Now even though I refer to players positions to select my rankings; I will defend that by saying that I like to consider myself more than a “novice” when it comes to assessing basketball. I’m not going to take that statement too personal because I understand where Rose is coming from . When players like Rose, Magic, Garnett and LeBron came into the league, they were the exceptions, not the norm. I remember when there were traditional roles designated to the players positions. The point guard brought the ball up, and called out the play. The shooting guard and small forward played were out on the perimeter. The power forward was physical and grab rebounds. And the center played down low and defended the rim.
Now it is not uncommon to see a center shoot 10-15 three pointers a game. The point guard is not always the leading assist man. The small forward might just be your de facto point guard who brings the ball up ala Ben Simmons. “Small Ball” and perimeter play is the typical brand of basketball being played by teams. The ball doesn’t go down low and comes back out, it starts outside and may never go inside. I heard Magic Johnson recently say that if a player doesn’t have a jump shot, then it is hard for him to play in today’s NBA. I guess it is what it is. And like Tony Soprano once said’ “remember when is the lowest form of conversation.” So enough with the back in the day talk. Let’s get into the top players of today.
Point Guards
Russell Westbrook
PPG APG RPG
20.1 10.9 9.3
Career: 22.7 8.0 6.3
The great Allen Iverson has said in a couple interviews that the player that reminds him most of himself is Russell Westbrook. Iverson wasn’t as athletic and didn’t racked up triple doubles like Westbrook. However he did play the point guard position in attack mode the same way Westbrook does now. Also, Iverson played with Carmelo Anthony, who is now teammates with Westbrook. Iverson played with Melo towards the end of his career. On the other hand, Melo is now the veteran who is playing with the younger Westbrook.
I bring this up because similar to Iverson, players who need and shoot the ball a lot, have a tough time playing with Westbrook. He is not one to take a backseat to anyone. Jeff Green, James Harden, and Kevin Durant were all once teammates of Westbrook. And all of those players did not discourage Westbrook from being the dominate player on the team. When Melo joined Oklahoma City this year, I didn’t think it was a good move. And I still don’t think it is a good move. I thought Carmelo should have joined the Cleveland Cavilers instead. I felt his scoring, and big game mentality would have been perfect addition in helping the Cavs quest for a championship this year. Although Westbrook is still one of my favorite players; I think he can be a little bit ‘extra’ at times. I watch a few games of the OKC games this year and he sometimes is too reckless. Especially late in games. True, he is the best player on the team. However with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, you would think he would adjust his game a little bit. In his defense, he has, but he still resorts to one on one basketball at the end of games. OKC has enough talent to eventually figure it out and become competitive enough to make a run in the western conference. But in the end, just like Iverson, Westbrook may be a iconic, exciting point guard, with no rings.
Stephen Curry
26.7 6.6 4.4
Career: 22.9 6.8 4.4
The second point guard position came down to me choosing between Kyrie Irving or Steph Curry. Some will point to Kyrie being a better player based on his performance against Curry in the NBA Finals. I will agree that Steph can’t stick Kyrie one on one. No one can stick him one on one. Along with James Harden, Kyrie is probably the best isolation player in the league. With that said, Curry is still a lethal offensive player. I also think he is a more complete offensive player than Kyrie. He averaged more points, rebounds and assists than Irving. Defensively, I will give Curry a slight edge. Kyrie lead the league in steals last year, but Curry plays a little bit better defense on the ball.
For the record, I did give slight consideration to John Wall for this slot. I actually like Wall’s game, but he is too inconsistent to be a top ten player. He has the talent to compete with the elite, but he fades away at times.