http://files.filefront.com//;6183705;;/ I truly believe that Tim Hardaway was as good in his day as Steve Nash is today. And I don't recall Hardaway ever even mentioned in any MVP talk. Just goes to show you how much the game has changed. Hardaway was a pleasure to watch and was my favorite non-Rocket player for a long time.
There are a lot of players who have been as good as Nash - but few that have improved all the players around them as well as Nash has improved his teammates.
There are plenty of low-quality Tim Hardaway highlight packages over at YouTube. Personally, I like videos of a higher quality and really don't mind the extra 30 seconds it takes to download a 4 minute clip. To each his own.
Tim reminds me more of Baron Davis, great scoring/assist guard, but somehow his teams never go deep in the playoffs or at all. And yeah Nash will go down as a better point guard then Tim, better ball distributor, more of a winner.
I'm just curious how well Tim would have performed if he were put into the same offense as Nash currently orchestrates. I guess some may say that Hardaway's stay in Golden State was very similar to the offense that Phoenix currently runs today, hence "Run T.M.C.", but I don't think he had anyone the caliber of Marion/Stoudemire playing the 4/5 positions when he was with the Warriors. And, Miami ran a half-court offense with Alonzo Mourning anchoring the middle. I wonder if Nash would be thought of as a MVP candidate if he ran a half-court offense.
On your last point, I say no way on Nash MVP in a half-court O. But that doesn't take anything away from his MVP seasons. However, on Timmy in GS.. good points. When he had his best lineup around him (closest thing to having 5 all stars on the court), it was towards the end when he had an emerging Sprewell, Mullin, Billy Owens in his prime, and a very young Chris Webber. Like you said, the 4/5 just doesn't match up to Marion/Stoudemire...although Owens was underrated for a couple of years there. And Spree/Mullin are better than anything Nash has had at the 2/3 in Phx I think. But.. with that kind of offense, you would rather have more one-dimensional guys at the 2/3 and more versatile guys at the 4/5 as opposed to vice-versa as Hardaway had. UTEP 2 step all the way! Loved when Hardaway busted out a killer crossover in the '93 All Star game in Utah for an "and 1" off the glass.
kind of hard to be in the MVP race when Michael Jordan is in the league. Jordan stole back the MVP from Karl Malone.
Taking the MVP from Karl Malone cannot technically be called stealing... Karl Malone rightfully owns nothing.
Man I remember those crossovers.. that was about the time when I first started watching basketball, too. I tried to play my game like him (and of course, Jordan). I have this feeling, though, that Hardaway won't get away with too much with those crossovers in today's game. Maybe it's just me, but I think the game has evolved and players can defend those better (excluding JHo). I wanna see Kill Bill defend Hardaway. I can already see it... KB clothes-lining Hardaway as he tries to maneuver a crossover. Ouch.
