SUNthing’s Got to Give

So what is the excuse this time, Phoenix fans? Was it Cheap Shot Bob? David Stern? The refs? It had to be something, because apparently the Suns don't get beat, they get robbed.

Last year, it was "Wait till we get Amare back." This year, it's "the suspensions killed us."

Call me crazy, but shouldn't the two-time MVP be able to elevate his team to another level for the biggest game of the year, at home no less, and send a big "F*** You" to the team they accused of being dirty? I seem to remember Ervin "Magic" Johnson having to play center in Game 6 of the 1980 finals because their first team all-NBA, first team all-defense, league MVP center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was hurt. All he did that game was score 42 points, grab 15 boards, and dish out 7 assists. On the road. As a rookie. To clinch the title. That, my friends, is an MVP.

Then again, MVPs used to mean something back then. Now it has turned into the BPBT (best player on the best team) award. Steve Nash won two consecutive BPBTs without playing any defense aside from sliding underneath someone to draw a charge. Yet I'm supposed to be surprised when that doesn't translate into playoff victories?

Brace yourself, Phoenix: Steve Nash is overrated. Wildly overrated. He's no better now individually than Jason Kidd was before his knee surgeries, with less playoff success on a more talented team. Look at the numbers. Kidd in 2002-2003, the year they got beat by the Spurs in the Finals, averaged 18.7 points, 8.9 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and shot 41% from the floor. In his two BPBT seasons combined, Nash averaged 17.1 points, 11 assists, 3.7 rebounds, .9 steals per game, and shot 50% from the floor. Seems pretty much like a wash to me.

Now look at the other players playing with Kidd that year: Richard Jefferson (in his first year as a starter), Kenyon Martin, Kerry Kittles, Lucious Harris, Rodney Rogers, Aaron Williams, Dikembe Mutombo, and Jason Collins all averaged over 19 minutes per game. There isn't a single all-star, all-NBA, or all-defensive player on that team. Yet they were 14-6 in the playoffs that year.

Compare the players listed above with the 2007 Suns: Amare Stoudemire (first team all-NBA), Leandro Barbosa (Sixth Man of the Year), Raja Bell (first team all-defense), Shawn Marion (all-star), Boris Diaw, and James Jones all played at least 18 minutes per game. I don't care how deep the West is compared to the East in 2003, there is absolutely no reason that a team with that much talent should ever be outperformed by the group of players that the Nets had in 2003.

The difference clearly comes from the point guard position. Both players have that once-in-a-generation ability to see the floor and get the ball to teammates. The difference is that Kidd played defense and Nash doesn't. As my big book of sports clichés tells me: offense wins games, defense wins championships. Kidd's Nets won 49 games that year; the Suns won 61 this year. Which team was better suited for a deep playoff run?

You can say whatever you want about Phoenix playing an exciting brand of basketball or whatever, but the fact is that their style of play will never, I repeat never, be successful in the playoffs. Their approach is to try and play some defense and if not, oh well, we'll just try to outscore them. San Antonio's approach is to play great defense and wear their opponents out, then outplay them in the fourth. Which team do you think has three rings?

It's not that San Antonio can't get out and run like Phoenix; they have the talent, the athleticism, the shooters, and a point guard good enough to make it work. It's just that they know better. Phoenix plays a risk-reward style that pays off in the regular season because teams are too busy preparing for the other 29 teams that don't play like that to worry about them. Come playoff time, a coach like Greg Popovich coupled with a talented team will find a way to beat their style every time.

There is a reason that Nash never peaked as a player until he got into this system. He was a nice player for his previous teams, but it wasn't until Mike D'Antoni turned Nash into the player that he is now by seeming to encourage him to be terrible defensively to save his energy for his offensive-minded Euroball system.

So go ahead and make your excuses for the rest of the playoffs, Suns fans. Next year, you will forget all about the suspensions because you will win 60 games, score 110 points per game, and have false hope going into the playoffs. Then you will get completely dominated in a seven-game series (again) and find another excuse.