"WHY POINT GUARDS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN BIG MEN" by Duane Silver
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"WHY POINT GUARDS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN BIG MEN" By Duane Silver Everyone knows the college game is a guards game. Right? In the Men's Final Four this year there were four really good point guards. Taurean Green of Florida, Mike Conley Jr. of Ohio State, Darren Collison of UCLA, and Jonathan Wallace of Georgetown. Tennessee's women had a great little point guard I can't remember her name right now. Now, are you ready for my theory on why Point Guards are more important than Bigs? Here we go. In the pro playoffs (If you don't like it we need to talk. It is the best basketball in the world!) All the teams with great POINT GUARDS are still playing. Here is list: Baron Davis-Golden State, Chauncey Billips- Detroit, Deron Williams-Utah, Jason Kidd-New Jersey, Steve Nash- Phoenix, Tony Parker-San Antonio, (I would list Kick Hinrich-Chicago, but I don't think he is quite there yet) (Dallas did not win because Jason Terry is in my opinion not a true point guard. He is more of a scoring guard.) All the great Big Men are home now. Shaq is out and I don't know of another great Big Guy that is still playing. Do you see what I am talking about? Here is what you need from Point Guards: One-Toughness, Two-A Great Basketball IQ, Three-Leadership, Four-Strength or Quickness, Five-The have to have Charisma, The Referees must like them, Six- They Defend, Seven-Their Teammates like them, lastly they all have intangibles *Note I have actually coached years ago at Baylor's Elite Camp against Deron Williams. Here is the thing you all probably don't know about him because he is big. He is very FAST, it shocked me how well he could always get by 5'10" guards who tried to guard him. They could never keep him infront of them. (You may not know this either, but he was not the most recruited player on his high school team (Bracy Wright who played at Indiana was). Now, you are going to think I'm rambling, but I'm not. I want to tell you about a point guard I saw at the Texas State Basketball Tournament in 1979 (just like yesterday to me). His name is Ronnie Blake 5'7" about 170 lbs (a lefty, I love left handed point guards) (Lufkin is a 5A school with about 2000 students) (Ronnie was the quarterback on their football team.) This guy is the most awesome leader I have ever seen. In the state playoffs Ronnie made four shots at the buzzer to win plus his shot against Fort Worth Dunbar in the state championship game with no time remaining is the only time in my life that I have seen things in slow motion like you see in the movies. Ronnie later was on the team at Baylor University here in Waco and they seldom let him play. This was to me the biggest mistake I have ever seen in college basketball. Ronnie never complained about what happened to him. Ronnie is now a teacher and the tennis coach at Lufkin high school. *Note and this is the truth: When Ronnie's high school coach recieved the Texas High School coach of the year award he said this, "As soon as I get back to Lufkin I'm going to give this to Ronnie Blake." (More below) *POINTS TO BE MADE ABOUT POINT GUARDS By Duane Silver 1. You need to have 30 minute meetings with them twice a week during the season. Teach them what you want done on the floor. *Look at tape for only about 10 minutes. Don't over do it. 2. They have to be an extension of you on the floor. 3. Did you realize that the best coaches were point guards in high school? (Don't shoot me if you were not a point guard. I was a 6'1" Post man.) I think they are more innovative. 4. Take them, just you and them to watch a college game and talk to them about what you are seeing. "A picture is worth one thousand words." 5. Teach them this, that lots of mistakes are made in basketball by point guards when they are within three feet of the baselines and sidelines. If they seldom get within three feet they are better off. When you are within three feet of any line you can get trapped easier and you might step on the line. (Baron Davis did this Thursday night vs Utah) 6. This is big and they can't alway do it, but Point Guards should be taught to "Stop and Make a Decision". Meaning they should jump stop and wait a second or two and then make a pass. The great point guards always see more than one receiver. 7. Point Guards should dribble alot with two basketballs. (At home or in the gym. They need you to give them a routine. *If you live in San Antonio talk to Steve Sylestine at Stevens HS. He is master at it. (Plus he is 6' 6" and one of the best people in the World!) 8. Most coaches don't teach this, but against full court man to man pressure and they run jump the point guard he should be taught right before the double team happens, he should back up dribble two dribbles and then cross over and go the other way. The great ones do this without being taught. I learned this from watching Monte Towe when he played for North Carolina State years ago. 9. In high school you need to drill once or twice a week on letting your point guard go full court with two guys guarding him. If he can play he can make to the other end without turning it over. 10. High School point guards cannot do this dribble any more. The old fashioned "Reverse Dribble" Steve Nash is a master at it. 11. My "Pet Peeve" for point guards "Dribbling behind their back or though their legs in traffic or when they are double teamed. Stupid!!! *NOTE on Steve Nash: When he got to Santa Clara Univeristy as a freshman after the first day of school all the players got together and played pick up games for about an hour and a half and then right before they went in after playing Steve told all of them (remember he is 18 years old and this is his first day in college) I'll see you tonight at 9:00PM at the gym so we can play somemore. You know what? they all showed up. *True Story. "NEW PET PEEVES" By Coaches from all over America *Note: If you will just teach five of these each day to your players you will be hard to beat! (DS) Players bending over to pick up a ball instead of diving on the floor Players attempting to dribble a loose ball instead of securing it first. Players using the bounce pass to pass to a player with no defender in between them. (Young players really do not know when to use the bounce pass. I remember 15 to 20 years ago Dr. Tom Davis would stress the use of the bounce pass almost exclusively but aside from throwing the ball to the post and passing out of a trap (or closely guarded situation with a dead dribble), we try to discourage the bounce pass). Offensive players not using the jump stop off the dribble in the paint. They will take off of one foot and try to make a decision in the split second they are in the air. #1 Pet Peeve- Kids saving a ball going out of bounds to the opponent under opponent’s basket. Always seems to lead to an easy score. I’ve told them a thousand times to chunk it down the floor, call a timeout or just let it go. We even practice it but they still will do it in a game!!!! My favorite pet peeve is not to make a 100% commitment to sprint back on defensive transition. My #1 pet peeve is for a player to stand and watch when a shot is taken. It reflects a misunderstanding of the game!! EVERYONE has a job to do when a shot is taken. You are assigned to either go to the offensive glass or get back on defense. Your assignment is NOT to watch and see if the shot goes in. Defensively, EVERY ONES job (on our team) is to block out. A secondary pet peeve would be an offensive player not facing his basket. Why in the world would you want to face your opponent's basket? How many offensive problems could be solved if players would only face the basket? Thirdly, I detest it when we save a loose ball under our opponents basket. Can we just throw it toward our basket? Fourthly, I hate timeouts to save possession early in the game. The first pet peeve that came to mind is not going after an offensive rebound - we send 4 to offensive glass! Number one pet peeve: dribble one time with the left hand going to your left and having to spin around to dribble right ( while still going left) My favorite pet peeve(one of them) is when a post player dribbles with her back to the basket for no reason. Pet Peeve: A player taking a shot and just standing there not following shot.