The pick-and-roll is one of the oldest and most effective plays in basketball. When Phoenix Suns center Amare Stoudemire stops near the foul line and sets a pick for point guard Steve Nash, opponents know the play is coming. But when Stoudemire turns and breaks for the basket, catches a pass from Nash and scores an easy layup or dunk, defenses are usually helpless to stop them.
"I don't know how you guard Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire on the pick-and-roll," Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I don't think it's possible. It hasn't happened yet."
Though the Suns trail the Spurs 2-0 going into Game 3 of the Western Conference finals tonight in San Antonio, Nash and Stoudemire have shown why they are being compared to other great duos in NBA history, such as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls and John Stockton and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz.
Nash and Stoudemire have combined to score more than 61 percent of the Suns' points in the first two games of the conference finals and are the biggest reasons Phoenix had a chance to win both games during the fourth quarter.
"They're unstoppable," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said. "They're too darn good."
Nash, the league's most valuable player during the regular season, averaged 29 points and 14 assists in the first two games against the Spurs. He became the first player in NBA history to score 25 points or more with at least 10 assists in four consecutive playoff games -- Oscar Robertson (1963) and Jordan (1989) accomplished that feat three games in a row.
Stoudemire has been even better, averaging 39 points and 8.5 rebounds and shooting 61.4 percent from the floor. He has scored 35 points in all five games against San Antonio this season.
Stoudemire, 22, has flourished in his third pro season after the Suns brought Nash back to Phoenix, signing him to a six-year, $66 million contract to pry the free agent away from the Dallas Mavericks.
Stoudemire, 6 feet 10 and 245 pounds, seemed like the perfect center for the fast-break, up-tempo offense that D'Antoni coached in Italy for several years. And Nash, with his uncanny court vision and quickness, was the point guard who could get Stoudemire the basketball.
"You've got the best guy in the game recognizing the situation, and you've got a guy who has great strength, great hands and great quickness going to the basket," D'Antoni said. "It's so hard to stop."
If teams are able to recognize the pick-and-roll and double-team Stoudemire close to the basket, he passes the ball back to the perimeter, where Nash, Jim Jackson, Quentin Richardson and Joe Johnson are waiting to shoot three-pointers. The Suns broke the single-season record with 796 three-pointers during the regular season.
"One's a sledge hammer and the other's a Wiffle ball bat," D'Antoni said of his team's ability to score multiple ways.
D'Antoni says Stoudemire has just scratched the surface of his potential. Stoudemire didn't start playing basketball until he was 14 and attended four high schools, two private schools in North Carolina and two public schools in his native Florida. He was academically ineligible to play his junior year and then entered the 2002 NBA draft after his senior season at Cypress Creek High in Orlando.
Many NBA teams saw a troubled young man who had little guidance while growing up in drug-infested housing projects. His mother, Carrie, and older brother, Hazell Jr., served prison time for various offenses, mostly theft-related charges. His father, Hazell Stoudemire, died of a heart attack when he was 12.
"When he died, he told me, 'The sky is the limit,' " Stoudemire said. "I've always believed that."
Still, eight teams ahead of the Suns in the 2002 draft passed on Stoudemire before Phoenix chose him with the ninth pick of the first round. He averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds and was named rookie of the year over Houston's Yao Ming in 2003; he averaged 20.6 points last season but missed two months with an ankle injury.
"I think the questions were there because that was reality," D'Antoni said. "But probably no one knew his heart and his mind and how much he wanted to become the best player in the league. I don't think anyone can say, 'We told you so.' But it has worked out so well for us."
Stoudemire showed the drive to become a more complete player. He worked last offseason on improving his shooting range to about 15 to 17 feet. He worked on his ball handling and is no longer afraid to dribble with his left hand.
"I think he can get a lot better," D'Antoni said. "I think his rebounding numbers will go up, his shooting will continue to improve and he'll be able to put the ball on the floor more. He'll become a playmaker. He might not be a 30-point or 35-point scorer anymore, but he'll be an unbelievable winner."
Nicknamed S.T.A.T. -- "standing tall and talented" -- by his father, Stoudemire says he wants to be known for more than his ability to dunk.
"I'm just now becoming a basketball player," Stoudemire said. "I've still got a long way to go. My potential is unlimited."
Like most of his teammates, Stoudemire needs to become a better defender and rebounder. Because of his athleticism, he is a natural power forward. He struggles defending stronger centers such as Miami's Shaquille O'Neal and San Antonio's Tim Duncan. The Suns often use forward Shawn Marion to guard bigger players.
"Amare's so aggressive," Jackson said. "What's going to be the key is when he takes that aggression to the other end. When that happens, he's going to be a beast."
For now, though, Stoudemire knows he is still relatively a boy playing among men. He has a tattoo on his chest that he says reminds him of where he came from and where he's going: "So the first would be last and the last would be first. Many are called but few are chosen. God bless the child who holds his own."
"I'm holding my own," Stoudemire said.
