D'Antoni: Nash 'could have averaged 30' for Suns
Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni is somewhat of a guru in unlocking the offensive potential of his roster.
Under his tutelage, Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash snagged two MVP awards (2005, 2006), led the Phoenix Suns to four straight 54-plus win seasons, and averaged 17.5 points and 11.2 assists per game in that span.
However, the two-time Coach of the Year regrets not allowing Nash take more shots, something that's helped turn Rockets All-Star James Harden into a perennial MVP candidate.
"Oh, without a doubt, I screwed that up," D'Antoni said, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "Nash was a purist. Steve's a Hall of Fame point guard. He was unbelievably good. I just think instead of averaging 15 or 16 (points), he could have averaged 30 for us. He was that good of a shooter, and I don't think it would have screwed the team up."
At a time when the Stephen Currys of the world didn't exist, Nash was forced to strictly play the part of the pass-first point guard, something the eight-time All-Star relished in. He led the league in assists on five separate occasions and made seven All-NBA teams in his career. But Nash believes a more selfish and 3-point shooting approach could benefited the Suns.
"We know better now," Nash said, according to MacMahon. "The math's been validated, and I think that's why point guards are so aggressive. ... I should have probably shot the ball 20 times a game. It probably would have made a lot more sense, but at the time, we weren't ready for that league-wide. Everyone was telling us that you can't win shooting all those threes, and now we realize that we didn't shoot enough, especially when we were playing small. So, yeah, I think Mike's right. I regret it, too."
In his four seasons with D'Antoni in Phoenix, Nash shot 51.3 percent on 12.4 fields goals and 45.1 percent on 4.1 threes per game. To compare, Harden has shot 44.4 percent on 19.5 field goals and 35.7 percent on 9.7 shots from beyond the arc in his two seasons under D'Antoni.