Sunday, November 28, 2010

What a difference a few inches make...

On the basketball court, of course. But allow me to explain; right now some of the most athletic players and gifted scorers are PGs ranging from 6'2" to 6'4" in some cases. Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, John Wall are all electric scorers at the PG position. I've mentioned this before, but the SG position is trending down with the number of young superstars at that position, and this is largley because of the dominance of this new breed of scoring PGs. It makes you wonder though, if Wall, Rose and Westbrook were the ideal 6'6" for SGs but retained their athleticism could they be in discussions as the best players in the game right now? Of all time?

Think about it, free from the need to create for others, Rose and Westbrook in particular could score in crazy amounts. All of these guys are capable of going for 30 on any given night already, and that is largely without a consistent jump shot at this stage. Just imagine if they were that little bit taller, able to defend opposing 2-guards, and finish easier over opposing front-courts. Picture Westbrook soaring over Joe Johnson to throw it down, Rose posting up Dwyane Wade, Wall blocking Kobe's fadeaway J.

It makes you wonder whether such a mix of size and athleticism would be possible for these players; perhaps it is their compact frames that grant them warp-speed and ridiculous hops. Call me old-fashioned, but I like my point guards to be purer playmakers. However, these three are simply that good at getting buckets it would be a crime to deny them shots. Alas, these three explosive athletes are going to cop some criticism as point guards simply because they are such great scorers they'll be taking shots instead of posting huge assist totals. Not saying this is wrong, just a shame that nature denied them that little bit extra height to really excel as scorers.

Just a short one today folks, hope it made you think a little about how much of a factor height is in determining position, scoring and others such things in the NBA.

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