Steve Nash

Steve Nash has proved how valuable he is to his team. Since Nash's injury the team is now 0-3.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=250115027

No, they're on a 3 game losing streak but in games after he's been injured they're 0-1. Not including the game he injured himself in.

Either way, Steve Nash is M-V-P.

Hes the frontrunner atm anyway.

LBJ for me though...

I think people are overstating the Nash MVP thing, I like Nash, like the Suns too, and he's played great, but any team without a playmaker will struggle. The Suns have players who can get their own shot but can't create for others.

Joe Johnson is the best playmaker, as a SG he's about an average to good playmaker/passer, when Nash is out he runs the offense. Now if you have an average SG playmaker running you offense, that equates to having a bad playmaking PG running your offense.

If they have even a guy like Rick Brunson they wouldn't struggle as much without Nash, they obviously wouldn't be as good because Brunson isn't that good, but he knows how to run an offense, and play the PG position.

I guess they expected Barbosa to have improved his playmaking abilities this season, but that wasn't the case, before the playoffs they're going to have to look into getting a veteran guy who can play that role, if they get that, they'll be set everywhere but inside.

I guess they expected Barbosa to have improved his playmaking abilities this season, but that wasn't the case, before the playoffs they're going to have to look into getting a veteran guy who can play that role, if they get that, they'll be set everywhere but inside.

How the heck do they expect Barbosa's abilities to improve in any area when they've barely been giving him a dozen minutes a game (and sometimes not even giving him any time at all). The Suns seem to have gotten stuck in a vicious circle: they have no depth on the bench, so they don't play their bench, which means their bench is never going to get the chance to improve and give them some depth.

One could say that Steve Nash is the equivalent of a DH in baseball. No one's doubting everything he's done for the Suns on the offense end. He's having a year comparable to Jason Kidd's first season with the Nets -- clearly up for MVP consideration.

But his efficiency on offense is only cancelled out by his defficiency(Is this a word? Meh.) on the defensive end. This guy isn't even aging, yet his defense is is comparable to that of Gary Payton's in the playoffs last year.

I just don't see how you can vote for someone, as good as he's been on offense this year, as the league's MVP, when he's been such a liability on defense.

How the heck do they expect Barbosa's abilities to improve in any area when they've barely been giving him a dozen minutes a game (and sometimes not even giving him any time at all). The Suns seem to have gotten stuck in a vicious circle: they have no depth on the bench, so they don't play their bench, which means their bench is never going to get the chance to improve and give them some depth.

Well don't ask me ask them, but really just throwing a player into the mix and saying be a playmaker isn't going to make them one. They expected him to learn from Nash and improve as the season goes on, but naturally Barbosa isn't a playmaker, and last season he was the starting PG, and showed he isn't capable of running an offense. Look at last game he played 35 minutes and had 0 asssits

But his efficiency on offense is only cancelled out by his defficiency(Is this a word? Meh.) on the defensive end. This guy isn't even aging, yet his defense is is comparable to that of Gary Payton's in the playoffs last year.

I just don't see how you can vote for someone, as good as he's been on offense this year, as the league's MVP, when he's been such a liability on defense.

Yea I thought the same thing, the MVP should be a force on both ends, just not on 1 end of the floor. He does have a per of +9.4 because of his offensive efficiency though, but his opponents shoot like 48% on him per game.

Yes, the Suns definitely will need to improve their bench by the trade deadline or else they will run out of gas come playoff time.

But, still I believe Nash has been an important factor to the team's success. Marbury didn't do as well.

Bottomline is Nash is what got the Suns to the #1 record in the league. They didn't even make the Playoffs last year. That's an MVP.

Nash..in my views is the mvp so far this year
they win close to 90% of there games with him on the floor...without him they struggle.

i look around at other mvp canidates in comparison to Nash

Kobe- he is great but the lakers seem to be doing OK so far without him...pheniox is doing bad without Nash...but we need to see how it goes for the lakers.. They aren't really a championship contender at this point..even with Kobe..Nash allows that to happen for the suns.

KG- this team is up and down up and down, right now, not looking like a MVP. Wolves go in chaos without him probably, but right now, they not contenders with KG at this point. Let's check back in a month and see if things are cleaning up up there..

