summer signings simply didn’t perform as we hoped. I still think Gentry is an above average NBA coach not to mention a nice and classy gentleman. I hope he’ll have a chance to lead the inevitable rebuilding of the Suns.

Yours truly,

Luca, the Steve Fan