Reflections - A Saturday Night (12/30/95) in San Jose - Steve Nash vs. Stephon Marbury
On December 30, 1995 I attended a game between Georgia Tech and Santa Clara at the Cable Car Classic in San Jose, CA. Santa Clara won the game 71-66 and it was the first time I had ever seen Stephon Marbury and Steve Nash play with their college teams. I had seen Nash play in the summer of 1995 at the L.A. Summer League with the Canadian National team.
It was early in the scouting year, so I was just trying to get a feel for the talent on the floor. I knew that I would see the key players later in the year. Georgia Tech had two other players on their team who would eventually play in the NBA, Drew Barry and Matt Harpring. I saw Marbury two more times that year and by the end of the season I was in love with him. I thought he was on par with Allen Iverson and had more point guard instincts than AI. Based on his performance on the floor, I liked him better than AI. Steve Nash did very well at the Desert Classic and solidified his status as a solid point guard prospect. By draft time, I projected that he would go in the middle of the first round.
Scouting is not an exact science. In the 1996 draft Allen Iverson was drafted 1st, Stephon Marbury 4th and Steve Nash 15th. (Kobe Bryant went 13th) There's not a personnel man in the world who would have predicted that Steve Nash would win two MVPs in the NBA and have a better and longer career than Marbury or Iverson. Nobody! Some reading this might argue that Iverson's career was better than Nash, but nobody would say that Marbury's NBA career was better than Nash. Nobody! On the night of December 30, 1995 I thought Marbury was the real deal and that Nash was a nice player. Stephon Marbury should have been one of the great ones, but he wasn't. There's a lot of lessons in looking back at scouting history. The biggest lesson is that you just never know!
Stephon Marbury - 12/30/95 vs. Santa Clara. High lottery pick when he declares. Physically mature. Excellent size, strength and quickness. Excellent leg strength. More of a scorer than a point guard. Great potential & great athleticism. Good 2 footed jumper - will be a good rebounder from the guard spot. Great talent. Impressed with shooting & scoring ability. Good deep shooter. Good shooter off the dribble-gets a lot of legs into his shot. Excellent leg strength & balance. Looks to pull up in the lane off the dribble. Can turn the corner on his man. Able to come off screens and pop up for a shot. High arching shot. Does a good job of maintaining his dribble. Strong driver to right and left. Strength is exceptional. Has not finished well in the lane, but he will be a good finisher off penetration at next level. Will step up & take & hit big 3's. Ga. Tech down by 15 with 3:30 to go & he starts rally by driving the length of floor & popping 2 3-ptrs. Down by 4 in last minute. Has good instincts as a passer, but needs to pass with more accuracy off the dribble. Potential to be a great defender. Sits low defensively. Excellent on the ball defender. Very quick - ability to pressure the full length of the floor. Has excellent physical tools & BB skills.
Steve Nash vs. Ga. Tech & Marbury on 12/30/95. Heart and soul of this team. Keeps them organized and flowing. Very good passer - passes on a level plane. Efficient passer-makes the easy play. Excellent bounce passes. Love his passing instincts. Able to drive the ball up the floor under intense pressure - ability to organize and initiate an offense. Knows how to control tempo. Competes. Up to the challenge of going against Marbury. Able to penetrate into the lane, but I question if he can make plays in the lane. Comfortable using left hand in the lane. Have questions about him defensively. How well he can change directions and recover. Liked his competitiveness against Marbury. Kept going at him. Did a good job against a tough player. Couldn't really control Marbury, but not many can. Stats were not impressive, but he knows how to help his team win. Very interested in seeing more of him, especially in an All-Star format.
The last report I wrote on Steve Nash was after he played in the Desert Classic (4/96) in Phoenix.
Impresses with performance in Phoenix. Middle 1st round pick. Played through a sore left hamstring. Leader - talks and communicates. Very good skills. Excellent ball handling abilities - protects and values the ball. Right handed, but has a strong left hand. Can run the break. Delivers easy to handle passes. Keeps his dribble. Very good shooter - drills open shots. Will not hesitate to take the open shot off the dribble if his man sags in the passing lane. Good blend between involving others and asserting self. Good feel for the game. Smart player who makes excellent decisions. Makes the game easy. Makes simple plays. Deceiving quickness and speed. Can penetrate and has the ability to make plays in the lane. Utilizes a crossover to free self up - effective finisher with both hands. Physical strength is through his butt & legs. Impressed with him on the defensive end. Can really cover. Low center of gravity. Strong base. Quick feet and retreats quickly. Applies good pressure on the ball. Disrupting Barry. Works hard defensively. Big guards can easily extend over him. He is a small 6'2" in terms of vertical extension (8') and wing span(6'4"). Stellar free shooter--career avg. of 86%. Solid player who is not a viable option for us given our current makeup. Should follow his career closely. He plays our style of basketball.