Duncan- without him the spurs aren't contenders so he is equal to nash in that reguards. We haven't seen the spurs without him so we don't know how that will be. However lookin at the spurs team they might be at least a playoff team without him, thats a tough conclusion to draw, but parker and manu can do some things. He, like KG is hard to say He keeps them as favorites to win it all. The thing is the spurs are much deeper than the suns and nash is what keeps the suns starters going and scoring and leading to wins. So in a sense right there, Nash is more important than duncan, cause right now the suns are lost without there energizer battery and can't do what they've been doing all year- win big. He is a really tough guy to talk about cause what shows up on the stat sheets isn't all he does. He could score more if he wants to, but he is very team oriented.

Shaq- big daddy makes the heat contenders, it's a little tough on this though. The thing is they play in the east, much easier, and right now having trouble vs. the top teams in the west. Nash and the suns, apparently don't have much issues in the west. Maybe the spurs, but that's really about it up to this point. If Shaq can get them to get some big wins in the west, then he moves closer to MVP Status, but right now, not MVP.

LeBron- well they not contenders right now so that kinda quites the talk, but he is very valuable to his team in every aspect. They've also had trouble vs the best in the west after anther loss, this time to the Supersonics.

so basically, its Nash, Duncan and KG. KG has a lot to show over the next month or so, if the wolves get there act together he is back in the race.
Duncan, if spurs continue owning the suns, then he is your MVP.
The player that makes the difference from a ordinary playoff team to championship contender deserves the MVP in most cases. Nash, Duncan, 2 players that do that- KG and Shaq still have some game to prove.

this case of Nash reminds me of Jason Kidd a few years ago. Robbed of a MVP, but Nash will be more recoginzed because he is in the west, and have the best record in the league, 2 things Kidd didn't have on his resume a few years ago.

KG- this team is up and down up and down, right now, not looking like a MVP. Wolves go in chaos without him probably, but right now, they not contenders with KG at this point. Let's check back in a month and see if things are cleaning up up there..

Granted, but consider how badly they'd be doing without him. KG has been pretty consistent throughout the season with some great numbers, he's the reason they aren't even further down in the standings. Minnesota's record does hamper his chances of back to back MVP awards, but he's still just as valuable to the team as he was last season.

Shaq- big daddy makes the heat contenders, it's a little tough on this though. The thing is they play in the east, much easier, and right now having trouble vs. the top teams in the west. Nash and the suns, apparently don't have much issues in the west. Maybe the spurs, but that's really about it up to this point. If Shaq can get them to get some big wins in the west, then he moves closer to MVP Status, but right now, not MVP.

I have to disagree with the whole Eastern thing. If anything disqualifies Shaq from being a true MVP candidate, it's the fact that his numbers aren't "Shaq-like" and the emergence of Dwyane Wade is also a big factor in the Heat's rise to the top of the East. The talent level of each conference doesn't change the fact that Shaq replaced three starters from last year's Heat outfit and they're significantly improved thanks to his presence.

Kobe- he is great but the lakers seem to be doing OK so far without him...pheniox is doing bad without Nash...but we need to see how it goes for the lakers.. They aren't really a championship contender at this point..even with Kobe..Nash allows that to happen for the suns.

I don't really think Kobe should be in contention at the moment. Sure his stats look good, but his shooting percentage is horrible and the team aren't exactly setting the World on fire. That being said, Lamar Odom lead Miami to the play-offs last season so it's not as if the Lakers aren't in capable hands when Kobe gets injured.

KG- this team is up and down up and down, right now, not looking like a MVP. Wolves go in chaos without him probably, but right now, they not contenders with KG at this point. Let's check back in a month and see if things are cleaning up up there..

I don't really think the MVP award should be judged purely on how well the team does. I mean if Primoz Brezec was averaging 50/30 for Charlotte and they finished 10-72 you couldn't rule him out just for that. Garnett should be in contention, the problems with his team aren't his fault. Sprewell's family are starving, Cassell is a tool... he's doing what he can to carry the team on his back, but in a strong conference with a seemingly bad team harmony I can't blame him for not being able to do it on his own.

