Steve Nash is Phoenix’s darling, and with good reason. He’s won 2 MVPs and has been at the controls of a team that had averaged 58 wins over the last four seasons, and twice advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

This season obviously hasn’t gone as smoothly for Nash or the Suns.

Everyone is searching for someone to blame for the fact that the Phoenix Suns, a team with as much talent as anyone in the league, are struggling mightily. So much so, that head coach Terry Porter was fired yesterday in his first season.

So, where does the blame lie? Was it Porter’s fault? Were Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver to blame? Do you point the finger at Amare, or Shaq? Or is Steve Nash the reason why this thing isn’t rolling along?

Nash drew some criticism last season when during an ESPN interview, he basically said that he’s trying to win a championship, but in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. He’s often been criticized for his perceived lack of defense. He spoke out when his best friend on the team, Raja Bell, was shipped to Charlotte in December. “All I can say is that he’s my best buddy and my best friend. The guys loved him, and Boris, too. It’s hard you know. I have a hard time committing to this as a business. I take this personally.” He added, “I take my career home with me and I care about my teammates. When you lose two of your best friends on the team, it’s hard. We’re not only recreating chemistry, we’re changing our style. But we’ve got lots of time to build.”

And yesterday at practice, Nash reminded everyone that a coaching change won’t magically fix things immediately. “We’ve got to get in shape, we’ve got to get that mentality back. I think we’ve also got to get some cohesion, find an understanding, a feeling between us that we’re going to read and react rather than be as deliberate as we were. It takes time but I think it’s worthwhile,” he said.

Not everything can be pinned on Nash, plenty of others on this team bristled at the changes made to the philosophy, including Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, who were traded partly because of their stance. But Nash is the perceived leader of this team, and his comments make you wonder if he believes this current collection of players and coaches can accomplish anything.

The Suns are 28-23, and currently stand in 9th place in a loaded Western Conference. In terms of the playoffs, they’re on the outside looking in. There’s 31 games left in the season, and the Suns will play 17 of those at U.S. Airways Center, and 17 of them are against teams with winning records.

Nash is right. It will take time, but for the Suns’ sake, it better not take too long.