Buck Harvey, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Steve Nash will be the victim again, and that’s not all bad. He’s good at it.
He’s the unlucky No. 13 who endured the bloody nose, the Bruce Bowen knee and the Robert Horry hip-check. He had to suffer last year’s suspension, as well as a decade of losses to the Spurs, first out of Dallas and later Phoenix.
Tuesday will add to that. He lost, but look at his numbers. Can’t the guy get a break?
But there are other numbers, such as in the third quarter. Then, with the Suns in the lead, kwith Nash on the floor, with the two-time MVP in control, the Suns came apart and spit up another chance.
Then, again, Nash was the victim.
Of better guards.
Nash won’t get blamed the way, say, Tracy McGrady does. Nash is small and Canadian and a nice guy. He is also a friend of the planet; he introduced a line of recycled sneakers this week.
Besides, he finished with 23 points and 10 assists Tuesday, and it’s far easier to point at other Suns who failed. Leandro Barbosa, continuing what he did a year ago against the Spurs, missed all seven of his shots.
Phoenix also kept going to Boris Diaw, and he kept coming up with little. One memorable post-up was against his French buddy, Tony Parker, and Parker scrapped and caused a turnover.
Parker did a few other things, too, such as lead the Spurs with 32 points. He also sprinted as the in-seven-seconds-or-less Suns were supposed to.
The stat of the night: The Spurs ended with 23 fast-break points, and the Suns just four.
There was time Nash would have been the one with a quick dribble and bullet pass. That’s how he won everyone over. He ran the most entertaining offense in pro basketball.
He impressed the crowd, too, when he scored 31 in the bloody-nose game last year. But it’s that perception — with him as the victim — that makes people forget what else happened last year.
Such as Game 5. Then, with both Amaré Stoudemire and Diaw suspended, the Suns took a 9-point lead in the fourth quarter on the Spurs and lost by three.
Poor Steve? He was 6 of 19 with three turnovers.
In Game 6 last year the Suns had no excuses. Stoudemire and Diaw were back and fresher than anyone in the series, and Horry was still suspended.
Stoudemire held up. He finished with 38 points, similar to Tuesday’s 33.
Nash had his moments on his way to 14 assists. Once he not only went behind his back, but Tim Duncan’s, too, while whipping a pass to Stoudemire for a dunk and three-point play.
But he mixed in five turnovers, and he was no match then for Parker and Manu Ginobili. Then, a year ago, Parker went for 30 and Ginobili for 33.
Saturday’s opener was no different, as Nash made just 9 of 20, albeit with one perfect detail. Playing the role of the victim again, Nash was still recovering from the flu.
Still, Parker and Ginobili combined for 50 in that one, then they followed for another 61 Tuesday night. Given this trend, exactly who has been the best guard on the floor?
It’s a tossup, all right. Either Parker or Ginobili.
Nash came back with some plays to pull the Suns close late in the fourth quarter Tuesday. But that third quarter should hang on Nash more than on any Sun. Then Phoenix came out with a 7-point lead and promptly made 1 of a dozen shots. Nash threw in the one, a tough fade.
But he also dribbled the basketball off one of his recycled sneakers, and he failed at running an offense and setting up scorers.
I would actually have some respect for this article if he came out and said what we ALL now he really thinks, which is nash gets a break because he's a small white guy.
Steve Nash will be the victim again, and that’s not all bad. He’s good at it.
He’s the unlucky No. 13 who endured the bloody nose, the Bruce Bowen knee and the Robert Horry hip-check. He had to suffer last year’s suspension, as well as a decade of losses to the Spurs, first out of Dallas and later Phoenix.
Tuesday will add to that. He lost, but look at his numbers. Can’t the guy get a break?
But there are other numbers, such as in the third quarter. Then, with the Suns in the lead, kwith Nash on the floor, with the two-time MVP in control, the Suns came apart and spit up another chance.
Then, again, Nash was the victim.
Of better guards.
Nash won’t get blamed the way, say, Tracy McGrady does. Nash is small and Canadian and a nice guy. He is also a friend of the planet; he introduced a line of recycled sneakers this week.
Besides, he finished with 23 points and 10 assists Tuesday, and it’s far easier to point at other Suns who failed. Leandro Barbosa, continuing what he did a year ago against the Spurs, missed all seven of his shots.
Phoenix also kept going to Boris Diaw, and he kept coming up with little. One memorable post-up was against his French buddy, Tony Parker, and Parker scrapped and caused a turnover.
Parker did a few other things, too, such as lead the Spurs with 32 points. He also sprinted as the in-seven-seconds-or-less Suns were supposed to.
The stat of the night: The Spurs ended with 23 fast-break points, and the Suns just four.
There was time Nash would have been the one with a quick dribble and bullet pass. That’s how he won everyone over. He ran the most entertaining offense in pro basketball.
He impressed the crowd, too, when he scored 31 in the bloody-nose game last year. But it’s that perception — with him as the victim — that makes people forget what else happened last year.
Such as Game 5. Then, with both Amaré Stoudemire and Diaw suspended, the Suns took a 9-point lead in the fourth quarter on the Spurs and lost by three.
Poor Steve? He was 6 of 19 with three turnovers.
In Game 6 last year the Suns had no excuses. Stoudemire and Diaw were back and fresher than anyone in the series, and Horry was still suspended.
Stoudemire held up. He finished with 38 points, similar to Tuesday’s 33.
Nash had his moments on his way to 14 assists. Once he not only went behind his back, but Tim Duncan’s, too, while whipping a pass to Stoudemire for a dunk and three-point play.
But he mixed in five turnovers, and he was no match then for Parker and Manu Ginobili. Then, a year ago, Parker went for 30 and Ginobili for 33.
Saturday’s opener was no different, as Nash made just 9 of 20, albeit with one perfect detail. Playing the role of the victim again, Nash was still recovering from the flu.
Still, Parker and Ginobili combined for 50 in that one, then they followed for another 61 Tuesday night. Given this trend, exactly who has been the best guard on the floor?
It’s a tossup, all right. Either Parker or Ginobili.
Nash came back with some plays to pull the Suns close late in the fourth quarter Tuesday. But that third quarter should hang on Nash more than on any Sun. Then Phoenix came out with a 7-point lead and promptly made 1 of a dozen shots. Nash threw in the one, a tough fade.
But he also dribbled the basketball off one of his recycled sneakers, and he failed at running an offense and setting up scorers.
I would actually have some respect for this article if he came out and said what we ALL now he really thinks, which is nash gets a break because he's a small white guy.
