That had the effect of distorting Pauls on/off numbers. 1. He had unusual strength for his size, quick feet, elite hands, and timing to help him hold down opponents one-on-one and rack up steals. Its safe to say that Kidd is one of the greatest guards to ever play on the basketball floor. Lets say a perimeter defender gets beaten and then his center blocks the shot. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year. Players Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. He normally makes the right play, even if he doesnt always do it well. Last season, when Rose was healthy early on, they gave up the thirdmost, 16.3 points. The only thing is that the Bulls actually gave up 8.6 more points while he was on the court. While his pick-and-roll stats, according to Synergy, are excellent, at .68 points per play, half the time he seems to get bailed out by his frontcourt. LeBron James, the best player in the NBA, is also the league's best point guard. The seven-time All-Star was one of the best two-way guards of his time, and his performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA FInals remains one for the ages. -- Brad Doolittle, Robertson's averaging a triple-double in 1961-62 is probably overrated because it was a product of the fast-paced play in the 1960s, but his role in the Milwaukee Bucks' early '70s championship run is probably underrated. His stellar pick-and-roll defensive score has more to do with being backed up by Omer Asik than it does his own play. Ranking 50 Greatest Point Guards in NBA History Photo Gallery | NBA.com Teams G League WNBA BAL NBA 2K NBA Store NBA League Pass Tickets Schedule Team News Gameday Youth Basketball Shop. During the 1960-1961 season, the then-32-year-old Cousy racked up 6.3 DWS, the most in his career. Great size made him impossible for most. READ ALSO: James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. Conley is inconsistent in how he applies effort on the court. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. -- Adande, Teams At 64, hes big enough to guard shooting guards, as well as point guards. The corresponding WAM or WAMS scores indicate how many points a group of like-skilled players on the court would theoretically give up in 100 possessions. He just doesnt have the length to effectively guard against them. What he gives up at the point of attack, he makes up for with his team defense. As a point guard, Frazier was one of the greatest in NBA history. His offensive style has been revamped to incorporate a powerful mid-range jumper along with some range as well. When hes not getting wrapped up, he plays the pick-and-roll well. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. Each touches a different part of the elephant, one an ear, another the torso and so on. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Players Stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 9.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 3x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1988-1989 Most Improved Player. Some will just hang around waiting for the play to end, but Jack keeps track of his man and also helps if its needed. It just feels like there should be another notch where pride kicks in, he gets passionateor even angryand he hits another level. The problem is he doesnt use that height or strength as well as youd like to see. When he tries, Lowry can be a solid defensive player, but that whole when he tries qualifier is pretty significant. From that, each player was scored in five different areas on a scale of 18 (best) to 22 (worst). As a result, he has received numerous awards, including the 'NBA Most Valuable Player' (MVP) award and the "PAC Player of the Year." Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year career, helping him get 64.9 DWS. He tends to rely on his speed to compensate for his lack of mass. Stockton embodied a true point guard: an extension of the coach that ran the teams offense seamlessly. Because they each feel a different thing, an argument arises as to who is right. Chris is also a leader on the defensive end of the court, having been named to nine All-Defensive Teams. He uses his feet and body well, steering his man into the help defense when he knows hes not able to keep up. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. He literally may be the least athletic guard in the Association. Aware of his predilections, theyll pass the ball out to the perimeter, and simultaneous to the ball-handler catching it, theyll set a pick on Westbrook. Perhaps next year the Raptors will see better times, and well see less of that kind of behavior, but its a harmful habit to have picked up. For example, there was a play in which he was switched up against the Clippers, and he was put on Chauncey Billups, while Tony Allen was on Chris Paul. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. If youre a fan of the TV show Suits, you might agree that Harvey Specter dresses well. His Synergy numbers compared to some of his team numbers validate that. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. One of basketballs most dynamic and versatile point guards in the modern era. It doesnt seem that it would be that impressive if found it. Only two other players besides Moncrief have won the NBAs defensive player of the year award twice. Even when he has to go under the pick, which is most of the time, hes so fast that hes able to close the distance before the ball-handler has time to do something with it. Thats pretty much what you see with Conley. Hinrich has a bit more going for him in terms of size. Point guards are often valued more for their assist totals than for their scoring. The five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection has averaged more than 24 points per game since being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012. There are few players on this list who can match his incredible scoring, rebounding, and playmaking prowess. When hes coming off screens, hes especially horrible, giving up 1.15 points per play. Curry has won three NBA championships and cemented his status as the finest shooter in NBA history since becoming a superstar and two-time MVP. Occasionally hell chase the play after hes been beaten, but not always. People that just do their job dont usually pitch in and help their co-workers. I actually looked for him to do it and couldnt find it. He also knew when he needed to score, as evidenced by his 42-point performance in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals for a Lakers team missing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Perhaps the most unstoppable offensive player in NBA history, Jordan decimated and demoralized his foes on the defensive end. In balance he was a plus, but his deficiencies cant be ignored. With his record of successes and pioneering point guard talents, Magic is at the top of the list. They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. Those are the questions I was looking to answer. