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Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | February 13, 2007

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Since signing Steve Nash as a free agent in the summer of 2004, the Phoenix Suns have discovered only one downside to having Nash: not having Nash. Nash's unique skills have powered the Suns to a 151-49 (.755) record when he has played over the last two-plus seasons. However, the impossibility of duplicating what Nash does has left Phoenix just 4-11 (.267) when he has not played in that span.

"It changes everything. The hit points are different." Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

With Nash ailed by inflammation in his right shoulder that will keep him out of Wednesday night's game in Seattle (7:00 p.m., , FSN, KTTH 770 AM) and the All-Star Game, the Suns are once again dealing with the question of how to replace Nash in the lineup. Phoenix finished out a 113-108 win at Denver with Nash out after injuring the shoulder during the game, then won 109-102 in Portland the next night. Since then, however, the Suns have suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since losing five of their first six games. Included was Phoenix's first double-digit loss of the year

"It changes everything," Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni told the Arizona Republic. "(With Nash), LB (Leandro Barbosa) is finishing on the break instead of starting it. Instead of Shawn (Marion) getting lobs, he's going to have to take outside shots. The hit points are different."

Over the last two-plus seasons, Nash's primary backup has been Barbosa. Barbosa has matured into an explosive scorer with lightning quickness, but he is no Nash, particularly when it comes to distributing the basketball.

Last season, the Suns acknowledged that Barbosa was not a traditional point guard and paired him with Eddie House, a combination that allowed them to succeed and occasionally even thrive. House cooled after a strong start, however, and was a non-factor in the post-season. When House left for New Jersey as a free agent last summer, the Suns eventually opted to replace him with a more traditional point guard in Marcus Banks.

Banks, who had been effective for Minnesota during the second half of last season, has yet to adjust to the breakneck pace played by the Suns. That's left Barbosa back in the role of backup point guard - and Nash's replacement during his injury - without much ballhandling help. Predictably, Barbosa and the Suns have struggled.

NASH'S NET +/-

Year On Off Net 04-05 +13.2 -2.2 +15.4 05-06 +8.4 -0.8 +9.1 06-07 +14.2 -3.8 +18.0

Phoenix's ability to play without Nash can be evaluated by Nash's net plus-minus rating over the last three seasons - the difference, measured per 100 possessions, in Phoenix's play relative to opponents. As the table at right shows, the Suns have become more dependent on Nash this season. Only two players in the league (Washington's Gilbert Arenas and Dallas' Devin Harris) have higher differentials. Most of the difference, predictably, is on offense: Phoenix's Offensive Rating drops from 119.6 with Nash to 105.4 without him.

This doesn't surprise the Sonics.

"You can't replace Steve Nash," said Coach Bob Hill. "Mike would be the first to tell you that. I think if Mike were here, he would tell you the ball movement they execute night in and night out is born from Steve Nash's willingness to pass the ball, to make his teammates better. That gets contagious, so the next pass is made all the time. It's fun to watch."

"Everybody knows what he's meant to that team and that's why he's won MVP two years in a row," added All-Star Ray Allen. "You just don't replace that automatically. One of the criteria for MVP is if you take a guy off the team what impact does it have on that team."

The Suns miss Nash on offense in two ways. The first is his own scoring, which has almost become underrated given how much credit Nash gets for his passing. He's averaging a career-high 19.3 points per game this season, shooting 53.6% from the field and 49.0% from downtown (second in the NBA) in addition to 88.2% from the free-throw line. Nash's True Shooting Percentage of 66.6% makes him the most efficient scorer in the NBA.

More important, however, is Nash's ability to set up his teammates. Last year, in an effort to put numbers behind the debate over whether Nash really makes his teammates better (conventional wisdom says yes, while many statistical analysts disagree), I used detailed numbers from 82games.com to evaluate how Suns teammates did with and without Nash in the lineup in 2004-05 and much of the 2005-06 season. The surprising conclusion was that players were more efficient on offense with Nash, but the effect was much stronger in Nash's first year with the Suns.

WITH OR WITHOUT NASH

Player Nash No Diff Barbosa 118.0 88.3 +29.7 Bell 108.5 101.2 +7.3 Diaw 94.6 81.8 +12.8 Ja. Jones 87.2 98.5 -11.2 Marion 108.1 104.5 +3.6 Stoudemire 115.3 103.5 +11.8 Thomas 100.2 111.3 -11.1 Offensive Rating - calculated as 100*PTS / (FGA+.44*FTA+TO)

2006-07 looks like a repeat of Nash's first MVP season. While the effect hasn't been universal (reserves James Jones and Kurt Thomas have actually shot the ball better when Nash has been on the bench), the table at right shows starters Boris Diaw and Amaré Stoudemire have been heavily dependent on Nash's feeds. No one has missed Nash more than Barbosa, despite a strong four-game stretch in Nash's recent absence that has seen the Brazilian average 22.5 points per game and shoot nearly 50% from the field.

Over the course of the season, the difference in Barbosa's numbers depending on whether he's on the floor with Nash is striking. Barbosa has shot 52.4% from the field and committed turnovers on 8.1% of his possessions when teamed with Nash. When asked to play a playmaker role with Nash on the bench, Barbosa has seen his turnovers skyrocket to 15.1% of his possessions and his shooting percentage plummet to 40.3%.

It hasn't helped that Diaw, a natural playmaker from the frontcourt who is Phoenix's second-leading assister, has also been bothered by back spasms that kept him out of Sunday's loss to Chicago and have him questionable to play in Seattle. Diaw's ability to create for himself and teammates was a big part of the success of Phoenix's second unit in 2005-06. The good news for the Suns is that Banks may be coming on. After scoring 20 points in 20 minutes in the loss to Atlanta, Banks started and played a season-high 34 minutes on Sunday, scoring eight points and handing out seven assists.

Replacing Nash is impossible, but the Suns have shown that if they can get his backups playing the way they are capable, they can survive without him. Since Nash's shoulder injury isn't a long-term concern, that's all they have to do.