26 Dec 10 Steve Nash: The Busted Face Of Basketball

Jeff Gross/Getty ImagesIve always been a Steve Nash hater. Let just get that out there.Ive always thought that he a wormy, saccharine Canadian; a player whose abilities on the court are blown out of proportion by his statistics on paper. He the high school quarterback that scores the hot cheerleader, heads the class council, gets straight A, and petitions for more soda machines on campus.He is the kid who does more community service than the amount required for graduation. I mean, who does that!?We get it, Steve. Youre nice. Youre a do-gooder, Baltimore Ravens jersey
and youve won over the masses with your G-rated Disney pizazz. Just stop the act already.If you were to ask me, he didn deserve those MVPs. He got them because he was small, white, and did everything right. He answered questions politely, and smiled for the camera. He visited hospitals and painted houses. But his play didn justify the accolades, the fanfare, or the adoration. He has won nothing, accomplished nothing, proven nothing.I would have said he played us all for fools. And you know what? I would have been dead wrong. Because even though he playing against the Lakersmy LakersI keep finding myself rooting for Steven John Nash.***It kills me to say this, but Nash has revolutionized the game of basketball. His effect cannot be seen in a single game (though I guarantee you, like last night Game 5 thriller, he will make any game entertaining), nor can his effect on the basketball culture be quantifiably measured. This is true within Phoenix, Dallas, Santa Clara, Canada, and all throughout the NBA-watching globe. Just ask around.This wormy, saccharine Canadian has become an ambassador. Our ambassador. And, though it has taken me a while to come around on this fact, it is a privilege to have this class council president as our diplomat to the basketball-watching legions. His methods are highly successful, tremendously watchable, and brilliant to behold. May the Coke machines abound.First, let me break down what Nash brings to the court. In this, his 13th season, when his body should Buffalo Bills jersey
be/has been breaking down for at least five years, he is enjoying one of his finest seasons of all-time. (No small feat for a prior back-to-back MVP winner.) He averaged 16 points and 11 assists a game this year, 17.5 and 10 in the playoffs. He led his team to the Western Conference Finals when no one had them out of the first round. He re-activated Amare Stoudamire (not to mention the whole city of Phoenix), and in the biggest game of the year he hit big shot after big shot even as his coach was puking on the sidelines. True story.And I realize it is a pity that we have never seen what he can do in the Finals.True, he can beat players with his speed, provide lock-down defense, elevate, or play for over 35 minutes a game. But he never really could in the first place, could he? When he is on the court, he hides his every shortcoming in a way that it only rarely becomes apparent.I mean, let be honest. Every single player in the NBA yes, even Earl Boikins could post up Steve Nash if they were alone in a gym together. But it doesn happen. Why? Because Steve sees the play coming, switches off, and never gives them the opportunity.Steve maximizes his strengths at the offensive end to make up for his defense. If he needs to get by his defender, he goes into a succession of stutter-steps and hesitations, dipping his shoulder only when he has the man completely off-balance. If the defense switches, he lures the big men out to the 15-18 foot range, and either lofts a high shot over him (that he makes with great regularity) or burns by him for an unorthodox - yet thoroughly practiced - layup.For the opponent, it maddening. It like trying to share a sleeping bag with your sister - it should be easy, but you just can get in the right position.On drives, Nash gets behind the hoop - much like a hockey player and looks for cutters at angles the defense isn accustomed to. If the defenders stay at home on their players, it makes for an easy and uncontested layup. But if they switch off, they have to turn their back on Carolina Panthers jersey
Stoudamire or Grant Hill. And that never a smart idea.It brilliant basketball play, really. Like in fencing, he realizes that he is in power when he has the ball in attack mode. He makes the choices, dictating every move that the defense makes, and countering appropriately.Im beginning to realize Ive never seen a player like him.Steve Nash is proof that you don have to be able touch the top of the backboard in order to play in this league. He embodies the natural evolution of basketball; the game where a keen eye and smart thinking can make up for a lack of athletic talent.Now, Ill root for the Lakers until Im purple and gold in the face. But for basketball fans, Steve Nash is our savior. He is the hope of the slow, ground-ridden masses.And that quite an accomplishment, isn it?