John Stockton is known by many as the greatest pure point there was(uggh) but he never won. Don't you think that says something about point guards that don't score? What are all these other pass-first champions that you're talking about? Fisher? Smith? Both of them have Francis-like assist numbers. Harper? Didn't Jordan and pippen 'really' have the PG duties?
when is everyone gonne realize that we don't have to worry about if a team can win with thier primary ballhandler being thier primary scorer? IT DOESN'T APPLY TO US! we ave yao as our primary scorer. how many rings were won with dominating centers?
Cousy averaged 18.4 ppg and got a couple of rings with Bill Russell as well. Don't know how applicable he is to this discussion though.
Exactly, that's important to point out. Isiah is part of the 9000 assist club! So, not only was he a 20ppg scorer, he was a awesome passer. Or better, yet. He was a playmaker, off of his scoring ability. Just like Magic, Roberston, and Payton (7th all-time with 7,590). John Stockton, G 1504, APG 10.5, AST 15,806 Mark Jackson, G 1254, APG 8.1, AST 10,215 Magic Johnson, G 906, APG 11.2, AST 10,141 Oscar Robertson, G 1040, APG 9.5, AST 9,887 Isiah Thomas, G 979, APG 9.3, AST 9,061 And here are some interesting stats from some current young players... Stephon Marbury, G 502, APG 8.2 (TO 3.27), AST 4111 (7th year) Andre Miller, G 325, APG 7.9 (TO 2.71), AST 2,552 (4th year) Jason Williams, G 349, APG 7.0 (TO 2.81), AST 2,454 (5th year) And just as a gauge as how far SF has to go... Steve Francis, G 295, APG 6.2, AST 1,888 (4th year)
Some players have the "score first" mentality because that's all they know how to do. I think the better term would be "score only" mentality. Isiah and Oscar were score first, or pass first. Which ever was better given the situation. I think that's called, "taking what the defense gives you."
Totally agree. Steve is still playing on his atheletic ability. He has not used his brain to beat opponents yet. But when he gets older, he will learn. By the way, his defense needs a lot of work. He has to shut down Marbury.
Bird has better court awareness than Isiah. Bird is a better coach than Isiah. The guy understands basketball better than Isiah. Isiah is a great player as well.
Why does Bird have more court awareness than Isiah? Isiah is considered one of the best point guards ever. Magic was also a terrible coach, but that doesn't mean he understood basketball any less than Bird.
gotta chime in here. i agree with the above quote- bird was more effective defensively than people give him credit for. zeke: toughest player i've ever seen jordan: most tenacious magic: the greatest leader
