Ranking the Top 10 Shooting Guards in the NBA Heading into 2014-1510. Dion Waiters
9. Manu Ginobili
8. Arron Afflalo
7. Bradley Beal
6. Klay Thompson
5. Lance Stephenson4. Monta Ellis
3. DeMar DeRozan
2. Dwyane Wade
1. James Harden
Lance StephensonTeam: Charlotte Hornets
Age: 24
2013-14 Per-Game Stats: 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.1 blocks, 14.7 PER
From a perspective based around traditional statistics, Lance Stephenson doesn't measure up to many of the players he ranks ahead of in this article. However, context is vitally important, because Stephenson was so often the only player on the court capable of creating his own offense for the Indiana Pacers.
In fact, his value is pretty easy to see when you take a gander at what the Pacers were able to do with him on and off the court, per Basketball-Reference.com:
---------------------------ORtng---------DRtng
Stephenson On----------105.8----------100.1
Stephenson Off----------101.3----------98.5
Even though the Pacers were better at preventing points when he was off the floor, it's hard to deny how effective he is on that end. He's a tenacious, hard-nosed player who isn't afraid of any matchup, nor is he unwilling to milk any advantage he thinks he can gain.
Sometimes, the antics overshadow the production. Sometimes, Stephenson gets overconfident and can shoot his team out of a game.
But now that he's in a more stable environment and will be tasked with being a third option for the Charlotte Hornets, he's only going to look better than ever.
Full article:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2201974-ranking-the-top-10-shooting-guards-in-the-nba-heading-into-2014-15/page/7Yes, Stephenson is a known knucklehead from his high school days in Coney Island; a true head case that plays with an undeniable amount of effort on a nightly basis. The type of play that the Heat have been lacking for the past two years, whenever they were not matched up against his old Indiana Pacers.
He would also bring the skills that had him on top of last season’s NBA statistic board with five triple-doubles. Which brings us to an interesting point that ESPN’s Chad Ford brought up:
“I had a NBA GM tell me yesterday that they think Stephenson will thrive if he lands on a team that uses him as their primary ball handlers. He thought Stephenson is more of a point guard… Put him on a team where he you ask him to run the offense and score less, and the GM thought he’d be much better.”
That type of thinking would make it much easier to move on from the anemic play of Cole in the starting lineup, while allowing Stephenson to keep a player like Mario Chalmers at the shooting guard position where he thrived off of the bench. And although his presence would mean less time for Wade handling floor general duty, I’m sure the 12-year vet would not mind doing so for a player who — in a slump season — would automatically be the Heat’s No. 2 in rebounds (6.8) and assists (4.8).
Full article:
http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2014/12/19/lance-stephenson-should-be-on-miami-heat-christmas-wish-list/
