Hes one of the most prolific players in the game. One of the great conundrums in rating defense is that teammates factor into it. It seems to be down to less than once a game. On and off the court, Dave Bing was an excellent high-scoring NBA point guard who achieved greatness. Damian Lillard (2013-Present) AP Images. He made everything go for those Lakers teams. Sometimes, measurables dont tell the whole story. He applies his energy smartly. Sportbrief has published an article about James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. This is where everything focuses on Westbrook. These point guard rankings will be the first of five articles. 10-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, five-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Not only is Damian Lillard one of the most exciting players in the game today, he makes a strong case as one of the best point guards in NBA history. Sometimes it doesnt. In fact, a player may have great individual numbers precisely because he is actually detrimental to his team. What he offers goes beyond the court. No question hell be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and hes one of the greatest rim-attacking players in NBA history. He has a high basketball IQ, and he has that veteran savvy thing going for him, too. They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. Even though Payton only played a little part in 2006, the Heats success would not have been possible without his defensive presence and leadership. How they moved laterally, closed out on shooters, and recovered after getting beaten were also taken into account. He actually plays his best games against his best opponents. Moncrief is well known for his defensive prowess. Players Stats: 15.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 2006-2007 Finals MVP, 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Selection. Perhaps it was the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers were having a disappointing season without their newly acquired star, Andrew Bynum. Paul is just listed at just 60, and that might be generous. Don't get me wrong: Steph is still the league's best shooter. He applies himself and stays committed, but when hes beaten on a play, hell relax waiting for his bigs to pick up the slack. One of the most innovative offensive players, San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili was a very unique player. He was also an outstanding playmaker and a solid scorer with a strong mid-range game. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. Paul was able to keep you at bay on one side of the court while dominating the other with his scoring and passing abilities. 13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, .384 3P%, The player He may get beaten occasionally, and he might get outmuscled more frequently, but he never gets outhustled. His length is better; he has a 65.75 wingspan. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. The weakness is that it also includes some of what the other player does defensively, (e.g.. blocks, steals, and defensive rebounds). Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. We ranked the best point guards, determining the list with the help of B-R's position splits. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. Yet somehow he manages to compensate and do a reasonably fair job of defending, even in isolation. Mr. Even though injuries caught up with him toward the end of his illustrious career, Bryant still battled as a defender when needed. Once he had the ball on the fastbreak, The Flash was gone. But hes slightly built, and that raises some issues, especially when hes caught a fraction of a second behind a play. Players Stats: 19.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 1989-1990 Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. In fact, no drafted guard has ever measured a worse sprint, vertical and agility test. -- Peterson, Teams In his 16-year career, Wade averaged 2.961 DWS per year and his 47.38 DWS is good for 55th overall. He only gave up .66 points per play in isolation, but he yielded .86 to the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. Players like Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving consistently cross him over and get past him. They were combined and adjusted to cover a range roughly between 18 and 22. He merits a high score here. Other defenders deficiencies are hidden by being put on weaker offensive players. -- Adande, Teams 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, .485 FG%, The player Great size made him impossible for most. He does such a good job of it while the ball is in front of him, theres no reason he couldnt do it after the ball-handler gets past him. However, hes not the slowest point guard in the league either, and when hes not biting on the crossovers, hes able to do a decent job of staying in front of most average point guards. Aside from his offensive prowess, Johnson had the ability to hit for power and lead the offense at a high level. He might not be the fastest guy in the world, but that doesnt keep him from trying to be. He spent his entire NBA career (19842003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz, and the team made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. He tends to use that speed and athleticism well when hes in position, too. Dennis Rodman 4. -- Peterson, He's one of only a few players in history who has been deemed too good for the sport's own good. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the First Team seven times and the Second Team twice. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. All you have to do is watch him on offense to know he has all kinds of speed. Magic Johnson. Although Drexler never made an All-Defensive Team in his career, he did average two steals per game for his 15-year career. Michael Jordan 10. In addition to the traditional role of the point guard, modern teams have found new ways to utilize the position. Jeremy Lin is not one of the faster point guards in the NBA, and hes not particularly quick either. By combining them, we can get a better picture of the whole elephant of a players defense. On Detroits 2004 NBA championship squad, he led the likes of Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace to victory over the LA Lakers superteam. They tried just as hard as the valedictorian, but all they got were Bs. He is going to get beaten, without question. He also is tougher than most point guards to post up. Stockton was the. Neither of those is really a criticism of Parker, but its a reality. