BeachedBear said:
calumnus said:
Johnfox said:
Christian Tucker and Jovan Blacksher Jr are true point guards. Jalen Cone was more of a PG that looked to score instead of passing.
Agreed. Last year it was multiple "combi-guards" to choose from, this year there will be several PGs to choose from.
Lots of good discussion about what makes a good PG (this has been going on forever!). In the days of set plays, having a '1' that knew and operated the system was at a premium. Others look at statistics or skill sets (ball handling, FT %age, A/TO ratios). All of which are important - but also are a reflection of the system and talent on the floor (and the opponent). Heck at youth levels, the PG is still usually the shortest starter - hahaha.
For me, it has always been a combination of basketball IQ and court vision. Hard to articulate all the details of those two items, but I know it when I see it. Bottom line, we always want to have as many of those players on the floor at the same time as we can get. So, I'd be ecstatic starting 3 PGs, 1 slashing forward and 1 rim protector. ( as I type this, I imagine a starting line up of Kidd, Randle, Jorge, Lamond and Yogi - final 4 material!)
Last year, it seemed to me that Tyson was the only one who had the court vision consistently (helped by the fact, they he typically did not have a defender pressuring him the way a regular PG gets defended). Cone showed it at times, but was inconsistent. I never saw it with Askew, honestly. My initial reaction was that it was a product of Fox's rigid offensive system - but not sure.
These are all good posts with great points, for sure.
The only thing I'd try to add would be in response to your thought that PG was a combination of basketball IQ and court vision. What I'd add is an admirable human quality, the desire to try and be unselfish. To do something for others. In basketball, it is trying to help your teammates look better by being better. Outside of basketball, in non-sport human endeavors, it might be helping an old lady cross a busy street.
I once played on a team with Denny Lewis, a great high school point guard. At that time, Denny averaged about 28 points a game, and probably 8-10 assists, if they had kept assist stats. He told me, "If I'm not looking at you, you are probably going to get the ball from me, so be ready." He also said, "If I'm looking at you, you probably are not going to get the ball." Denny also took the time to work with me on my dribbling. In those days, palming or carrying the ball was a turnover, and was called 5 or 6 times a game. I have small hands, and had difficulty keeping my hand on top of the ball all the time when I bounced it, and too often looked at the ball while dribbling it, a no-no for effective dribbling and seeing the floor. So Denny worked with me to get more skilled at dribbling.
Johnny Garber was another great point guard I played with, and said the same thing. The first time I played with him in a scrimmage, I'm under the basket, all alone, and he is dribbling cross court, left to right, not looking at me at all, and wham! The pass hits me in the face, and nearly broke may nose. Maybe it did, because today my nose is broken, deviated sceptum, I'm told. So Johnny said the same thing to me, " If I'm not looking at you, you are going to get the ball. So be alert." Johnny later went to JC, and became the quarterback for the football team, won a championship, when he never had played football in his life before that.
It is not natural perhaps to become an unselfish person. Ministers, priests, rabbis, and coaches make a living teaching people to act less selfishly toward their fellow man, and I'd wager they are not often as successful at it as they would like to be.
Football and baseball are better team sports than basketball. I think there is more teamwork in both. In football, the best athlete on the team is usually the quarterback, and he is dishing the ball out to others to make the plays, and several other players have to make the blocks to make the play work. One defense, there is lots of teamwork as well, as defenders often have to take on blockers, to give the tackler a shot at making the tackle. In basketball, the best player might be a Wilt Chamberlain, a center, or Michael Jordan, a shooting guard, a Rick Barry a scorer, or Jason Kidd, a point guard. So anyone can lead a team on the floor.
In basketball, some players who focus on shooting, can practice all by themselves to improve. Players can practice dribbling alone. But if they want to practice rebounding or passing or defending, they must have another person or persons to practice with. I think today, our youth have a more selfish, or rather self-centered mindset. Kids today are spoiled from the get go, with parents more involved in kid's activities, including school and sports, than ever before. In basketball, kids' shooting and dribbling skills are more developed than ever before, while basketball IQ and court vision are less developed than at any time in my memory.
To sum it up, to your basketball IQ and court vision, I think I'll add changing the mindset of players to all be trying to make their teammates look better, be more successful. For me, Jason Kidd is still the model. And the model team would be the '59 or '60 Cal Bears, or the Celtics of Russell and Cousy. Maybe the recent Warriors championship teams.
