Steve Nash's Age Finally Catching On?

by DRodriguez on Mar 12, 2010 11:11 PM MST

Steve Nash is now 36 years old although he hasn’t played like it for much of the season. We have all been waiting to see when his age will show, and I think we have begun to witness that decline in his play over the past few months. Yes, he is a little banged up, but that is no excuse to not be able to make the simple plays. There have been plays over some of the past few losses where making the simple play at the end could have helped the suns get a W. however, Nash made either the wrong play, or tried to go for the big play and could not convert. Yes, we trust steve taking some of those shots but with his back hurting those “good” shots suddenly turn into not so good shots. The lakers game was a great example of his deterioration. There were plenty of plays that could have changed the outcome of the game but Nash failed to make the right ones. First of all, STAT had 17 and 8 in the first quarter alone, there is no way he should have finished with just 29. Steve needs to recognize that when they are struggling from the perimeter they need to go inside and the way Amar’e is playing, he is the answer. We also know Nash is not know for defense, but there is no excuse in not closing out. Steve had a couple of times where the ball came right back out and Nash just stood there and stared at Artest and Fisher shoot wide open 3’s. there are times when I feel more comfortable with Dragic instead of Nash. There were also a couple of plays with under a minute where the suns defense kept them within 4 and steve made the wrong play. First they got a stop and with around 56 seconds left Nash went for a quick 3 to try and get the suns within 1 pt.. it is a shot he usually makes but with his back it’s a whole different story. The next suns possession after getting a block he tried to get the ball to Hill and turned it over. Those were 2 plays that could have made it a whole different game. So I ask you this suns fans, nowadays, do you still feel comfortable when Nash has the ball at the end of a close game? Who would you rather have in at the end of the game, Nash for his faltering offense or Dragic for his Defense? Unlike Hill, who has missed a bunch of games over the years, Nash’s wear and tear seems to be catching up to him.

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Nash will comeback and surprise us like he always does. He’s just banged up and that’s all there is to it.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 12, 2010 11:15 PM MST reply actions

I’d still rather have Nash over Dragic in the final minutes.

Also, a big part of the reason why we only scored 15 in the 2nd is because Nash was out for most of it.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 12, 2010 11:16 PM MST reply actions

Oh god...

Seriously? Come on…not even a month ago everyone he was the best point guard in the league and everyone thought he was getting better with age…It’s just an injury…not decline. His assists have actually IMPROVED since the All-Star break it’s just the offensive game which is hurting which is from his bad back. He’ll be fine.

"I don't care what people think, people are stupid."-Charles Barkley

by TheRza82 on Mar 13, 2010 12:24 AM MST reply actions

+1

by Fritzy on Mar 13, 2010 10:38 AM MST up reply actions

Also...

What does STAT getting 17 in the first quarter then only finishing with 29 have to do with Nash? It wasn’t just Amare who’s play declined after the first quarter….It was the whole team due to the Lakers turning on the heat on defense…I have never disagreed with a fanpost as much as I do with this one.

"I don't care what people think, people are stupid."-Charles Barkley

by TheRza82 on Mar 13, 2010 12:26 AM MST reply actions

I think its injury more than age

However the old you are the harder it is to overcome injury. I’m worried that Nash’s back won’t let him play freely any more this year. If he couldn’t get better with a week off, I’m not sure when he will get better. And we can’t win a playoff series without him feeling better.

Twitter: @dahking
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by Alex Laugan on Mar 13, 2010 7:05 AM MST reply actions

If you watch the last 2 losses (to Jazz and Lakers), Nash was the weak link in defense during the last minutes of the game. Dragic was not available during the Jazz game so Nash was the only PG, and they were playing back to back games so I thought he was tired. But in the Lakers game the Suns were playing after a long break so Nash was rested, but again I thought he was the main reason they couldn’t get the game tied. The Suns, except Nash, played great defense in the final minutes. His turnover and the bad 3 on the break essentially buried the Suns. I found myself wishing Dragic was playing instead of Nash in that game. The Suns can play very well without Nash, if you look back to the last game in Oklahoma where Nash was not playing, the Suns were solid on defense and executed very well in offense with no turnovers in final minutes. That alowed them to beat Oklahoma even when they were trailing by 10 with 3 mins to play.

by roys on Mar 13, 2010 9:39 AM MST reply actions

Nash needs rest!