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the shot clock and the game clock, the score, the numbers of remaining timeouts for both teams, etc. 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. Gary Payton. -- Adams, The fashion forerunner to Russell Westbrook. Its like someone took a normal-sized person and stretched out the arms and hands to make him. A 12-time All-Defensive Team selection, a nine-time 1st team All-Defense and three-time 2nd team All-Defense, Bryant's 50.6 DWS ranks him 43rd overall. He was a master at leading the fastbreak, which led to Celtics titles. While he was doing that, Billups, who actually had the ball the whole time, just stepped back behind the three-point line and drained the three. In the MVP vote for the 1967-1968 season, he finished second behind the unstoppable Wilt Chamberlain. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG. Jerry West, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, combines a lethal jump shot, tenacious defence, obsessive perfectionism, unwavering confidence, and an unwavering will to win. The following are the five categories and what was considered for each of them: How fast players are from end to end is only a part of speed. He leaves talented shooters alone to go double-team bad shooters. He plays longer than he actually is. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . 25. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor, who can handle and distribute the ball to teammates. Its possible for Nash to be the whole offense and to shoot 50-40-90 from the field on a continuous basis. Penny Hardaway was well recognized for his relationship with Shaquille ONeal when he was only a kid. His helter-skelter wizziness has him flying around the court, and sometimes its good. A point guard should know when and how to instigate a fast break and when and how to initiate the more deliberate sets. According to Hoops Stats, in his MVP season, the Bulls gave up the fewest points to opposing point guards. To read more, go here! Notable point guards of the WNBA include five-time champion Sue Bird, her Olympic teammate Diana Taurasi (the only two basketball players of either gender to earn five Olympic gold medals for basketball[1]) and Courtney Vandersloot. Sometimes he wont give that much effort, and then the next moment hell be trying too hard. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time. When he was off the ball, it was spectacular. In the past, this was particularly true, as several point guards such as Lenny Wilkens served their teams as player coaches. Thats where we naturally focus our attention, so when it comes to things like help defense, we only notice if were looking for it, or if its extreme. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. The average score by point guards was 16.1. He doesnt have overwhelming effort that blows you away, but he has earnest effort. 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection, nine-time All-D selection, co-Rookie of the Year (1994-95), Career stats At 6-foot-1, he's the shortest NBA Finals MVP in league history, a reflection of his unique ability to dominate at the point guard position. Eventually, you need to form an opinion about why not just know what. The Top 100 will begin to roll out next week. During the 1960-1961 season, the then-32-year-old Cousy racked up 6.3 DWS, the most in his career. -- Pelton, No player his size, 6-foot-3, has ever bent defenses to his will as Curry does. He joined the NBA in 1960 and quickly established himself, averaging 30.5 points per game and winning Rookie of the Year. It is easy to have the numbers skewed by a smaller sample size. Needless to say, you dont see a lot of LeBron-Jamesian-chase-down blocks from Conley. Closing out on jumpers is an issue, especially when coming off screens, where he yields a 46.7 shooting percentage from the three-point line. 'Whatever seed we are, we're ready': Is there room for Cleveland among the East elite? The "Big O" was capable of doing it all. This is one of those cases where scouting helps. There arent many point guards in the league who can match Roses pure size and strength. [2], Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award, "The Olympic history of UConn's Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi", "Top 10 point guards in the NBA right now", FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Point_guard&oldid=1142307492, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58. He doesnt have to race around to get in position because hes almost never out of position. Many consider Bob Cousy to be a passionate athlete who was the first All-Star and dominating player for the Boston Celtics squad that included legends like Bill Russell and Kevin Collier. The ripple effect of that was that every single Bull had a worse defensive rating with Boozer than when playing with Gibson. Thats when you see him start to do things like not close out on shooters, merely waving his hand in the air instead. Nevertheless, its just as important. -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. But Gary Payton did as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. He compensates for his diminutive size by fighting hard and using that aforementioned quickness. One of the most famous point guards of all time, Jason Kidd, could make a dazzling pass or a simple play with the finest in the game while also adoring to hightail it in transition to wear opponents down. While no one always guards the best player, some players are much more likely to be guarding the other teams elite players, which makes them appear weaker defensively. Its frustrating watching Holiday play because when he gets out of position, it doesnt appear that its because hes caught out of position in the sense that he doesnt know where to be. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. Something was great about that play, but it was Knight showing the heart to challenge Jordan, not Jordan dunking on a man a foot shorter than himself. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. 