Point Guard Needs

by Zboy on Jun 19, 2008 3:19 PM PDT Comment 12 comments

During the last few years, the Blazers have made many efforts to bring a "true point guard" on board. From Sebastion, to JJ, to Blake, toTaureen, to Kopponen. Now, the Blazers brass seems infatuated with D.J Augustin. Most likely, Nate - a former "pure point guard" is the behind-the-scenes motivating force.Given our present personel, I wonder if these efforts are misdirected.

To see my point, imagine that we somehow acquired the best "true point guard" in the league - Chris Paul. Sure, Paul is a great player, but how would he fit in. Paul needs the ball...No, he dominates the ball. That works fine if the rest of our team consisted of Jim Jones-type, spot up type players, but our team doesn't. Our lead offensive player is Brandon. And Brandon needs the ball to be effective. In my view, in our present roster, bringing on a "pure point guard" would likely create an ineffective situation analogous to what we had with Zach, who dominated the ball to the detriment of our other offensive players.

I believe that a more effective approach would be to seek a combo guard similar to Brandon, say a player like O.J. Mayo [I am not endorsing Mayo personally as opposed to a Mayo-type player since Mayo may have other issues]. Both Brandon and Mayo can handle the ball, both can shoot from outside or drive to the hole. Most importantly, both have great passing skills and high BB IQ's. I expect they would comfortably share the ball and in doing so create insolvable problems for opposing teams that field a "true point guard"

Of course, there are weaknesses to this approach. Neither Brandon nor say Mayo would be comfortable taking the ball up the court alone all the time. But, we could compensate by having them both take the ball up court so as to re leave the defensive pressure. More significant would be the defensive difficulty either would have in trying to stop a quicker "true point guard" from driving to the hoop. Fortunately, we have an effective way to compensate in Greg and LA.

I invite your comments: should the Blazers abandon the search for a "true point guard" in favor of acquiring a strong combo guard ala Brandon?

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I am not sure...

I am not sure the Blazers are looking for a “true Point Guard”, but rather I believe they are looking for this combo guard like you are suggesting, at least that has been my perception all along. Westbrook is the best option for the Blazers in this draft for that position, if we can’t get him, then I expect KP to get us a good player who can fill another role, and maybe make a trade for that player or use our cap space next summer to sign that player outright.

Steve Blake does a very good job for the Blazers in this role, I would just prefer, and it sounds like KP and Nate would too, if the starting pg for the Blazers was a bit more athletic than Steve is. Someone like a Westbrooke or a D. Harris, a tough defender, and a penetrator who can run the break. That is our perfect world point guard at this point in my opinion.

by usmcr3049 on Jun 19, 2008 3:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

what we have

In Petteri Koponen is what the Blazers really need. They should sign the kid and let him improve for a year in the NBDL. Because we’re not going to win the title this next year anyway. So let our point guard of the future improve for one year in the D league and in two years we will be playing for the Championship

by billyjoejack on Jun 19, 2008 5:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think they are "infatuated with DJ Augustin" . . .

. . . so much as they are really impressed with his workout the other day.
The team didn’t seem hell-bent on drafting a pure point until one such creature put on a show for them.
I don’t think their attraction to him is inordinately affected by a “We need to draft a pure point” dogma.

Blazers have a five-on-three...and they pull it back and wait for help.

by QualityPie on Jun 19, 2008 5:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

And add that draft talk is almost all smoke. Somehow I don’t think Augustin has a chance now. The infatuation is in the minds of some fans but if we have learned anything about KP it is that he is coldly methodical and analytical and, with a great staff, a superb evaluator of talent.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jun 19, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Best player not team needs

I think when draft day comes, if we’re not trading the pick, we’ll be drafting based on best available player left, not based on filling team needs. I don’t think we’ll fulfill our need for a point (pure or combo) in this draft, unless of course we trade major assets to move up the draft. Trade/free agency is our best bet.

I don’t think we need a ball-hungry go-to guy, either through draft or free agency. We need role players who will defer offense to our big 3, preferably a PG with good ball handling, athleticism on defense and outside shooting to space the floor.

However I’m not totally off the idea of picking Augustin, I just don’t think he’ll be around at 13. I don’t think its necessarily true that Roy needs to have the ball in his hands early on every possession to be effective, so having a true point like DJ would create more options for this team… even more now that he’s proved to be a sharpshooter in his workout with us – 26 of his first 30 3-pointers!! He’ll be a defensive liability with his 5 foot nothingness, but I think asking for Steve Nash court vision and shooting as well as Bruce Bowen defense is asking a little too much from any single player.

by LMA on Jun 19, 2008 6:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

From the man himself...

