Phoenix Suns Player Power Rankings: Not Nash Again

The fine folk at SB Nation Arizona have published their weekly power rankings of your Phoenix Suns players. This week's rankings covers the three-game winning streak since the All-Star break. Steve Nash, who has dominated these rankings all year long, is once again in the number two spot behind Marcin Gortat.

Here's the link and intro to the rankings:

Phoenix Suns Player Thermometer, Week 10: The Team Apparently Needed A Break - Desert Dirt - SB Nation Arizona
The All-Star Break apparently did the Phoenix Suns some good. They've won all three post-All-Star games and have given themselves an over-.500 home record, finally. The usual suspects led the way, including Steve Nash, Marcin Gortat, and Jared Dudley. The bench rotation continues to be kind of wonky, but Suns fans are starting to see a little of the bench spark that was a signature of Alvin Gentry-coached Suns teams.

I don't think I agree with putting Nash behind Gortat in this one. Steve dominated two of the three games with his passing (17 assists against Minnesota) and scoring (20 points against the Kings). His defense and even rebounding are looking up as well.

Marcin, of course, has also played well. He's defending and boarding with more energy which makes sense given the long rest period, but his offense is still very Nash-dependent. We've also seen Robin Lopez take more minutes from Marcin thanks to his improved energy level and of course, bigger size.

In the long run, Gortat playing 30 to 33 minutes is going to be much better than having him play 37 or 40 per game. With this schedule, that's just not sustainable.

Overall, and this isn't a knock on Gortat, I just though Steve impacted the games more and should be in the top spot. But hey, that's just me.

Big props continue to go to Grant Hill, Jared Dudley and Channing Frye. These three guys are playing at the level I expected them as early in the season. If they had been playing this well in January, the Suns would be a .500 team and maybe a tad bit better. Oh, well.

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