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. As a result, he rarely gets tangled up with the pick-setter. It tracks the production of a players counterpart while he is on the court. 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. It just feels like there should be another notch where pride kicks in, he gets passionateor even angryand he hits another level. Here he is. Holiday knows what to do, but he doesnt always do it. He also only has a 65 wingspan, which is short of the other bigger point guards, but what he has, he uses well. Current NBA point guards known for their defensive prowess include Jrue Holiday, Mike Conley Jr., Marcus Smart, and Chris Paul. Bledsoe is not a great help defender, in spite of boasting a -4.9 net defensive rating. He is a natural playmaker with excellent point guard abilities, creating the ideal point guard prototype. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the 1st team seven times and the 2nd team twice. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. In his book The Winner Within, Pat Riley described Magic as a club DJ. Wilt Chamberlain 14. 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. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. Triple Double was so far ahead of his time in terms of size, speed, strength and stats. Stephen Curry 4. 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. He gave up just .87 points defending the spot-up (making him one of the few players to defend the spot-up better than the iso). Speed is important; a speedy point guard is better able to create separation and space off the dribble, giving themselves room to work. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. Watching him rotate was watching perfection. He doesnt use his size exceptionally badly or incredibly well, though. His net defensive rating is fairly close to even, and slightly above average for point guards. Still, a first-rate point guard should also have a reasonably effective jump shot. 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. And do they try and recover when they get beaten? Cincinnati Royals (1960-70), Milwaukee Bucks (1970-74), Honors He just doesnt have the length to effectively guard against them. Is that because Chalmers is a better team defender or is it because Cole isnt on the court with James as much? Speaking about hard-nosed defense-first converted shooting guards, here is one more name to the list: Dennis Johnson, one of the all-time great Celtics and at the same time one of the most underrated players in the history of the NBA. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. He doesnt disrupt team defense with unnecessary gambles. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. Archibald, who was just 61 tall, was able to consistently sink the ball despite his diminutive stature. You never have to question his effort or commitment. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. Were shooters able to shoot over them? Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" But only once did he actually truly defend the play. He is tremendous at using that muscle to his advantage, too. Conley looked away from Billups and was pointing vehemently to Paul, trying to tell Allen to get over there and cover him. Per NBA.com/STATS, the Clippers were almost 10 points per 100 possessions better defensively while Lamar Odom was on the court instead of DeAndre Jordan, yet Paul was on the court three times as much with Jordan as Odom. His quick feet give him tremendous lateral movement. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. How much a player understands his role in the defense is measured here. Norris Coles individual numbers are all better than Chalmers, but he gets docked with lower team numbers. This year, without Rose, the Bulls were 23rd, at 21.0 points per game. Both figures can be obtained by going to any players team page and then clicking on the appropriate name. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. Sometimes his teammates bailed him out; sometimes the shot just didnt go in. He also uses that length to be one of the best shot-blocking point guards in the league. Thats the difference between what I call work intelligence and natural intelligence. Some people just have to work to pick things up. New York Knicks (1967-1977), Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-1980), Honors: For this reason, a small penalty was exacted for every minute under 30 minutes, and a small bonus was provided over 30 minutes. Ranking the best point guards of all time and selecting the top 10 point guards of all time are two of the most difficult things to do. Just because someone gets past him doesnt mean theyre going to score. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. Instead of passing after bringing up the ball they quickly drive to the basket or step back for an outside shot. Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. Average players struggled, though. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. To say he gets pushed around would be generous. He stands third among the top 10 point guards of all time. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the First Team all nine times. He averages 1.8 steals per game. Rondo likes to do this chest bump thing where he meets the opponent past the half-court line and just bumps his chest into him repeatedly. Its like hes just punching the clock and collecting his wages. Rondos lack of a need for help defense allows Garnett to help more elsewhere. Hes incredibly focused while on the court, but hes always working things out in his head; they dont come automatically, and that costs him time. Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy! It will be interesting to see if his new coach, Jason Kidd, can help him to work on this, as Kidd was a terrific help defender. -- Peterson, A menace on both ends of the court, Frazier was at his best in the 1970 NBA Finals when tallied 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds in a title-clinching Game 7. If the team gives up more points while hes on the court, thats bad. If theres a weakness, though, its that when he comes up against the elite offensive point guards, he will get beaten in isolation. Right now, Westbrook's 11.2 assists and 47.5% assist rate leads the league this season. He uses quickness to capably guard the perimeter, but thats in large part because hes not always defending the elite point guards. His low foul rate of 4.5 percent is another indication that hes adept at getting into position quickly. 