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Williams tends to play defense, but he only seems to do the minimum. Other individual metrics and team metrics thin out the impact of those factors. The problem is that sometimes players are so inept, they skew the stats of other players. If it tends to fall in the middle, he gets a 20. You never have to question his effort or commitment. He keeps track of his man when holding back in the lane to cut off passing lanes. In his book The Winner Within, Pat Riley described Magic as a club DJ. A decade of playing and a plethora of injuries havent helped him get any faster. Scottie Pippen 5. Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value. Hes able to stay in front of all but the quickest point guards in the league. Players Stats: 12.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8.7 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA Selection, 1994-1995 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. One aspect of Roses year-long absence that gets lost is how much the team suffered defensively without him. That makes him eligible for inclusion on this list of best point guards. He closed out on jump-shooters half-heartedly, which is bad enough, but when you combine that with the way he played pick-and-roll plays, it was even worse. The only thing keeping Thomas off this list is his brief career by star standards. Russ is already on the verge of breaking into the top five of all time, but its going to be a challenge. If theres a weakness, though, its that when he comes up against the elite offensive point guards, he will get beaten in isolation. Lillard has been one of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, capable of striking shots from anywhere on the floor. For each of the following metrics, click on the subhead to be taken to the source website for more details. However, a good jump shot and the ability to score off a drive to the basket are still valuable skills. That has more to do with the second-string frontcourt, led by Lamar Odom, backing him up than it does his team defense. -- Kevin Pelton, NBA Insider, May be the strongest point guard ever and consistently made everyone around him better. Chris Paul is widely considered to be one of the best point guards of the 2010s. Surely the most underappreciated great player in NBA history because he was quietly dependable rather than flashy and never broke through on the biggest stage. Thats good for 14th all-time in NBA history and he also had 10 seasons in the top 20 for steals per game. If you just look at his measurables, Chris Paul is not impressive. And, there are also times when he does the bailing out. While Rose is slightly faster, Westbrook is slightly bigger. He arguably makes more plays on his feet, both offensively and defensively, than anyone else. There arent many point guards in the league who can match Roses pure size and strength. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. He has 12 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA selections, nine All-Defensive Team selections, and a second-place MVP finish in his third season at 22. This is where everything focuses on Westbrook. Each fails to realize that they are all right, and that the real answer is in the combination of what they all experienced. Also with both, theyve shown more success utilizing their physical attributes on the offensive end than the defensive end. In order to answer that, we introduce Weighted Averaged Metrics (WAM) and WAM with Scouting (WAMS), a pair of advanced defensive metrics which combine other stats and metrics, weight them so that each represents an equal relative value, and then use them all to derive a final score. In all, Jordans 64.1 DWS rank him 21st all-time. If you dont want to consider them, then dont. He averaged 3.9 win shares per season, totaling 75.1 DWS at the end of his 19-year career, good for 11th all-time. Then, when players pull up and shoot, he doesnt use his length to close and get a hand in the face of the shooter. -- Peterson, Teams Chris Paul 13. Its what separates him from being a valuable, slightly overrated defender, and an elite defender. On the other hand, hes not tremendously athletic. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. Hakeem Olajuwon 2. Eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, seven-time All-D selection, Rookie of the Year (2005-06), Career stats Even though he was 38 years old when he won his first NBA championship with the Mavericks, he had two trips to the NBA Finals with the Nets. But it seems like Paul is nutmeggingand breaking opposing defenders ankles every game. This typically involves setting up plays on the court, getting the ball to the teammate in the best position to score, and controlling the tempo of the game. 11. Most of those come for one of two reasons: Either he bites on the fake and is too slow to recover, or the shooter shoots over him and he doesnt have the ups to challenge it. He seemed to keep ahead of the play, moving to the next rotation a fraction of a second before the play even developed in that direction. He does those things; he just doesnt do them very hard. Above all, the point guard must understand and accept their coach's game plan; in this way, the position can be compared to a quarterback in American football. In the past, this was particularly true, as several point guards such as Lenny Wilkens served their teams as player coaches. His net defensive rating is fairly close to even, and slightly above average for point guards. The most striking thing about Hinrich is just how often he is the initial defender on the play. Steph's ball-handling abilities make him a lethal ball-handler, as he can shake a defender at any time. Six blind men all go to see an elephant which they'venever encountered before. Players Stats: 23.