The NBA’s 30 best go-to players (#14: Steve Nash)
By Austin Burton
Dime

Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…

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#14: STEVE NASH, Phoenix Suns

First, for those thinking Amar’e Stoudemire would/should be holding this spot, an explanation for why Nash gets the nod: To ID Phoenix’s go-to guy, I had to go back to the football analogy I often used when the Suns were at their running, gunning, coulda-been-great peak. Shawn Marion was the offensive line, the underappreciated one who made everything run smoothly, who if his game wasn’t on-point, the whole operation could collapse; Amar’e, then and now, is the running back/receiver, a.k.a. the finisher; and Nash is the quarterback. Not some Kyle Orton “Don’t lose the game for us” QB, but a Peyton Manning “Everything here is under my control” signal-caller. The Suns’ offense truly runs through Nash, even if it consistently runs to Amar’e.

Second, let’s get the “He’s a system player” argument out of the way. Yes, Nash is a system player. No, he wouldn’t be as lethal if he played for the slower-moving Blazers or Spurs or Hawks. But this isn’t one of those times where playing hypothetical rounds of putting Nash on another team and in another system applies. On this team, in this system, at this time, Nash gets the job done better than all but select few point guards in the world.

Third, why does Nash belong in the top half of the League’s go-to players? Of anyone already on this list or who will appear later, Nash bears the least resemblance to a “takeover” scorer. While Chris Paul or Deron Williams can and will drop 30 and sometimes 40 points when the situation dictates, that’s not Nash’s game. A scoring explosion for him counts as about 25 points, but he compensates with creating buckets for teammates in crunch time and controlling the tempo of a game better than just about anyone.

Although the Suns missed the playoffs in ‘09, Nash wasn’t as far off from his MVP seasons as some would believe, averaging 15.7 points and 9.7 assists (3rd in the NBA). In a year of transition, Nash was the strongest tie that bound the Suns to the 46 wins they did reach. But with Amar’e gone for half the season, two coaching changes, two philosophy changes, and an early-season roster makeover via the Diaw/Raja/J-Rich trade, it was too much for one lead guard to fix.

This season should be better, or at least less chaotic. Alvin Gentry is in full-time as head coach, and these Suns know they’re running from Day One. Amar’e is back with goggles over his eyes and redemption on his mind. Leandro Barbosa made it through an arduous stretch of his personal life in ‘08-09 and looked like his prime self at the FIBA Americas tournament this summer. As a team, the Suns still have red flags that may add up to another Lottery spot, but their leader still garners that healthy, grown-man kind of fear from opposing coaches and defenders.

The numbers don’t lie in Nash’s case. He is one of the game’s few 50-45-90 shooters. In “clutch time” last season (4th quarter/OT, 5 mins or less left, 5 pts or less margin), he scored 28.2 points per 48 minutes, better than Tim Duncan, Michael Redd, Kevin Martin, Ray Allen and, yes, Amar’e Stoudemire. He also racked up 11.6 assists in the clutch, third behind LeBron and Deron.

Pound-for-pound, considering every aspect of a basketball game, there are about 5-6 point guards I’d personally take ahead of Nash — Paul, Parker, Williams, Rose, Kidd and Billups among them. But in the game’s most critical moments, Nash has fewer peers at his position.

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15. Kevin Durant
16. Gilbert Arenas
17. Derrick Rose
18. Chris Bosh
19. Andre Iguodala
20. Tracy McGrady
21. Baron Davis
22. Michael Redd
23. Devin Harris
24. Kevin Martin
25. Al Jefferson
26. O.J. Mayo
27. Stephen Jackson
28. Nate Robinson
29. Boris Diaw
30. Rip Hamilton