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, .520 FG%, The player Even players like Derek Fisher will hang him up and then hit him with the step-back. Honors: 7x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 1966-1967 Rookie of the Year, 1967-1968 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. 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. Defensive Points per Play Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. Like last time, these shooting guards are ranked based on the cumulative defensive win shares (DWS). In the last entry, we focused on the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, but now, we turn to the five best defensive shooting guards in NBA history. Dikembe Mutombo 7. Even so, combo guards still require above-average passing skill, but not as much as possessed by "pure" point guards (which is what those in the traditional mold of a point guard are referred to). Wayne Gretzky on the court, Nash could hurt opponents by getting rid of the ball quickly or by holding on to it for so long that the defense finally made a mistake. The players are ranked according to their WAMS. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. At the very least, he could stab those quick hands of his at some more balls and disrupt the dribble from behind. Perhaps the best word to describe his defense is lollygaggy.. Rondo may not be big, but he doesnt know that. Its like hes chosen the worst of both worlds. Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade won the NBA championship in 2006 with him as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics. As a result, he has received numerous awards, including the 'NBA Most Valuable Player' (MVP) award and the "PAC Player of the Year." A point guard should always look out for teammates and be able to pass well. Between his height, lack of real effort on closing out and taking too long to figure out where hes supposed to be (if he ever figures it out all), he becomes the perfect storm for easy pickins. Whatever else you want to say about Brandon Knight, just dont say he never tries. Normally this would be a list of FAQs, but no one has ever asked any questions (since no one has ever seen it). Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. Rob Peterson is an NBA editor for ESPN.com. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. -- Kevin Pelton, Teams This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. A point guard will often use their ability to score in order to augment their effectiveness as a decision-maker and playmaker. To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. It doesnt seem that it would be that impressive if found it. With his limited speed, he is always in full throttle and getting himself around the court, pestering whoever has the ball. 21.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.9 APG, .441 3P%, We counted down the greatest players in NBA history. When the pick gets set, he just hurls into it and uses the momentum of the bounce to send him in the right direction. Oscar is the first triple-double king and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time, no matter what position he is playing. Then again, the limited number of plays may be, in part, due to the fact that hes so hard to post up. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. He has been improving in that regard, but its taken a while, and there are still some maddening things. Let's see who has made it to the top 10 best point guards of all time. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. The second-highest regulation scoring output of the 3-point era was the culmination . In essence, hes athletic enough to do a respectable job of what hes asked to do. 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. Coming off one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history, Curry takes the top spot on our list of the league's best point guards, followed closely by 22-year-old wunderkind Luka Doncic, who may . Theres a running debate over the relative importance of stats versus watching. Stats tell you what happened, but you cant know why it happened unless you watch. He weighs in at only 175 pounds. He would find a way to beat his opponents, mentally and physically, and without his defensive tenacity, he wouldnt be considered the greatest of all-time. 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. During the 1960-1961 season, the then-32-year-old Cousy racked up 6.3 DWS, the most in his career. Of course, sometimes his opponent scored, too. After the All-Star break, when Rose hardly played, that number fell to 17.8 and the Bulls dropped to ninth. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. He does a poor job of defending the spot-up, surrendering 1.07 points per play. Nash's sideways speed and power will be non-existent at some age, allowing for constant dribble. -- Doolittle, The great Knicks ball-movement offense started with him. Dubs' Curry (leg) could return as soon as Sun. Although Stockton accumulated numerous All-NBA nods, he only made the All-Defensive Second Team five times. Russ is already on the verge of breaking into the top five of all time, but its going to be a challenge. (I know, but it is a part of defense these days.) Bob Cousy Bettman/Getty Images. Point guard from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America 3 Jason Kidd Point guard from California, United States of America 4 Walt Frazier Point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America 5 Dennis Johnson 6 Fat Lever Point guard and Shooting guard from Pine Bluff, Arkansas load more Does he rotate on time? The house would collapse. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. Isaiah Thomas 5. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. On the positive side, Rose does a decent job of understanding his role in a complex system. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. He spends too much time getting back into the defensive play because he ran himself out of it.
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