In Order: What are the most important PG qualities?

[Bornindamecca]

Speaking purely of physical basketball skills. If I miss a skill , feel free to add. Here's how I'd break it down, along with a short explanation.

1. Ball handling: the PG is the first person to touch the ball on most plays, so they have to be able to move it around the court to the other players. They also have to be able to bust traps, otherwise the offense never gets started.

2. Passing: the primary role of the PG is to allow finishers to complete plays. The most efficient way to do this is to give them the ball in their comfort areas, rather then having them dribble to their comfort areas, which allows the defense to set roaming zones and double teams.

3. Defense: An opposing guard's penetration compromises even the best defensive scheme. Keeping small guards out of the paint shuts down the first playmaking option of an offense.

4. Shooting: The PG is rarely the most efficient scoring option, so they are often not the first option. However, a PG that is able to shoot spaces the floor and prevents defensive guards with quick hands from disrupting the other offensive players.

5. Rebounding: When a guard can rebound, they can initiate the break, and the transition game is always more effective when the rebounder can dribble and pass. On the offensive glass, guards are too quick and skilled for a recovering defense to react to.

6. Finishing at the Rim: Being smaller players, guards are usually at a disadvantage close to the basket. However, when a guard can finish at the rim, forwards are forced to collapse on them, which opens the game up for even lower skilled big men.

7. Setting Screens: Because of their size disadvantage, guards rarely get called for illegal screens. This can be exploited in the pick and roll.


I'm bringing this up because on ranking lists and in discussions, some people have me wondering what they value most in a point guard. I'm real curious to see how this breaks down for everyone else on this site.

[Muzyk23]

I would add court vision and decision making.

For me it seems though that every PG is more of a scorer than distributor these days.

[Bornindamecca]

Quote: Originally Posted by Muzyk23

I would add court vision and decision making. For me it seems though that every PG is more of a scorer than distributor these days.

Those are mental skills. I'm only listing physical skills.

[Stumbleweed]

1. Ball handling -- if you are controlling the ball most of the time, you have to limit turnovers, wasted possessions, and draining the shotclock while doing nothing offensively. Being able to weave out of double teams, get the ball down the court quickly in fastbreak situations, and simply being able to clear enough space to shoot/pass/drive are all components of ball-handling more than anything (though of course speed/quickness helps).

2. Vision/IQ -- I think this is separate from actual passing ability and relates more to the PG's overall understanding of the game, their ability to see unusual passing lanes, knowing where their teammates like the ball, and knowing when they should drive, shoot, or pass... Someone like Chauncey Billups is the posterboy for this attribute.. he's not the greatest passer, but he makes smart plays, controls bad ones, and just knows what it takes to win within a team dynamic. A PG with good vision seems to always make the right play unless they actually make a bad pass or another error of that nature.

3. Defense -- Being able to disrupt the other team's PG (the initiator of 95% of NBA offenses) can do wonders for a team's overall defense. even theough PGs are rarely the #1 scoring threat, they are the main cog required to get good looks for others. As we saw in the playoffs, CP3 really struggled with Dahntay Jones' defense and it reflected on everyone else on the roster in the form of reduced productivity because CP3 couldn't get to the spots where he initiates the offense vey easily and had a a hard time making clean passes. When you can get this kind of defense from an actual PG instead of having to cross-match like Denver did, you have a huge advantage in terms of perimeter defense (which in turn makes the job of the interior defenders easier, as they're covering for less mistakes).

4. Passing -- Actual passing ability... includes the ability to make difficult (think fancy) passes, the ability to make passes in tight areas, choosing the right type of pass for the situation (i.e. using the bounce pass on pick and rolls), and knowing/putting the ball in the spots the other players like. Some guys have more in one area than another, so Jason Williams is super flashy and has incredible passing ability, but he lacked some of the other components of passing (and also much of the vision/IQ ocmponent), whereas Chauncey doesn't really make flashy passes on a regular basis but has smart/fundamental passes and where shooters like the ball down pat.