Nash should sit out until he is one hundred percent. I would have willingly kept him out of the Lakers game, and any games after, if it ended this problem with his back.

by 8472species on Mar 13, 2010 10:14 AM MST reply actions

also those plays aren't so simple...

they just look that way because he is awesome….

by Superelkman on Mar 13, 2010 12:29 PM MST reply actions

Agreed, that pass to Grant Hill was just a bit too far for him. Nash screwed up. Thats all it is. Mistakes happen. That kind of pass on the fast break in a clutch situation is tough to make. Nash just through it a bit too far.

by Beavis 25 on Mar 13, 2010 3:13 PM MST up reply actions

This is why we need Barbs back...

If we can get Barbs back healthy say two weeks before the playoffs we can cut dramatically into how many minutes Nash plays….He can give him back to back games off then limit to him to 28 minutes or under. …We also have up coming games against the Knicks, Nets, Minnesota Twice and Golden State…those are all games where we can win without him.

"I don't care what people think, people are stupid."-Charles Barkley

by TheRza82 on Mar 13, 2010 5:33 PM MST reply actions

You know we have Dragic right

I believe we need to keep him to 28 minutes or less, the remaining time should of course be given to Dragic not LB. I also think he should sit out some games (i’m worried though, if 5 days didn’t do jack, what will a day do?), and let Dragic run the point with LB backing him up with say 14 minutes of play. Also, i believe we should get a veteran PG just in case, the playoffs seems to be a given right now and we’ll need a veteran PG if Nash doesn’t get better. Yes we have Dragic (LB is a PG when there is no better option , certainly not a first option and not a second as well), but in a playoffs game, we’ll need veterans more, look at what Collins did against Gasol and even Bynum.
On another point, why are we not using Collins more than we are? Frye is streaky and can’t be used in the end of close games, Lopez is young and using him in the same situation is tricky (he is better than Frye in that case though). I believe he can actually get time…

by jatrex4suns on Mar 14, 2010 9:35 AM MDT up reply actions

Collins sucked

against Gasol and Bynum, your meth lab must be awesome. I’m aware we have Dragic but you do realize just a week ago we played Hill at PG and he hasn’t played the point Circa 1996 Days when Fila’s were the coolest thing in the world. I said earlier in the year we should throw a bone at Bobby Jackson or something but both you and I know we’re not going to do that. If you’re so worried about taking minutes away from Dragic that are given to LB what do you think a third point option is going to do? We have games against New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Minnesota (Twice), and Golden State. All of those are games Nash can afford to miss…For god sakes he sat out the OKC game and we still won. We can give Nash off tomorrow and he wont have to play till Friday. It’s not about healing since Nash ISN’T going to heal in time for the playoffs. Back injuries…Especially on 36 year olds take months to heal…Let alone a guy who is playing the most athletic sport in the world four times a week. The best we can do is rest him as much as possible and hope he is his usual self come playoff time.

Did Barbosa eat one of your children or something? It seems like everytime he is brought up you’re the first to shoot him down.

"I don't care what people think, people are stupid."-Charles Barkley

by TheRza82 on Mar 15, 2010 7:06 PM MDT up reply actions

Because Steve Nash is a human and not a shiny golden god he makes mistakes. You say he usually makes those shots well from three he shoots 45% maybe he’s a little better on them in the clutch so let’s say 50% I don’t understand how he misses one pass (he turns the ball over as much as anyone that’s basketball), and one shot, and suddenly it’s time to start posting on the end of the Nash era. He has had stretches of poor play every year since he’s been here (he’s been old the whole time) and he gets over them especially in the playoffs. The Nash era will end soon, way too soon so let’s not let a few injury riddled slightly lower than average games cause us to freak out about it before it’s time.

by philebarb on Mar 14, 2010 12:15 AM MST reply actions