From a pre draft interview (I’ve posted this quote before):
Brandon Roy: I don’t want to say that I am going to be just a point guard, because I think I can go off the ball and score too. The best label for me would be a combo guard, I think that if you point guard next to me I can still make plays from the wing, and if you put a big-time scorer next to me I can get him the ball, get the bigs the ball. So I think that’s the best part of my game, I am not just a point or just a shooting guard, I can do both.

Didn’t Roy’s showing at the All-Star game playing with Chris Paul end the (in my opinion crazy) speculation that he can’t play with a big time, “true”, point guard? Roy is such a versatile player and when he says, “I am not just a point or just a shooting guard, I can do both” it’s the truth of the matter. It may turn out that we can’t find a PG who is better at it than Roy. If that’s the case he should become our full time 1 and pair him with a combo guard. However, if you have the opportunity to grab someone like Chris Paul or if the Blazers decide Augustin (or whoever) could turn into an elite force you don’t decide against it just because Roy is also good with the ball in his hands. What? You don’t think Paul or Augustin is ever going to pass the ball to Roy or something?

by nlj on Jun 19, 2008 6:57 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

From all accounts

we already have combo guards in Rudy and Jack and Blake. It is fans that talk about true point guards. Coach Nate and KP have repeatedly talked about versatility and flexibility as highly prized in their players. This team is not going to look like what we are used to elsewhere, I think. Match up problems can be the norm for our opponents.

by lee3022 on Jun 19, 2008 8:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Rudy looks to me to be a SG/SF.

Blake is a pure PG.

Jack’s the only one who’s arguably a combo guard, and he only gets that label because he’s kind of crappy at doing point guardy things like bringing the ball up against pressure and not turning the ball over. We play him at the 2 a lot last year because we wanted to give him playing time but didn’t want him losing games for us with bad ballhandling at the point.

by howlingfantods on Jun 20, 2008 8:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's why

I like trying to trade up for Russell Westbrook. He’s not going to demand the ball on every possession, which would allow Roy to be most effective. He can take some of the penetrating load off of Roy, and he can absolutely wreak havoc on the defensive end

by inroywetrust on Jun 19, 2008 10:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Definition Time

Personally, I’ve never equated “pure PG” with “dominating the ball”. I think of “pure point guards” as John Stockton-type players who run the offense and create shots for their teammates. I’d love to see such a player on the Blazers. Of course, I’d like to see CP3 on the Blazers, as well, but, at least to me, this is an apples-oranges conversation, no?

P.S. Let me know, BEdgers- you know better than I!

"Well, Travis just showed us that we can go to Travis Outlaw." - Nate McMillan

by 12sharks on Jun 20, 2008 2:16 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

There's some things about a "pure point gaurd" you can't replace.

First off, BRoy is the truth… He is like MJ, in the sense that he can do a little bit of everything. Can he play the point? Sure…he can do it all. But, like MJ, that’s not his natural position. He is a facilitator. Lets the game come to him..and maybe most importantly he plays the game at a slow pace. Which is good. We need that in the half court.. But, he is not a pure point gaurd.
Second, I can’t understand anybody who argues chris paul (or a guy like that) is not a good fit for this team. He brings us that element of play we are missing. Quickness. The up and down game. Somebody to lead the break.. Every time i watch new orleans i notice that. After every rebound, he gets a hand off and blazes the ball down court. He takes it like a running back, than makes decisions like a quarterback. That’s what we need. Somebody who brings that element of quickness to the game, and also likes to live in the paint. That’s how we’re gonna get easy buckets…
I believe in the future, we are gonna play a lot of teams that like to fast break. The thing is, if we have a guy like chris paul that becomes our strength, not our weakness…Don’t know what you gotta do. Hopefully let Chris’s agent know we’re willing to pay bookoo bucks next summer, then get him in a blazer uniform.
cp3 +BRoy+trav+lamarcus+oden=rediculous dynasty for years to come.

by BroyTheTruth on Jun 20, 2008 12:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

aaarrrgh

Brandon does NOT need the ball to be effective, and paul does not have to dominate, as they thuroghly demenstrated during the allstar game. i have know idea how it became so clishay to say as much, but it simply isnt true. This has probably been mentioned allready, but I impulsivly went straight to post when I read your impression of BROYs game.

"In KP we trust" every Blazer fan ever

by ptwnblzr on Jun 22, 2008 11:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs