West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Tay on December 19, 2007, 12:08:35 AM
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http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqSQNkx5kZRJDDsGlbnS17K8vLYF?slug=ks-pointguards121807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Floor leaders in high demand
By Kenny Smith, Yahoo! Sports
December 18, 2007
With the NFL playoffs nearing, it’s a natural time to remember that a great point guard is like a great quarterback. He’s the player who decides who gets the ball and when and where they get it.
A point guard isn’t measured just by his points, rebounds or assists. He is measured by his decisions.
To become a great team it’s almost imperative to have an above-average floor leader as your point guard. Yes, there are situations where this hasn’t been the case – the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan are one example – but there aren’t many.
Think of the great teams. The Boston Celtics with Bob Cousy, Tiny Archibald and the late Dennis Johnson. The Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson. The Utah Jazz with John Stockton. The Detroit Pistons with Isiah Thomas.
Among present-day teams, the San Antonio Spurs have Tony Parker. The Phoenix Suns have Steve Nash. These guys make or break you. They can change the game with their leadership and tempo – the two components that give a team its style of play.
With that being said, let’s take a look at my top 10 point guards for this season.
1. Steve Nash: The best in the game. His ability to get the Suns into their fast-paced tempo every night is uncanny. Every team’s defensive emphasis is to slow the Suns down. Most fail. Credit Nash for that.
1a. Jason Kidd: If Nash is No. 1, Kidd is 1a. And if you put Kidd on the Suns running Mike D’Antoni’s offense, we might be calling him the best.
3. Tony Parker: Not the most dominant point guard left, but he makes the best decisions. The Spurs have become a dynasty and Parker is one of the reasons why.
4. Baron Davis: “The Body Guard” overpowers most of his peers. Davis’ ability to fuel the Golden State Warriors’ run-run-run offense puts him near the top. If his shot selection gets better he’ll move up the list.
5. Chauncey Billups: Billups is often overlooked in “best of” debates. But his leadership skills and his ability to get the Pistons into their halfcourt sets makes him a keeper for this list. Mr. Big Shot’s clutch shooting also might rank at the top of all the point guards.
6. Deron Williams: Williams leads the next generation of point guards. Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz's pick-and-roll offense may have helped Williams improve his decision-making more than any third-year guy around.
7. Chris Paul: The possible second coming of Isiah Thomas. Once his jump shot improves, he’ll move up the list with a bullet.
8. Andre Miller: Very underrated and underappreciated. His weight fluctuation from season to season is a knock against him. But when he’s in great shape, he’s among the better point guards.
9. T.J. Ford: His lack of size hurts and keeps him from being a better defender and having a more dominant presence on the floor.
10. Raymond Felton: My sleeper pick and a diamond in the rough. Playing with so many other young players could somewhat stunt his development. He needs a couple of fundamentally sound vets lining up next to him.
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I'd swap Tony with Baron and Chauncey with Deron, other than that I agree
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1.Jason Kidd
2.Baron Davis
3.Allen Iverson
4.Tony Parker
5.Deron Williams
6.Chris Paul
7.Chauncey Billups
8.Steve Nash
9.Raymond Felton
10.Brandon Roy
Honorable mentions:
Mo Williams, TJ Ford, Jose Calderon, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson, Jamaal Tinsley
Then you got the SG/PGs:
1.Dwyane Wade
2.Joe Johnson
3.Jason Terry
4.Monta Ellis
5.Leandro Barbosa
and, of course, up-and-comers, who might make the list in the future:
Jordan Farmar
Rajon Rondo
Javaris Crittenton
Beno Udrih
Juan Carlos Navarro
Sebastian Telfair
Acie Law
Mike Conley
Aaron Brooks
Marco Belinelli
Louis Williams
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i think chris paul is a top 5 pg.
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1. Jason Kidd
2. Baron Davis
3. Allen Iverson
4. Tony Parker
5. Steve Nash
6. Chauncy Billups
7. Deron Williams
8. Chris Paul
9. Raymond Felton
10. Brandon Roy
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1. Steve Nash
2. Deron Williams
3. Jason Kidd
4. Chris Paul
5. Allen Iverson
6. Tony Parker
7. Baron Davis
8. Chauncy Billups
9. Brandon Roy
10. TJ Ford/ Jose Calderon
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3. Jason Kidd
???
