Legler: Nash an underrated defender.

[i seen hippos]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyd...t&lid=tab3pos1

1. Suns guard Steve Nash -- His best season ever. If I had a knock on him in the past, it was that he wasn't the kind of player who could take over the scoring himself. This year I think he's shown he can be a dominant scorer, all the while still incorporating new guys, who then proceed to have career years. I think he's an underrated defensive player. Very active in double-teaming.

Any truth to this in your opinion or is Legler just that stupid?

And for those who use his defense as one of the main reasons he shouldn't be MVP, if by watching him more you realized he isn't that much of a liability, would you be more accepting of him as MVP?

[allball]

He had nothing else to write.

[Brunch@Five]

That's an alibi statement. I can just as well say "Ben Wallace is an underrated offensive player. Very active in dunking the ball"

[statman32]

he actually is a very good help side defender at the point guard position this season...I believe he leads the league in charges taken and he is very active on double teams and switching off

[i seen hippos]

My bad about the writer. It was Legler, not Hollinger.

[dejordan]

underrated? steve might be underrated since everyone considers him a hapless buffoon on defense, but that doesn't mean he's making an all-d teams any time soon.

[i seen hippos]

That's what I was asking though. If he's close to being an average defender this year, what other charges against him winning another MVP do people have?

[tontoz]

His defensive +/- numbers have consistently shown that there is no defensive dropoff when he is in the game.

Opposing pgs have had an average PER of about 15 against him for the last two seasons, which is the league average. Considering the Suns play at such a fast pace, and therefore his opponents have more posessions, there really is no way that you can objectively say that Nash is a below average defender.

[Brunch@Five]

being an "active help defender" doesn't make anyone a average defender though. I mean, literally EVERYONE can be an active defender if he sets his mind a lil bit on it. It doesn't make Nash an even average defender though

[Brunch@Five]

Originally Posted by tontoz

[...] there really is no way that you can objectively say that Nash is a below average defender.

Only if you watch a game

[i seen hippos]

Maybe not one on one, but the fact is no one plays Nash that way.

It doesn't matter if it's cause he shows great effort. All that matters is if he gets the job done.

[statman32]

Originally Posted by Brunch@Five

being an "active help defender" doesn't make anyone a average defender though. I mean, literally EVERYONE can be an active defender if he sets his mind a lil bit on it. It doesn't make Nash an even average defender though

How good of a defender do you consider ben wallace then????

I dont think ben wallace is a very good 1 on 1 defender but I think hes the best help side defender in the league

[tontoz]

Originally Posted by Brunch@Five

Only if you watch a game

I watched plenty of Suns games last year, not as many this year.

Why don't you enlighten us by pointing out some of the times Nash has gotten lit up by opposing pgs?

BTW the Suns are currently giving up 2 ppg less when Nash is playing.

[saKf]

Nash is pretty bad when it's just him on his man. However, he understands the Suns' effective team defense. The Suns actually rotate very well and play very good help defense. It's the only way they don't get absolutely creamed in the post all the time.

[raiderfan19]

the argument i have is that he is taking a more talented team to a worse record than the mavs(yes i know they have the same amount of losses) without better statistics. that is not an mvp.