Re: Who are the 6 pure point guards left ?

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

>>Who do you think Ainge was thinking of, when he said there's only 6 pure
point guards left in the league?>>

  This article seems very timely.  If nothing else it should be good for some 
discussion.

August 7, 2003
NBA Point Guards-- The Coming Season 
Joe Schaller
    

Point guards and centers, arguably the most difficult positions to fill. The 
point requires a combination of skills difficult to find. Many good scorers 
are poor ballhandlers such as Steve Francis, Gilbert Arenas and Allen Iverson. 
They are better suited for 2-guard. Likewise some of the best ballhandlers are 
poor scorers, such as Jamaal Tinsley and Kevin Ollie.

Oddly enough the top point guard in the league, Jason Kidd, has had his 
problems with both scoring and ballhandling. I have previously referred to this as 
the "Marbury Syndrome", characterized with low percentage shooting and high 
turnover rate. Both Stephon Marbury and Kidd have improved in these areas yet 
still overrated. Kidd's forte has always been rebounding and defense. By 
contrast, Steve Nash is an exceptional ballhandler and scorer with more 
Stockton-esque point guard skills than Kidd.
The primary hangup of the mainstream pundits since the dawn of basketball has 
been the judgement of ballhandling skills by simply tallying assists. The 
assist is certainly a positive however its actual value when correlating with 
wins and losses is highly overrated. Assists are meaningless unless taken in 
context with turnovers. Turnovers are the true indicator of ballhandling ability 
since they are a far greater negative than the assist is a positive. In fact 
assist/turnover ratio for a team correlates much closer to success or failure 
than does total assists.

Due to this tremendous oversight (incredibly, turnovers weren't even tallied 
until 1977) a rich mythology of point guard status continues to thrive. While 
the turnover prone likes of Isiah Thomas, Pete Maravich and Jason Williams (in 
his early years) have drawn considerable praise, other point guards with 
superior all around skills have been unjustly forgotten. Fat Lever, an exceptional 
ballhandler, tops my list of underrated point guards. Gus Williams had a 
superior career to Thomas yet has been overlooked for media honors such as the 
Hall of Fame and is rarely even mentioned by the spin doctors.
Tragically, due to an ignorant media NBA history is flawed.

The Greatest Point Guard of All Time
I rate Magic Johnson as one of the greatest players of all time however John 
Stockton is easily the greatest point guard of all time with his far superior 
ballhandling skills. Magic's strengths were scoring and rebounding while 
operating more as a point forward. It is a little known fact that Johnson is one of 
the all time point guard leaders in turnovers per minute for his career. 
Stockton's assist/turnover ratio is stellar and his 19 year career with one team 
is maybe the greatest individual achievement in NBA history.

On the average a player's performance begins to decline around the age of 32. 
As a testimony to his amazing longevity I present John Stockton's yearly TPR 
since the '95 season when he was 33.

John Stockton TPR

1995__140

1996__123

1997__124

1998__119

1999__124

2000__125

2001__127

2002__128

2003__121

In rating point guards my primary consideration is TPR, an indicator of 
productivity per minute played. Previous 3 years TPR are considered along with age 
and team change to obtain a projected TPR for the coming season. I have 
included several 2-guards and sixth men with good ballhandling skills who often take 
on point responsibilities.

TPR scale: 120+ superstar, 100+ allstar, 80+ starter, 65+ bench, 60 = min 
wage
Point Guards Projected TPR for '03-'04

Jason Kidd, NJ__138
Steve Nash, Dal__125
Steve Francis, Hou__122
Chauncey Billups, Det__120
Gary Payton, LAL__115
Baron Davis, NO__112
Jason Terry, --__111
Stephon Marbury, Pho__110
Bobby Jackson, Sac__110
Andre Miller, Den__108
Sam Cassell, Min__108
Gilbert Arenas, Was__105
Brent Barry, Sea__105
Tony Parker, SA__104
Mike Bibby, Sac__102
Jon Barry, --__100
Jamal Crawford, Chi__97
Derek Anderson, Por__95
Charlie Ward, NY__95
Aaron McKie, Phi__94
Alvin Williams, Tor__94
Eric Snow, Phi__92
Nick Van Exel, Dal__90
Jason Williams, Mem__90
Larry Hughes, Was__90
Speedy Claxton, GS__90
Troy Hudson, Min__88
Marko Jaric, LAC__88
Antonio Daniels, Sea__86
Tony Delk, Bos__85
Earl Watson, Mem__85
Erick Strickland, Mil__84
Rod Strickland, --__82
Kevin Ollie, Cle__82
Earl Boykins, Den__82
Darrell Armstrong, NO__80
Damon Stoudamire, Por__80
Derek Fisher, LAL__80
Jamaal Tinsley, Ind__80
Travis Best, --__76
Bob Sura, GS__75
Tyronn Lue, Orl__75
Shammond Williams, --__75
J R Bremer, Cle__75
Chucky Atkins, Det__75
Damon Jones, Mil__74
Kenny Anderson, --__70
Penny Hardaway, Pho__70
Jeff McInnis, Por__70
Moochie Norris, Hou__70
Chris Whitney, --__70
Brevin Knight, Mem__70
Rafer Alston, --__70
Howard Eisley, NY__68

Underrated Point Guards: I've been saying it for years, Charlie Ward is an 
excellent point guard whose talent is being wasted in New York. If Dallas could 
obtain Ward and Kurt Thomas for likely a steal it would be a huge acquisition 
and put the Mavs back in the Western elite.

Underrated Allstars
Charlie Ward
Chauncey Billups
Jason Terry
Jon Barry
Brent Barry

Most Improved: Jason Williams was a horrible ballhandler in Sacramento and 
the media gushed all over him for his showboat passes. Jason's come a long ways 
in Memphis and now has my highest NBA rating for ballhandling. Now the pundits 
are silent. Go figger!

Point Guard Performance Ratings (PR) for '02-'03
PR for Ballhandling
Jason Williams__230
Gary Payton__201
Steve Nash__191
Charlie Ward__191
Kevin Ollie__190
Jamaal Tinsley__186
Rod Strickland__179
Howard Eisley__179
Alvin Williams__175
Earl Boykins__171
Tyronn Lue__169
Eric Snow__165

PR for Scoring
Sam Cassell__165
Steve Nash__162
Chauncey Billups__161
Bobby Jackson__152
Stephon Marbury__138
Steve Francis__135
Gilbert Arenas__135
Mike Bibby__134
J R Bremer__130
Jason Terry__128
Jason Kidd__127
Tony Parker__123

PR for Disruptive Defense
Jason Kidd__152
Marko Jaric__141
Earl Watson__128
Darrell Armstrong__127
Aaron McKie__119
Rod Strickland__119
Brevin Knight__117
Jamaal Tinsley__116
Baron Davis__113
Antonio Daniels__110

PR for Rebounding
Jason Kidd__67
Steve Francis__61
Larry Hughes__60
Aaron McKie__58
Bob Sura__58
Penny Hardaway__58


-Joe Schaller


TAM