Hot Hands, Draft Hype, and DiMaggio's Streak by Sheldon Hirsch

Author:Sheldon Hirsch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of New England

5

MYTHS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS

The Narrow Thinking about Wins and Losses

Despite the obvious complexity of the game, including myriad nuanced player interactions and variations in player sizes, skills, and styles, basketball experts often spout alleged truisms regarding different aspects of play. Many of these reflect overly rigid thinking.

DO NBA TEAMS NEED A PASS-FIRST POINT GUARD TO WIN?

Russell Westbrook receives more criticism than any other NBA player near his stature. Critics take aim at his style of play at the point-guard position, in particular his propensity for shooting rather than passing. For example, TNT analyst Charles Barkley stated near the end of the 2014–15 season, “Westbrook is not a point guard.” Co-analyst Kenny Smith and commentator Bill Simmons concurred. Hall of Fame Chicago Bulls writer Sam Smith asked skeptically, “Can the Thunder win with Westbrook?” Westbrook himself observed, “I have to do a better job of trusting my teammates more . . . trusting them regardless of what is going on, regardless of the time, score, and possession. Just find a way to trust them and let them make plays as well.”

The criticisms imply that to win championships, NBA teams need point guards who hew to an ideal: a style exemplified by the unselfishness, court vision, and passing expertise of players like John Stockton, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash.

Although these players demonstrated the huge benefits of great passing skills, the notion that a team must have a Stockton-type point guard to win a championship is easily debunked. Numerous NBA teams have won with shooting-oriented point guards. The list of scoring point guards (with variable passing skills) who have led teams to NBA championships includes Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, Tony Parker, Jerry West (who played point guard in the 1971–72 season), Chauncey Billups, Gus Williams, Norm Nixon, and the Jo Jo White–Charlie Scott combination. In addition, Westbrook, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Paul Westphal, and Jason Terry led teams to conference titles.

Evaluations of point guards should consider skills in multiple areas, rather than how closely they follow one style of play. Some point guards are better passers than shooters and vice versa, or even best at defending (only Oscar Robertson excelled at everything). The players noted above, and others, all deserved high regard despite straying (to different extents) from the Stockton paradigm.

In Westbrook’s case, both his strengths and weaknesses are pronounced. He has remarkable speed and overall athletic ability and fills up stat lines with copious points, rebounds, and assists. In fact, he contributes even more than these statistics measure. He corrals loose balls, deflects passes, fights through picks, and generates other cascading benefits from his boundless energy and competitive spirit.

On the other hand, he is not among the best or most willing passers in the league. He struggles with change of pace and situational awareness. This manifests in too many contested shots early in possessions, wild drives into traffic, turnovers, and low shooting percentages, particularly at the end of close games. His one-speed manic style too often marginalizes teammates, as Westbrook publicly acknowledged.

Although Westbrook, overall, ranks as an outstanding player, his talents do not excuse his flaws.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.