We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

[utexas]

With the emergence of Deron Williams, the re-emergence of Baron Davis (only becaue of injuries) and the hand check rule being eliminated, I think we are entering the age of the killer pg.

I'm not ranking anyone, but I will list the ones I think are at the top of the game right now:

Deron Williams
Baron Davis
Steve Nash
Tony Parker
J-Kidd (kidd is unreal, crazy)
Chris Paul
Gilbert Arenas
Barbosa
Chauncey Billups
Mike Bibby
TJ Ford
Starbury

the next tier:
Devin Harris
Montae Ellis
Kirk Hinrich
Shaun Livingston


I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of good players, but these are the ones jumping out at me. What do you guys think? In addition to these we have a few really good ones in the draft; Conley and Acie Law will both be great and great pretty quckly in my opinion. Thoughts?

[HMcCoy]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

Truth.

[3rdAnswer]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

Raymond Felton.

And Barbosa is no point guard. Starbury is fading out of the league IMO.

[SPTO]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

In a year or two Jose Calderon is going to be in the 2nd or 3rd tier. It's going to be interesting to see what the Raps do regarding their PG situation but that's not germaine to the discussion.

I agree, the NBA has become a far more fast paced game these days with some very skilled PGs running the floor.

[Sarah]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

The golden age of PG? It already happen a while ago.

Kevin Johnson
Jason Kidd (younger version)
John Stockton
Isaiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Mark Price
Penny Hardaway
Terry Porter
Mark Jackson
Micael Adams
Derek Harper
Dennis Johnson
Maurice Cheeks
Doc Rivers
Sleepy Floyd (I never really saw a lot of him)
Spud Webb
Kenny Smith
Jeff Hornacek (used to be a PG)
Tim Hardaway
... are just some of the PGs I can remember that played growing up.

[HMcCoy]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

The golden age of PG? It already happen a while ago.

Kevin Johnson
Jason Kidd (younger version)
John Stockton
Isaiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Mark Price
Penny Hardaway
Terry Porter
Mark Jackson
Micael Adams
Derek Harper
Dennis Johnson
Maurice Cheeks
Doc Rivers
Sleepy Floyd (I never really saw a lot of him)
Spud Webb
Kenny Smith
Jeff Hornacek (used to be a PG)
Tim Hardaway
... are just some of the PGs I can remember that played growing up.

Thats not an age, thats a 20-something year span. You'd have to include half those guys in this current "age" if you're going to leave it that open. Also, quite a few of those guys weren't all that great, IMO...ver good but not great. To be fair some of the PG's on the OP's list are in the same boat, but overall, the current crop has a few more true superstars.

I agree, this is going to be a great era for scoring do it all PG's. It's not fair to judge them against the older players because we haven't seen their entire body of work.

Based on the limited footage I've seen and the things I've read, the best era for PG's was the mid 70's to mid/late 80's, before the big men took over in the late 80's, and the beat em up defenses/raw athelete 90's era. These guys could score and make plays and looked great doing it:

Magic
Big O
Jerry West
Stocton
DJ
Price
Clyde
Tiny
Calvin Murphy
Zeke
Lenny Wilkens
Cheeks

The 90's had some nice ones (KJ, Glove, Harper, Penny), but nothing like the 70's/80's. Seems like we're getting back to those days.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

Lack of handchecking has made some of these average PGs seem like they're better than they are (see Tony Parker, TJ Ford, Devin Harris, etc.).

10 years ago, you lay a body on any one of these guys and they wouldn't get anything whatsoever. That's why guys like Dererk Harper, KJ, etc. were such beasts because they could take the contact and keep going.

Didn't Tony Parker shoot close to 60%? I like him as a player, but no way in hell would he score in the lane so often and so easily years ago.

[chance]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

. Starbury is fading out of the league IMO.

:y4: :y4: :y4: :y4: :y4:

[dossier]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

I disagree completely in the fact that it is not just a position, but an age group. By that I mean the veterans are becoming less and less dominant over younger players. Examples:

Monta Ellis
Kevin Durant
Greg Oden
Lebron James
DWADE
Carmello
Chris Bosh
Basically every one picked in the 1st round of 03

[ZB9]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

Lack of handchecking has made some of these average PGs seem like they're better than they are (see Tony Parker, TJ Ford, Devin Harris, etc.).

10 years ago, you lay a body on any one of these guys and they wouldn't get anything whatsoever. That's why guys like Dererk Harper, KJ, etc. were such beasts because they could take the contact and keep going.

Didn't Tony Parker shoot close to 60%? I like him as a player, but no way in hell would he score in the lane so often and so easily years ago.

the implementation by the NBA of zone defenses has allowed for teams to use a wider array of more complex defenses, and that more than compensates for the way man to man defense has changed since back in the day.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: We are entering a golden age for pg's in the league

the implementation by the NBA of zone defenses has allowed for teams to use a wider array of more complex defenses, and that more than compensates for the way man to man defense has changed since back in the day.

I don't follow what you're saying.

Not many teams play a consistent zone. And the ones that do, play a zone to stop big men.

To me, if you can't get by your man with some contact, you're not an elite PG.