The defintion of playing the wing?

[Greatlookinhair]

Does playing the wing necessarily mean three point shooter? really what is the definition for playing the wing. can a guy like dwayne wade be considered a wingman? or say rip Hamilton.

I'm in a arguement so I'm trying to clarify some things...

[Brankles]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

When I think of wingman (or swingman), I think shooting guard or small forward. Not a post player and not the point guard.

I don't think it gets too much more complicated than that. Doesn't necessarily need to be a shooter or a slasher.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

A swingman/wing player is basically a guy that can effectively play the small forward and shooting guard positions. It's basically someone who has the size and ability to play both positions hence the use of 'swing' in there. Ideally a swingman presents matchup problems when switching from the 3 to the 2 by being able to shoot over the top of smaller 2 guards as well as post them up using they're size advantage over them while being able to run past/drive the basket on the bigger guys at the 3 thanks to the quickness and athleticism they possess. At least that's how I've always seen the term.

[The15thunter]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

yes, wade is a swingman, though they're typically not as ball-dominant as he is. the prototypical swingman is an off-ball guard or small forward, though wade, lebron, kobe and other ball-dominant players fit the bill, they're more exceptions than rules.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

"wing" is in reference to your place on the floor in a standard basketball formation. The PG is in the center at the top of the 3 point arc. The SG and SFs are on the left and right "wing" and the PF/Cs are on the blocks or the elbows, depending on the formation. That's in the half court. In the full court, wing players bear as similar responsibility in taking up that space on the floor so that the optimal ball handling option can take up the center of the floor.

A "swingman" is a guy who can play either of the "wing" positions.

[youvalss]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

How about the 90's Grant Hill?

[Taur3asi3]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

Hill was more of a point forward in Detroit but he was probably fully capable of playing 1-4 in his absolute prime.

[ffaacc03]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

A swingman/wing player is basically a guy that can effectively play the small forward and shooting guard positions. It's basically someone who has the size and ability to play both positions hence the use of 'swing' in there. Ideally a swingman presents matchup problems when switching from the 3 to the 2 by being able to shoot over the top of smaller 2 guards as well as post them up using they're size advantage over them while being able to run past/drive the basket on the bigger guys at the 3 thanks to the quickness and athleticism they possess. At least that's how I've always seen the term.

"wing" is in reference to your place on the floor in a standard basketball formation. The PG is in the center at the top of the 3 point arc. The SG and SFs are on the left and right "wing" and the PF/Cs are on the blocks or the elbows, depending on the formation. That's in the half court. In the full court, wing players bear as similar responsibility in taking up that space on the floor so that the optimal ball handling option can take up the center of the floor.

A "swingman" is a guy who can play either of the "wing" positions.

Cant come any better than that ... u know your stuff, thank u guys.

[Jukeman]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

"wing" is in reference to your place on the floor in a standard basketball formation. The PG is in the center at the top of the 3 point arc. The SG and SFs are on the left and right "wing" and the PF/Cs are on the blocks or the elbows, depending on the formation. That's in the half court. In the full court, wing players bear as similar responsibility in taking up that space on the floor so that the optimal ball handling option can take up the center of the floor.

A "swingman" is a guy who can play either of the "wing" positions.

[Dewie12]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

For 60% of the NBA there is no difference between the 2-3 position. In college this is even more relevant. A lot of teams run 3 interchangeable guards.

Anyway good definitions and I wish we would list players more as guards, wings, forwards and bigs. Instead of PG, SG, SF, PF, C

Most 4/5 are interchangeable.
Most Forwards play 3/4
Most wings play 2/3
Most PG's play 1/2 (Luke Ridnour and Brandon Jennings played a lot of minutes together last year. Dallas with Barea and Boubeas (sp) etc....

[Bornindamecca]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

For 60% of the NBA there is no difference between the 2-3 position. In college this is even more relevant. A lot of teams run 3 interchangeable guards.

