October 22, 2008 – Dr. Anklesnap
So yesterday i’m just minding my own business (ahem… okay lies) and I walked into a debate with some friends about who will be the 2008-09 NBA MVP. As this is a battle or argument that no one will win this early in the year, eventually the discussion turned to who the best shooting guards in the league are. Then I got an email from a reader today, Jerry M, who asked me if we could run a poll/survey on who the top shooting guards in the league are heading into the 2008-09 season.
I’ve had strong opinions about who the best shooting guards in the league are for the past few seasons, but Jerry M. inspired me to sit down and think about who I believe will be the Top 10 shooting guards (legitimate position must be the 2 spot) in the NBA this season. Hoops Addict recently published an article on Becoming A Great Shooter, which discussed the differences between a shooter and a scorer:
“One of the biggest misconceptions in basketball is the difference between a scorer and a shooter. Most people think that shooters and scorers are one in the same but that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.
A shooter is someone with a great jump shot, point blank. A shooter is a player like Reggie Miller, Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick, that when the ball leaves his hands the opposing teams hold their breath. You can not leave him open and if you do you will surely pay.
A scorer is someone who finds a way to put the ball in the basket. Whether it be from a jump shot, lay-up, or put back rebound, he is consistently around the ball.”
I want to be very clear that my list will cover both great shooters and great scorers. This list of the Top 10 NBA Shooting Guards for the 2008-09 Season will be developed based on which player has the most profound effect on their team’s success. In other words it doesn’t matter if you are a scorer, a shooter, or a defender. The list is intended to outline the players that are so effective at what they do that without them their team wouldn’t have anywhere near the success that they do. Here ya go Jerry M.
Given the fact that Chris Paul is a point guard, and Lebron James is a small forward (or a power forward at times as hinted by Coach Brown for this season), Kobe Bryant is the consensus and runaway choice for the top shooting guard in the NBA. Heck he’s probably the choice for the best player in the league too, but at the SG spot there is no contest. He does it all. Without Kobe the Lakers would have no identity, confidence, or scoring punch and would undoubtedly be lottery bound.
‘Don’t call it a comeback, i’ve been here for years…’ Dwyane Wadeproved to the world in the Olympics this summer that he is back on top of his game and his health seems to be in check. During his injury riddled season last year he also proved that when he is not healthy, the Miami Heat are one of the leagues worst teams. DWade is one of the few players that can put up big numbers in scoring and assists, while still playing quality defense. The way he makes his teammates better reminds me of MJ, and his relentless attacking of the basket is one of the main reasons he is my choice as the second best shooting guard in the NBA today.
Regardless of the fact that the Nuggets had their second best record of in franchise history last year, the first full year with Allen Iverson, all anyone talks about is how the Iverson-Melo experiment was a failure since they lost again in the first round. I’m not so quick to write off the experiment. More pertinent to this post however, Iverson is pound for pound probably the greatest scorer the NBA has ever seen. With no sign of him slowing down with age, I expect this year will be no different. Iverson should once again be among the league leaders in points, steals, and possibly even assists.
Tracy McGrady, can you please make a solid attempt to play more than 60 games this year. If so, you deserve to be on my list as the 4th best shooting guard in the NBA this season. I know a lot of you consider Tracy to be a small forward because he has flip flopped between the 2 and 3 spots for his entire career, however with the addition of Ron Artest to the Rockets in the off-season we should see a consistent line-up of Alston, McGrady, Artest at the 1,2,3. McGrady may not have as quick of a first step as TMac 5 years ago, but he still can shoot the lights out and take it to the cup at will. And when McGrady heats up out there, ‘forget about it’. Over.
Did Andre Iguodala deserve the max contract this off-season? We will find out shortly. But regardless of where the analysts end up on the debate of the day regarding Iguodala’s monetary value, there is no question he is one of the top shooting guards in the league. What I like about Andre is that coming into the league he was an athletic freak who was in the line-up for his defense and penetration. Then he worked his tail off to become a better shooter. First the jumper, now the 3-ball is there in his game. Iggy is now one of the most well rounded SG’s in the NBA. Can he be a leader? Does he need to be?
If you put all of the skills you should have in a perfect point guard into some basketball player making machine, i’m pretty sure it would spit out a robot version of Ray Allen. The guy is super athletic, is one of the greatest pure shooter’s the game has ever seen, has flawless technique and fundamentals, has the triple threat, and he is ultra competitive. As we saw in the NBA finals last year (no disrespect to Pierce but I believe he was the more deserving finals MVP), when Allen heats up from beyond the arc he drains them easier than most drain free throws. ‘He Got Game’.
I have no idea why Joe Johnson is always so hell bent on playing the point. Maybe he took a liking to it during his stints filling in at the point in Phoenix and never could shake it. Whatever the reason is, i’m glad the Hawks finally got a pure point guard in Mike Bibby at the end of last year. Now Joe Johnson can focus all season long on being one of the top NBA shooting guards. He scores in bunches, but like many other 2 guards on this list, when he gets hot he can go off for 40-50 on any given night. The beauty of a Joe Johnson is…he often does a lot of his scoring without a ton of plays being called for him.
When Corey Maggette came into the league he was thought to have limitless potential. He was an athletic freak, with insane jumping ability and good ball control. Then he caught the on again, off again injury bug. People started to question his durability, but never his talent. I always felt like the Clippers were not using Maggette’s talents properly. With good half court guys like Brand and Co. anchoring the team, Maggette never really had a chance to be let loose. Now that Maggette is with the Golden State Warriors in a run and gun offense that would tire out even the Phoenix Suns of 2005, I expect Corey to put up some big numbers and prove he is one of the top 10 shooting guards in the league.
Jason Richardson can win dunk competitions, but can he ball? For a few years that was one of the big questions about this high flying star in G.S. Well I personally never thought of J-Rich as just a great dunker with no talent. If you really watch this guy closely you will notice he is an excellent inside/outside guy with great fundamentals. His fadeaway jumper even reminds me a bit of MJ himself, the way he can square his upper body to the basket from almost any angle to get off a good shot. He continues to put up great numbers for his new team in Charlotte, so why do Richardson’s team’s never win? I think it’s just a matter of circumstance more than anything attributable to his game on contributions.
Why do people continue to sleep on Kevin Martin? Every year since coming into the league this guy has improved his game, to the point where he finished last season with a 23+ points per game average. Not bad for a skinny kid that many thought wouldn’t amount to more than some role playing minutes at best. In my mind the guy is now a legit NBA scoring stud, and should average more than 25ppg this season given his pattern of continuous improvement. He may have some funky mechanics on his shooting stroke, but ‘who cares’, so did Reggie Miller who is arguably the greatest outside shooter ever! And for those who think K-Mart is just a shooting sensation with no slashing game, I guess you missed this pre-season dunk on the 7-footer, Greg Oden.
Honorable Mention: Manu Ginobili – For those of you wondering why Manu wasn’t listed, don’t fret. If he wasn’t injured and expected to miss a good portion of this season, I would certainly have to list Manu in my Top 10 NBA Shooting Guards for 2008-09. But who would he replace? That’s for you to figure out….
