Has Nash lost a step? In a word, no

I felt compelled to write this post in response to Greg Esposito’s post entitled Could Steve Nash go from hero to villain?

Greg starts his post by saying “It seems like a stretch that the Phoenix Suns MVP and the leader of the Seven Second or Less era could be viewed as anything less than a fan favorite.” I can’t speak as to how Suns’ fans will view Steve Nash when his Phoenix playing days are over. I can say this, Nash is the only Suns’ player to win 2 MVP Awards, and one of only 9 players in history to win them back-to-back. He led his teams to two Western Conference Finals appearances, and played in four All-Star games.

I know there will be a faction of Suns’ faithful that won’t embrace Nash and his accomplishments when he’s gone. There will be those who feel that he’s not a strong enough leader to guide a team to a championship, or will look down on him since he didn’t win “the big one”. Possibly other will cite his somewhat outspoken nature during this difficult season.

I will say this. I don’t have a problem if the Phoenix Suns opt to trade Nash this offseason. It’s their prerogative to do so, and if they are committed to re-building this team, then they probably will explore that option.

I also don’t have a problem if the Suns keep Steve Nash, mostly because I don’t buy into the arguments that he has lost a step, or his skills are diminishing. In 2004-05, Nash’s first MVP season, he averaged 15.5 points, 11.5 assists and 3.3 turnovers per game while shooting .502 from the field, .431 from 3-point range and .887 from the line.

This season, Nash is averaging 15.8 points, 9.7 assists and 3.4 turnovers per game while shooting .502 from the field, .439 from 3-point range and .933 from the free throw line. He’s playing about a minute per less than he did in 04-05, and has missed seven games to injury, and one other due to suspension. In the second half of the season, Nash is shooting a ridiculous .548 from the field and .473 from behind the arc. When was the last time you saw a guard shoot .548 from the field in a half season?

Yes, the assists are down, but there are reasons for it. In the first half of the season, the Suns played under Terry Porter’s deliberate half-court style, and they didn’t shoot the ball that much, only 78 times per game. In the second half under Alvin Gentry, the Suns are shooting the ball 87 times per game. That’s an average of 9 more possibilities per game that Nash could have accumulated assists. Additionally, in the second half of the season, Amare Stoudemire has been out, eliminating one of the top finishers in the game and putting more of the scoring workload on Nash. He raised his scoring average by 5.2 points per game in the second half of the season.

Defensively, Nash has remained the same. He wasn’t good at stopping dribble penetration 5 years ago, and he’s not now. He still is one of the best in the league at drawing charges. In fact, only Anderson Varejao of Cleveland has drawn more this season.

If Thursday night is his final game in a Suns’ uniform, I’ll view Steve Nash as the best point guard ever to wear a Suns’ uniform, even if he didn’t win a title while he was here. I could go on forever about all the things that went against the Suns’ during their 4-year push towards a championship ring, but why rehash that painful past?

Subscribe to your favorite Phoenix team or sport or Follow us on Twitter.