Best of the Past 20: PG

[The Guilty Party]

You may or may not have noticed, but the Sixers are celebrating the franchise's 60 year anniversary this season (going back to the Syracuse days) hence they will be wearing the throwbacks uniforms more often and using the old red, white, and blue basketball logo as well. In honor of that.... I thought we could have some threads discussing some of the players of the past. Similar to the "Best of the Best" threads that I created a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to create threads to find out who we, the Sixers' Board, feel is the best player at each position in the Sixers' recent history. I say recent history (PAST 20 YEARS) because I believe a majority of posters have only had limited time to watch players pre-1988 play. So rather than discuss and vote on guys like Wilt, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Dolph Shayes, and even someone like Andrew Toney.... these threads will only feature guys from the 1988-89 roster up to the upcoming roster.

The name of the game is simple.... there are five names of players at a certain position listed above so please vote for one and let's discuss why you think he's the best player at that position over the past 20 years.

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First up is PG. Surprisingly, the Sixers have actually had some solid PGs over the past 20 years. When I first thought about making these threads, I figured that this position would be somewhat weak.

Dana Barros: Well, at one point he was the only bright light during the very dark times of this franchise. His most famous accomplishment was that goofy NBA record for consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer made which ended up at 89 games. However, Barros was more than just a guy who made one shot from long distance. In 1995, he made the Eastern Conference All-Star team and that is something that no other PG has done for the Sixers in the past 20 years.

Maurice Cheeks: Well, Mo barely made it onto this list as his last season with the Sixers was the 88-89 season. During that season, Mo put up some strong numbers in a Sixers' uni that included 11.6 PPG with 7.8 APG. While I think Mo may be the best PG the Sixers have ever had, keep in mind that we're basing this on the past 20 years and not previous to that. To me, it is a shame that Mo ended up bouncing around the league (SAS to NYK to ATL to NJN) in the final years of his career rather than retiring as a Sixer.

Johhny Dawkins: Had his best season of his career in 1990 when he averaged 14.4 PPG along with 7.4 APG and 1.4 SPG. He was talso he floor general of some really good Sixer teams that challenged Jordan's Bulls in the early 90's. When I think about Johnny Dawkins, I immediately think of the 1990-1991 season when he blew out his knee (in Milwaukee I believe) and then still shot his free throws despite having to be helped off of the court.

Eric Snow: Talent wise, he might be the least gifted person on this list but there is no doubt that E Snow brought it every night he put on a Sixers' uni. His numbers don't overwhelm anyone but during the 02-03 season, Snow averaged a nice 12.9 PPG with 6.6 APG and 1.6 SPG. His defense was top notch and his floor leadership helped AI and the others take this franchise to it's highest point in the past 20 years with a birth in the NBA Finals.

Andre Miller: The Ping Pong Ball Killer. When he was acquired from the Nuggets, most of us hoped/thought that Miller would make a very small impact on this team and that the franchise was headed toward a Top 3 pick in the 2007 Draft, Instead, Miller showed why he's one of the game's top point guards by not only helping an extremely young team improve but they actually made the playoffs just 18 months after the trade and took a superior Pistons' squad to 6 games. In 07-08, Miller had his best scoring season by averageing 17.0 PPG to go with his 6.9 APG.

[Loose Cannon]

Maurice Cheeks, runaway pick. He may have bounced around the league quite a bit, but his best years were as a Sixer and he headed the '83 Championship squad, earned all of his accolades as Sixer and even had his jersey retired... his tenures on other teams were one-year rentals - he's 76er blood.

[Skates]

I will have to think about this for a while, primarily deciding between Dawkins and Miller. However, although he may be a shooting guard at heart and surely will be listed at that position if this series continues, Iverson played at PG here for several years full time and part time in other seasons. He really needs to be on the list ahead of Dana Barros.

[Loose Cannon]

Damnit, I retract my vote for Mo, I hurried through the thread and misinterpreted it.

[Sixersfan87]

Had to go with Snow. He probably was the least talented player overall, but in terms of intangibles, there's no other choice. Where Jerry Stackhouse, Jimmy Jackson, Larry Hughes, and Speedy Claxton all failed, Snow succeeded in sharing the backcourt with Iverson in perfect harmony. A point is often asked to be the selfless leader of the team, creating for others instead of himself, and Snow embodied this to a T. He played defense when AI wouldn't, and was an outstanding member of the community. I am always biased tothe team that went to the Finals, but if Andre does indeed bolt next summer, 2 1/2 years isn't enough to earn him the right to be called the best Sixer point guard in the last 20 years in my book.

