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well, maybe the didn't "rip" on him but they're definitely calling him out like most newspapers never do.
Buck Harvey: Poor Steve? Trend of Phoenix's lovable loser
Web Posted: 04/23/2008 01:09 AM CDT
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 Bowen knee and the Horry hip-check. He had to suffer last year's suspension that cost him two teammates, 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, with 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.
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; this week, he introduced a line of sneakers made from recycled materials.
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 a 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 Amare Stoudemire and Diaw suspended, the Suns took a nine-point lead into 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 Robert 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 on Tuesday night. Given this trend, exactly who has been the best guard on the floor?
It's a toss-up, 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 Suns player.
Then, Phoenix came out with a seven-point lead and promptly made one 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. One particularly awful attempt was a behind-the-back pass to Stoudemire that became a turnover.
Afterward Mike D'Antoni said, "We looked like we panicked," and the "we" is the responsibility of the point guard. A veteran such as Nash, a great player such as Nash, is supposed to assume control in these tense playoff moments.
Instead, Parker did to Nash what Chris Paul has done to another aging point guard, Jason Kidd.
Nash goes back to Phoenix now with a chance to change that, and he might. He still shows signs of being as good as his reputation.
But since Horry bumped Nash into the scorer's table a year ago, the victim has been victimized. Nash has lost four consecutive playoff games to the Spurs.
(Hopefully that article doesn't piss off Nash the way an SA Express article pissed off Kobe after game 2 and allowed spurred the Lakers to win games 3 and 4 back in 2003)
well, maybe the didn't "rip" on him but they're definitely calling him out like most newspapers never do.
I thought that was a bad choice for an article
that can motivate Steve Nash.
Also, if anything is a weakness of the Suns its their bench, and Diaw and Barbosa disappearing.
Diaw did great in the first half (as did his whole team) but going to him 5 times in the fourth quarter was silly.
I understand Mike D wanting to exploit the mismatch, but it completely backfired.
that. Steve Nash scares the out of me.
If I was a suns fan I wouldn't blame on him. When McGrady stinks up game 7's he is liable to be called out. Nash is always massive down the stretch.
Yup, that's why i thought Harvey's choice to go after Nash was kinda weak.
Nash went down swinging last year.
As I mentioned at the end of the article, it's the type of bulletin board material Kobe used back in 2003.
Blah Blah
Wake me when Nash learns how to play a lick of defense.
Then I'll overrate the guy with the rest of the world
What a dumb article. Wait until the series is over to trash Nash lol. That is indeed bulletin board material. Yeah, Nash doesn't scare anyone on defense but he can take over a game with his deadeye shooting when motivated.
Isn't this the same Buck Harvey who picked the Suns to win last year? It's pretty lame being a newspaper bully just because you happen to cover the defending champions. Nash was lights out in Game 2 for a large portion of it despite having both Bowen and Parker draped all over him.
The le alone has to motivate Nash if he sees this. No one likes being called a loser.
Man, that's what I was thinking too...way too premature to be calling out the guy, when the Suns aren't even out of the series yet. Really, really stupid article to write up.
For the record, Steve Nash is a monster player, he's great, even in Suns uniform.
I found this article to be in bad taste.
Why not call out Amare for disappearing in the 3rd quarter? Why not call out D'Antoni for being a complete dumbass? Barbosa? Bueller?
That team wouldn't be squat without Steve mutha in Nash!
I thought the same thing.(Hopefully that article doesn't piss off Nash the way an SA Express article pissed off Kobe after game 2 and allowed spurred the Lakers to win games 3 and 4 back in 2003)
While reading the article I was like, " Buck, don't anger it!"
Now if Buck had wanted to take another go at Shaq, I would have had no objection to that.
In the immortal Words of Red Foreman....
What a Dumbass.
My curiosity is getting the better of me though.... I wonder what Suns fans would say if there was a similar article about Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili.
I think Nash is a great player; however I found this article to be spot on. You all are doing it yourselves - sticking up for Steve Nash. He is the MVP of that team and the league and he can't come up with anything better? Poor Stevie, he never gets a break. Those big bad mean Spurs won't let him win. Please. Real Champions find a way to will their team to victory (i.e. Timmy's 3) not sit around and be sad they can't get it done.
Nash is a real nice PG and may be one of the toughest SOBs out there, but he does not have the heart of a Champion. As the leader of that team, therefore he fails them. Plain and simple.
Let's not find out.
I like it when Bill Walton calls him "Little Stevie"
That's crap. His success on the Suns teams have been thwarted primarily by poor coaching skills.
Here's a question. What would happen to the Suns if you replaced CP3 with Nash? Would they be the same, better, worse?
CP3 like Nash is a great player. But CP3 would have the same crew to work with as Nash does so I don't know that he could be any more effective.
screw nash..
Steve Nash historically has been the only player on the Phoenix roster with any heart whatsoever. He has a long and storied history of singlehandedly keeping the Suns in games in the fourth quarter. He is so consistent in doing so that we stop noticing it.
Does he ever miss an open 3? Does he ever miss that turnaround jumper in the lane? How many passes at impossible angles while double-teamed on the baseline does he make to Stoudemire for easy dunks?
Didn't he, just three days ago, hit a 3-pointer every bit as ridiculous as Duncan's, that is forgotten only because Ginobili's game-winning layup immediately followed?
Nash may suck at defense, but belittling him as a "victim"... well, timvp had it right. Harvey is playing newspaper bully. Thanks, dumbass, for lighting a fire under a warrior. We can now look forward to Nash putting up 30 points and 20assists in Game 3.
Steve Nash is awesome. Looking at the box score after Game 1, I was surprised he had missed any shots at all. Every time he shoots I expect the ball to go in. He's a badass, the Spurs are just the better team. I don't think Nash (or any player for that matter) should be ripped for failing to beat a better team.
But like most sports writers and analysts have done in the past 10 years, Harvey has chosen to focus on the negative - to play up perceived "failure" - instead of playing up the winner's greatness. With only a few exceptions, post game coverage has devolved into dissecting how the loser lost rather than how the winner won. You'd think you could get a column on the Spurs from one of their local writers after a win, but maybe Harvey is applying for ESPN.
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