The amount of point guards with star caliber in the NBA is growing. You have your Derrick Rose’s and your Chris Paul’s to go along with the Westbrook’s, Rondo’s, and even the Kidd’s of the league. The problem the NBA is having with them now though is that they are trying to make them the go to guys. The point guard position is aimed to distribute, and not to just take over the ball every possession, otherwise we’d have LeBron James playing point guard instead of small forward.
Derrick Rose is the go to guy on the Chicago Bulls, and has been all season with no real difficulty in doing so. In the regular season, you face a different opponent every game, and the opposition never really practices to contain one guy efficiently, as where in the playoffs you play your opponent in a best of seven series with time to key in on your opponents. Now the Bulls are facing the Miami Heat, and are struggling immensely due to the Heat being able to contain and double Rose. The rest of the Bulls team is solid, but no where is there enough scoring output to help Rose get some breathing room to get going. If Rose could even get double digit assists it would help the team, because then people would have to respect his passing, and not just his scoring which is what he is known for. Rose can’t score, the Bulls can’t get a bucket, and now the Bulls are down 2-1 against the Heat with game four in Miami. Doesn’t look too good now does it?
The Oklahoma City Thunder are doing well this postseason for still being a relatively young team. They have their two top scorers in Kevin Durant who is the league’s leading scorer, and their point guard Russell Westbrook. Everything should be good here right, just have Westbrook get Durant some easy open looks, and when the opposing team starts to focus on him, Westbrook gets easier looks at the basket and scores. That isn’t the case though; Westbrook is all about offense, and because of that, having him bringing the ball up is not good. Sure Russell Westbrook is still getting accustomed to the point guard role (he’s only played the position in the NBA) but to do what he has been doing as the supposed distributor on the team is atrocious. Westbrook has a habit (and by habit I mean he does this often) of bringing up the ball, dribbling out the clock, then playing one on one ball and forcing up a tough shot at the end of the shot clock. Just the other day, Westbrook’s coach Scott Brooks even told him to “pass the ball!” which led to Westbrook being benched the entire fourth quarter. In Kevin Durant’s backpack is a giant sign that says “I’m Open”, maybe Russell Westbrook should look the leading scorer’s way more often instead of thinking about his own numbers, because right now they look miserable.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that having a talented point guard will not get you anywhere because it does get you far. The Celtics had their cast of aging all-stars along with Rajon Rondo who is probably the best player on that team when playing well. The Celtics got to the finals last year, and were doing well this year before a series of injuries and trades derailed their season. Another example would be the Los Angeles Lakers of the early 2000’s when they had a great team, and had a talented young point guard by the name of Derek Fisher. Fisher wasn’t the go to player, but overachieved in a role playing position and did get his teammates involved. Then there are the Spurs who have one of the best pass first point guards in Tony Parker, who although isn’t as spry as years prior, can still beat you off the dribble. Parker is the third option in scoring in the Spur’s big three behind Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. When Parker is busy getting his teammates involved, the Spurs look really good and then that opens up Parker’s ability to drive to the hoop with the opposing team again, respecting his ability to pass to the open man. Many think that now that the point guard is all about scoring, but being able to make pin-point passes is far more valuable.
Look at the other two teams in the playoffs, the Miami Heat have no big name point guard, in fact, they have Mike Bibby (well whatever is left of him anyway) starting. The Dallas Mavericks have the all-time great Jason Kidd starting and the under six foot J.J. Barea backing him up. Amazingly, the Mavericks and Heat are both winning their series at the moment, and that’s because both teams do not rely on the point guard position to score, but to make the pass needed to score. The Heat are constantly trying to find James and Wade on the wing, as well as trying to get Bosh the ball in the paint. That is their offense, the point guard position is just another shooter on the floor as both Bibby and Mario Chalmers can shoot the ball, which is their role opposed to trying to get the ball in the bucket on every other possession.
The Mavs have Jason Kidd, who his whole career really has been known as a passer. His role on the team is to spread the ball around, and on occasion take the open shot when it is given to him. Kidd might be the fourth or fifth scoring option when on the court for his team, mainly because even when in scoring position he can find a better shot for a teammate. Jose Juan Barea is a spark plug, his role is to make plays or find teammates to make plays. He can’t just create offense due to his lack of size as he is only 5’10 realistically, so moving the ball around is what he does, and on occasion gets to the paint with a bunch of crafty moves. He is still maybe the third scoring option when out on the court, and even then still tries to find better looks for other players such as Jason Terry or Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks have a legitimate shot to make the NBA Finals this season and that is all without an elite point guard.
You just can’t win having your point guard as one of the top two scoring options. You need to have a team built around him to make life easier, otherwise you can expect the defense to just close in and make life miserable, just ask Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. You need your point guard to play his position, and like Scott Brooks says, “PASS the ball.”