[The Guilty Party]

I see what you're saying about Iverson but his best seasons were when he played SG next to Snow (the last 90's, early oughts) and he was a SG during his MVP season. I suppose I could have listed him at two positions but then the final list would have looked a little crazy.

[The Guilty Party]

Damnit, I retract my vote for Mo, I hurried through the thread and misinterpreted it.

Sweet. This my first chance to use those sweet mod powers. I enabled the poll so that you can change your vote.

[83SixersRocked]

Maurice. He played a major role in getting the title.

Snow if we're picking for 'D'. I believe it was the year after the 6ers went to the finals when Kobe was asked who is the most difficult player for him to play against? His answer...'Eric Snow'.

[eyeatoma]

Damnit, I retract my vote for Mo, I hurried through the thread and misinterpreted it.

Sweet. This my first chance to use those sweet mod powers. I enabled the poll so that you can change your vote.

Haha, I think that feature is available to everyone though isn't it?

[eyeatoma]

I initially thought it should go to Mo, but according to the criteria MO has one season in the last 20 years, so it wasn't that earth shattering.

If Miller stays with the team for another 3 years, and produces to say 13 ppg and 7-8 apg...I'd say he gets the vote.

But for the moment I've gotta give it to Snow. He embodied so many of the characteristics of the team that went to the finals. Tough as nails, 1st all NBA defender, an excellent facilitator, had that herky jerky jump shot that somehow went in in the final minutes in must win games, and he was a good friend of AI's, who I'm sure reigned him in during his more volatile moments...Although I do believe McKie was Iverson's best friend on the team.

[The Guilty Party]

Damnit, I retract my vote for Mo, I hurried through the thread and misinterpreted it.

Sweet. This my first chance to use those sweet mod powers. I enabled the poll so that you can change your vote.

Haha, I think that feature is available to everyone though isn't it?

Damn you.... damn you to hell!!

[eyeatoma]

Hahahaha, sorry dude, didn't mean to rain on your parade...Mod away...

[The Guilty Party]

No love for Johnny Dawkins so far?? I thought someone on this board loved Dana Barros and that ridiculous record.

[Skates]

I am going to have to go for Andre Miller in a close one over Johnny Dawkins. Mo was really starting to slow down in his last year here, plus he only played one year in the time period we are looking at. Snow was a great defender, but a mediocre playmaker and poor shooter, he was a unique fit on a team with Iverson at SG. Barros was a moderately good player for a short time on a bad team. Dawkins was the quickest of the group and might have come in number one for me if he did not get hurt. Miller is a true PG who does what the team needs to win. Great passer who can score when needed and definitely makes the players around him better.

[The Guilty Party]

Good post, Skates. I feel the same way about all 5 hence that's why I voted for Miller slightly over Dawkins. Dawkins was a better perimeter shooter (not by much) but I think Miller edges Dawkins in terms of overall scoring ability, passing, and floor leadership. It's close but #7 takes it for me.

[geiger]

Dawkins was a much better perimiter shooter. He shot 122 out of 360 from 3 point range for the Sixers. It was the rest of his game that wasn't as good as Millers.

Fact of the matter is, last 20 years is a small sample and very tricky at PG. First off, Sixers have been generally horrible for about 12 out of those 20 years. Secondly, for most of the time when they were good, they had Eric Snow, Allen Iverson and Aaron McKie all log in some serious minutes at PG. Iverson played PG just as much as Snow and played defense at PG while Snow typically defended SGs so that is also tough to judge. If you put Iverson at PG for half of his career as a Sixer, he's a runaway winner. Otherwise, we had so much turnover during that time frame that you're being asked to judge a bunch of guys who were only here for one or two seasons.

If you assume Iverson is a SG and Cheeks only counts for the one year before he was traded at the very tail end of his glorious career, you essentially are picking between Eric Snow, Johnny Dawkins (half of whose time with Philly was destroyed by injuries) and Miller and his 1 1/2 seasons here. Based on that criteria, Miller has to be the guy.

[bballin76]

no love for Dana Barros on here, haha

[IversonsMother]

Has to be Miller. 20 years ago Cheeks was at the end of his prime.

[ankle420breaker]

I voted for Andre 'old man steady' Miller.

[docwasoverated]

i want to start a write in candidate..iverson..easily the best in the last 20 years!