Top Ten Shooting Guards
Honourable Mention (In No Particular Order)
Kevin Martin
Big fish in a little pond? Likely, but he’s still a solid shooter and consistent scorer, even if his all around game pales next to the likes of Brandon Roy and Joe Johnson. And guards who get more turnovers than assists should not be in the top ten, even if they are great shooters (and by great shooter, I mean great three-point shooter, he’s only 45% from the floor on his career, respectable, but not note worthy).
Vince Carter/Tracey McGrady
Both of these guys have been slowed by injury, and trade demands, but both remain talented and are athletes that have the skills to break off phenomenal seasons. The Rockets will be depending on McGrady when he comes back from injury, while the Magic will be hoping that Carter plays like his former all-star self to make them a true contender.
Monta Ellis
To small to play shooting guard (gives up too much on defence), but he does work hard on the boards (over 4 a game), though his assists (3.8 a game) are diluted by his turnovers (2.7 a game). At his height, offensive plans are limited for his team, and without true ball-handling skills, he limits himself even further.
Randy Foye
Foye is a great combo guard, can pass the rock, score, hit his free-throws, but he needs to increase his field-goal percentages if he hopes to get minutes in Washington.
J.R. Smith
If he finally gets himself a starting job, Smith could make me look like a fool for putting Gordon on the list above him. He’s a solid rebound, passer and scorer and can shot the three.
10. Ben Gordon
The Pistons have the best shooting guard rotation in the league with Hamilton and Gordon. Gordon does give up some height, but he’s a great three-point shooter, he’s over 80% from the free-throw line and a respectable 45% from the floor. And for a short guy his 3+ rebounds aren’t so bad. He also gets 3+ assists a game, but his turnovers are a bit high and he isn’t so great running the plays with the ball in his hand (unless he’s looking for his own shot), which is bad considering at his height he should be playing point guard. Even if he’s coming off the bench though, Gordon will put up numbers that will keep him on pace with some of the best shooting guards in the league.
9. Michael Redd
Like a couple other elite players, Redd’s season was slowed by injury last year, but the season prior saw Redd have some big games and finish among the league leaders in triple-doubles (even though his assist and rebounding numbers were a little meeker than some of the other triple-double leaders that season). Redd is one of the more complete shooting guards in the league, he can shoot, create off the dribble, drive, defend, pass and rebound. The only knock on Redd is the fact that though he is a consistent scorer, he is inconsistent in other aspects of his games. One night he will get a triple-double, the next will see him get only a couple rebounds or a meagre assist or two, and though he saves his big games for his big match-ups (he’s gotten a couple of triple-doubles against LeBron), I’m sure Bucks fans would like to see those stellar all-around efforts on a more nightly basis.
8. Richard Hamilton
Hamilton reminds me very much of Reggie Miller in that he’s excellent at coming off screens, and though he isn’t good at creating offence with the ball in his hand all the time, he does fairly well on his own. He works the boards well for a guy who is so lean (a respectable 3+ a game), and hands out 4+ assists a game while usually keeping it under 2 turnovers a game. His defence is solid, and he has, like Ray Allen, a strong sense of team play (though he and Allen Iverson seemed to have trouble with deciding who should be starting at shooting guard). Coupled with that, Hamilton offers consistency more than perhaps any other shooting guard in the league. While Kobe and Wade have high scoring nights, followed by more humble numbers, and Allen has been known to hit cold streaks (most notably at the beginning of the ‘08 playoffs), Hamilton is the picture of consistency, dropping in between 16-20 seemingly every night. He may be fighting for minutes with Ben Gordon this season, but Hamilton will still be the best option the Pistons have at shooting guard, and with Billups, Iverson, McDysse and Wallace all gone, he will likely be their first scoring option.
7. Manu Ginobili
Last season Ginobili was slowed by slowed by injuries, but coming into this season healthy, I expect him to put up solid numbers (though his numbers aren’t always a good indication of the total impact Ginolbili has on the game). Hamilton and Carter and a couple others may put up better numbers than Ginobili because he has to share scoring duties with; Duncan, Parker, Jefferson, Finley and Mason, but Ginobili’s impact will still be of the utmost importance for the Spurs, his defence, work on the glass and passing are all important for the Spurs, as is his ability to hit the long range jumper and create space for himself and teammates off the dribble.
6. Andre Iguodala
Iguodala isn’t as great a shooter as some of the other guys on this list (his free-throw and three-point percentages are decent, but not outstanding), but he does create well off the dribble, is a great one-on-one player in isolation plays, knows how to kick the ball out when he’s double teamed or covered (to the tune of over 5 assists a game), and his percentage from the floor is 47%, which is much higher than some perimeter players and certainly puts him near the top at his position. With a good mid-range jumper, and the work ethic to crash the boards (over 5 boards a game), Iguodala is a consistent, solid, all-around player that any GM would love to add to their roster.
