Derrick Rose and other Point Guards Beginning To Dominate the NBA
There was once a time where the point guard's job was simply to get the ball to the best player. That was the era of Micheal Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and many more, with Magic Johnson being one of the lone exceptions.
That was what the point guard's role was: a good ball-handler who could dribble up the court and, when the superstar was double-teamed, capable of hitting a jumper.
Which makes today's outburst of great, athletic point guards all the more weird.
Let me start off by saying that though the talent obviously plays a huge part in this, some credit for the outburst of point guards goes to the new rules that were implemented over the last few seasons. Defending guards are no longer allowed to hand check the player they are guarding, which in turn allows much easier drives to the basket by the point guard.
Another thing that should be attributed to the success of point guards, as Shaquille O'Neal said himself, is the lack of any true big men in the league.
Take this aside though, and there are numerous factors that allow us to see how point guards are transforming—and dominating—the NBA.
Point Guards Are Becoming Increasingly Important in the Draft
The new "point guard fad" in the draft first became apparent in 2009. Though none of the first three picks were actual 1 guards (though James Harden occasionally played there in college), an astonishing 12 of the next 27 were considered point guards, including an even more ridiculous five within the first 10 picks.
The next year, the prize of the draft was rookie John Wall. The obvious first pick had people saying his skills could literally change aspects of the game as we know it with his breathtaking speed and court vision.
And finally, this year, we once again see that point guard is the most highly touted position. With a pretty strong chance at going No. 1, Kyrie Irving will be the first of them taken. Yet, the draft also contains Kemba Walker, Brandon Knight, Alec Burks and Jimmer Fredette (maybe not a traditional point guard, but at 6'2" really doesn't have any other choices).
Majority of Very Good Young Players in League Are Point Guards
There has been talk these whole playoffs about how we're witnessing the younger generation—the faster, stronger, more athletic players—take over the league. And with the exception of a prestigious few (Howard, Durant to name some), the younger generation means the new point guards.
Here, we have: Derrick Rose (league MVP), Chris Paul (led a mediocre team to a very good regular season), Deron Williams (his departure made the Jazz tremendously worse), Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson and many, many more.
What does this mean exactly? That in around four or five years, almost every single good team will revolve around the talent level of their point guard. Frightening.
On Teams with Worse Point Guards, the Best Player on the Team Regularly Brings Up the Ball
This part here is less about the actual point guards in the league, but rather the position itself. Turn on a Heat game and their listed point guard, Mario Chalmers, brings up the ball less than half the time, generally giving it up to Wade or, more likely, LeBron to take care of the position.
(Other players who do so: Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and even Brandon Roy.)
This is because coaches realize how important it is in the league today to have such a good point guard, and find it much less vital to have, say, a good small forward. Thus, the change between the two players.
These playoffs almost single-handedly proved my point. Two of the teams in the conference finals were led by their amazing point guard (Rose and Westbrook) and another had their two best players playing the position (Wade and LeBron.)
Furthermore, we saw the decline of the Lakers and much of this is because of Derek Fisher. Not that he's bad—not at all; he's one of the most clutch performers in the game. But it is because without one of these athletic point guards, the Lakers had trouble retaining Chris Paul (giving them a much harder and tiring first round than expected) and couldn't contain Jason Kidd or J.J. Barea at many different points in the game.
In five years, don't be surprised if maybe, just maybe, the six or seven most valuable players in the league are point guards, or people who regularly play the position.
Hope you enjoyed.