Duncan- without him the spurs aren't contenders so he is equal to nash in that reguards. We haven't seen the spurs without him so we don't know how that will be. However lookin at the spurs team they might be at least a playoff team without him, thats a tough conclusion to draw, but parker and manu can do some things. He, like KG is hard to say He keeps them as favorites to win it all. The thing is the spurs are much deeper than the suns and nash is what keeps the suns starters going and scoring and leading to wins. So in a sense right there, Nash is more important than duncan, cause right now the suns are lost without there energizer battery and can't do what they've been doing all year- win big. He is a really tough guy to talk about cause what shows up on the stat sheets isn't all he does. He could score more if he wants to, but he is very team oriented.

Nash is more important than Duncan? What's Duncan got besides the inconsistant Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, who has great spurts then slows right down. If Nash goes, Phoenix still have an MVP candidate himself in Amare Stoudemire. They've got Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson who's fantastic if he stops launching 700 three's a game. That's four 20ppg scorers right there, basically all they'd need is a point guard who can set up the offense and they'd be set. Those four I just mentioned would all probably rank above Parker and Ginobili. They'd carry on ok without Nash, but the Spurs would probably fall apart without Duncan.

LeBron- well they not contenders right now so that kinda quites the talk, but he is very valuable to his team in every aspect. They've also had trouble vs the best in the west after anther loss, this time to the Supersonics.

Why aren't they contenders? As far as I'm concerned at this point in the season, any team in a play-off spot is a contender. Cleveland are in a play-off spot, and that's largely due to LeBron. He's one of the top 3 most complete players in the game at the moment statistically, and to rule him out of MVP consideration just because his team probably wouldn't beat Dallas or whoever is wrong.

Shaq- big daddy makes the heat contenders, it's a little tough on this though. The thing is they play in the east, much easier, and right now having trouble vs. the top teams in the west. Nash and the suns, apparently don't have much issues in the west. Maybe the spurs, but that's really about it up to this point. If Shaq can get them to get some big wins in the west, then he moves closer to MVP Status, but right now, not MVP.

Shaq's an interesting one. His stats aren't as good as people expected, but he's doing what's necesary for his team to win. Take Dwyane Wade out and who knows what'll happen, but those two have formed an awesome duo. You can't rule him out at all, he's shooting an amazing FG%, he blocks shots, grabs tonnes of rebounds, distributes the ball well and scores in bunches when he has to. Which is essentially what people liked so much about Tim Duncan.

I'll throw in a few...

Dirk Nowitzki
Dallas are in a play-off position, Dirk's seemingly ironed out any problems people could find with his game and right now he's pretty unstoppable. If Dallas could fix their problems with injuries and the point guard situation they'd be top 3 in the West I'd imagine.

Dwyane Wade
I'd have him in the main group of nominees to be honest, no one seemed to expect him to improve this drastically but he has... the only thing working against him is the fact that Shaq is largely the reason for Miami's record at the moment, but as far as individual stuff goes Wade has been superb.

Amare Stoudemire
Alright his offensive set isn't really worth bragging about, but if he can dunk on people 12 times a game I'm not sure anyone's going to complain. He's given Phoenix what you need to succeed in the West, turning into one of the best big men in the NBA. Here's an interesting one, take Nash out and the Suns have to find a new ball distributer, take Amare out and they need a whole new force in the frontcourt. Also, he was playing great before Nash came along too so he's not solely the reason for it.

Gilbert Arenas
This will probably be more clear after we see how Washington do without Hughes, but I don't see why Gilbert shouldn't be considered right now. He's having a career year in scoring, his turnovers have cut right down and his team are 4th in the East.

Ray Allen
This might be a case of contract year syndrome, but the way he's playing has alot to do with the fact that Seattle are 3rd in the West, when most people had them finishing last. The style they play would only work if they had a guy who's game suited that style, but was good enough to push it to the point where they can overpower teams just with shooting... I know the Sonics record is more a result of teamwork as opposed to individual brilliance, but I think he should be considered none the less.

Although to be honest, if he didn't get injured I think Andrei Kirilenko would be a lock for the MVP award right now.

