Pluto Nash may not have been Eddie Murphy's best film but his performance in the 2002 comedy was a lot better than Steve Nash's work in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs.
Take away Game 1 and Nash was simply nonexistent during the whole series and looked anything but a two-time league MVP. The so-called "great" point guard was exposed and undressed by Tony Parker on defense and looked slow and ordinary against Bruce Bowen on offense. More alarming to the Suns is the way he progressively got worse as the series went along. He looked worn down!
Game 5 was the most telling story.
After the way Boris Diaw gave the Spurs fits in the Suns' runaway victory in Game 4, Mike D'Antoni decided to run the offense through Diaw in Game 5. And on defense, Diaw was assigned to Parker, his good friend and fellow Frenchy, for much of the game. It was bad enough that the Suns have to hide Nash on defense but it was clear the game plan for Game 5 was to go away from Nash on offense because he was fatigued. Wow! Find me a two-time league MVP that needed so much help in such a pivotal game.
I don't recall Phil Jackson telling Michael Jordan to play second fiddle on offense. I don't ever remember Pat Riley telling his troops to go away from Magic Johnson and run the offense through A.C. Green. Larry Bird was never on the all-defense teams but he was never a huge liability on defense.
Voting for Nash as MVP is a mistake. Those who voted for Nash as MVP a second time should have their credentials revoked.
Keywords: NBA playoffs, Steve Nash
