Could Nash Have Been as Prolific a Scorer as Curry?

[Makaveli DaDon]

I'd take any of the amare Nash Phoenix teams to this Golden State team. I would like for Nash to workout with Goran Dragic, I see a lil Steve in Him.


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[frozt]

No, I don't think so. But it depends what you mean by "as prolific a scorer." Nash could not create his shot and shoot off the dribble like Curry can.

The same PPG as Curry? Sure, maybe, but who cares? Curry can get a shot whenever he wants to and that's a skill that really counts.

You cannot be serious. How old are you if you don't mind me asking.

[TaylorMonkey]

Nash probably could-- though Nash wasn't at Curry's level shooting off the dribble and unassisted.

Of course Curry himself could be going for 40 every game if he wanted to. He's playing 33 minutes and usually leading blowouts. He could easily fire up more shots to break his record again without trying too hard and without hurting his team much. But he isn't.

As far as scoring goes, whatever Nash can do Curry can do better. The inverse is true in regards to their playmaking.

[E-Balla]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ZesF2ioEE[/youtube]

He had no problem getting his shot off against anybody in the league. He was a scorer when the team needed him to be, he was also a better facilitator. He averaged 30 points a game in this series against the Mavs.

Not to mention this was before the 06 rule changes that helped Perimeter players to some extent

The rule changes came in 05.

I'm saying he couldn't be as prolific as Curry. I think people are taking what Curry is doing for granted. He's averaging 23 ppg in 32 minutes and shooting super efficiently. Nash was great but I don't think he shoots 3's as good as Curry (better midrange game, sure). Also Curry is not more athletic than Nash.

[kaiballz]

maybe nash is = curry offensively. maybe.

but curry's D destroys nash.

nash is still top 10 pg of all time thou

curry isn't quite there yet

but only a stupid man will bet against curry reaching top 10, or even top 5 pg of all time, by the end of his career.

[juice4080]

nash was a better all around shooter than curry is....maybe not from 3pt but from anywhere else on the floor including ft nash was a better shooter

[sixerswillrule]

Nash probably could-- though Nash wasn't at Curry's level shooting off the dribble and unassisted.

Nash's shooting in 07-08

Curry's shooting in 14-15

[RaptorNews]

Man, Curry fanboys have reached an insane level of insecurity

[Johnny Firpo]

Somewhat off-topic, but I think peak Nash was overall a better offensive player than this year's Curry.

[Johnny Firpo]

maybe nash is = curry offensively. maybe.

This where you are off imo, it's the other way around.

[leolozon]

Nash is not on the same level of shooting as Curry. Nash only took 3.4 attempts from 3 for his career on 42.8% and his highest 3PA in a season was 4.5 on 45%. Compare that to Curry who attempted 7.7 3PA on 45% and career attempts of 6.4 on 43.6%. You'll see that Curry is on another level compared to Nash in terms of shooting. There's a slim chance Nash could maintain his shooting efficiency if he took the amount of shots curry takes.

And I guess shooting is just about 3pointers, right? You're analysis is just so wrong. I'm not saying the conclusion is wrong, but the analysis is.

1- Curry is way ahead of Nash at the same age. But Nash was a late bloomer. So we will have to wait another 10 years to have a fair comparison.
2- Nash has a better TS% for his career (.605 VS .598) and they are both PGs. So anyone claiming that Nash isn't on the same level of shooting is simply wrong. I think that, if Curry stays healthy, he is going to be better when it's all said and done. But we are talking about two guys who could be considered the two best shooters ever (at least top 5).

If you look at Nash's peak, it's not even true that Nash got worst at 3point with more attempts, it's basically the EXACT OPPOSITE. The more he shot, the better he was.

Dallas
2000-2001 3.1 attempts .406
2001-2002 4.2 .455
2002-2003 3.3 .413
2003-2004 3.3 .405
Phoenix
2004-2005 2.9 attempts .431
2005-2006 4.3 .439
2006-2007 4.5 .455
2007-2008 4.7 .470
2008-2009 3,3 .439
2009-2010 3.6 .426
2010-2011 2.7 .395
2011-2012 2.3 .390

Nash TS% in 2006-2007 was .654. Let Curry reach that level of shooting before you can claim that "Nash is not on the same level of shooting".

