Are We Living In The “Golden Age” Of Point Guards?

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main

Since the earliest days of the National Basketball Association’s existence, big men dominated the game. Starting in the late 1940’s when the league discovered it’s first superstar in George Mikan who was the prototype of the NBA center, giants ruled the court. Mikan looked like Clark Kent on stilts, with his dark rimmed glasses, but on the floor he was Superman. Mikan was so dominant in his time, that once when his team played at MSG in New York the marquee read, “George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers” which caused him to take a ration of ribbing from his teammates. They jokingly threatened that they would not join him on the court because they were just superfluous.

For the next 50 years, it was the “Age Of The Center” in the NBA. Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Bob Lanier, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, were just some of the most celebrated behemoths to rule the hardwood. It was the time of the athlete, who was around 7 foot tall, give or take an inch, and they played with their backs to the basket, and dominated the game.

Although Yao Ming, from the Houston Rockets, and Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic could easily be included on the list of great NBA centers, they are now the exception not the rule. The game started to change back in the mid 1980’s when Ralph Sampson came into the league. Sampson probably was born 10 years too early, but his style of play helped the game evolve. Sampson well over seven feet, was a frustrated small forward. He was not a banger, he was a finesse player. He could dribble, create his own shot, and had a pretty decent outside jumper. The problem was that Sampson was the proverbial square peg in the round hole, and the league never really knew what to make of him. But since Sampson’s brief NBA career ended, we have seen many NBA center who now play the style that Sampson brought to the Houston Rockets back in the 1980’s.

Just as the end of the age of the dinosaurs ended, allowing homo sapiens to become the dominant species on the planet, the age of the big man’s decline?has allowed?the NBA to morph into? a different game.?Instead of guys, like Gilmore, Parish, Walton, and Sikma leading the way there has been a change effecting the way the game is played. The NBA is no longer a center dominated league, it has turned into a league where the court leader now on most teams is the smallest man on the court, the point guard.

Although there have been some incredible point guards over the years, Bob Cousy, Tiny Archibald,?Isiah Thomas, there has never been the abundance of quality floor generals in the league as there are today.? Whether it’s the cagey veteran Jason Kidd in New Jersey, or the fresh faced rookie Mike Conley Jr, there is almost an embarrassment of riches. With very few exceptions( Hello Danny Ferry!) most NBA General Managers have?come to realize, in order to get deep into the playoffs, you need to have that floor leader, that quarterback on the floor. And if you look at the standings, you will see in most cases, the impact that an elite point guard has for a team’s success.

If you are a regular reader of mine, you know how much I admire the game of New Orleans Hornets point Chris Paul. Since his days playing at Wake Forest Paul has been destined for greatness in the NBA. Now in his third year in the league other observers are starting to see the greatness in this young man that I have seen since his college days. I said before, during, and after, the 2007 NBA Draft that in my mind Mike Conley Jr. has the chance to be the most complete player drafted last?Summer. Conley showed?me during the NCAA Tournament last March that he was ready to make the leap to the pros. I thought his skill-set was far more developed than his former teammate number one pick Greg Oden, had I been an adviser to both these young men I would have recommended that Oden stay in school for one more year, where as I would have told Conley to take the plunge. Although Conley is now on the inactive list as he suffered an injury last month, keep your eye on this young man.

If you just go? up and down the rosters, of NBA teams you realize that almost every team has that go to guy, even?second tier teams such as Philadelphia, and New York have great point guards?Andre Miller with the?Sixers, and the controversial but still talented Stephon Marbury with the Knicks. Now add Kidd in New Jersey, T.J. Ford?(who hopefully was not injured too badly in?Tuesday’s win over Atlanta) with Toronto. Even Rajon Rondo who was looked at as the weak link in the chain in Boston’s starting five has proven to be at the very least serviceable.

You travel down the Eastern Seaboard, you have Gilbert Arenas, in Washington, Jameer Nelson in Orlando?D-Wade in Miami. Go?towards the West, you have Chauncey Billups in Detroit,?Allen Iverson in Denver(Sorry A.I.to me you will always be a point guard) the amazing Deron Williams in Utah, Devin Harris, in Dallas, Steve Nash in Phoenix, veteran Derek Fisher with the Lakers, Baron Davis with Golden State. And all these players?have a major impact on their individual teams.

This trend has changed the game, I think for the better. Scoring has started to rise again in the NBA, no it’s not the Denver Nuggets basketball of the 1980’s every night, but we have already seen some games like that this season. Life evolves, Society’s change, the NBA is a different game than?it was 20-25 years ago. Better or worse you be the judge, but for a “Basketball Purist” like myself I like this direction.?The league is a lot more fun and exciting than it was during the days of Chuck Daly’s Pistons, and Pat Riley’s Knicks, and it is you the fan who benefits the most.

? Copyright 2007 thesackattack.com??
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3 Responses to “Are We Living In The “Golden Age” Of Point Guards?”

Jeff Sack on December 12th, 2007 11:08 pm

I think Greg it’s really a product of the times. Oden is a perfect example. Yes it was fortuitous that he got money before the microfracture surgery. But could you imagine the beast he would have been playing another year at OSU this time with a healthy right hand? He may have been the best of all time, and who knows he still could be. But the NBA has become a finishing school for athletes. I think a point guards skills, court awareness, peripheral vision, thinking ahead, are ingrained. You are either born with the gifts or not you can not hone those skills like working on your “J”. Make sense?
Paul on December 17th, 2007 2:57 am

Wow… good minds think alike. I made a post about this 2 weeks ago.

http://nba.lefora.com/2007/11/29/point-guard-golden-age
Top 10 Point Guards In The NBA In 2008 » Le Basketbawl on November 5th, 2009 8:18 pm

[...] in December of last year on our sister site Slam Dunk Central I posed the question Are We Living In The “Golden Age” Of Point Guards? Now near the end of July, I no longer have any doubts. The Association which was once dominated by [...]