What is the most important position on the floor?

[Cebby]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

It's not just about having the best point guard in my eyes.

It's just about having solid point guard play.

Along the lines of what Mecca said, you still have a good chance of winning with poor play from the other positions. But, it is much tougher to win a ball game with poor point guard play.

That goes for all positions. The Lakers, Celtics, Heat, and Bulls did it by not using the point as the primary focus of the offense. The Suns, Hornets, Jazz, and other PG driven offenses generally minimize the impact that their lackluster 2s and 3s have.

It isn't really a fair point until you determine what poor play is. Is a 2/5 7 point 4 assist 1 TO a bad game for a point guard? In one game, that's "efficient", but in another, it could be not very good. Obviously if a PG goes 3/11 for 8 points with 5 assists and 9 TOs his team will have a tough time winning, but so would a team who's SG goes 5/21 for 16 points and turns it over 6 times. Obviously there aren't many great centers currently in the league, but if one doesn't even toe the standard line of defense and rebounds, his team will have a tough time winning.

[DakkoN]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Parker's good, but he's never even made an All NBA 3rd team. He's not an elite point guard. It still holds up that the last time a standing All NBA point guard won the championship was a long, long time ago.

You realize that the All NBA teams are determined by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters voting right? It's all opinions. Judging a player's skill as a player by how many times they have been voted to a team is the same thing as saying the Backstreet Boys and NSync are actually good because they were Grammy nominated. I honestly don't know what to tell you if you don't think Parker is a great point guard because in my opinion it should be obvious to anybody that has ever watched the guy play.

[Cebby]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

You realize that the All NBA teams are determined by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters voting right? It's all opinions. Judging a player's skill as a player by how many times they have been voted to a team is the same thing as saying the Backstreet Boys and NSync are actually good because they were Grammy nominated. I honestly don't know what to tell you if you don't think Parker is a great point guard because in my opinion it should be obvious to anybody that has ever watched the guy play.

Aside from Parker in 2007, it's not like any of them have even been borderline. And I've never heard someone claim All NBA teams were worthless before.

[Vince]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Having a dominant center can make up for the fact that you have putrid perimeter defenders...So I guess i'll go that route.

[Jukeman]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

IMO the people who mop up the floor is the most important.........

[TMagic]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Having a dominant center can make up for the fact that you have putrid perimeter defenders...So I guess i'll go that route.

Are you saying offensively or defensively?

Marcus Camby was pretty dominant for the Nuggets defensively. Rebounding and blocking shots.

But, he alone could not prevent the Nuggets from being one of the worst defensive teams, year in and year out.

[Cebby]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Are you saying offensively or defensively?

Marcus Camby was pretty dominant for the Nuggets defensively. Rebounding and blocking shots.

But, he alone could not prevent the Nuggets from being one of the worst defensive teams, year in and year out.

I was going to use sarcasm, but am not really in the mood.

Camby was not a dominant defensive player. He had stats. That was about it.

[TMagic]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

I was going to use sarcasm, but am not really in the mood.

Camby was not a dominant defensive player. He had stats. That was about it.

Vince brought up that a center can make up for poor perimeter defense. I brought up that Camby did a pretty good job of it the past few years for the Nuggets. Yet, it still didn't make up for how bad they were defensively.

Camby was good at cleaning up the Nuggets defensive woes as a help side defender and a good rebounder. I don't see how you could disagree with that.

[Vince]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Jermaine O'Neal is already doing it for the Raptors...His presence has been immense.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Vince brought up that a center can make up for poor perimeter defense. I brought up that Camby did a pretty good job of it the past few years for the Nuggets. Yet, it still didn't make up for how bad they were defensively.

Camby was good at cleaning up the Nuggets defensive woes as a help side defender and a good rebounder. I don't see how you could disagree with that.

Marcus was a liability on defense in a very key area: one on one post defense. Not only did he not stop his defender, but he also took the best weak side defender(himself) out of the game. Having a real stopper like Tim Duncan or Patrick Ewing can change the defensive personality of a team, but pogo sticks like Camby affect the play way too late to be that kind of player. He's a terrible example for the point.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

You realize that the All NBA teams are determined by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters voting right? It's all opinions. Judging a player's skill as a player by how many times they have been voted to a team is the same thing as saying the Backstreet Boys and NSync are actually good because they were Grammy nominated. I honestly don't know what to tell you if you don't think Parker is a great point guard because in my opinion it should be obvious to anybody that has ever watched the guy play.

Parker is a fantastic player, but not a good example for the point guard argument. He doesn't really run Pop's offense, isn't much of a passer and his primary role is to penetrate and score in transition. He's amazing at scoring in the paint, but he's not a floor general.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Screen setting may be the most underrated aspect of a post players game. Just saying.

[Juice Malone]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Marcus was a liability on defense in a very key area: one on one post defense. Not only did he not stop his defender, but he also took the best weak side defender(himself) out of the game. Having a real stopper like Tim Duncan or Patrick Ewing can change the defensive personality of a team, but pogo sticks like Camby affect the play way too late to be that kind of player. He's a terrible example for the point.

On of the best explanations ive heard of Camby's game.

A great shot blocker, but a below average post defender.

You could say the same thing about AI. Great at getting steals, but not so great at one on one defense.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

let's see if anyone's opinion has changed after a year....

[Bornindamecca]

Re: What is the most important position on the floor?

Mine hasn't. The most important position on the floor is whatever position the most skilled player plays at. For the '00 Lakers, it was Center. For the Spurs championships, it was Power Forward. For the recent Lakers it was shooting guard.

Your best player is usually your most important player in basketball. Because each player can participate in each basketball activity(passing, shooting, rebounding, defense, etc) there is no inherently primary position. The talent determines importance.