Really good article on point guards

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a good article on the difficulty of selecting point guards. The
example from 1999-when Francis, Davis, Miller and Terry went in the top 10
and Avery went 14th-is exactly why just waiting and taking the point guard
who happens to be left on the board can be dangerous. 

His description of Banks is exactly what I'm hoping for if the Celts draft
him.

Mark

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/128285_draft26.html
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/128285_draft26.html>  
Point guards don't come prepackaged, but perhaps they are predestined. At
least that's how Ernie Grunfeld, Milwaukee Bucks general manager, has heard
it described.
"They say point guards aren't made," he said, "they're born."
If only it could be noted on a birth certificate. A box to be checked. 
Boy or girl. 
Point guard or not.
That would make it easier for scouts to separate the prospects from the
pretenders in today's NBA draft.
Point guards usually are the shortest players on the court, but one of the
biggest mysteries of any draft. There is no larger issue facing the Sonics
today, as they hold two first-round picks and one glaring vacancy on the
roster.
Gary Payton is gone, traded to Milwaukee at midseason, and the only true
point guard remaining on the roster, Kevin Ollie, is an unrestricted free
agent.
In the past two years, only one point guard was chosen among the first 15
picks in the draft. That was Jay Williams, the second overall choice by
Chicago in 2002.
 
<http://ads.nwsource.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.seattlep-i.com/sport
s/basketball/articles/31307/Middle2/CLEARDOT-RON-Middle2/z_addot.gif/6438333
4383738313364333830326430> 	
 
<http://ads.nwsource.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.seattlep-i.com/sport
s/basketball/articles/20908/Middle3/CLEARDOT-RON-Middle3/z_addot.gif/6438333
4383738313364333830326430> 	
Today, three point guards are almost certain to be among the first 15 picks,
and that number could swell to six. Texas' T.J. Ford and Kansas' Kirk
Hinrich are considered the top prospects. Oregon's Luke Ridnour,
Louisville's Reece Gaines and UNLV's Marcus Banks have been mentioned as
possible top-13 picks, and Brazilian Lendrinho Barbosa is an alluring mix of
size (6 feet 5) and speed.
And no matter how many times Sonics general manager Rick Sund says talent --
not need -- will dictate which player the team picks with its selections at
Nos. 12 and 14, there is no escaping the fact that point guard is one of the
team's pressing needs.
Some of the most glaring draft mistakes of recent vintage have been made on
point guards. In 2000, three were chosen among the first 15 picks. Jamal
Crawford, picked No. 8, has developed into a starting NBA point guard for
Chicago. Keyon Dooling (No. 10, New Jersey) and Mateen Cleaves (No. 14,
Detroit) have not.
There are very few sure things in a draft, but point guards are perhaps most
uncertain of all. 
"It tends to be the hardest position to learn in the NBA," said Sonics
president Wally Walker. "Because the good ones have to understand the other
four positions as well, and where they want the ball. 
"And then it's the point-guard position, where the most quickness in the
league exists."
Fortunes at the position change quickly, too. Six years ago, Troy Hudson
went undrafted. This spring, he averaged 23.5 points in the Timberwolves'
playoff series against the Lakers.
In 1999, four point guards went in the top 10: Steve Francis (Houston),
Baron Davis (New Orleans), Andre Miller (L.A. Clippers) and Jason Terry
(Atlanta). The fifth point guard taken was William Avery, at No. 14. After
three years with the Timberwolves, he was out of the NBA last season.
Citing history is one thing. Identifying trends is another.
But generally, attempts to take a shooting guard and make him a point guard
have failed. Gilbert Arenas, a second-round pick in 2000, is the notable
exception of the past four years. The former Arizona shooting guard has
become a star at the point for Golden State. 
Two other examples from that draft are more typical. Joseph Forte was taken
No. 21 by Boston and Jeryl Sasser No. 22 by Orlando. Sasser is back at
shooting guard and Forte has yet to play meaningful minutes.
That same year, the Pacers chose Jamaal Tinsley with the 25th pick. He has
been among the league's top six guards in assists in each of his two
seasons.
The Pacers had Travis Best at the time, and wanted to pick a more
conventional point guard.
"We wanted somebody who was a distributor," said Donnie Walsh, Pacers
president. "Move the ball around."
The Sonics' past two choices at point guard have been successes: Eric Snow
in 1995 and Earl Watson in 2001, both in the second round.
In 1990, the Sonics picked Payton No. 2 overall, and he wasn't the
conventional pass-first player for the position. And to say the Sonics would
be more inclined to pick a pure point guard now isn't necessarily true.
"I don't think we're necessarily going to do that unless the coach demands
it," Sund said. "Then it's a whole other story, but we've got a coach -- in
my mind -- who was built like a small forward but who was a multiple
position player and could play point guard."
The point guard is the point man on defense, the first line of resistance.
And on offense ... "He's the ringleader," said Sonics associate head coach
Dwane Casey. "You can't be clowning around there."
Whether or not it's a pure point guard, patience is not a virtue at the
position. It's a necessity.
Jason Kidd is a perfect example. He was chosen No. 2 overall by Dallas in
1994, but it took him five seasons and two trades before he became an
all-league player for New Jersey. 
So is Chauncey Billups, who was taken No. 3 by Boston in 1997. He has played
on five teams in six seasons, but last season was the starting point guard
for the Detroit Pistons, who made the Eastern Conference finals.
"I've been in the league long enough that I don't get too emotionally high
on a pick or too emotionally low on a pick after their first year or two,"
Sund said. 
"So when I look at a point guard, where you're talking about being out there
in front of people, having the ball in your hands, there's probably a little
more pressure."
That pressure applies to the team picking the point guard, too.
HERE'S THE POINT
This year's group of point guards is the deepest since 1999, when six were
chosen in the first round. Here's a scouting report on the top six: 
T.J. Ford 
*  SCHOOL: Texas 
*  HEIGHT: 5-10 
*  THE SKINNY: Maybe the fastest player at any level, he averaged more than
8 assists a game last season. He's the smallest of the prospects, though,
and is an inconsistent shooter from the perimeter. 
Kirk Hinrich 
*  SCHOOL: Kansas 
*  HEIGHT: 6-3 
*  THE SKINNY: It seems every white point guard gets compared to Steve Nash
or John Stockton, but Hinrich is a more explosive athlete than those two.
The knock is a big one, however: "He doesn't have a definitive backcourt
position," said Dave Pendergraft, the Sonics' director of player personnel. 
Luke Ridnour 
*  SCHOOL: Oregon 
*  HEIGHT: 6-2 
*  THE SKINNY: To put his offensive skills in automotive terms, Ridnour has
the windows rolled down and the accelerator floored. His defense fails to
meet NBA standards. 
Reece Gaines 
*  SCHOOL: Louisville 
*  HEIGHT: 6-6 
*  THE SKINNY: The tallest of the prospects, he plays above-average defense,
and Louisville coach Rick Pitino predicts he will succeed as an NBA point
guard. But he never averaged more than 5 assists a game, and there isn't one
thing he does exceptionally well. "Kind of like a jack-of-all-trades, master
of none," Pendergraft said. 
Marcus Banks 
*  SCHOOL: Nevada-Las Vegas 
*  HEIGHT: 6-2 
*  THE SKINNY: Pendergraft called him Jamaal Tinsley with a jump shot, high
praise because Tinsley has been among the NBA's top six assists men for two
seasons. Banks never worked out for the Sonics because of a hamstring
injury. 
Lendrinho Barbosa 
*  NATION: Brazil 
*  HEIGHT: 6-5 
*  THE SKINNY: His size and speed make him a rare prospect. The youngest
player on Brazil's national team last summer at 19, he was limited to 21
minutes at the World Championships and remains a mystery. He needed an
interpreter for his workout with the Sonics.