The Black Mamba believes that Steve Nash’s return is allowing him to play more naturally.....
One of the major reasons behind the Los Angeles Lakers slump at the start of this season was injuries to their point guard duo of Steve Nash and Steve Blake. Nash’s issue was more critical, especially after the hiring of Mike D’Antoni, who needs a solid playmaker to run his up-tempo run-and-gun sort of offence.
The Lakers still has options in Chris Duhon and rookie Darius Morris, but the duo were just not good enough to get the team rolling. The result was that the Lakers hardly appeared as a cohesive unit and major chunk of playmaking responsibilities fell on the shoulders of an already over loaded Kobe Bryant.
The Black Mamba did the best he could, but his efforts were visibly knocking the steam out of him – his questionable defence at the end of games was one indicator.
The more frustrating part was that the Lakers were still losing, and they were doing that in bunches. However all that has changed after the return of Steve Nash. The guard has swiftly found his groove after a 24 game injury related absence, and has Kobe’s life much easier. After the 100-94 win against the New York Knicks, the Mamba sounded like a happy man and highlighted the impact Nash has been able to make to his game, and for the Lakers, in just two games;
"It allows me to do what I do naturally, which is put the ball in the hole," Bryant said. "At the end of games, I've had to bring the ball up, initiate the action and get it back. Now, I'm in a position where I can put a lot of pressure on the defense because I'm in a striking position. So now when Dwight's rolling to the rim or Pau's rolling to the rim, I'm on that back side and he has a choice. So it just puts everybody in positions to do what they do best. He's [Nash] the best at organizing offenses, I'm the best at scoring, Dwight does what he does, Pau does what he does. It just fits."
Nash has so far been the X-Factor for the Lakers, especially down the stretch, and if he stays fit, the Hollywood side can see this winning streak prospering. Though it seems a bit too early and far fetched at the moment, they may well create some championship hype pretty soon.
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