Steve Nash: Point Geezer..

by Pliny the Elder on Mar 19, 2010 4:59 PM MDT

Now, I'm not normally one to pay attention to box scores or stats, basically because I don't believe they tell anything except a crude indication of how someone played, and sometimes they don't do even that. But, on occasion, I get sentimental, and these stats are useful to mark career milestones of interest, and even importance.

So, with that said, it should be noted (courtesy of ESPN.com) that Steve Nash, with 750 assists this season, has blown past John Stockton's record of 713 assists in a season (2000-2001), for a player over the age of 35. And he still has 14 games to go until the end of the season.

Of course, it goes without saying that Steve is leading the league in assists, and more importantly he's leading the most efficient offense in the NBA, as he has for the last 10 or so years, by some margin (the difference in offensive efficiency, according to Hollinger, is greater between the Suns, and the #2 team Nuggets, than it is between the Nuggets and the #10 Spurs)

If Steve has a lasting legacy, it might be the inspiration to players like Kobe and LeBron, that if they take care of themselves, and adopt a more skillful and cerebral game, they can have a long career, playing at the highest level.

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14/16 from the field and 16/18 from the line is pretty efficient…and that has nothing to do with nash.

by Teske22 on Mar 19, 2010 10:42 PM MDT reply actions

unless Amare has suddenly learned to create his own shot...

then the 14/16 from the field, and his shooting percentages over the season are inexorably intertwined with, and dependent on what Nash is doing on the floor. If you look at Amare’s advanced stats, then you’ll see that 60.6% of his field goals, this season, were assisted, which suggests that he hasn’t yet learned to create his own shot. By contrast, Nash’s assisted percentage this season, is an astonishing 10.3%.

Anyway, back to Nash for a sec.. The Suns, this year are posting a 115.0 offensive rating (via basketball-reference.com, and a 112.2 offensive efficiency (via Hollinger @ espn.com).

For Hollinger’s rating, the Suns this year are at a historic high, and a Steve Nash team has lead that particular rating for each year since 01-02, which according to my calendar is 9 years in a row. This is the essence of Nash’s greatness.

"True glory consists of doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read".

by Pliny the Elder on Mar 20, 2010 1:37 AM MDT up reply actions