Point Guards

[Josh Rice <joshr@xxxxxxx>]

All this talk about PGs has got me thinking about what makes a great one.
First of all, historically, who were the greats and why? My personal
ranking:

1 - Cooze. Anyone that saw him play (me, for instance) will tell you that no
one has ever been close to his handle. He was a f**ing magician. It is
impossible to overstate this. Without ever showing off or being flashy, he
made jaw-dropping passes that no one else could see, much less complete. He
only scored to keep the defense honest.

2 - Magic. Unique. Second only to Cooze in vision and creativity.

3 - Tiny. The only player to lead the league in scoring and assists the same
year. He spent his prime on a bad team, then showed how great he was by
joining the C's, sacrificing his numbers, and winning a championship. The 81
team, with him and Bird and Cedric, remains my favorite non-Russell team.

4 - KC Jones. Don't laugh - he has more rings than fingers. Why? Defense
wins championships. He could also handle and pass of course, but his defense
turned opposing guards into babbling idiots.

5 - Isiah. A total a**hole, but he did it all.

6 - Maurice Cheeks. He played like KC - the second greatest defensive guard.
I have a tape of game 7 of the 81 Eastern finals - the greatest game I ever
saw.

Stockton was just a nice, gritty PG who fell into a pot of gold. What did he
ever win? There's a bunch of guys I would rather have on my team.

Assists are like scoring, balance is best. How often has the league leader
in assists won a championship? Never that I can recall - maybe Magic? I
think the difference-maker today would be defense (that's why I liked Steve
Blake. Sigh.)

josh