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I am by no means saying that Steve Nash deserves to be the league's MVP, but he is certainly deserving of consideration.
The Phoenix Suns have had a dramatic drop off in talent since last year. Losing Amar'e Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and replaced them with Hakim Warrick, Josh Childress, and Hedo Turkoglu during the offseason.
Hakim Warrick, and Childress have struggled to find time on the team due to lack of production, or well, the usual things that don't allow players to get playing time!
Very early in the 2010-11 campaign, the Suns traded Jason Richardson, their only wing player who could create a shot for himself, who was also shooting 41 percent from the three point line, along with Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark.
In exchange, they received the un-motivated, half-dead half-caring, Vince Carter, along with guard-forward, Mickael Pietrus who hasn't looked good since his 08-09 campaign. The Suns also received lifetime backup center, Marcin Gortat, who has never received more than 13.4mpg during his career.
Not to mention that Robin Lopez has now officially become one of the softest centers in the league.
On top of that, Grant Hill is one year older.
Despite all of these imperfections, the Phoenix Suns are 34-30 with the former MVP in the lineup, and in the toughest conference in the NBA.
The only reason why is Steve Nash.
Many people have their jaws dropping when they see Channing Frye's three point percentage, or even his scoring average for that matter. After coming off of three straight single digit scoring average seasons, averaged 11 points last year, and an impressive 12 points per game this year.
Channing Frye has been assisted on 86.74 percent of his baskets this year (according to http://www.pistonpowered.com/2011/03/ranking-nba-players-by-percentage-of-field-goals-created-on-their-own-and-of-course-greg-monroe-falls-near-the-bottom/). He is ranked 15th in percentage of field goals assisted.
That stat directly correlates to the playmaking abilities of Steve Nash. He has made Frye an incredibly effective player, along as a legitimate threat of every possession.
Then, I look at who is second on the exact same list, it is Marcin Gortat.
Gortat has been a lifetime backup center. However, if you looked at his production over the last three months, I don't think you would believe the previous sentence.
In the month of January, Gortat averaged eight rebounds, 10.8 points per game on 58.9 percent shooting from the field. His minutes from the previous month only increased by two, however, his point production doubled and he was grabbing three more boards per game.
In the month of February, Gortat averaged nine rebounds, and 13.3 points per game on 56.8 percent shooting. He enjoyed a playing time increase by seven minutes.
Currently, in the month of March, he is averaging 10 rebounds per game, and 13.9 points on 52.5 percent shooting (including 2.1 assists per game). His minutes only increasing from 30 to 33 per game.
I think it is safe to say that if Gortat is the second most assisted player in the NBA, and he has been scoring upwards of 13 points per game for the past two months, that means someone is creating shots for him.
Nash has taken a defensive minded center, and made him an offensive threat, a career backup defensive center is now an offensive threat, did that just happen? I am not going to say to say that Nash gave Gortat the ability to rebound or to make an open basket, but Nash gave Gortat a boatload of confidence.
Another player I would like to bring up is, Grant Hill. This is more of an overview of his time on the Suns as a whole, but, Hill was supposed to be out of the league four years ago.
Hill has been a consistent contributor on the Suns, probably the most reliable wing scorer they have. Hill, this year and last year, recorded his two highest three point shooting percentages of his whole career (43.9 percent and 39 percent).
Remember, this guy was supposed to be out of the league a few years back, Nash has kept Hill's career alive, not only that, but he has made Hill an effective player.
Lastly, Vince Carter, half-man half-..., has recently become accustomed to playing with Nash, and he is posting his highest per game average of the season during the month of March. He is scoring with efficiency, and most of all, looks like a member of the team.
Not only has Nash incorporated a multitude of new teammates, while dealing with a severe talent decrease, Nash has also continued to score just as well as he has last year.
There is a strange thing that you witness when watching the Suns, you see a bunch of guys who look like they have been together for years, however, they haven't. Steve Nash is instant chemistry, and it goes under appreciated.
The fact is, if the Suns were in the Eastern Conference, against easier competition, would most likely have the sixth seed. To have a winning record in the third toughest division in the NBA is more impressive than many give it credit for.
While many think that Nash staying on the Suns is slowing down their rebuilding process, he is giving more value to every player on the team, daily.
Besides, Stephen Jackson got a vote for MVP last year, Nash certainly deserves votes.
Nash may not be the most valuable player, but he is certainly the most valuable teammate.
This article can also be found at bleacherreport.com
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