Anyway good definitions and I wish we would list players more as guards, wings, forwards and bigs. Instead of PG, SG, SF, PF, C

Most 4/5 are interchangeable.
Most Forwards play 3/4
Most wings play 2/3
Most PG's play 1/2 (Luke Ridnour and Brandon Jennings played a lot of minutes together last year. Dallas with Barea and Boubeas (sp) etc....

You must mean the 60% that's not in the playoffs, because in the playoffs the difference is HUGE. It determines what defensive packages you can use, whether you can switch on pick and rolls and which ones you can switch on, defensive transition options and where you bring your help defense from. Offensively, it determines spacing above everything else.

Players that are versatile enough to switch in the regular season are often locked into one position during the postseason, both offensively and defensively. The playoffs separate the men from the boys in terms of versatility, and great coaches know how to exploit this in their favor. The shorter rotations in the playoffs also filter out pseudo versatile players.

[Brankles]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

For 60% of the NBA there is no difference between the 2-3 position. In college this is even more relevant. A lot of teams run 3 interchangeable guards.

Anyway good definitions and I wish we would list players more as guards, wings, forwards and bigs. Instead of PG, SG, SF, PF, C

Most 4/5 are interchangeable.
Most Forwards play 3/4
Most wings play 2/3
Most PG's play 1/2 (Luke Ridnour and Brandon Jennings played a lot of minutes together last year. Dallas with Barea and Boubeas (sp) etc....

A wingman that's a 3 is probably a step slower and has less ball-handling ability than the guy who's playing the 2. The guy who's playing the 2 is usually shorter, not as bulky, and not as good of a rebounder or post defender as the 3.

The 2 and the 3 are not really interchangable. You're talking the difference between a guy around 6' tall (Ben Gordon/Allen Iverson) and a guy who is almost 7 feet tall or a monster strength wise (Hedo Turkoglu/Ron Artest/Andrei Kirilenko). Some players are strictly SGs and some players are strictly SFs as well. It's only the more versatile players with height and guard skills that can run both the 2 and the 3 (TMac, LeBron, Durant)

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

The 2 and the 3 are not really interchangable. You're talking the difference between a guy around 6' tall (Ben Gordon/Allen Iverson) and a guy who is almost 7 feet tall or a monster strength wise (Hedo Turkoglu/Ron Artest/Andrei Kirilenko). Some players are strictly SGs and some players are strictly SFs as well. It's only the more versatile players with height and guard skills that can run both the 2 and the 3 (TMac, LeBron, Durant)

Can't agree with some of what you're saying here. First, Ben Gordon and AI are not the norm for 2 guards. The average and preferred height for a 2 guard is around 6'4" possibly 6'3" and 3's are typically no where near 7.' You're taking guys that are exceptions to the standards and calling them the standards here. The typical height of a 3 starts at about 6'7." That's why guys like Hedo are such mismatches because they have size advantages over the other guys at their positions. When Hedo is running at the 3 or a Rashard is running there, the guy guarding them isn't an undersized 3, the two of them are oversized players. Ben Gordon and AI were considered undersized guards at their positions. The 2 and the 3 aren't interchangeable where just anybody can do it which is why there are only a few guys who are truly Swingmen in the league at a given time.

[Brankles]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

https://www.Espn.go.com/nba/depth

Most SFs on these teams are much bigger and much more phsyical than the SGs. Flip the sg and sf on each teams as if they were interchangeable and it doesn't work. Marvin Williams shouldn't be playing the 2. Neither should Gerald Wallace.

The SF and SG have similar skillsets often times, but I do think their positions are fairly well-defined as far as roles, size and athletic ability

[The15thunter]

Re: The defintion of playing the wing?

i always thought the ideal heights for the positions were as follows:
pg - 6'0" - 6'4"
sg - 6'4" - 6'7"
sf - 6'6" - 6'9"
pf - 6'8" - 7'0"
c - 6'10 - anything bigger