I didn’t grow up a point guard, in fact I like to call myself a convert to the position. I wish I grew up with it but the past is past. When points come to me and ask how they can get more assists I usually give these 3 ideas for how that can happen.

1. Don’t pass the ball too early. I truly believe that the role of the point guard is to make sure the offense is run correctly and that the will of the coach is done by the point guard. Point guards are the ones who should be distributing the ball to the correct people at the correct times. The team needs to know that when the point guard passes the ball to you it is to get something done. To learn about this watch Chris Paul and Deron Williams play the position. They run the show and when they pass the ball to someone else it has a purpose. Don’t just pass to pass. Pass to have a meaning and when your teammates get the ball they can be confident knowing they have a shot.

2. Get the ball to scorers in a good position. Simply put, don’t pass the ball to a post player 18 feet away from the basket and expect him to make a basket. The only time you should pass to a player like that is if it is part of the offense or you picked up your dribble and need help. If I have a good shooting guard then I want to give him the ball 20 feet out but not 30. Make sense?

3. Shooters like passes a certain way and in a certain position. I’ve worked with shooters who liked no spin on the passes as compared to shooters who liked a lot of spin. This is meaningless though compared to where shooters like the ball when they catch a pass. Today it is called the shooters pocket and it is the area where the shooter can get the shot off quickest and with the least wasted motion to catch the pass. For a right handed shooter is just above the right shoulder or at the right shoulder. The shooter is able to catch that pass in rhythm and take it right up for a shot.

There you go. It’s sounds so simple but so many players don’t understand how it is done and the little things that are behind it. For coaches, literally stop practice to teach point guards about wasted passes and poor passes. Those types of things can make all the difference to youth players.

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I love talking up good products and one of my favorites for better guard play is a DVD by Kevin Sutton called:  30 Drills for Building a Complete Guard.  Sutton is a Nike Skill Academny instructor and has experience and passion for what he is teaching.  Sutton’s drills are great because they push for always working in game-speed and game-type conditions by always going hard and maintaining concentration and focus.  I love his stressing the footwork because that is a such a forgotten tool by young players and coaches don’t fully understand it.  He breaks it down very easily for everyone to understand.  It honestly helps that he has teaching experience and not just playing experience because they are two separate things.  Most of his drills are in 2-3 player sets and that can be a bit of an issue if you are getting it for yourself but more beneficial for coaches in that type of setting.  Regardless, the fundamentals taught and the drills that are shown are unique and should be there for every coach who is serious about his profession and every guard who wants to get better and understand his role and position.

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Oscar Robertson is highly regarded as one of the most well rounded players to ever play the game.  He averaged a triple double for an entire season and that’s something that will tough for any player to ever challenge.  If there was a player who could do it he would have to be Lebron James.  Last night during the Celtics win against Lebron and the Cavs the announcers debated this very point and I wanted to weigh in on my two cents.

I call this a basketball training argument because that’s what I think this is really about.  Oscar was clearly ahead of his time and dominated the game from day 1.  People tend to miss the fact that he missed averaging a triple double in his rookie season by only .3 assists a game.  His 2nd year he made it easily and his most narrow miss again was his 4th season where he fell short by ‘only’ averaging 9.9 rebounds a game.  Steals and turnovers weren’t kept stats in his early portion of his career so we’ll never know about those areas altogether.  What made Oscar Robertson so good?

Lebron James started playing professionally at 19 years old and has taken the NBA by storm.  He hasn’t averaged a triple double for a season but he did average 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game this year becoming the 3rd player to do that.  The other two were Oscar and Michael Jordan.  Michael did it once while Oscar did it 6 times.

Oscar was a 6*5 205 pound athlete who handled the ball outside and played in an era without a lot of height at certain positions and certainly not the depth.  He didn’t play against international competition and race was most certainly a factor in the 60’s.  He simply dominated the competition and was the best player in the league during the 60’s and that can’t be argued.  He made the absolute best of his situation and did what he was supposed to do. 

Lebron plays against the best players in the world now and strength training has changed the game.  A player like Lebron in the days of Oscar would’ve been something unseen, almost circus like.  He’s 6*9 240  pounds and is athletic as it gets.  He would’ve been the biggest player, strongest player and most athletic player in the league.  The numbers he would’ve put up would be scary.  We’ll never know and that’s why we can’t argue era’s.  If Oscar were put into today’s game I guarantee he would’ve been a dominant player but he wouldn’t average a triple double.  If you give him the same competition, training products and teammates then who knows what Oscar would’ve been like today. 

