What L.A. Lakers Can Learn from Steve Nash's Best Suns Teams

Swept under the rug by the arrival of Dwight Howard has been Steve Nash's presence with the Los Angeles Lakers and what it means for the team as a whole. With Howard, they have a guy who can transform any team into one of the best defensive teams, but Nash still has the power to transform the right team into a magnificent offensive team.

The Lakers are an interesting situation, as this is going to be the first time in a while that he's running an offense that's not a run-and-gun style deal, although Phoenix did kind of get away from that in his last two years with the team.

Los Angeles has a guy in Nash who is going to be able to transform other basketball players into things that they once were not. To get a good inkling on what that mean's, exactly, it's best to take a look back at the other successful teams Nash has played for and figure out what made them great.

Lack of Shooters, or Sleeping Giants?

One of the most intriguing notions about the Lakers is that they don't have enough shooters for Nash to really work his magic with this team. However, it seems possible that there are some shooters that just need Nash to give them a nudge on the shoulder and wake them up.

Last season, the Lakers put in an effective field goal percentage of 44.2 percent on jump shots. Compare that to Miami or Oklahoma City who shot 45.2 and 46.1 percent, respectively, and the Lakers are a good hunk behind, even if it is just a percentage point or two. Heck, Nash's team last season with all their problems put up a 44.3 percent effective field goal percentage, and they were Nash's worst Phoenix team.

Most horrifying about the Lakers is who was taking those shots, as Metta World Peace and Derek Fisher combined for over 20 percent of the Lakers spot-up opportunities. Fisher being gone and World Peace taking fewer shots should give them better percentages alone, but that's not the only thing to look at.

It's probable that guys like Antawn Jamison and Kobe Bryant will end up with percentages that rival the best of their career when it comes to jump shots, as past Suns teams have shown.

In 2004, Nash's first year in Phoenix they had the closest rival to this Lakers team in terms of personnel, albeit much younger players. Nash had Amar'e Stoudemire in the middle, the best big man that he has played with so far, and Joe Johnson on the wing, the best offensive winger that he's played with so far.

When combined, the threat of the big man down low, Nash running the pick-and-roll and the ability of those two to score, a wing defender will often hedge toward the pick-and-roll, giving Nash just enough time and space to get the ball out to him for an open three. Joe Johnson shot 48 percent for three that year, a number he hasn't approached sense.

Raja Bell had his most efficient three-point shooting season with Nash as his point guard, as has Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Grant Hill and Jared Dudley with each player but Hill experiencing a dramatic positive spike at some point with the Suns. Nash just seems to have a knack for helping guys get open shots, which are obviously easier to sink.

Ball Security

Common sense would dictate that Nash's Suns teams, which historically had the most possessions in the league, would also turn the ball over more than other teams.

Contrary to that common sense, Nash's best teams in Phoenix actually competed for the fewest turnovers in the league during the chunk of time that they were at the top of the league.

From 2005 to 2007, Phoenix was either first or second in the league in field goal attempts, mostly due to the fact that they ran a fast game and had a ton of possessions. Not once in those three seasons did they turn the ball over more than two-thirds of the league. The worst they did was put up the 21st most turnovers in the league in 2007.

Looking further, when weighed against the total number of possessions they had, Phoenix had a turnover rate of 12.4, 12.2 and 13.4 percent, good for third, second and fifth best in the league.

While Nash has tended to turn the ball over a bit himself, it's mostly due to the fact that he handles the ball so much in the Suns' offense. His teammates, however, lean on him so much that they didn't have to do much shot creating for themselves, often just receiving a pass and shooting or driving right to the basket.

Transition Nash

We've looked at how Nash can free up shooters with the pick-and-roll and we've looked at how well Nash's teams take care of the ball, historically; the only thing left to do is muse for a minute about the Suns bread and butter for years: the fast-break.

In the five years that they finished with more than 50 wins with Nash, Phoenix never placed worse than fourth in pace, which reflects the number of possessions a team has per game, finishing first twice in 2005 and 2006.

Mike D'Antoni was able to have success with this offense because of the players that complimented each other so well on his teams, and the little guy sprinting around the court making it all possible. He tried the offense again with Chris Duhon and then Raymond Felton in New York and it didn't work nearly as well, mostly due to the fact that they aren't Steve Nash.

On the break, Nash is the second-best point guard only to Rajon Rondo in today's NBA, only recently unseated because Rondo is younger, quicker and more athletic. Nash brings so much to the table when the team is running that the defense can't hope to slow him down.

The fact that he can score in traffic in the paint keeps them from locking down his break partners and worrying about him only on a jumper. This then loosens up the defense for a teammate to get into the passing lane for Nash to kick it over for a layup.

If too many defenders are transitioning, he becomes the best little big man in the league, throwing 50-foot outlet passes like Moses Malone. Even those passes are on point, usually finding guys in the corners for open threes before the defense can catch up to set themselves up.

Nash's unique skill set gives Los Angeles the ultimate weapon on offense, and it seems like he may be the forgotten member of this team already as Howard slides into place in the post, which just gives Nash another toy to kill defenses with.