[Optms]

Since when was Curry a "Prolific" scorer? He's barely averaging 23 per on the year. Just 5 more than what Nash totaled through his peak years. Poor choice of words by OP.

Nash, I think, could have easily approached the 23 PPG range while maintaining his impressive efficiency. I think it might have taken a bit of a plunge with defensive scouting focusing on his now more updated scoring prowess but the efficiency would have still been there. 23 a game isn't that a huge of a leap from where prime Nash was.

[NO-KG-AI]

The real question is, would Nash shooting as much as Curry helped his offense as much as his passing? Tough to say yes, given the success of the offenses he led. Nash has flipped the switch in the playoffs on more than one occasion and gone on huge scoring binges.

[Rosque]

every time he drive into the lane, u know his not going to score cause his busy looking for amare on t he pnr...even when he beats his defender into the open lane

And then you help to STAT and he makes a one-legged-floater-fadeaway-thing

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Even as a Laker fan, I would say definitely. I think a lot of the No's has to come from people who haven't seen much of Nash play. His Floaters, pullups, and stepbacks were unguardable. Nash scored in bunches when he wants to . Seeing Nash assert himself offensively is a beautiful thing to watch. Nash would take over a game scoring then get right back to his passing ways. He was an absolute monster from 04 to 07 playoff wise.

[Nazrmohamed]

That's problem though. He didn't want to. Mentality is what makes you prolific, not simply the ability.

[DoubleLintendre]

He had the shooting ability, but Nash's point guard mentality was completely different than Curry's. They have similar skillsets and offense IQ, however that's as close as you could link them. It's almost black and white.

Curry is a dominant score first guard who uses his elite shooting and offensive creation skills to get his teammates open looks for easy points, if he's not taking the shot himself. Nash was a pass first pure point guard who looked first to find the open man, then take advantage of any holes in the defense whether it resulted in an assist or a shot/layup. They're both effective means of playing the position with their shooting, handling and passing abilities. I'd consider Curry a better individual offensive player, like many modern day PGs. And Nash a better offensive facilitator for a team.

I do agree with Nash that he could've and should've been a little more prolific with his shooting. At the same time Nash was never going to be a score first PG. That was not part of who he was. He was all about looking for that perfect fault in the defense rather than creating offensive opportunities for himself with his shooting. It's hard to flip a mental switch from believing "the team's shots then my own shot" to "my shot will get the team shots."

Being a dominant multifaceted scorer was possible with Nash, but that really makes him someone he wasn't. It was the great passing, the pick and rolls, and the team involvement before all that signified Nash's game and legacy.

I agree with your assessment, but I wouldn't say Curry is the better individual offensive player.

Nash pretty much single handedly led 5 of the top 11 offenses all time. You don't have to look for your own offense to be considered a great individual offensive player. The way he probed defenses will probably never be seen again.

That all being said, they're easily my two favorite players of the 21st century, and both once in a lifetime talents. Both so unique that they'll never be seen again.

What I meant was more that Curry is a better individual scorer than Nash was, but Nash was a better pure playmaker.

If you had to pick a signature move for each of them, Nash's move would be a pick and roll while Curry's might be a side step/step back jumper.

[Lowrys Chode]

I'd take any of the amare Nash Phoenix teams to this Golden State team. I would like for Nash to workout with Goran Dragic, I see a lil Steve in Him.


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I'm pretty sure they already played 3 seasons together.

In fact, I remember Goran just defecating all over the Spurs in the playoffs.

[Soca]

Since when was Curry a "Prolific" scorer? He's barely averaging 23 per on the year. Just 5 more than what Nash totaled through his peak years. Poor choice of words by OP.

Nash, I think, could have easily approached the 23 PPG range while maintaining his impressive efficiency. I think it might have taken a bit of a plunge with defensive scouting focusing on his now more updated scoring prowess but the efficiency would have still been there. 23 a game isn't that a huge of a leap from where prime Nash was.

I must be missing something or you must be joking.

[The-Power]

23 a game isn't that a huge of a leap from where prime Nash was.

Minutes per game is the key.

Curry scores 25.6 PP36/Game, Nash in his best season scoring-wise scored 19.3 PP36/Game. 34.7 PP100P vs. 27.8 PP100P. That's actually a huge difference, raw stats simply disguise the true gap.