NBA Diary
Steve Nash: How does he do it?
May 6, 2006
I didn't want to write this piece about the 2005 (and presumptive 2006) MVP a day before the Phoenix Suns play the Los Angeles Lakers for an emotionally charged Game 7, but it's just too much to contain. Steve Nash is simply amazing.
How does one player – just a couple of inches above six feet — will a team with no inside threat, just one rebounder and relative post season inexperience into the deciding game of what is easily the most compelling matchup so far this season.
Andres Nocioni
May 4, 2006
The Chicago Bulls were expected lose four straight games against the Miami Heat. Only a few writers even considered their chance to win a game against the team led by the duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade. Though the story has since focused to the festiness and hustle of the Bulls team, something seems to be missed by most people. One look at the stat sheet though and it becomes very apparent – Andres Nocioni is breaking out into a potential team leader.
He's only on his second year in the league, but at the age of 26 and considerable playing experience in Europe, Nocioni has already developed into one of the most dependable forwards in the post season. He has played in all but one game in his career and his scoring climbed by almost 5 points since his rookie season. After averaging 13.0 ppg this season, Nocioni has raised his game to a level that could see him make the jump from being a solid player to a borderline All-Star. In four games played, the Argentine forward has averaged 22.8 ppg and 9.6 rpg. These numbers are comparable to the numbers that Zach Randolph had when he broke out against the Dallas Mavericks a few seasons back. Could we be seeing the start of a string of All-Star Team appearances and All-NBA Team Selections?
The Mavericks Sweep the Grizzlies
May 2, 2006
And just like that, the Dallas Mavericks have made it past the first round. Hopefully the other quarterfinal between Sacramento and San Antonio would go to distance.edit: the Spurs won Game 5. San Antonio can now close it out on Sacramento.
League of Ten +1
April 28, 2006
Steve Nash will be once again posing with the Maurice Podolof trophy in a couple of weeks time when he officially gets named as the NBA's 2005-2006 Most Valuable Player. Last year's balloting saw him edge Miami center Shaquille O'Neal for the league'smost prestigious individual accolade. The final tally was so tight that it was the fourth closest MVP race ever. Once you consider that 30 year-old Canadian really did overcome adversity this year to raise his game offensively with the absence of power forward Amare Stoudemire due to injury, it is simply mind-blowing that the former Mavericks guard managed to help six of his Suns teammates career-highs in scoring (Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Kurt Thomas and Eddie House) and still average a career-high 18.8 ppg for himself. Despite the perception that Nash has already played the best basketball of his career last season, he still found a way to raise his game to another level by leading a team missing its top scorer to a respectable 54-win season.But then again, unlike last year, there was considerable opposition from all corners of the NBA world this season. It was a wide open race.Cases could be made for any of the following: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Chauncey Billups and even Elton Brand. You could say anything you want, but in a league wherein the criteria for selecting a winner is solely on a sports writer's hands, there is no blaming anyone. The award just doesnt have a clear-cut definition. Maybe we should touch on that for a future column.Place in history
Whether you agree or disagree on Nash's place on the basketball pantheon, Nash is about to enter an elite club – a group so exclusive that the likes of Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and probably Shaquille O'Neal would never be in. Those three players are undoubtedly among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History even if they've only won the MVP award once. It's easy to pick that all those three players are much better players than Steve Nash.
But with Nash's impending MVP award win, he will joining a very exclusive group that just rings like the who's who of the NBA legends. Only ten players have won the MVP award more than once. Nash stands to join the following:
6-time MVP
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5-time MVP
Michael Jordan
Bill Russell
4-time MVP
Wilt Chamberlain
3-time MVP
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Moses Malone
2-time MVP
Tim Duncan
Karl Malone
Bob Pettit
Once you factor in that Nash won the two awards in succession, you could eliminate the Mailman and Petit of the list – thus making it a much smaller club.
As above me, so below me... 
so there, i guess it’s better if i wean the NBA-related stuff from the other more “intellectually-stimulating” entries. hehe
*woot*
i
give it to Steve man! he’s putting on some neat basketball clinic out there night in and night out…..
how about that brazilian blur and that frenchie eh?
the lakers (at least everyone except kobe) were at fault. they didn’t deliver eh.
super tambak, half time palang people thought it was over na…
Go Miami! Hahaha..