Welcome back ya’ll. The NBA Playoffs continue, and by the
beginning of next week we’ll have our final four set. However, my cowriter
Edward is all over that, so I’m going to continue a debate that I set the stage
for on my last post. First some background information. The NBA is an ever
changing association. Everything, literally everything changes as the time
advances. Styles of play, athletic ability, even clothing articles change
practically yearly. To take a quick walk through time, we start off with the
Bill Russell era. Russell won 11 championships and 5 MVP awards with the
Celtics. He was truly unstoppable. Why? Because he was a tall guy with skill.
Back in the day you had one or the other. You were either tall, or you had
skill, or you didn’t make it. During the Russell day, the tall players, 99% of
the time, were just tall. They didn’t have the skill set that allowed for them
to be scorers and rebounders. Except Russell. Then a guy name Wilt came about.
Wilt was 7’1, but they say he played like a guard. He was extremely athletic
and he was the only player in the game who could handle Russell. A tall skilled
guy was unstoppable. If Russell and Chamberlin played today, how good would
they really be? Every team has at least one tall guy who has skill around the
rim and that can rebound. There’s no way to ever know, but in today’s era,
Russell doesn’t win 11 championships and Chamberlin doesn’t average 50 points.
Plain and simple. Then we advance past the Jerry West days to the ‘70’s, when
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came about. He headed an era that included legends like
Julius Irving and Elvin Hayes. Another era where a tall skilled player
excelled. And then the ‘80’s rolled around. Times were a changin’. An era where
skilled big men were common, led to a new time. Now, in order to be great, you
had to have skill that was unstoppable. Magic Johnson. The first ever 6’9 point
guard. The first player that could ever play all 5 positions successfully. He
was unstoppable. A great passer with superior defense and rebounding skills. A
point guard that could do it all. That sounds pretty good actually. “A point
guard that can do it all.” Boom. There it is. Point guards. That’s our current
era. You need a point guard to be successful. Every team in the NBA right now
has at least 1 good point guard. It’s a necessity. I just quickly checked every
NBA roster, and out of the 30 NBA teams, 24 of them have a point guard that is
one of the 3 most talented players on the team. Out of those 6 teams without a
top 3 point guard, 3 of them missed the playoffs. In the NBA, 16 of the 30
teams make the playoffs. So, more than half the NBA teams make the playoffs,
and of the 6 without a top 3 point guard player, 3 missed the playoffs.
Coincidence? Maybe. Does it help that those 6 include the Miami Heat, a team
with 3 perennial all-star players, including LeBron James, who practically
plays point guard. Indiana and Dallas are the others by the way. Back to LeBron
James for a minute. I’m not going to get into the LeBron vs. Jordan argument, not
now, or ever. Why? Because they’re completely different players. A better
argument? LeBron vs. Magic. Magic Johnson and LeBron are far more similar than LeBron
and Jordan. They’re both somewhere in that 6’8 or 6’9 height range, and they
both can play all 5 positions. Anyways, let’s get back to the point. No pun
intended. Point guards. It’s the best position in basketball, in terms of
talent. The quarterback of the hardwood. Point guards can often play the 2
guard spot, but very rarely can a 2 guard play point guard successfully. But
the big question is, what do you primarily want in a point guard? They vary.
Scoring, passing, defensive, athletic, all around. There’s different
specialty’s. Teams find different ways to become successful with their specific
point guards. For example, teams with shooting guards, like Golden State’s
Stephen Curry, or Detroit’s Brandon Jennings find great success. Or there’s
point guards who achieve success by driving the lane. Guys who are often tall
and athletic for the point guard spot. Guys like Russell Westbrook, or Tony
Parker or Jeremy Lin. The stereotypical point guard throughout history is a guy
like John Stockton. The closest thing that we have to that right now in my
opinion is Rajon Rondo. He’s an excellent passer. He’s also a great dribbler.
Ricky Rubio is the same way. But yet, these guys haven’t been considered to be
in the tops of the point guard category. Well, lately anyways. Rajon Rondo
hasn’t been considered one of the best since he was in the finals, playing alongside
Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet. Rondo hasn’t been great because
pass-first point guards, with poor shooting abilities, aren’t at their best
unless they’re playing alongside other all-star caliber players. The best point
guards in the league, in my opinion, are guys who are able to succeed with or
without all-star players by their side. However, that’s very hard to judge. For
example, let’s look at Kyrie Irving and Deron Williams. Two of the best point
guards in the Eastern Conference. However, how do you compare guys like that?
Obviously, to be successful in this league, you must have AT LEAST two all-star
players on your team. LeBron James taught us that. Kyrie is the only all-star
in Cleveland. He has a huge role there, and he leads the team in multiple
categories. However, he may be underrated or may not be reaching full potential
because of the role that he has and because of the teammates that he’s playing
with. Deron Williams is the exact opposite. Williams is another all-star who’s
playing on a team full of studs. He has a smaller role, as he may not even be
considered the best player on the team. But maybe, because of this, he is
underrated as well. He may not be reaching full potential because he may be a
better player than his role asks for. There’s really no way to be sure. We
could go on with battles like this all day, but I might as well give my
personal opinion. Here’s my top point guards in the NBA: (This is when Derrick
Rose is healthy by the way)
10. Rajon Rondo. When he’s healthy, and when he’s playing
with some good role players, he has potential to be a top 3 player. However,
that’s not the case.
9. Ty Lawson. I’m biased. He’s one of my favorites. But he’s
extremely underrated, and he’s had a breakout season. Keep an eye out for this
guy. He keeps getting better.
8. Michael Conley. Conley’s the best defensive guard in the
league, and he’s another underrated guy. He also fits perfectly in that Memphis
system.
7. Damian Lillard. Lillard is a young guy with a lot of up
sight. He’s got that clutch factor that most guys want, but few guys have.
6. Deron Williams. Williams, as mentioned, is underutilized
in the Brooklyn system, but he’s still a star and he’s one of those rare point
guards who scores everywhere on the court.
The Top 5 is coming next week!
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