Could someone be a "selfish" player and get assists?

Assists aren't indicative of selflessness.

The crop of young point guards that broke into the league in the late 90's in particular (Marbury, Francis, Iverson) all racked up huge assist numbers while pounding the ball into the ground.

 

Agreed. Players like those who just drive and occasionally dish aren't selfless players. They've just decided the best shot to score is passing rather than potentially driving into 1 or 2 taller defenders.

That's completely different from having great court vision, seeing a play develop and capitalizing on it by passing to the other guy.

 

Iverson is the Answer lol.

But Those players like Francis, Iverson, Marbury when you look at a game they get their assist only if it makes them look good. Like nice passes and stuff, especially Iverson. You look at a REAL PG and they get assist all over the place flashy or not.

 

one word- KOBE!

 

Iverson, Marbury, Francis, young Kobe all got a bunch of assists

 

Not true at all.

They get their assists by kick outs from them driving a lot.

They pound the ball, which leads them to be double teamed. Once that happens, there is an open man and they pass it, whether or not it's fancy.

 

Michael Jordan.

 

I have heard that calderon is like this....he only tries to pad his stats and that is why his assist to turnover ratio is so high.

 

yes. if a player wants 20 assists, but doesnt care if his team wins or loses...thats pretty selfish to me

 

I think Morey said something like any stat can be collected selfishly in that NYT peice. I agree with that. If a guy hogs the ball and only gives it up once he's created an open shot for a teammate, that can definitely be selfish.

 

Exactly, true TRUST is not just passing the ball and letting them make a shot, it is letting your teamates make the pass to YOU or others as well.

Trust OTHERS to make the decision, it took Hakeem 11 years to get there, Tmac is still not there.

DD

 

Not really.

Hakeem had the "selfishness" that is needed by best players to carry their team. Hakeem forced issue against triple teams because he wanted to win and he knew his teammates were crap. Once he was surrounded by NBA players he was willing to pass on double teams. He had no problem sharing the ball in his first two seasons. He had no problem sharing the ball with Ralph Sampson early in his career or Clyde and Barkley later in his career.

McGrady, OTOH, has always been a me first player. He wants the ball in his hands and he wants the plays to be run thru him. He wants to rack up points OR assists thru his play NOT thru teamplay (which is why he Adelman's system never went well with him. Adelman's offense requires you to share the ball). Trust isn't the issue with McGrady. He was given an excellent supporting cast this year which he could have led and trusted yet he pouted because he wasn't the focal point anymore. That right there is selfishness.

Want more?

-Left Toronto because he wanted to leave Carter's shadows.
-Scoring title was more important than winning.
-A player who keeps jacking up 3s (for his entire career) while bringing the ball up, with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, instead of setting up a play, is the definition of all-about-me.. Heat check? More like glory check.
-Gave up on Magic for an entire season because of selfishness.
-Gave up on Rockets for an entire season (personal reasons) because of selfishness.
-Gave up on the Rockets AGAIN this year (entire season) because of selfishness.

McGrady scored a hat-trick that reeks of selfishness.

Hakeem was selfish for the team. McGrady is selfish for himself.

 

I knew Tracy would make it into the thread. Some guys pass cause they want to and some guys pass cause they have to. Some players have a switch and can tell when they're shooting too much even if its the correct basketball play. Some players pass because its the last option left. The opponet has double hard with big players on the hash mark, so now the players has to pass.

 

I think the main Raptor fan who used to post here (maybe he still does)...either JAG or Chad (bus stop guy)...he said that Mike James was an offense killer in Toronto in his breakout season. He would totally go 1 on 1, and while being unbelievably awesome that year at it, only pass when he had to, and it was usually when the shot clock was dying and James couldn't get a shot off. That said, I still wanted him on the Rockets the following season.

 

Selfless is when you swing the ball around knowing you won't get credit on the stat sheet for it.

Selfish is demanding that every score go through you... either off your shot, or waiting to pass until you're in a situation where you know your teammate will shoot as soon as you get him the ball.

 

stockton was selfish even though he the all time ass. leader because he never got a ring.

 

What?

 

dayum, my bad, i forgot the fact he was playing wit karl malone.