My votes at this point..

1. Dwyane Wade
2. LeBron James
3. Shaquille O'Neal (he's been perfect this season... in the sense of what Miami need to succeed, he's done everything right. As much as I hate to say it. But yeah, Mihm > Shaq)
4. Dirk Nowitzki

I didn't include Steve Nash, just because as it's been mentioned 100 times he needs to make 11 apg just to make up for the amount of scoring that goes on because of his own bad D. It's just my opinion though, everyone feels differently.

As far as Wade goes, just for people who don't realize...

Improvements from last season:
Scoring: +7.6ppg
Assists: +3.1apg
Rebounds: +1.3rpg
Steals: +0.2spg
Blocks: +0.5bpg (he's averaging 1bpg)
FG %: +028%

When Miami traded for Shaq, the first thing everyone thought was that Wades stats would go down and Shaq would completely dominate the scoring in that team. They've replaced a finesse player and an underachieving small forward with a hugely dominant scorer and rebounder, yet Wade's managed to add 7 ppg to go with an extra rebound per game. Which I think is impressive anyways.

Shawn Marion, regardless of whether they have Steve Nash or not is going to get his points/rebounds etc. His points are just gained in a flashier way these days with the fast break style you mentioned. Marion's stats this season are almost identical to last, with the exception of rebounding which would inevitably increase considering he's moved to Power Forward.

As far as Amare Stoudemire goes, yes he has benefited from Nash but at the same time he's been improving by leaps and bounds every season. It's not as if he's just suddenly got really good, everyone should've seen this coming before the Suns even picked up Steve Nash. I mean from his rookie year to soph year he increased 7ppg, from his soph year to his 3rd he's increased 6ppg... the obvious Nash influence is in his shooting percentage, although that was fairly impressive beforehand either way.

Quentin Richardson, as detrimental as his 3 pt shooting can be has been a useful pickup for the team. He suits the style of play, and also adding 15/6 can't hurt either. He's an outside shooting threat that can draw defenders out, opening things up for Marion/Stoudemire... so again, that's another thing to take into account. Even if he goes 2/15,000 from the 3pt line, people are still going to step out and try to defend him.

Joe Johnson's always improving, Casey Jacobson is finally looking like a decent player... yes Nash is the main reason for Phoenix's resurgance, but he's not the only reason. Same as Kidd when he first went to NJ, everyone was screaming for him to be the MVP but it's not as if he was single handedly the reason for their success... every team has outside factors to blend in with the main one. As far as the Parker/Ginobili comparison goes, I like Ginobili but yeah, Parker . I give it 2 or 3 seasons before he's backing up Udrih or whoever comes good between now and then.

Shawn Marion, regardless of whether they have Steve Nash or not is going to get his points/rebounds etc. His points are just gained in a flashier way these days with the fast break style you mentioned. Marion's stats this season are almost identical to last, with the exception of rebounding which would inevitably increase considering he's moved to Power Forward.

i'll have to disagree here
now that the suns have a real point guard again, marion is back to becoming a more efficient scorer. he's taking the least amonut of shot attempts since his 2nd year but his scoring average is its 2nd highest. also he's shooting a career best 48%. it's pretty crazy he's still getting these numbers when you consider that he's not even the #2 option in phoenix's offense & his best offensive move is the dunk

I think Nash deserves consideration for MVP for sure.
Ok, he is not a good defensive player, but the Suns are in the 1st spot not because of their defense... just look at the kind of game they play.

Stoudemire is improving to a superstar caliber kind of player, but the team is not so different from last year besides Nash. The inclusion of Nash made a real difference in the Suns and I think this is what "Most Valuable Player" is all about. The player who adds value to a team.

I also think there are better players than Nash, but if the MVP prize was meant to be given to the best player available, just because of his skills, MJ would've won MVP every year in his days!

Speaking of Barbosa, I'm a Brazilian and know his game from long time. I know that he's not a playmaker (he played more like a SG in Brazil). Unfortunely, he has the size of a PG... and I guess they just assumed he could do the job...

