Shooting guards can be placed into two basic groups. I’ll call these groups the Jordans and the Millers. The Jordans would be your basic do-it-all SGs. They score 20+ PPG, but they’re also capable of grabbing 10 rebounds or passing out 10 assists on any given night. They play strong defense and could likely play some SF or PG if needed. Current and recent Jordans include Kobe, Wade, Brandon Roy, Larry Hughes, Joe Johnson, Jerry Stackhouse, Eddie Jones, Jason Richardson, Mitch Richmond and Hersey Hawkins. In general these are good players to have on the team. The Millers are players who are primarily scorers. They also can pump in 20+ PPG fairly easily, but their numbers in rebounds, steals, blocks and often assists are lower than the typical SG. Such players can be useful, especially when they’re something like a 3rd wheel on a contending team. They tend to come up big in big moments, but are often invisible for long stretches of game. Millers also tend to be wildly overrated by analysts who look only at PPG. While they’re usually popular with their fan base, the last thing any fan should want is for a Miller SG to be their teams’ #1 player. Signing a Miller SG to a max contract is usually a path to a salary cap mess. A recent league rule that gave teams some salary cap relief was nicknamed the “Allan Houston rule” after one of the most typical Millers ever who at the time was getting paid a ridiculous amount of money from the Knicks. Current and recent Millers include Ben Gordon, Michael Finley, Rip Hamilton, Steve Smith, Houston, Cuttino Mobley, Hubert Davis, Renaldo Blackman and Michael Redd.
NBA Draft 2009: Combo Guards
I believe this is the 3rd or 4th year I’ve separated these combo guards. It used to be where I’d stick guards who just didn’t fit into one position or another. This year I’m limiting it to guards who are the size of a typical PG, but have played more like a SG. They’ve been scorers first and their history suggests they may have struggles playing PG. I do this mainly because that’s what this position has become.
NBA Draft 2009: Point Guards
Sometimes I find the evaluation process a little baffling. It’s as if the scouts, GMs and other personnel men simply focus in on what goes on in the combine and workouts and ignore the season. As if they’re drafting players for a decathlon instead of the same five-on-five game these players were playing the previous winter.
Playoff Thoughts
1. Game 4 Fallout: On Thursday the Magic and Lakers played an great Game 4, filled with twists and turns and plenty to buzz about, both good and bad. Here are our observations of the proceedings:
Playoff Thoughts
1. Blown Out: Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Lakes and Magic was really notable for…well nothing. The Lakers destroyed the Magic and effectively held down Dwight Howard as well as anyone we’ve seen so far (including the Celtics). Phil Jackson used his personnel perfectly against Howard. In effort to avoid defensive mismatches with the Magic’s small but quick forwards, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol did not play too much together in the game (though that might’ve also been because the game was a blowout early). In any event, Bynum seems much more valuable as a wall to throw at Howard (regardless of how may fouls he picks up), rather than in his conventional role as a full purpose center. There’s no way Howard will be kept this far down again but this doesn’t seem like a great indicator for Orlando for the rest of the series.
Playoff Thoughts
1. Cavs/Magic Aftermath: After Orlando closed out the Cleveland on Saturday, we’ve all been buzzing about what kind of fallout there will be for the Cavs. Before we worry too much about the hysteria we should all recognize that the Magic’s win over the Cavs was convincing and had no hallmarks of a fluke. It is true that coming into the series, the Cavs were the clear favorites. They had the best regular season record and had smoked all playoff competition, while the Magic were pretty good but didn’t exactly dominate Philadelphia or Boston in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Nevertheless, Orlando was both a good team and a bad match up for the Cavs.