It was early in the scouting year, so I was just trying to get a feel for the talent on the floor. I knew that I would see the key players later in the year. Georgia Tech had two other players on their team who would eventually play in the NBA, Drew Barry and Matt Harpring. I saw Marbury two more times that year and by the end of the season I was in love with him. I thought he was on par with Allen Iverson and had more point guard instincts than AI. Based on his performance on the floor, I liked him better than AI. Steve Nash did very well at the Desert Classic and solidified his status as a solid point guard prospect. By draft time, I projected that he would go in the middle of the first round.
Stephon Marbury - 12/30/95 vs. Santa Clara. High lottery pick when he declares. Physically mature. Excellent size, strength and quickness. Excellent leg strength. More of a scorer than a point guard. Great potential & great athleticism. Good 2 footed jumper - will be a good rebounder from the guard spot. Great talent. Impressed with shooting & scoring ability. Good deep shooter. Good shooter off the dribble-gets a lot of legs into his shot. Excellent leg strength & balance. Looks to pull up in the lane off the dribble. Can turn the corner on his man. Able to come off screens and pop up for a shot. High arching shot. Does a good job of maintaining his dribble. Strong driver to right and left. Strength is exceptional. Has not finished well in the lane, but he will be a good finisher off penetration at next level. Will step up & take & hit big 3's. Ga. Tech down by 15 with 3:30 to go & he starts rally by driving the length of floor & popping 2 3-ptrs. Down by 4 in last minute. Has good instincts as a passer, but needs to pass with more accuracy off the dribble. Potential to be a great defender. Sits low defensively. Excellent on the ball defender. Very quick - ability to pressure the full length of the floor. Has excellent physical tools & BB skills.
Steve Nash vs. Ga. Tech & Marbury on 12/30/95. Heart and soul of this team. Keeps them organized and flowing. Very good passer - passes on a level plane. Efficient passer-makes the easy play. Excellent bounce passes. Love his passing instincts. Able to drive the ball up the floor under intense pressure - ability to organize and initiate an offense. Knows how to control tempo. Competes. Up to the challenge of going against Marbury. Able to penetrate into the lane, but I question if he can make plays in the lane. Comfortable using left hand in the lane. Have questions about him defensively. How well he can change directions and recover. Liked his competitiveness against Marbury. Kept going at him. Did a good job against a tough player. Couldn't really control Marbury, but not many can. Stats were not impressive, but he knows how to help his team win. Very interested in seeing more of him, especially in an All-Star format.
The last report I wrote on Steve Nash was after he played in the Desert Classic (4/96) in Phoenix.
Impresses with performance in Phoenix. Middle 1st round pick. Played through a sore left hamstring. Leader - talks and communicates. Very good skills. Excellent ball handling abilities - protects and values the ball. Right handed, but has a strong left hand. Can run the break. Delivers easy to handle passes. Keeps his dribble. Very good shooter - drills open shots. Will not hesitate to take the open shot off the dribble if his man sags in the passing lane. Good blend between involving others and asserting self. Good feel for the game. Smart player who makes excellent decisions. Makes the game easy. Makes simple plays. Deceiving quickness and speed. Can penetrate and has the ability to make plays in the lane. Utilizes a crossover to free self up - effective finisher with both hands. Physical strength is through his butt & legs. Impressed with him on the defensive end. Can really cover. Low center of gravity. Strong base. Quick feet and retreats quickly. Applies good pressure on the ball. Disrupting Barry. Works hard defensively. Big guards can easily extend over him. He is a small 6'2" in terms of vertical extension (8') and wing span(6'4"). Stellar free shooter--career avg. of 86%. Solid player who is not a viable option for us given our current makeup. Should follow his career closely. He plays our style of basketball.
Wow, that is a great scouting report. Like you said nobody would have seen Steve Nash and your scouting report for Marbury seemed right on the money. It is really tough to judge how a young player will act when they get money, but Marbury and Iverson were definitely the cream of the Draft. I remember the Nuggets drafted Jeff McInnis and was thrilled, but later they cut him in training camp. Never understood why, until later.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching the Mavs in '99. Thought Nash, Finley and Erick Strickland brought as much quickness as any group in the league at the time. Then with young Dirk and Shawn Bradley inside, it was tough to get to the rim. I told one of the the Mavs beat writers I thought the Mavs might be onto something and he replied, "This team stinks. They're terrible."
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