I actually looked for him to do it and couldnt find it. Thomas was ultra-quick with the ball and, at any moment, could pull up for a deadly jump shot. As a result, he has received numerous awards, including the 'NBA Most Valuable Player' (MVP) award and the "PAC Player of the Year." He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 7, 1974, to a Welsh mother, Jean, and an English father, John. Players Stats: 23.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2016-2017 MVP, 9x All-Star, 8x All-NBA Selection, 2x Scoring Champion. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. When he does, he gets put off and his effort isnt there anymore. If you want the perfect picture of what Hinrich brings to the defensive end of the court, think of him tackling the runaway freight train, otherwise known as LeBron James, in the game which stopped the Miami Heats streak. The total numbers were then adjusted to arrive at a score ranging between 90 (best) and 110 (worst). Conley is generously listed at 61 and 180 pounds. What are you crying about lmfao 03 Mar 2023 00:55:09 That has more to do with the second-string frontcourt, led by Lamar Odom, backing him up than it does his team defense. For a position that was highly valued at the time, he brought a lot of sparkle, style, scoring, and domination to the court. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. That makes sense since Parker has assumed the primary responsibility on offense and theres no reason to wear himself out playing defense. He cant be faulted for not being taller or longer, but he could use the length he has better. Dennis Johnson. Is that because Chalmers is a better team defender or is it because Cole isnt on the court with James as much? I counted off over 20 plays, specifically watching to see if Chalmers would stop the ball-handler, and he only did once. -- Doolittle, The great Knicks ball-movement offense started with him. Chris Paul fell into the same kind of trap last season. Hes just unable able to get high enough to legitimately challenge the shot. Seriously, you should hear Mark Jackson rave about him. Its what separates him from being a valuable, slightly overrated defender, and an elite defender. After years of being sidelined by ailments, the grandeur that should have been his was snatched from him. You're the worst defensive point guard in the NBA!!! This is to avoid confusion if you want to go to the original source.). Averaging 1.5 steals per game, Wade could block transition shots as well with the best of them. Like last time . However, who are the all-time top point guards? He doesnt play on the ball physically, utilizing that advantage. Whats remarkable is how quickly he gets to the shooter and gets a hand in his face, even if its all the way to the corner three and the shooter is setting when Rose takes off. In the NBA, point guards generally range from 6ft 1in (1.85m) to 6ft 4in (1.93m) whereas in the WNBA, point guards are usually 5ft 9in (1.75m) or shorter. Two NBA titles and a Finals MVP award make him one of the all-time great point guards because of his ability to score from mid-range and his propensity to attack and finish at the rim. He falls into his rotations smoothly. In case you missed it, Jason Kidd was tops on our point guard list with 75.1 defensive win shares, good for 11th all-time. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. Bledsoe spent the majority of his time with Odom, while Chris Paul spent the majority of his time with Jordan, which confuses the on/off ratings. He has become one of the hardest working point guards in the league on both ends. He is not a guy you would single out as an NBA player in a crowded room. Wayne Gretzky on the court, Nash could hurt opponents by getting rid of the ball quickly or by holding on to it for so long that the defense finally made a mistake. On the positive side, Rose does a decent job of understanding his role in a complex system. He appears to communicate the wisdom hes accrued to his teammates. He routinely gets blistered in isolation (.93 points per play), fails to close out well on shooters and lags when coming off of screens. I doubt its much beyond his height. 6 (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963), Career stats Thats a strong indication that Rose was not relying on help defense because that same help was there for C.J. Exceptions were made for Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Love because they have all been All-Star players, and all are still, at least by age, in their prime. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. Players Stats: 15.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 2003-2004 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 2x All-Defensive Team Selection. -- J.A. Boston Celtics (1950-1963), Cincinnati Royals (1969-70), Honors Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. Marcus Smart. He may get beaten occasionally, and he might get outmuscled more frequently, but he never gets outhustled. Those are the questions I was looking to answer. He plays longer than he actually is. He has a real grasp of the game, and he helps convey that to his teammates. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time. Its difficult to have a perfect rating system thats entirely objective, and even more difficult to have a realistic one that is purely subjective. As a result, the picks work extremely well. If you just look at his measurables, Chris Paul is not impressive. He normally makes the right play, even if he doesnt always do it well. He seems to get frustrated easily. 76ers vs. Hes always looking where hes supposed to go, and moving in that direction, but he just takes his time getting there. He doesnt try to make great plays, but he tries not to make mistakes, which is maybe what he should be concentrating on. In terms of career statistics and postseason accomplishments, he ranks as the NBAs fourth-best point guard of all time. Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose are the two most physically gifted point guards of their generation, and, as a result, are constantly going to be compared to one another. As a result, hes 17th all-time with 1944 and had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Exploiting the fact that the opposing point guard is often an undersized player with limited strength, several modern point guards have developed games close to the basket that include being able to utilize the drop step, spin move, and fade away jump shot. Players Stats: 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 1963-1964 MVP, 12x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 1960-1961 Rookie of the Year, Hall of Famer. It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. He is in charge of getting the ball into the hands of the shooters. In order to answer that, we introduce Weighted Averaged Metrics (WAM) and WAM with Scouting (WAMS), a pair of advanced defensive metrics which combine other stats and metrics, weight them so that each represents an equal relative value, and then use them all to derive a final score. Thats where we naturally focus our attention, so when it comes to things like help defense, we only notice if were looking for it, or if its extreme. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . Players Stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 9.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 3x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1988-1989 Most Improved Player. How much a player understands his role in the defense is measured here. Brandon Knight has exceptional speed and quickness. The defensive stats arent a good way to determine the totality of defense, but they are a factor and shouldnt be ignored. But Gary Payton did as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. He doesnt just bring effort to every game; he brings it in all the right ways. Del Negro just worried about the matchup without ever developing a true defensive system or identity with the Clippers. Here he is. Players Stats: 18.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2010-2011 MVP, 3x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Selection, 2008-2009 Rookie of the Year. And do they try and recover when they get beaten? However, he tends to play soft at times against the pick-and-roll, tending to rely on his quickness when he could muscle through a pick quicker. Players like Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving and John Wall blew by him fairly consistently. 18.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 9.9 APG, 2.3 SPG, The player Some players get caught out of place, but they know theyre out of place. -- Pelton, So precise with his passes and timely with his shots. He fights through picks, going over them when he can and under them when he cant. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. MVP (1963-64), 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year (1960-61), Hall of Fame, Career stats You dont see him take plays off, and you dont see him give up on plays. Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. A point guard that has enough ball-handling skill and quickness to be able to drive to the basket in a half-court set is also very valuable and considered by some to be a must for a successful offense. Adande, Brad Doolittle, Tom Haberstroh and Kevin Pelton are NBA writers for ESPN.com. Hes not going to get beaten back, and he doesnt give up in transition. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. Watching Parker play defense for a while, particularly zooming in on the pick-and-roll plays, his impressive court awareness stands out. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. Some of this is hard to know whether to ascribe to Bledsoe or to his former coach, Vinny Del Negro, who hones his X's and O's skills by playing tic-tac-toe online. In fact, Rondo gives more help than he getscontrary to my previous opinion. Its more than that. Stockton was a member of two gold medal teams and twice reached the NBA finals during his remarkable career. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. His MVP season, he had the second-best block total by a point guard in history (although John Wall exceeded that total last year.). Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. -- Pelton, No player his size, 6-foot-3, has ever bent defenses to his will as Curry does. New York Knicks (1967-1977), Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-1980), Honors: The more often he is the primary defender, the more likely he is to be responsible for guarding the player who is getting the most plays offensively. Some contend its not his fault that hes short, but its not Jarrett Jacks fault that hes slow either. His quick feet give him tremendous lateral movement. Injuries robbed Rose of the opportunity to become one of the games top five point guards. Perhaps next year the Raptors will see better times, and well see less of that kind of behavior, but its a harmful habit to have picked up. He does such a good job of it while the ball is in front of him, theres no reason he couldnt do it after the ball-handler gets past him. Notable point guards of the WNBA include five-time champion Sue Bird, her Olympic teammate Diana Taurasi (the only two basketball players of either gender to earn five Olympic gold medals for basketball[1]) and Courtney Vandersloot. It looked like teams designed plays counting on him being lazy. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. On the other hand, you cant deny what happened, regardless of how much you watch. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. He tends to rely on his speed to compensate for his lack of mass. Dubs' Curry (leg) could return as soon as Sun. He may be the finest defensive guard ever because of his awareness and abilities on the defensive end. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Sometimes, measurables dont tell the whole story. Its amusing that some people say Rose doesnt apply himself on defense. When he was at his peak, Rose was one of the greatest point guards of all time, and he merits a spot in the top 15. 'Whatever seed we are, we're ready': Is there room for Cleveland among the East elite? He tends to be beaten off the dribble more often than he should be, considering his physical advantages, but he also uses his physical ability to recover when he is beaten. One aspect of Roses year-long absence that gets lost is how much the team suffered defensively without him. Having said that, he does play team defense, too, and he is part of the team. -- Adande, Possessed incredible court vision and creativity, all while orchestrating the frenetic game pace of his era. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. The only thing is that the Bulls actually gave up 8.6 more points while he was on the court. The problem is that sometimes players are so inept, they skew the stats of other players. His helter-skelter wizziness has him flying around the court, and sometimes its good. Bing, despite having one of his eyes injured, was an attacking force to be reckoned with. The corresponding WAM or WAMS scores indicate how many points a group of like-skilled players on the court would theoretically give up in 100 possessions. At 64, hes big enough to guard shooting guards, as well as point guards. Over the next four weeks, well unveil the rankings for the other four positions. He still struggles against the spot-up, though, because of issues that will be addressed later. Westbrooks Synergy numbers on the pick-and-roll (.75) and isolation (.7) suggest hes better than he actually is. Lennys passing and leadership on the floor were solid, but he also had a few great scoring years on the court. One of the greatest point guards ever, Jason Kidd could make the flashy pass or the simple play with the best of them while also loving to hightail it in transition to wear opponents down in. His career averages of 27 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 7.0 APG were arguably the best ever put up by a point guard when he retired in 1974. First, a range of 18 to 22 makes it easier to arrive at the eventual score of 100the baseline everything was weighted to. The next three slides will tell how this particular sausage was made. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. [2], Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award, "The Olympic history of UConn's Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi", "Top 10 point guards in the NBA right now", FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Point_guard&oldid=1142307492, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58. The best way to track how effective a player is on the defensive end is by looking at their cumulative defensive win shares. However, he doesnt appear to have the same strength they do. It probably tells the accurate story here. The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. The following are the five categories and what was considered for each of them: How fast players are from end to end is only a part of speed. Each touches a different part of the elephant, one an ear, another the torso and so on. In fact, a player may have great individual numbers precisely because he is actually detrimental to his team. Probably the most versatile point guard in NBA history, and perhaps a tad underrated given that the focus on his assists overshadowed how valuable his defense was. In terms of point guards, Magic is the finest there has ever been. Its probably no coincidence that Stephen Currys defense took a giant step forward this season playing alongside Jack, and you might see a similar progression from Kyrie Irving next year. Defensive Points per Play Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an. He manages to defend the pick-and-roll reasonably well by doing something I can only call bouncing over picks. Below is a list of the 25 Best point guards of the NBA. -- Peterson, Thomas' willingness to share the spotlight helped make the Bad Boy Pistons incredible, and he had a consistent ability to step up his game in the postseason during Detroit's title runs (and near miss in 1988). It might not seem like much, but for most players, this covered around 30-40 games' worth of defense. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. The scouting score was then combined with the WAM score to produce WAMS, with the scouting counting as one-third of the final score. Having said that, when hes playing off the ball, he knows where hes supposed to be, and hes usually there. The true driving force of his partnership with Karl Malone. Even though he was 38 years old when he won his first NBA championship with the Mavericks, he had two trips to the NBA Finals with the Nets. The American former professional basketball player was born on August 9, 1928, and played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963 and shortly for the Cincinnati Royals during the 196970 season. 11. Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. For Rose, his biggest issues on both sides of the ball have to do with fundamentals and understanding. Even point guards who are not given this much freedom, however, are still extensions of their coach on the floor and must display good leadership skills. Phoenix Suns (1996-98, 2004-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-2004), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-15), Honors In nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons, plus two with the Washington Bullets and one with the Boston Celtics, Bing gathered 18,327 points in 901 competitions (20.3 ppg). It was just his second season when he led the league in scoring with an average of 27.1 points per game, despite some serious injury setbacks. Its got to be annoying, but its also disruptive, and being disruptive is positive on defense. Nixon played 6 seasons with the Lakers, making the All-Star Teams in 1982 and 1982 when he posted 17.6 PPG and 17.2 PPG respectively. His 47.4 DWS is 54th overall, good for an average of 2.963 DWS per season, slightly edging Wade. 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, 7-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats In the last entry, we focused on the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. Its safe to say that Kidd is one of the greatest guards to ever play on the basketball floor. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the 1st team all nine times. Hes led the league in steals per game five times in the last six years. Kevin Garnett 8. He would find a way to beat his opponents, mentally and physically, and without his defensive tenacity, he wouldnt be considered the greatest of all-time. Therefore, a lower score is superior. But hes slightly built, and that raises some issues, especially when hes caught a fraction of a second behind a play. His stellar pick-and-roll defensive score has more to do with being backed up by Omer Asik than it does his own play. Hes 63 with a 68 wingspan and an 83 standing reach. He doesnt disrupt team defense with unnecessary gambles. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. An adamant multi-disciplinary journalist, Brian possesses the instincts that are comfortably intrigued by covering and writing the details as minor as the size of Kawhi Leonards hands and as significant as the Trends to watch out for in 2022. Conley also has crazy hops, measuring a 40.5-inch vertical at the combine, and he is one of the quickest point guards in the league. While it does keep the opponent in front of him, it defeats the purpose if the opponent is still getting to the basket. Widely known as one of the best, if not the best, point guards of all time, Chris Pauls offensive exploits are well-documented. The weakness is that it also includes some of what the other player does defensively, (e.g.. blocks, steals, and defensive rebounds). In the MVP vote for the 1967-1968 season, he finished second behind the unstoppable Wilt Chamberlain. -- Adams, An early ballhandling wizard, he was a point guard who was a focal point at a time when the game was dominated by big men. Its interesting that when he plays against elite point guards, or when he plays angrily, he plays much more of a physical game. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. Jeremy Lin is not one of the faster point guards in the NBA, and hes not particularly quick either. Tim Duncan As a Golden State Warrior and Miami Heat legend, Tim Hardaway may have the best crossover in basketball history. When he was off the ball, it was spectacular. In fact, hes a bit of a bull on the court and tries to intimidate his counterpart. Only two other players besides Moncrief have won the NBAs defensive player of the year award twice. Two-time MVP (2004-05, 2005-06), eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Mr. These combo point guards can surprise defenses. But his lack of any vertical leap kills him on the jump shot. However his brilliant and consistent team defense team keeps passing lanes secure and helps prevent a lot of plays from developing the way they normally would. Although Stockton accumulated numerous All-NBA nods, he only made the All-Defensive 2nd Team five times. Payton is one of two point guards to have ever won the Defensive Player of the Year, and his stats show it. By my count, about 70 percent of the time, the ball-handler will get past him and get a shot off. -- Pelton, Perhaps the most incredible part of the Big O's triple-double season is that he finished third in MVP voting (behind winner Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 50.4 PPG). When he applies it, he does so effectively, especially in isolation and the pick-and-roll. Rose had it all, including speed, explosiveness, and the ability to score when it mattered most. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. If Westbrook could channel his energy in a consistent way, he would be an elite defender, but for now, hes just a solid defender whos kind of spazzy. Needless to say, you dont see a lot of LeBron-Jamesian-chase-down blocks from Conley. Scouting isnt the same as just watching games. That had the effect of distorting Pauls on/off numbers. Adande, His Game 6 in the 1980 Finals, while jumping center as a 20-year-old rookie, has to be on the Mt. This year, without Rose, the Bulls were 23rd, at 21.0 points per game. -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. That deceptive length helps him nab 2.5 steals per 36 minutes and grab a ridiculous number of rebounds for a person his height. Gary Payton, widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards in NBA history, saw a similar decline in his defensive abilities after the age of 35. Some point guards are still given a great deal of leeway in the offense. Sometimes it doesnt. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. Los Angeles Lakers late legend Kobe Bryant is often considered the greatest Laker ever and with good reason: Bryant is first in many of the Lakers statistical categories. That all-around game made Kidd one of the league's top point guards for nearly 20 years.