5. Ray Allen
Ray Allen may deserve to be as high as third on this list, but he is certainly a top-five shooting guard, even as he enters the twilight of his career. Last season saw Allen hit 95% from the charity stripe, over 40% from behind the arc and almost 50% from the floor, illustrating why Allen is the best pure shooter in the league. He moves well without the ball, knows how to use a screen and get open, and spreads opposing defences out, which is a huge help to his teammates. His rebounding and assists are a little lower than some on this list, but since he doesn’t handle the ball as much as others on the list, so it is understandable that he doesn’t get as many assists (he has to draw defences away from the ball to open the floor up for Rondo and Pierce), and though his defence isn’t as effective as Bryant’s, he still works hard on defence. Allen knows the role he needs to play for his team to do well and he does what is needed. The Celtics already have two ball handlers in Peirce and Rondo, and he knows plays are run for Garnett in the post to draw defences away from the perimeter, so he only usually gets the ball when defences break down, so his all-around stats suffer a little, but his team benefits greatly from this sacrifice and if you doubt Allen’s over all impact, just ask Bryant how effective Allen is, he saw Allen put up his best numbers of he ‘08 post season under Bryant’s stifling defence.
4. Joe Johnson
Joe Johnson has the typical stats of an all-star shooting guard, 20+ points a game, and around 5+ boards and 5+ assists a game, and while his shooting percentage is a humble 43% (a little less than Roy and Wade), he has a diverse offensive game that allows him to create shots off the dribble, off the screen, and on the drive, and he looks to his teammates to get the win. Like Roy, and all great shooting guards, Johnson (though capable of scoring 25+ a game), knows that deferring to teammates is key to winning, which is why the Hawks were able to move past the Heat last season in the playoffs. This year the Hawks will have even more talent to work with (Crawford and Joe Smith have joined the team), which will make the Hawks even better and give Johnson even more exposure, and considering it is a contract year for Johnson, I expect him to make a case for a max contract.
3. Brandon Roy
Roy may have been the best clutch shooter last season. Every time I watched a sports highlights Roy was making last second shots, forcing overtimes and getting wins, and though some were circus shots, most were buckets drilled by and premiere marksman who elevates his game when the pressure is on. And though Roy is a young guy, trying to earn his chops and still building his rep, and though he is the go-to guy on Portland, he still seems to know when to defer, which is a quality rarely seen in a player so young. Roy gets 5+ assists a game and a 2.5-1 assists-to-steals ratio, which Wade still hasn’t been able to accomplish. He shot 48% from the field, and 37% from behind the arc and was over 80% from the charity stripe. His defence is solid and he even grabs almost 5 boards a game to. It may seem, at the start of this season, that Wade and Bryant are clearly a level above Roy, just as James and Pierce are a level above all other small forwards, but I think by the end of the season it will be clear that Roy very much deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Wade and Bryant and may even make as case to be better than Wade.
2. Dwayne Wade
Wade was last season’s scoring champ, a top candidate for MVP, and improved his game on almost every level. He had his lowest turnovers-per-minute average of his career, his highest points-per-minute average, his highest assist average (which most players who are scoring 30+ a game rarely do), pulled in 5 boards a game and played solid defence while shooting nearly 50% from the floor (much better than Kobe). He even got more steals and more blocks per game than Kobe, and if this list was decided by stats alone, Wade would actually finish above Kobe. But Wade was kind of a big fish in a small pond, played on a poor team that got destroyed in the first round and Wade’s defence, though solid, is not as outstanding as Bryant’s defence. The Heat should be a little better this season, but until Wade gets to participate in a deep playoff run, he will be second to Kobe among shooting guards.
1. Kobe Bryant
His defence, his offence, his intensity, his will to win, his all-around game. Just as there it little doubt as to who the best small forward in the game is, there is also little doubt as to who the best shooting guard is. He grabs 5 boards a game, hands out 5 assists, scores 25+ points, is as good as any defender at his position, and is likely not only the best shooting guard this year, but also of his generation. That said, Kobe is not perfect. His field-goal percentage is not as good as some and the alpha male in him still has a hard time deferring to teammates. When Jordan played for the Bulls, they needed Jordan to score 30+ a game to stay in the game. With the Lakers, who have weapons like the newly added Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and other decent scorers (like last season’s top role player Trevor Ariza), the Lakers have a well balances offence (not unlike the Celtics who rely on Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to all score around 20 a game while letting Rondo Raja handle the ball), and therefore the Lakers do not need Kobe to score 25+ a game. In fact, if Kobe deferred to teammates that way Paul Pierce has the last couple of seasons, and the way Duncan and Nash have throughout their careers, the Lakers would be even better, but Kobe’s ego still seems to demand that he get 25+ a game, even though there are three or four 20+ point scorers on the team. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still the best in the league, and Jordan had just as much of an ego. It gives him an edge and can help his team, but history suggests that players who can defer (like Magic, Russell, and Duncan) win more rings than the guys who have to score 25+ a game (Chamberlain, Bird and Kobe). Jordon of course is the exception. If Kobe wants to string together a second dynasty, he will have to make sure that opponents have as much cause to worry about the other offensive players on the Lakers as they do Kobe.