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3. Jason Kidd
???
LOL.
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not as funny as you ranking the leagues should be 3 time MVP one spot ahead of Raymond Felton
Nash has more assists in the last 4 years than any other player in the league. Lead the league in APG last 3 seasons. Theres no denying hes a better shooter than Kidd, altho he may lack on the defensive end. Take your pick. Im not suprised people think Kidd is the best, hes up there no doubt, but I'll take Nash. And Deron Williams has crazy game, up there with Kidd in assist, but a better offensive game IMO.
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not as funny as you ranking the leagues should be 3 time MVP one spot ahead of Raymond Felton
Nash has more assists in the last 4 years than any other player in the league. Lead the league in APG last 3 seasons. Theres no denying hes a better shooter than Kidd, altho he may lack on the defensive end. Take your pick. Im not suprised people think Kidd is the best, hes up there no doubt, but I'll take Nash. And Deron Williams has crazy game, up there with Kidd in assist, but a better offensive game IMO.
I've always followed Illinois so Derons one of my favorites in the game but he's got a lot to prove before he's better than Kidd
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not as funny as you ranking the leagues should be 3 time MVP one spot ahead of Raymond Felton
Nash has more assists in the last 4 years than any other player in the league. Lead the league in APG last 3 seasons. Theres no denying hes a better shooter than Kidd, altho he may lack on the defensive end. Take your pick. Im not suprised people think Kidd is the best, hes up there no doubt, but I'll take Nash. And Deron Williams has crazy game, up there with Kidd in assist, but a better offensive game IMO.
I've always followed Illinois so Derons one of my favorites in the game but he's got a lot to prove before he's better than Kidd
Well obviously Kidd has a better career and Deron has a lot to prove still, but right now Id take Deron over Kidd.
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1.Jason Kidd
2.Baron Davis
3.Allen Iverson
4.Tony Parker
5.Deron Williams
6.Chris Paul
7.Chauncey Billups
8.Steve Nash
9.Raymond Felton
10.Brandon Roy
Honorable mentions:
Mo Williams, TJ Ford, Jose Calderon, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson, Jamaal Tinsley
Then you got the SG/PGs:
1.Dwyane Wade
2.Joe Johnson
3.Jason Terry
4.Monta Ellis
5.Leandro Barbosa
and, of course, up-and-comers, who might make the list in the future:
Jordan Farmar
Rajon Rondo
Javaris Crittenton
Beno Udrih
Juan Carlos Navarro
Sebastian Telfair
Acie Law
Mike Conley
Aaron Brooks
Marco Belinelli
Louis Williams
lol^ lots of love for Nash
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LOL at the 1st list and chris paul not top five
LOL at the list where nash is 8
jamaal tinsley is playing like a monsterrr!
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01. Nash
02. Kidd
03. Davis
04. Billups
05. Paul
06. Parker
07. Iverson
08. Williams
09. Ford
10. Felton
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Tinsley should easily be top 10, he absolutely shits on Ford.
I think 14ppg, 9apg and 4rpg is top10 point guard material, in fact right now he's probably top 5.
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not as funny as you ranking the leagues should be 3 time MVP one spot ahead of Raymond Felton
Nash has more assists in the last 4 years than any other player in the league. Lead the league in APG last 3 seasons. Theres no denying hes a better shooter than Kidd, altho he may lack on the defensive end. Take your pick. Im not suprised people think Kidd is the best, hes up there no doubt, but I'll take Nash. And Deron Williams has crazy game, up there with Kidd in assist, but a better offensive game IMO.
Every player I listed ahead of Nash is a better player. Period.
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Tinsley should easily be top 10, he absolutely shits on Ford.
I think 14ppg, 9apg and 4rpg is top10 point guard material, in fact right now he's probably top 5.
yea yo, j-tins>>>ford
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id put chris paul in my top 3
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damn Bibby has avg about 20 pts for 5 years straight, i know hes hurt right now, but no love for Mike?