5. Shooting -- Most teams don't rely on the PG for scoring with a few exceptions, but having someone at the top of the arc who can hit the open three is huge for spreading the floor and keeping the defense on its guard. The pull-up jumper in particular is a great tool for a PG to have (again, see Billups) because the defense is never sure if the PG will set up the play or simply pull up and drain a three... This further opens up the drive and kick game, as the defender can't simply play the PG for drives (and the interior defense can't just sit there waiting for them to come into the paint) when there is the constant threat of a jumper.

6. Speed/Finishing -- Speed kills in the PG realm... because they're initiating the offense and often getting the ball immediately after missed shots are rebounded, having someone that can catch the defense off-guard with his speed is a great way to get cheap buckets. Guys who aren't spectacular ball-handlers can still do some serious damage simply because they're fast, and driving, quick PGs are very tough for anyone to defend, even another very fast PG with good defensive ability. Being able to finish tough shots when you get by someone makes this attribute far more deadly. Only a few guys have speed, the ball-handling, and the finishing ability to be top-flight PGs.

7. Rebounding -- yeah, it's nice when your PG can rebound the ball and start the break himself (eliminates the need for an additional pass and the slow-down that comes with it), but it's not an essential skill by any means.

[Bornindamecca]

Good stuff, Stumble. A couple small notes:

1. Speed is not a skill, and when I thought of that, I also thought of strength. It occurred to me that the best PGs are not necessarily the fastest PGs, and this goes across NBA history. Obviously there are some great quick PGs, but Magic, Stockton, Payton, Deron, Chauncey and many others are great PGs, but not the fastest guys by far. So the result, which is finishing or penetrating, or getting where you want to go, is often a combination of speed, strength, size and skill based off of an individual player's physical gifts and developed skills.

2. IQ/Court Vision is a mental skill. To keep the discussion clear, I'd like to take that off of the table for now.

EDIT: Re: Flashy passing...I think that's a little overrated. Sometimes a person's individual dexterity makes an easy pass look like a difficult pass. I wouldn't call flashy passers as or more talented than basic passers. The real great passers are the ones that--as you alluded to-- can put the ball in the shooter's pocket. The higher the skill level, the less the variables of: movement of the passer, movement of the recipient, dominant ball hand and defense--collectively affect the success of the pass. This goes for alley oops, post entry passes, passes to screeners, inbounds passes, etc.

[Stumbleweed]

Well, flashy passes are sometimes the only way to make a given play. Think Nash threading the needle behind his back while running full-speed on the break when all other passing lanes are closed -- that's definitely a skill that's important to have, but much of the time the flashy passes are unnecessary and cause turnovers (Nash is guilty of this as well). The ones who know when to use them (keep mentioning Chauncey, but he had some INSANE flashy passes last year, but only when they were necessary) but keep that aspect to a minimum tend to the best best PGs. Like the alley-oop.. theoretically, that's a tough (and is still generally considered a flashy) play to make, even with good finishers -- but someone like CP3 or Andre Miller is so adept at throwing it from different positions on the floor, at different speeds/angles, etc. that the formerly flashy pass becomes utilitarian and no longer risky due to the overall skill of the PG involved.

[tehova]

specialized teammates


edit: oops you said physical skills,i'll be back with something

The most important qualities for me would be in order, ball handling,finishing at the rim and then passing (defense would be last)

[TheMatrix31]

The most important qualities of a PG are not physical then, I guess.

Leadership, court vision, and IQ.

I'd have to disagree with ball-handling, at least in regards to a guy like Nash. He plays reckless sometimes, and due to the style, there are more than a few turnovers. More than I'd like. But Nash won 2 MVPs and for a while, was the best PG in the league. At thirty-whatever, he's still up there. Ball handling is important, just don't know how high it is on the list.