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2016-2017 MVP, 9x All-Star, 8x All-NBA Selection, 2x Scoring Champion. The number in the parentheses indicates where they ranked in that category. Because Derrick Rose was the NBAs youngest MVP in 2009, its unfortunate that the guy isnt higher on this list. Starter from the VCT lockin. This mans achievements are indisputable, and the prospect of him winning a second NBA championship just adds to his greatness. When they do, he gets tangled up pretty badly; it happens so rarely, though, youd think he had eyes in the back of his head. He is so athletic and so strong for his size that hes been able to get away without learning lessons he should have. Watching specifically for this, I found only three instances in 50 plays where Garnett bailed out Rondo on isolation plays, a rate which is lower than most point guards receiving help. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. It probably tells the accurate story here. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. He had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. Robertson amassed 26,710 points and 9,887 assists during his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. Its not uncommon to see him challenge shots with both feet on the floor. While most of these stats are adjusted for minutes, the problem surfaces that bench players, playing fewer minutes, can appear to be better than they are. Second, having a five-point range on a 22-point scale prevents any one statistic from overly dominating the others. Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" To absolutely nobodys surprise, Michael Jordan is the best defensive shooting guard in NBA history. Lin is a mixed bag when it comes to help defense. Although Jordan won that battle, theres nothing wrong with being named the third-best defensive player at his position and one of the best shooting guards of all time. Our booby prize winner is pictured above. He doesnt have to race around to get in position because hes almost never out of position. Bill Russell 3. -- Doolittle, Perhaps someday Paul will reach the conference finals and we can focus more on his incredible accomplishments as a scorer, distributor and defender and less on his teams' inability to turn them into deep playoff runs. He did it not once, not twice, but three times. Closing out on shooters, hell go sailing past them. In terms of career statistics and postseason accomplishments, he ranks as the NBAs fourth-best point guard of all time. If hes on the court, hes moving at full speed. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62, when he averaged a triple-double for the entire season, a feat that has never been duplicated. He has trouble compensating for his lack of size when challenging jump shots. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. He can be stagnant when his man doesnt have the ball. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, two of the better perimeter defenders in the league, often take up the responsibility for guarding the best point guards. Therefore, its a Theoretically Asked Questions, or TAQ. Then, after a single down year, he had y straight years of 2 steals per . The reason teams run so much pick-and-roll is that it works. The debate over whether it should have been a flagrant is mootclearly that got into James head because he was talking about it after the game. For a full game, Moncrief was capable of shutting down almost any guard in NBA history. Micah Adams is the lead NBA research specialist for ESPN Stats and Info. Always free! He seems to get frustrated easily. Brandon Knight has work intelligence. This is especially true when closing out on defenders. The biggest reason appears to be a fundamental one. If a player tends to be the helper, he gets a better score. Although Wade had an accomplished resume, if he had played one more season, he wouldve easily overtaken the next player on the list. These combo point guards can surprise defenses. Cincinnati Royals (1960-70), Milwaukee Bucks (1970-74), Honors On the flip side, Westbrook's 4.13 turnovers per game average is the highest all-time, with Johnson (3. . As a result, hes been a member of the All-Defensive 1st Team four times and a member of the All-Defensive 2nd Team five times. Mentally subtract them from the rankings if you feel they shouldn'tbe included. For Rose, his biggest issues on both sides of the ball have to do with fundamentals and understanding. He tends to be beaten off the dribble more often than he should be, considering his physical advantages, but he also uses his physical ability to recover when he is beaten. Steve Nash 7. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. The five best defensive point guards of all time Jarrod Castillo Dec 16, 2019; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul (3) directs his team during a play against the. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. Since elite offensive players tend to have a higher usage rate, players that guard elite offensive players should also have more defensive plays. Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. As a result, hes been a member of the All-Defensive First Team four times and a member of the All-Defensive Second Team five times. Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. While hes able to keep himself from getting pushed around when point guards, or even shooting guards, try and post up on him, hes not able to dig through picks the way the other three are. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. Teams He applies himself and stays committed, but when hes beaten on a play, hell relax waiting for his bigs to pick up the slack. 2. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. You can be the best shooter in the world, but you can't score if you don't get the ball. With his athleticism and speed, there is no way that Rose should get beaten off the dribble as often as he does. Thats the advantage of the scouting portion. But what kind of suit was he wearing on the last episode? Sometimes, all that the on/off stats tell you is the difference between two players that play the same position. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. In case you missed it, Jason Kidd was tops on the list with 75.1 DWS, good for 11th all-time. He could create at an elite level while also scoring off the dribble from the midrange. As a Golden State Warrior and Miami Heat legend, Tim Hardaway may have the best crossover in basketball history. Coaches are responsible for developing young players, and it would have been fun to watch him grow under Doc Rivers. salesian missions better business bureau, sydney swans academy graduates, christopher radko ornament,