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damn Bibby has avg about 20 pts for 5 years straight, i know hes hurt right now, but no love for Mike?
when he is healthy he has to be on the list. Bibby might not play much defense but he is a scoring machine, I cant wait to see the Kings at full strength.
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damn Bibby has avg about 20 pts for 5 years straight, i know hes hurt right now, but no love for Mike?
when he is healthy he has to be on the list. Bibby might not play much defense but he is a scoring machine, I cant wait to see the Kings at full strength.
exactly, and he is more of a shoot first pg, i like teh Kings with Beno he is avg about 14 a game and with him in the game our offense looks really smooth and the ball moves very well..
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^^Is that why you've been losing? LOL.
Bibby is not a top 10 PG anymore.
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Its a shame about the injury's and the Kings this yr. Sac could of easily finished 2nd in the pacific if they could be full strength, hopefully they can get their 3 stars healthy on time.
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LOL .. at full strength , SAC is still way behind Suns and Lakers ... as I said before their D (especially interior) is non-existant
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Damn Brandon Roy is so good at SG, he cracked the top 10 PG list! lol And I agree, Chris Paul is the best young PG in the league and should be top 5.
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Damn Brandon Roy is so good at SG, he cracked the top 10 PG list! lol And I agree, Chris Paul is the best young PG in the league and should be top 5.
Roy is used as both a PG and SG, but he plays more like a point guard...He's like AI.
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LOL .. at full strength , SAC is still way behind Suns and Lakers ... as I said before their D (especially interior) is non-existant
yeah right, our defense is much improved over last year, we play hard tough d every night
id like to see other teams win without there top 3 players...
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^^Is that why you've been losing? LOL.
Bibby is not a top 10 PG anymore.
no were l;osing cuz we dont have our 25 ppg scorer and Artest altho Salmons and Garcia have been playing nice, just wait and seee when we get healthy we will have a deep bench and be very tough to deal with..we have beaten some top teams already this year..
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LOL .. at full strength , SAC is still way behind Suns and Lakers ... as I said before their D (especially interior) is non-existant
yeah right, our defense is much improved over last year, we play hard tough d every night
id like to see other teams win without there top 3 players...
improved over last year doesn't mean your defense is good .. you're the 5th worst team when it comes to FG % opponents....
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The Kings really aren't that bad, you guys are hating a little too much. They've hung in close against some of the better teams, they would have won at least a few more games with Bibby and Martin to go to down the stretch. I don't think they would be 2nd in the Pacific, but they would be in the hunt, and it is a long season. A healthy Mike Bibby is a top 10 point guard, but I think he was left off since he has been out.
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Kings would be lucky to secure a 7th or 8th seed...and that's at full strength.
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The Western Conference is tight right now, 8th seed right now is the Warriors, 4 games behind Phoenix and San Antonio at the top. 9 and 10 are Utah and Houston, who were 4 and 5 seeds last year. Then it's Sacramento, 5.5 games outside of 8th right now, 9.5 total. They can easily be a threat if they get healthy quick, but the conference is loaded right now.
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chris paul is #2
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^^Is that why you've been losing? LOL.
Bibby is not a top 10 PG anymore.
no were l;osing cuz we dont have our 25 ppg scorer and Artest altho Salmons and Garcia have been playing nice, just wait and seee when we get healthy we will have a deep bench and be very tough to deal with..we have beaten some top teams already this year..
Bibby is up there when he's healthy. And it definitely does kind of kill the Kings without K Mart, Artest AND Bibby. Come on man, what would the Celtics be without their 3 best players? This could turn out to be great for Sac though cause this is going to be one of the best drafts in a long time (as far as the lottery goes)
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Bibby fell off last year...I hope he jumps back, especially cuz he's on my fantasy team, but I don't think he's the player he used to be.
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^^Is that why you've been losing? LOL.
Bibby is not a top 10 PG anymore.
no were l;osing cuz we dont have our 25 ppg scorer and Artest altho Salmons and Garcia have been playing nice, just wait and seee when we get healthy we will have a deep bench and be very tough to deal with..we have beaten some top teams already this year..
