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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
i'm not so sure its the PG thats most important, its your primary ballhandler that is the most important. in certain offenses that is different. but your primary ballhandler has to be greatComment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
If nothing else can be figured out about the positions, it can certainly be said that point guards are the most overrated position in all of sports.
The last standing All NBA PG to win a chip was Magic in 1988.
Since the start of the Bulls' first 3 peat, here is the position breakdown of standing All NBA players to win the chip:
PG: 0
SG: 11
SF: 6
PF: 5 (1)
C: 7 (11)
The () is counting Duncan as a C instead of PF. It seems pretty clear that the big man or 2 guard is the way to go to win a championship.
In terms of Finals appearances, it moves to:
PG: 6
SG: 16
SF: 9
PF: 9 (5)
C: 10 (14)
These counts are by no means exact or perfect, but they drive the point home.
PG <<<<<<<< C or SG
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Saying you need a PG that can take care of the ball is really pointless. That's like saying a team needs a big man that can at least rebound and play solid defense.</c></c></sg></center>Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
I don't know if I would say that point guard is over-rated and I definitely wouldn't say that that it is the most overrated in all of sports. While it may not be the most important in some people's minds, when people have a great point guard and a decent supporting cast, they normally do a little something. D-Will, CP3, Nash, and Kidd seem to make the playoffs most years. I personally believe that any guy on your team who can will his teammates into playing better and lead the team is the most important and a lot of the time that seems to be a point guard (not all of the time but most of the time). Other players like Tyson Chandler and Carlos Boozer do not run the show for their teams. You don't see Amare out there dishing the ball out. That is the job of a special and efficient floor leader and great player. So I don't believe it is over-rated most definitely, especially because the players who win all-nba honors have no say in themselves to win a championship. It is still a team game at the end of the day.Originally posted by G PericoComment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
The best players at every position make the playoffs. Point guards don't win championships compared to other positions. That's not even arguable; it's a fact.
And Fisher and Rondo don't run the show for theirs.Other players like Tyson Chandler and Carlos Boozer do not run the show for their teams
Because point guards by nature tend to have a serious problem taking over games in the clutch. Kobe and Wade can take over a game. Lebron and Pierce can will a team to victory. Duncan and old Shaq could do that. Where does the best point guard come into the discussion of the best crunch time player? Top 15-20?especially because the players who win all-nba honors have no say in themselves to win a championship. It is still a team game at the end of the day.Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
Magic Johnson was a great crunch player. John Stockton could hit the game winner. Nash, The Big-O, Paul, Zeke won quite a few games for their teams, Bob Cousy, Walt Frazier. The list goes on of players who played the point and could take over a game at will.Originally posted by G PericoComment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
Steve Nash and Chris Paul are pretty recent if you ask me. John Stockton is pretty recent as well. But D-Will can take over a game. And with this new generation of point guards some more will be added to the list within 3-4 years.Originally posted by G PericoComment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
I'd say center, and it's not even close...
A great big man can set the pace for a game, and unlike a guard, can actually become completely unstoppable. For all of the great guards and small forward (kobe, paul, allen, pierce, james) you can at the very least make them take extremely tough shots, thus forcing them into a bad shooting percentage. You can keep them out of the paint, even though it might be a detriment to your team, but if you really wanted to, you could keep kobe outside of, say, the freethrow line, by just stacking guys there and collapsing on him if he gets one step. Can't do that with a dominant center. Take Shaq in his prime, once he got within six feet of the basket, your done. Your only hope is to foul, and you had better make it a good one, else it's two point anyway. If the big man is good enough, you can't even force him to shoot a bad percentage, and in fact the only thing you can do is foul him as soon as he touches the ball. Then though, you get in the penalty early, and it just becomes a parade of free throws for the other team.
PG has got to be the most overrated position in any professional sport anywhere. PG aren't expected to do anything but "initialize the offense" which is funny in this world of iso's , pip, pir, and backdoor cut's that we call the NBA. PG's are not expected to block shots, rebound, fight through screens, or do any of the other intangilbe things. I've never heard an announcer say "Nash really needs to do a better job on the boards he only has 3 in 28 minutes of play."Lou Holtz on College Gameday about Ohio State:
"The buckeyes play Akron, they play Kent State, I mean, they may win the MAC this year."Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
Good PG play seems to be the most important position, to me. Like a QB, the point has the ball the most on offense.
