Having above-average size (height, muscle) is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. Adande, His Game 6 in the 1980 Finals, while jumping center as a 20-year-old rookie, has to be on the Mt. Point guards must be able to maintain possession of the ball in crowded spaces and in traffic and be able to advance the ball quickly. His most notable awards include five NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, nine All-NBA First Team selections, and 12 All-Star appearances. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. -- Pelton, Perhaps the most incredible part of the Big O's triple-double season is that he finished third in MVP voting (behind winner Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 50.4 PPG). While that is by design, he shouldnt get the same credit as players who bring their full attention the entire time theyre on the court. Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. Sometimes even when hes being smart, he gets a little dumb. He does all those little things that dont show up in box scores. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. One of the most innovative offensive players, San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili was a very unique player. He does get a bit of a bump here for his rebounding. I gave Paul the highest possible score here to offset the total ineptness of the coaching staff, and the frontcourt help he got last season, but he would have a high score regardless. 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. Hes just unable able to get high enough to legitimately challenge the shot. If the team gives up more points while hes on the court, thats bad. Bledsoes defensive numbers would be far worse if he werent getting helped out by Odom all the time. Hell overshoot passing lanes, gambling for the steal. WAMS includes scouting. On the other hand, you cant deny what happened, regardless of how much you watch. (As an aside, in the slides, you will only see the original metric value, not the weighted number to determine the WAM. Scottie Pippen 5. Paul gets caught in a trap that WAM cant entirely avoid because it can only look at what happens, not why it happens. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. He doesnt help much, but he doesnt get a lot of help either, so its a bit of a wash. To his credit, he has the best WAM score of any point guard without a great defensive center to back him up. -- Adams, The fashion forerunner to Russell Westbrook. Don't get me wrong: Steph is still the league's best shooter. Two-time MVP (2004-05, 2005-06), eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, Career stats By my count, about 70 percent of the time, the ball-handler will get past him and get a shot off. He was a master at leading the fastbreak, which led to Celtics titles. One of basketballs most dynamic and versatile point guards in the modern era. You're the worst defensive point guard in the NBA!!! Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. Thats the difference between what I call work intelligence and natural intelligence. Some people just have to work to pick things up. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. Its what separates him from being a valuable, slightly overrated defender, and an elite defender. For eight consecutive seasons, Cousy was the leagues top assist producer, and he was also one of the finest scorers in the league. He owes his charitable demeanour to a group of elementary school parents. Yet somehow he manages to compensate and do a reasonably fair job of defending, even in isolation. We compiled a list of the top 15 point guards of all time using wholly subjective metrics from the list of active players and a few other legends. Russell is regarded as one of the best point guard finishers of all time. Since elite offensive players tend to have a higher usage rate, players that guard elite offensive players should also have more defensive plays. Below is a list of the 25 Best point guards of the NBA. Whether you like him or not (and I personally dont), you have to respect that he plays the game as hard as it can be played. It is really hard to say anything about Lowrys help defense. Penny, a taller point guard, was an excellent dribbler and a great passer. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. This year, without Rose, the Bulls were 23rd, at 21.0 points per game. 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. -- Adande, He led the NBA in assists nine straight seasons from 1987 to 1996. 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. Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Congratulations, Brian Roberts! Let's see who has made it to the top 10 best point guards of all time. 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. You dont see him take plays off, and you dont see him give up on plays. He always picks up on the switch. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. In the NBA, point guards generally range from 6ft 1in (1.85m) to 6ft 4in (1.93m) whereas in the WNBA, point guards are usually 5ft 9in (1.75m) or shorter. Adande, Brad Doolittle, Tom Haberstroh and Kevin Pelton are NBA writers for ESPN.com. Championships: 3. Sounds great, right? -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. They are available for those who want to know where they fit, and it doesn'thurt anyone to include them. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. 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. Chris Paul 13. The other metrics help alleviate the extremes because they also indicate what a players personal defense does. From there, hes playing catch up. Players Stats: 16.