Bibby is up there when he's healthy. And it definitely does kind of kill the Kings without K Mart, Artest AND Bibby. Come on man, what would the Celtics be without their 3 best players? This could turn out to be great for Sac though cause this is going to be one of the best drafts in a long time (as far as the lottery goes)
And its giving Salmons and Garcia a chance to really step there game up...Salmons has been a beast this year, and we have beaten some good teams this year...Spurs, Jazz, Rockets, Pistons, Nuggets, Nets, I do agree Bibby isnt what he was but hes still a good pg who can score 25 any night, and beno will be a very nice packup pg, i honestly think our offense flows better with Beno in there, i think we are missing artest and martin alot more then we are missing mike..
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Bibby fell off last year...I hope he jumps back, especially cuz he's on my fantasy team, but I don't think he's the player he used to be.
He didnt really fall off, he just was unfortunate enough to have nagging injuries (the main one being his wrist injury on his shooting hand)for the bulk of the season. He'll be back soon. He's gonna take some time to get everything going again, but once he does, the Kings might even have a small window to possibly make the playoffs.
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^^Is that why you've been losing? LOL.
Bibby is not a top 10 PG anymore.
no were l;osing cuz we dont have our 25 ppg scorer and Artest altho Salmons and Garcia have been playing nice, just wait and seee when we get healthy we will have a deep bench and be very tough to deal with..we have beaten some top teams already this year..
Bibby is up there when he's healthy. And it definitely does kind of kill the Kings without K Mart, Artest AND Bibby. Come on man, what would the Celtics be without their 3 best players? This could turn out to be great for Sac though cause this is going to be one of the best drafts in a long time (as far as the lottery goes)
And its giving Salmons and Garcia a chance to really step there game up...Salmons has been a beast this year, and we have beaten some good teams this year...Spurs, Jazz, Rockets, Pistons, Nuggets, Nets, I do agree Bibby isnt what he was but hes still a good pg who can score 25 any night, and beno will be a very nice packup pg, i honestly think our offense flows better with Beno in there, i think we are missing artest and martin alot more then we are missing mike..
Yeah thats crazy. I always like Salmons game but I didn't know he was capable of flat out dominating a game. I think he had 32pts, 11 rebs and 8 or 9 assists the other day. Garcia has really stepped into his new starting job nicely this year and has his fair share of 20+ scoring nights this year. They should be looking at some nice extensions if the Maloofs don't fuck that off. But even if they do, the Kings still got Petrie. Geoff Petrie is one of the best GMs in the league. He always manages to find all the "diamond in the rough" players. He knows talent because of his Portland Trailblazer roots, lol
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Ya'll need to trade Artest so that Salmons can flourish...
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Ya'll need to trade Artest so that Salmons can flourish...
The rumor is that Artest is going to the Knicks. He was quoted as saying something like "I can turn that team around." LMAO Ron is a headcase in the truest sense of the word. Somebody tell that nut YOU DON'T SAVE A SINKING SHIP BY JUMPING ON IT!!! hahaha hes crazy. I wonder if the Kings could get Z-Bo for Artest and filler.
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^I bet they could.
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Ya'll need to trade Artest so that Salmons can flourish...
u must not watch the Kings much, THAT WOULD BE RETARTED to trade artest..
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Ya'll need to trade Artest so that Salmons can flourish...
u must not watch the Kings much, THAT WOULD BE RETARTED to trade artest..
Actually, I've seen enough of the Kings to know, Salmons and Artest are not good together. Trade one or the other. You'll get more in return for Artest and Salmons is younger and has a higher ceiling, so that's the route I'd go...not to mention, Artest's heart is not in Sac-town to begin with...PeACe
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^^^^^^^^Can't say I disagree with that at all. In fact, the best thing the Kings can probably do with Artest is trade him while "Crazy Zeke" wants him. You're not gonna get decent value from anybody else. I'm tellin you Artest and Thomas for Z-Bo, Balkman and a contract (jerome james maybe, hell, he could be serviceable injury insurance). Plus you get rid of Kenny Thomas. Petrie could probably even milk Zeke for a draft pick in the process. Then once everbody comes back healthy you got a starting line up of:
Bibby/Udrih
Martin/Garcia/Douby
Salmons/Balkman/Jones
Randolph/Williams/Abdur Rahim
Moore/Miller/Hawes/James
Looks pretty good from here.