pillwenney wrote:SacKingZZZ wrote:OK, somebody give me a comparison of this "true PG", because the only "true PG's" I know of would equate to the ball being out of Cousins/Evans hands. "True PG's" are typically defined in three ways: pick and roll pg's, collapsing defense guards using driving ability to kick it back out to shooters, and finding someone at the rim off of the drive or cuts. Now, a player playing PG who sets up your offense wouldn't really help right now for a simple reason, THERE IS NO OFFENSE.
Jimmer has actually been quietly proving a lot of people wrong in relation to his potential PG skills even during these iffy games for him. He's able to break into the paint very well and has the vision to find bigs at the rim and he can run the pick and roll, two very crucial "true" PG skills. Now getting a point guard that can play the pick and roll like Nash would be great, but just as with the idea about running, I don't think this crop of talent lends itself to being a great pick and roll team. Cousins/Jimmer could be an excellent pick and roll combo much in the same way that Webber/Bibby were, but I don't know if that's something you'd build your offense on. They need to find a way to create opportunities off of Evans and Cousins, it's what all great teams with potentially dominant players do, build around them and make use of their vast array of skills and when both players have the passing ability that both do, it's almost a no brainer. Maybe can't happen until after a training camp, I don't know.
It doesn't have to be someone really fancy. Someone like Luke Ridnour would be nice. For your 3 options, I would say it's closest to the third option. Having multiple ball dominant guys isn't so bad as long as they're also willing passers. That's why Miami works so well. Lebron and Wade are both, I'd say, considerably less selfish than Tyreke, Marcus and John (also a big talent gap, obviously). Tyreke won't lack opportunities with a pass first PG, he'll get better opportunities. Same with everybody else. The offense would be getting guys the ball in a good position. And we need a guy who is looking to give guys the right opportunities at the right times. Having somebody that thinks in those terms could make a big difference.
Jimmer has some PG skills, but let's not act like we could really run a team through him right now in any respect, because we can't. He still gets caught in bad situations all the time. Frankly I'm shocked his TO numbers aren't higher. Maybe he can become that player in the future, but he's certainly not right now.
See, I wouldn't label Ridnour a "true" PG. You'll see him used as a spot shooter just as much as anything and he runs PG much like Jimmer would. If you have no offensive structure like this this team right now, the only "true" PG that will help is one that can get you 10+ apg Nash or JKidd style. You can just pick and roll teams to death at least in that case. There is no such thing as a "true" PG that a) doesn't take the ball out of your best players hands or b) can make up for the lack of a true system without dominating the ball. Chris Paul for example DOMINATES the ball. Sure, he'll rack up assists but he still dominates the ball, it's one of the reasons he and Thornton didn't make such a good combo and the idea that he and Kobe could co-exist was just stupid. I guess is all goes back to what the definition of a PG is, same with C, a question with no real answer. All I know is this team would look just as bad in the long run with a Luke Ridnour unless they get some basic concepts and a shred of chemistry down.
Wade/Lebron is a good combination to follow and possibly a good place to look for influence with Evans, Cousins, and possibly Thornton as well. Wade and Lebron are literally two of the only guys to handle the ball on that Heat team. Chalmers has some decent PG skills but he's mostly there for spot shooting and defense. I think a Mario Chalmers is what you would want next to Tyreke, but taking Thornton off the floor for a player like him? Probably not, at least not with the ability to create offense for others like we've seen out of Cousins in particular. The stats last year didn't lie and if the idea is to not use Cousins, and Hayes as well, for their passing? Well, that's a gross misuse of ability, an ability that could make this team a contender in a few short years. This same basic unit climbed to about that 23 apg mark towards the end of last year, so we know it can happen, there just needs to be an understanding of what to do, and how to do it. When they get more acclimated if this team averages under 24 apg at least at it's peak this year it's a travesty.