Stoudemire is improving to a superstar caliber kind of player, but the team is not so different from last year besides Nash. The inclusion of Nash made a real difference in the Suns and I think this is what "Most Valuable Player" is all about. The player who adds value to a team.

If that's the criteria, then Emeka Okafor should have the MVP wrapped up. He's far and away the most valuable player in the league when judged by the amount the team is better with him than without him.

Bottomline is Nash is what got the Suns to the #1 record in the league. They didn't even make the Playoffs last year. That's an MVP.

That's like saying the Wizards didn't even make the playoffs last year so Jamison should be MVP

I'm not saying that isn't relevant, but I think I already said it, before anyone says that nonsense they have to realize they also didn't have Q-Rich last season, Amare missed 27 games last season, they had no PG, and they weren't even playing to win anymore after a while.

i'll have to disagree here
now that the suns have a real point guard again, marion is back to becoming a more efficient scorer. he's taking the least amonut of shot attempts since his 2nd year but his scoring average is its 2nd highest. also he's shooting a career best 48%. it's pretty crazy he's still getting these numbers when you consider that he's not even the #2 option in phoenix's offense & his best offensive move is the dunk

Yes, but even without a PG, Marion can always score, he averaged 19 PPG last season on 44% shooting without a PG, so obviously like any other player getting someone who can get you more easy baskets will increase your PPG. Marion can create his own shots, he has a nice little mid-range pull up jumper, a nice floater in the lane, and will score on put backs, but he's not a facilitator or a guy you can just go to, that's why he can't be a #1 option on a team.

You see the thing is that many people will say look at the Suns without Nash, they suck, now imagine how Chicago would do if Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon and Frank Williams [meh] all got injured. Basically what I'm saying is any team without a PG who knows how to run the offense will not be able to do as good.

Im only saying Nash is MVP coz of what he has changed there.
Hes making Amare Stoudemire in Phoenix, i mean the guy really dont have a tim duncan like post game or anything, he just gets a bunch of dunks and little 10 footers created by the pg(joe johnson at times also)

Look at the Suns now, without steve nash!

MVP stands for Most Valuable Player,Nash couldnt be anymore valuable atm, other then Lebron,kobe,shaq n duncan again.

Hes making Amare Stoudemire in Phoenix, i mean the guy really dont have a tim duncan like post game or anything

Beg your pardon? He's making Amare? I think not. Amare isn't a Tim Duncan like player, no. Amare is a Shaq like player, he's got a power game. Nash is doing what any other PG should be doing, getting Amare the ball. He's not making Amare as good as he is, Amare is good on his own, he just needs someone to consistantly feed him the ball.

Once again, Nash isn't the reason of Amare's great play, he's helped but isn't the sole reason.

Amare's points production as I said from last season to this season isn't as high as it was from his rookie year to his soph year. When Nash wasn't even there. Amare Stoudemire was going to be this player with or without Steve Nash.

Amare last 4 games:

5-12FG's vs Utah
10-21FG's vs Indiana
9-24FG's vs Washington
5-18FG's vs Detroit

Ok so Steve Nash has no effect on his ability to score easier??
hes shooting .386% without Steve Nash, down from from a staggering .565% with him...........hmmmmmm.
Hes probably still scoring at a high rate but thats thanks to some trips to the charity stripe.

Oh and Phoenix are.................0-4 without Stevie

Amare doesn't need Steve Nash per se, all he needs is a playmaker. He'll finish.

Phoenix has no playmaker at the moment, thus Amare can't finish. Amare did well the years before because of Stephon, he was also a playmaker.

Steve is a big factor, but he's not the sole factor. I think fgrep was the one to say that if you put in some other PG, they would be doing fine. Amare's stats wouldn't be what you just showed us, playmaker + Amare = good stats.

No playmaker + Amare = not good stats.

The keyword is playmaker, not Steve.

Exactly. Believe it or not, Steve Nash isn't the only point guard in the NBA capable of setting up the play for his team and getting the ball to Amare. Problem for Phoenix is that they don't have another one of those in the team.

Ok i see where yous are coming from
and one day amare will be able to do it like duncan or like shaq.

but you gotta admit that steve has helped him heaps more than stephon or any otha guy(ithink it is only steph lol)