My point is that basketball training and competition is what makes the game so special today.  Imagine how far the game has come in the 40 years since Oscar started playing and imagine what it will be like 40 years from now.  How much more can we advance in our knowledge and understanding of the human body?  Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James…..who’s next?

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Most people would say that this is a no brainer for Chris Paul.  After all, he is being mentioned for MVP this year and deservedly so.  In his games against Steve Nash he has destroyed him and played some of his best basketball.  The Hornets also consistently beat the Suns at their own game of run and gun.

Deron Williams on the other hand is quietly having another amazing season in Utah.  He isn’t as flashy as Paul but he is perfect for the Jazz system and is a true team leader. 

If you look at the numbers Paul has the clear edge averaging 21 points, 11 assists and 2.7 steals a game.  Williams averages 19 points, 10.5 assists and 1 steal a game.  The Hornets even have a better record than the Jazz do and nobody is talking about Williams for MVP and honestly shouldn’t be.

Do I have an argument here?  Of course I do.  These two players will always be tied together because of the draft that they were taken in and where they were taken.  The Jazz traded up to get the 3rd pick that year and chose Williams over Paul siting the fact that Williams was more traditional and would fit their system better.  Paul went on to win rookie of the year but regressed last season.  Meanwhile, Williams led the Jazz to the conference finals where they lost to the Spurs.  Here’s my point:

Paul can’t beat Williams.  He’s struggled against him all the way back to college.  If you’ll remember 2004, Wake Forest was ranked 1st in the country and went to Illinois to play in Champaign when Illinois was ranked 4th.  Illinois destroyed Wake Forest that night and remained #1 the rest of the year until the title game where they lost to Carolina.  Williams became a lottery pick that game while Paul had always been considered one. 

When they got to the pros it has been very one sided in favor of Williams.  This season the Jazz are 3-1 against the Hornets with Williams going for 17 and 11 against Paul.  Last season was 3-0 against Paul and the Hornets.  When Paul plays against Utah his average drops to 12 points and 9 assists and shoots 30% against them.  Coincidence?  We have a large enough sample of data to show that head to head Williams and the Jazz come out on top more often than not. 

Chris Paul is having the better season and he’s deserving of the MVP talk, but Deron Williams owns him.

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Division III Grinnell College point guard David Arsenault broke the NCAA assists record in a game by tallying 34 of them in a 151-112 win Saturday. 

34 assists in a game.  I don’t think I passed the ball 34 times in entire seasons before let alone in one game.  It was tallied that he actually passed the ball 86 times in the game.  Grinnell is famous in Division III and Iowa for their unique style of play.  They play as fast as they can and shoot as many three pointers as possible.  They continually press the opposing team and shift out players every 5 minutes. 

Arsenault, the coaches son, was still able to score 22 points but could’ve had more assists than he did.  The team was only 23-86 from the 3 point line for the game.  Yes, I said 86 attempts for the game behind the line.  Wouldn’t that be a dream offense to play in?

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I’m an avid Illinois basketball fan and it broke my heart to see Rose sign with Memphis and I sold him short because I said that nobody will get to see the kid play because Memphis is in such a weak conference that they won’t get as much tv time.  I’m wrong.  I’m wrong.  I’m wrong. 

 If anyone has watched any Memphis highlights the past few days you’ve seen a player who is amazing in Derrick Rose.  Kid’s a true freshman and if there is a more talented college player in the country I’d love to see him.  I had watched some video clips of Rose from high school and I wondered how that would translate into college and it is amazing.  Sure he has played 2 ‘exhibition’ games so far basically but he’s putting on a show.  In his first game he had 4 dunks with one of them being a tip dunk where he came in from the wing.  What is amazing is that this kid is a true point guard who is a blur with the ball in his hands.  I had heard he couldn’t shoot the ball, but his form looks good and his elevation is great on his jumper.  Derrick Rose will be a top 5 pick in next years NBA draft and any fool can see it. 

There is no way that Memphis will NOT be on tv this year.  The public will demand it and he will be seen.  Coach Calipari got an amazing recruit and college basketball is better for it.

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