Isiah Thomas vs Steve Nash - Who was the better player?

[Solid Snake]

Give me Nash every single time. I don't want a mentally retarded person to lead my team despite how good of a basketball player he is.

[bizil]

I gotta roll with Zeke, even though Nash is a legend and a top 7-10 GOAT PG. The difference for me is the way Zeke can will a team through scoring along with his defensive prowess. I think Zeke was underrated for his D. Nash is known to do it too, but at the PG spot Magic, Big O, and Zeke were on another level in terms of taking over a game scoring the rock. But I've always been a believer that the best PG's (other than Cousy, Kidd, Stockton) have Batman capabilities to go with their brilliant playmaking and floor generalship. Look at Magic, Big O, Isiah, Clyde, Payton, Nash, and Tiny. Or guys like KJ, Hardaway, Paul, and DWill.

However in terms of tremendous outside shooting, great slashing ability, and great passing as a package, I feel Nash is the best PG of all time in that regard.

[OmniStrife]

This Terry argument is rediculous.

Terry averaged 19.2 PPG in the last 5 games in the NBA finals.

By D.J.'s logic, LeBron, Wade, are bad defenders.

A good NBA scorer usually scores, no matter who's defending him.

I'm not saying Nash is a super defender, nor am I saying he's better than Thomas.

But that's a dumb argument and Nash's D is vastly underrated.

[32Dayz]

I'll take Nash.

[WoGiTaLiA1]

The Suns interior defense was a bigger problem, imo, and in general, their coach(D'Antoni isn't going to coach an above average defensive team). Very few could have made those Phoenix teams as good as Nash did offensively, and whatever negatives he brought defensively came nowhere near outweighing the positives he brought offensively.

I think they were related, part of the reason they were so bad on the interior is because they were so bad on the exterior, and vice versa. Basically they were just awful all around on defense!

Nash is the better one-one-one, individual player but point guards don't win championships so i'll take Isaiah.

I... I... I don't understand the question.

Seriously though? How was Nash the better one-on-one player? and how do point guards not win championships?

[Nash-tastic]

Nash fan here. I choose Zeke as the better player and as the MAIN option on my team but if I have a lot of scoring options of my team, I would go with Nash. Nash has superior playmaking abilities but I have no shame in saying Zeke was better in almost everything else. Nash was more efficient though.

Btw, Nash is not the reason they couldn't make it to the Finals, I blame that on D'Antoni

[Go Getter]

Nash fan here. I choose Zeke as the better player and as the MAIN option on my team but if I have a lot of scoring options of my team, I would go with Nash. Nash has superior playmaking abilities but I have no shame in saying Zeke was better in almost everything else. Nash was more efficient though.

Btw, Nash is not the reason they couldn't make it to the Finals, I blame that on D'Antoni

[Yung D-Will]

People love to harp on the one flaw in peoples games like Nash's defense or Kidd's shooting but they don't aknowlage that in their primes their overall impacts was so much higher than the impact that their flaw had on the games. I mean just look at the change in win totals when Kidd was signed to the Nets and Nash signed to the Suns. Just because Nash didn't play defense didn't stop him from improving his team enough to be close to the top of the league in terms of record

[Go Getter]

Individually, I'd say defense is more important because the vast majority of NBA guys have been elite scorers at the high school, international or college level. That said Nash's impact for the positive on offense is greater than his impact towards the negative on defense.

Exactly.

Defense is more important than offense for two reasons:

1. Everyone plays offense or wants to....very few players love and put as much work in the the defensive side as they do on the offensive side.

2. Defense feeds your offense. If you have a stellar defense you will get easy buckets from the transition game, steals and blocks, and you wear your opponent down in general.

Any coach that's worth a lick starts his training camp with what? Defense.

I have been on several teams and I've never had a coach stress offense over defense.

D'Antoni does though it seems and his teams are rarely true contenders.

[Yung D-Will]

Nash fan here. I choose Zeke as the better player and as the MAIN option on my team but if I have a lot of scoring options of my team, I would go with Nash. Nash has superior playmaking abilities but I have no shame in saying Zeke was better in almost everything else. Nash was more efficient though.

Btw, Nash is not the reason they couldn't make it to the Finals, I blame that on D'Antoni

Nash was a better shooter also. Best shooting pg of all time imo.

13 seasons shooting 40+ from three. 6 seasons shooting 50% from the filed. Second all time in foul line percentage also his 4, 50/40/90 seasons.

Anyhow regardless Isiah is the third best pg of all time imo

[Go Getter]

People love to harp on the one flaw in peoples games like Nash's defense or Kidd's shooting but they don't aknowlage that in their primes their overall impacts was so much higher than the impact that their flaw had on the games. I mean just look at the change in win totals when Kidd was signed to the Nets and Nash signed to the Suns. Just because Nash didn't play defense didn't stop him from improving his team enough to be close to the top of the league in terms of record

Yeah but the team he left got better as well.

Is that supposed to happen when you lose an MVP HOF PG?

They truly don't miss Nash now, they won a championship with an almost washed up Kidd.

[Go Getter]

Nash was a better shooter also. Best shooting pg of all time imo.

13 seasons shooting 40+ from three. 6 seasons shooting 50% from the filed. Second all time in foul line percentage also his 4, 50/40/90 seasons.

Anyhow regardless Isiah is the third best pg of all time imo

But he can't guard his position. How much better do you think Isaiah's offensive stats would look if every time he had to go up against a top flight PG he was switched off and hidden by his coach?

There is nothing more embarrassing imo than to have your coach switch you off your man because you can't guard him.

Now 38 (or whatever) year old Grant Hill has to guard D. Rose with his Frankenstein ankle, smh....do you think G. Hill enjoys that? Do you think it makes him a better or worse leader that he can't guard his position?

To me, and mind you, I'm a defensive minded guy, that is a real knock on a player's status.

[Yung D-Will]

But he can't guard his position.

There is nothing more embarassing imo than to have your coach switch you off your man because you can't guard him.

Now 38 (or whatever) year old Grant Hill has to guard D. Rose with his Frankenstein ankle, smh....do you think G. Hill enjoys that? Do you think it makes him a better or worse leader that he can't guard his position?

To me, and mind you, I'm a defensive minded guy, that is a real knock on a player's status.

Whether or not he could guard his position(Which I think you people are dramaticlly overstating especilly considering how much Nash playoff games I've watched over the past month) didn't stop him from having a crazy overall impact on his teams and leading his team to both regular season and playoff sucess. I can only think of a few major games in which his defense might have been a reason his team lost but it's no more than that the times when Jason Kidd missed wide open shots and his team lost the game.

I don't think one flaw in your overall game affects your leadership I don't actually understand where that idea comes from I don't see Rondo as a better leader than Nash because he's a better defender I think Leadership is a whole differnt category.

I think people confuse being the more complete player for being the better player most of the time. And to me they're two differnt things.

[chips93]

Give me Nash every single time. I don't want a mentally retarded person to lead my team despite how good of a basketball player he is.

''in spite of how good a basketball player he is'' . . . what else matters in determing who you would want on your team? if this makes sense to you, then you have a bad way of defining a good basketball player.

[Charlie Sheen]

I don't hate Nash. I call it as I see it. Isiah won 2 rings and made the Finals 3 times. That's 2 more rings and 3 more Finals appearances than Steve. Isiah didn't have a lack of defense weakness that cost the Pistons games.

My credibility is just fine. There's a reason Isiah won 2 titles as the alpha dog and Steve Nash until this year was the only MVP winner to never make the Finals.

point guards wont change game outcomes with their defense like an interior player. and they look a hell of a lot better defensively when tim duncan plays behind them