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards at the Wayback Machine (archived July 12, 2005), accessed 2008-02-09 This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58 . Do they get their hands up and use their length? Another major evaluation factor is the assist-to-turnover ratio, which reflects the decision-making skills of the player. Magic Johnson. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. Its like hes just punching the clock and collecting his wages. Hes not just ordinary quick, either; hes pesky-quick, with fast hands that dart in and take the ball out of the ball-handler's dribble with alarming frequency. Smart people recognize their limitations. 5-on-5: Will Curry pass Magic as best PG ever? 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. Gary Payton 12. However, a good jump shot and the ability to score off a drive to the basket are still valuable skills. He was the league's third player to reach 25,000 points (after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson). The NBA's best European guard, Tony Parker, monopolised opposing backcourt players with speed and agility, a tight crossover, and a gorgeous tear-drop floater in the lane. He has a high basketball IQ, and he has that veteran savvy thing going for him, too. 13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, .384 3P%, The player If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. Two NBA titles and a Finals MVP award make him one of the all-time great point guards because of his ability to score from mid-range and his propensity to attack and finish at the rim. Previously, Id had the impression that Rondo was beaten more often than he actually is and that Kevin Garnett just constantly bailed him out, which made his numbers look better than they are. 21.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.9 APG, .441 3P%, We counted down the greatest players in NBA history. Hes fearless, and no matter how large the big setting the pick is, he wont back down. 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. Total Defensive Plays per 36 Minutes, or TDP/36 is simply the total number of defensive rebounds, steals and blocks a player accrues every 36 minutes. Players Stats: 23.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 6.6 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 2x MVP, 6x All-Star, 6x All-NBA Selection, 2015-2016 Scoring Champion. He doesnt try to make great plays, but he tries not to make mistakes, which is maybe what he should be concentrating on. 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. Once he had the ball on the fastbreak, The Flash was gone. Despite the fact that he was unable to win an NBA championship, his charisma and dribbling prowess will never be forgotten. Sometimes it doesnt. Chris is also a leader on the defensive end of the court, having been named to nine All-Defensive Teams. When he gets it going, hes unstoppable. 10-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, five-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats 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. Players Stats: 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 1963-1964 MVP, 12x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 1960-1961 Rookie of the Year, Hall of Famer. His net defensive rating of 4.2 is an indication of both a lack of his helping and asking for help. Only two other players besides Moncrief have won the NBAs defensive player of the year award twice. Its more than that. He has become one of the hardest working point guards in the league on both ends. Its like hes chosen the worst of both worlds. As a result, opponents shot 42.9 percent from deep against him in the pick-and-roll. Jrue Holiday is not fast so much as he is quick. His lateral movement and reaction time are exceptional, and thats indicated by his isolation defense. From that, each player was scored in five different areas on a scale of 18 (best) to 22 (worst). All-Time #NBArank: Top 10 point guards ever, 'Not going out this way': Nets, down 28, stun C's, Kerr touts 5-0 homestand: Dubs 'turned a corner', KD: Mavs tilt, Kyrie meeting 'just another game', Owner: Snyder, Fields will bring Hawks success, Isaac has surgery on adductor, done for season, Clips' Powell out at least a week to treat shoulder, LeBron to have tendon injury checked in 3 weeks. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy! He didnt have an eye-popping number, but he was in the top 25 percent of players there. His career averages of 27 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 7.0 APG were arguably the best ever put up by a point guard when he retired in 1974. While Rose was fairly criticized for not playing hard defensively prior to Thibodeau, that criticism is no longer accurate. This is what I mean by ubiquity. Other individual metrics and team metrics thin out the impact of those factors. And, there are also times when he does the bailing out. Kawhi Leonard 11. -- Pelton, If he had played with The Mailman or a defense as stout as the Pistons, he might have made a couple of Finals by now. Teams To recap, Jason Kidd was the best defensive point guard, Michael Jordan skied above other shooting guards, John Havlicek paced all small forwards - for the time being - and the "Mailman . When he was at his peak, Rose was one of the greatest point guards of all time, and he merits a spot in the top 15. There are some disadvantages to this style of play. -- Adams, For nine consecutive years, Nash's teams led the NBA in offensive rating. Sometimes, measurables dont tell the whole story. On the other hand, he was frequently bailing out whoever was playing shooting guard on numerous occasions. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. Hes able to stay in front of all but the quickest point guards in the league. But thats why we do the research. Closing out on shooters, hell go sailing past them. He also plays through to the end of the play when his man doesnt have the ball, which is not something you see all point guards do. Sixth-greatest point guard in basketball history. Lennys passing and leadership on the floor were solid, but he also had a few great scoring years on the court. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 7, 1974, to a Welsh mother, Jean, and an English father, John. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. For that reason, subjective analysis was also included. He still struggles against the spot-up, though, because of issues that will be addressed later. In his single season with the Wizards, the former NBA MVP averaged a triple-double (again), and he was a big reason why Washington made the playoffs after a rough start to the season. In fact, a player may have great individual numbers precisely because he is actually detrimental to his team. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. These were calculated using the raw stats available on any site carrying basic stats. You can be the best shooter in the world, but you can't score if you don't get the ball. For the purpose of this study, 82games was used because the net defensive rating was also easily available and it made for consistency. Not to mention that he is an elite finisher around the rim, shooting 61.5 per cent on 5-foot attempts. They must also be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing and must control the pace of the game. The more often he is the primary defender, the more likely he is to be responsible for guarding the player who is getting the most plays offensively. He also defends well against post-up plays, yielding just .54 points per play, although thats on an admittedly small 17-play sample size. Players Stats: 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 5x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Jrue Holiday. For a player who lacks lateral quickness and a player that has been in the league as long as he has, you would think Williams would have learned to do a better job of steering opponents into the help defense. Players Stats: 18.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2010-2011 MVP, 3x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Selection, 2008-2009 Rookie of the Year. He doesnt play on the ball physically, utilizing that advantage. -- Adande, The best two-way small player in league history, Paul embodies the era in which he plays by running the pick-and-roll as well as anyone has ever run it. As previously stated, he gets the help from Green and Leonard to guard the top point guards. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic usually practiced by much larger centers and forwards. Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG, .428 3P%, The player Thats pretty much what you see with Conley. Robertson amassed 26,710 points and 9,887 assists during his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. The best way to track how effective a player is on the defensive end is by looking at their cumulative defensive win shares. He has the speed to get there, but not the length to disrupt the shot once he does. Ultimately, Johnson's unselfishness earned him the title of greatest point guard of all time. ALL-TIME #NBARANK, 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25, The player Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year career, helping him get 64.9 DWS. During the 1960-1961 season, the then-32-year-old Cousy racked up 6.3 DWS, the most in his career. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the First Team all nine times. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. He has decent size for a point guard, at 63 but he doesnt have much of a vertical: 28.5.. Players Stats: 15.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG, Honors: 4x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection. The point guard is positioned on the perimeter of the play, so as to have the best view of the action. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. He always seems to know exactly where everyone is. All that was due to Bryant emulating Jordans relentless drive to win on both sides of the floor. It will be interesting to see how well he does with Larry Sanders behind him in Milwaukee. Exceptions were made for Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Love because they have all been All-Star players, and all are still, at least by age, in their prime. This can cause other players to become disinvolved in the offense. People that just do their job dont usually pitch in and help their co-workers. -- Haberstroh, Teams Sometimes that happens, but not all that often. Scroll below to see where Stephen Curry ranks among the best point guards in the NBA. It was just his second season when he led the league in scoring with an average of 27.1 points per game, despite some serious injury setbacks. In his 20 seasons, Bryant averaged 2.5 DWS and 1.4 steals per year. He actually plays his best games against his best opponents. He compensates for his diminutive size by fighting hard and using that aforementioned quickness. The second-highest regulation scoring output of the 3-point era was the culmination . An indication of this is the fact that hes had only nine dunks in his career, the last of which was over seven years ago. His ability to score and create plays made him an NBA superstar. Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose are the two most physically gifted point guards of their generation, and, as a result, are constantly going to be compared to one another. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right.
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