This isn't the best list of PGs, but here is the top 15:
1. Chris Paul (NOH) 21.1, 4, 11.6*, 2.7*
2. Baron Davis (GSW) 21.8*, 4.7, 7.6, 2.3
3. Deron Williams (UTA) 18.8, 3, 10.5, 1.1
4. Tony Parker (SAS) 18.8, 3.2, 6
5. Steve Nash (PHX) 16.9, 3.5, 11.1
6. Gilbert Arenas (WAS) 19.4, 3.9, 5.4, 1.8 (13 Games)
7. Chauncey Billups (DET) 17, 2.7, 6.8, 1.3
8. Jason Kidd (DAL/NJN) 10.8, 7.5*, 10.1, 1.7
9. Andre Miller (PHI) 17, 4, 6.9, 1.3
10. Mo Williams (MIL) 17.2, 3.5, 6.3, 1.2
11. Jamal Crawford (NYK) 20.6, 2.6, 5, 1
12. Raymond Felton (CHA) 14.4, 3, 7.4, 1.2
13. Jamaal Tinsley (IND) 11.9, 3.6, 8.4, 1.7 (39 Games)
14. Jose Calderon (TOR) 11.2, 2.9, 8.3 1.1
15. Rafer Alston (HOU) 13.1, 3.5, 5.3, 1.3
Out of those 15, only 3 didn't have a team record of over .500. Mo Williams, who I don't like at all as a PG, Jamal Crawford, who really, really sucks at PG and shouldn't even be on the list, and Raymond Felton. The truly great PGs will always have their team in the playoff hunt.
Center is a close second.
The only reason I say that is because of the lack of talent at those two positions in the NBA. There are only so many good PGs and only so many good Cs... where the SG/SF/PF seem to have a ton of talent across the league. You'll see greats like TMac, Kobe, Pierce, Ray Allen, and Wade miss the playoffs, sometimes not even coming close. You'll rarely see that with a great PG or a great C.
The difference though is that the guys I just mentioned have the ability to take over playoff series and win titles, where with a PG, they need the help of their entire team to really make an impact. That's why you would see a guy like Jason Kidd or Steve Nash make the playoffs but not be able to put it away, because they never really had the help of a star swingman.Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
This was almost exactly what I was going to get into.
If we are talking TODAY's GAME, then the PG is most important.
There isn't one great PG in the NBA that missed the playoffs. You can call names about all the other positions that did not make the playoffs. But, with a Great PG, you can not. There is not one bad point guard in any of the teams that make the playoffs.
If C, and SG were more important positions, then Houston is a prime example of how that is false. They have Yao and T-Mac, two of the best Centers and wingmen in the game. They both are clearly the better players compared to the Jazz' Wingmen and Bigmen. But, two years straight they got bounced out of the playoffs. Why? Because of Deron outmatching Houston's guards at the point.
I'm not saying the Point guard is the one to take over the end of games. I'm just saying that over the course of an ENTIRE game, the play of your point guard is most important (if he is the primary ball handler).
Not saying that other positions are not important, just that PG play is the MOST important.Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
A big man, usually a center, CAN be the most important position. If you're going to have a GREAT player, that's the position that you would prefer that they play. It's the only position that can anchor both an offense and a defense. It's the key to a championship. Sure, there's other ways. But it's tried and true and has proven to work better than any other formula. Look at Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, Wilt, Bill Russell. That's how you do it.Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
And if PG was the most important position, you'd expect one of the elite PGs to win a championship.
Your example is a strawman, especially considering Yao didn't even play in the playoffs this year. The C and SG combo has won 4 championships this decade, and it can be argued that one or two of the Spurs were that combo. If you look at all the recent championship teams and look at their SGs, Cs, and PGs, the PGs are, at best, efficient. The Cs and SGs are first bid hall of famers. This point is driven home more because there's only 2-3 great SGs and Cs right now compared to 5-10 good point guards, yet the SGs and Cs win the chips.Comment
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Re: What is the most important position on the floor?
There are really only two positions....front court and back court players.....and within that realm I would say front court players are more important. Mostly because defense and rebounding correlate to more wins than any other stat I would say.
I am a point guard myself and I would love to say that we make the world go round but the truth is a lot of what we do is bring the ball to the half court and get out of the way.Comment
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