The assister or the scorer who is the better player?

An assist can sometimes be as selfish as scoring.

 

I'd take KD over Mark Jackson.

I mentioned TP to illustrate he isn't much of a passer, yet he's won 3 championships as the PG and #1 assist guy of the Spurs. My point is history shows a team doesn't need an "assist guy" to win a championship. Elite scorers are much more important.

As Rockets fans, we know Hakeem wasn't much of a passer. His role consisted of looking for his shot each and every time down the court. This put tremendous pressure on the defense even when he didn't touch the ball. The PGs (Kenny and Sam) were "shoot-first" in every sense of the word. Neither of the championship teams had an "assist master".

 

If in football, you consider the assister to be the QB and the "scorer" to be WRs/RBs, the answer becomes obvious; the guy who sets everything up is the most important.

In hockey, I'd say scorers are the most dominant players. Play makers honestly just feed on goal-scorers in my opinion. There's few times where you will see playmakers give goal-scorers wide open nets or excellent shots on a consistent basis so that the goal-scorer's goals are dependent on good playmaking (i.e Cheechoo and Big Joe). More often, playmakers depend on great shooters to get their assists; think Backstrom and Ovechkin/Semin for example, as an extreme.

 

This is going off an a tangent but I would make a couple of points. Secondary assists in hockey are often the result of having both good playmakers and scorers. You will see quite a bit of flukey type secondary assists given out to players that generally don't have good offensive skills.

As far as primary assists, I would compare a pretty significant portion of them to a basketball assist. There are a lot more flukey primary assists in hockey than there are assists in basketball because of how assists are determined in the two sports but more often than I think you are suggesting to be the case, primary assists in hockey are the result of great vision and passing much like an assist in basketball.

Regarding Backstrom, he has elite vision and playmaking skills. Having Ovechkin as his primary left wing obviously boosts his numbers but he's among the best playmakers in terms of pure ability, regardless of who he's playing with.

In general, I agree that there is probably a slightly greater importance to scoring ability than passing ability in hockey relative to basketball but the difference is marginal. Most teams try to build up the middle in hockey, i.e., good centers and goalies. Having good playmakers with good vision is of huge importance. The more I think about it, I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's more important than in basketball. It may be easier to make average players good finishers in hockey when paired with good playmakers than it is to do the same in basketball.

 

Both the Spurs and the Rockets championship teams won more on the strength of their defense than offense, though. And while they didn't have one dominant assist guy, I think they were smart enough to know how to get good shots for eachother. Hakeem's presence in the middle opened up scoring opportunities for his teammates, for instance.

The bigger question isn't so much assister versus scorer. Its players who's role is to get other players good shots, versus players who's role is finish on the shots they get. Basketball being a fluid game, there's clearly a lot of overlap between those two roles. Great scorers, indirectly, can open up scoring opportunities for teammates.

But I think there are certain types of players who score a lot of points, but don't really do it in a way that opens up opportunities for teammates. And, conversely, there are players who are great at creating opportunities for teammates to score, but aren't so good at scoring themselves. While both can help in their own way, I would tend to attach more importance to the second group.

 

Yet, Aaron Brooks>Kyle Lowry...

 

I agree with what you're saying durvasa as far as the comparison goes between a player who can create for others but not score well versus a player who can score but not create for others. I very much agree with that theory.

However, in reality, the elite scorers in this leauge are often pretty good playmakers, too. At almost any point in time that I can think of throughout the history of the league, there are probably a few wings or bigs that I would take over the best PGs in the game.

In that sense, I place greater importance in positions other that PG if I'm trying to win a championship.

 

If we are talking an efficient scorer that can be effective against playoff intensity defenses, I would probably take the scorer over the great assist guy. I don't feel confident saying that because it's all so hazy. So much depends on team chemistry and who the other players are. I would rather compare specific players.

 

Kevin Durant by a mile.

 

scorer. assists were made up to make the little man feel better

 

Well said.

On the lower levels the dominant scorer always wins out. Still need a player that controls tempo and pacing with their ballhandling. Who can facilitate the offense, captain everyone to their proper spots on the floor. NOT having that at all can put your team at a disadvantage. So the act of assisting in will always be vital.

But would Kobe Bryant need a facilitating point guard if he went to go ball at the local 24 Hour Fitness? He doesnt need that in the NBA that much even. Who says the rebounder cant just take off with the ball on a straight line to the basket all 100 possesions? The assister steps in when the scorers are too limited in their get ball/score ball approach. And that indeed can be the key ingredient between two teams with equal scorers. But I dont think you necessarily need the player that has to dominate the ball making all the decsions to assist on every single possession.

Both are vital skills needed to win on the professional level. I'd lean slightly toward the scorer in real life application.

 

Depends on the sport.

In basketball, especially NBA basketball, the scorer is more important. There have been many teams that have been incredibly successful with no real "assister". The assister is more important in college basketball and FIBA basketball than the NBA, but I still think that the scorer is more important.

In football, whether you consider the assister the quarterback or the blockers, the assister is clearly more important.

I'm not a big soccer fan, but it seems that in European-style play, the assister is more important, and in Latin American-style play, the scorer is more important.

In baseball, I appreciate a well-placed sac bunt or sac fly, but the scorer is clearly more important.

 

Good point...

I love watching DJ Augustin. He doesn't always get the assist, but the hockey assist is what makes him great. He just makes the right play.

Getrdone Daryl...

 

those who can, score. those who can't, assist.

 

i would replace billups, who took quite a few shots and a lot of the pressure shots, with avery johnson, who was clearly a pure point, and the list would be rondo and AJ. of course, none of that changes the fact that for the last 2 decades, pure points have about as many championships as i do (and they were at best the 4th most important people on the team).

 

The midfielder is the way to go

 

A scorer can score without an assist.

An assister cannot assist without a scorer.

Therefore the scorer is the more important player.

Who the better player is depends on who the better player is, defense, rebounding, etc.

 

I beleive so.
Also . . . in Basketball
You cannot be an AssistMaster without some scoring ability

TO ME . . you cannot be the better player when you have to depend on another player.

You have define ASSISTMASTER more for me.
Being able to place the ball where you aim it?
Knowing where the other players are suppose to be?

Rocket River

 

I think it depends on the sport. I imagine in low-scoring games like hockey and soccer, the assist man is more important. I'd like to say the same in basketball, only because I think a good scorer is too easy to isolate during crunch time. There are only so many Jordans for every Nash, Stockton or Magic.