Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The battle of the point guards ....

So who is the best point guard in the NBA?  We all know that is a subjective question. This discussion may be determined differently among groups. The Western Conference point guards vs the Eastern Conference point guards. The clear point here is the NBA is has the most elite players in basketball. The best players in basketball. While this question is subjective the stats don't lie.

In the Eastern Conference, it is clear this award is among three special players. Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, and John Wall and not to far behind Dwyane Wade, Michael Carter Williams and Jeff Teague. Arguably the way Dwyane Wade has played without the presence of Chris Bosh brought him into this discussion. His aggressiveness on offense and shot proficiency is just two of the many things he does well. Kyle Lowry is averaging 18 points, 7 ast., and 5 rebounds. Kyrie Irving is averaging 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 ast. To round of the field, John Wall averages 17 points, 10 ast., 5 rebounds.If bring this conversation into the role of a point guard, John Wall would unanimously win this argument. Fortunately Kyrie Irving plays with the best player in the world. He doesn't have the typical ball handling responsibilities Kyle Lowry, John Wall, or any other point guard in the league have. Would that eliminate him from the conversation? No, because he does other things that help with the efficiency of the Cavaliers offense such as scoring, rebounding and getting back on defense. This isn't to say, if Irving was asked to be a proficient scorer, assister and rebounder he couldn't. The Cavaliers right now are over brushed with talent, there for he doesn't need  to take on those responsibilities. This argument also goes to Stephen Curry of the Western Conference. While if the Golden State Warriors needed him to have over 10 ast. a game i'm confident the man would be able to do it. Right now these two players are on teams where their is to much talent for it to just be a one man show.

This leads into the argument of who is the best point guard in the Western Conference . As mentioned Stephen Curry has been placed into this argument rightfully over the past season because of what the Warriors  have accomplished this season. But should he? James Harden and Russell Westbrook are averaging more points then Curry this season so what makes Curry so special? Or better yet why is he even relevant to this argument? There's one stat that isn't mentioned under Stephen Curry's profile that is very relevant to the conversation. It goes farther then the success of the individual player. At the end of the day, it's team basketball and when your team is winning you are rightfully placed into the conversation. There is a flip side to this argument as well. If the team as a unit is doing well because they are playing great team basketball why is he receiving all the praises. In Stephen Curry's defense when you have another proficient scorer such as Klay Thompson on your roster it makes you look alot better and makes your job alot easier. All you have to do is bring the ball out and dish it over to one of your teammates to score. That sounds extremely easy, but it isn't. The problem is, no one can do that but him, at least on the Golden State roster. When he is not there who is suppose to take care of the ball handling to dish it out to players. This is exactly what Stephen Curry's responsibilities have developed into as a player of the Golden State Warriors. The reason they have had the success this season is because of "team basketball". There is no one man show in Golden State rather ever one on the roster has a specific role. This also speaks to the the level of talent Curry is surrounded with in Golden State. Alot of teams don't have proficient shooters. This allows the Warriors to depend on more then one offensive threat.

The clear point here is to say there is one distinct point guard is far better than the rest is absurd. Although there are players that can be placed in the top three category of best point guards based on aggressiveness and scoring capabilities, to just look at a players numbers is nothing short of insanity. Proficiency would be the only category in which you could make that judgement call because every team dynamic is different but shooting percentage is not. While you have more of a team effort in Cleveland and Golden State, you have a one man show in Oklahoma City. To say that one player is the best point guard is not an accurate judgement call in talent or who actually is the best point guard.

My point here is this argument is to subjective to be relevant in this age in basketball. Especially at the NBA level.


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