Can JJ be a point guard?

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

quote:

Originally posted by FanSince1990:

Yes Ive seen it, right here in the Magic as a matter of fact. T-Mac used to take the ball down court most of the dime and distribute it or whatever, not a pure PG but he was doing it.

 

Penny started as a SG in the league and eventually became the PG. Penny had played PG before but having gotten experience at both, was able to excel at either position.

 

Penny was drafted as a PG, that was the whole plan. The team wanted to have the next Magic Johnson. He was pushed into playing the 2.

 

T-mac played the role in spurts but he was never a full time PG.

 

IMO JJ doesn't have the penetration ability (he can do it but not well enough) nor the handle to be a PG. To be honest I don't want him to change into a PG, I would prefer to use him off screens in a way similar to how the Pistons use Rip. I haven't seen enough of him to know if he can do that but if he could that is very difficult to defend.

[bhnole 153]

JJ does not have the quickness to penetrate and dish like great point guards do. The only time I have seen him be able to get by his man is with a pump fake and drive. A point guard would have to pick up his dribble to pump fake, so that is out.

 

His entire game is built around his ability shoot which means playing off the ball and running screens to get open.

 

Defending cat quick point guards like TJ Ford, Chris Paul, and Marbury would be a nightmare for him.

 

He is a SG, he justs needs playing time.

[The Solution 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Acres 3:16:

quote:

Originally posted by The Solution:

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Acres 3:16:

If it were that easy teams would just teach guys like Tracy and Kobe to be PG's and expect that they would dominate like Magic.

 

Wade and T-Mac both play the point guard position often.

 

True, and Pippen and even Grant did the same thing but none of them used solely as PG's. We are also talking about completely different skill sets between any of those guys and JJ.

 

Wade played shooting guard at Marquette and was drafted by Miami to play the point guard position.

 

I would like for the Magic to give it a try.

[FanSince1990 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Fear Jameer!!:

• SEASON MIN PTS REB AST TO Assist/Turnover

03-04 31.1 15.9 3.1 1.6 1.9 .83

04-05 37.3 21.8 3.3 2.6 2.5 1.05

05-06 37.1 26.8 2.0 2.6 2.5 1.06

 

 

Great passer in college, eh? And just because he played basketball at Duke doesn't mean he automatically has a great basketball IQ.. Believe it or not, both Jameer Nelson and Carlos Arroyo know what they're doing.. They're just getting pulled back by that giant leash that Brian Hill has the entire team on, especially the point guards..

 

Those stats (except for JJ's scoring) aren't too different from what both Jameer and Aroyo average now, and they aren't rookies. Besides with a "Fear Jameer" nick, you can't expect most people to take that seriously.

 

The only part I can agree on is that they're not playing their best bball because of B. Hill. Now, if you did watch every Magic game you'd know by know Jameer and Arroyo both have mental problems, and don't play smart over half of the time. Bad passes, lack of passes to team mates in a position to score, ill advised shots, the examples are endless.

 

JJ has enough common sense to at least pass the ball if he's double-teammed.

[bhnole 153]

I guess my question is. If JJ was getting solid minutes at SG, would we even be having this discussion. Is this out of need for a PG or a need to see JJ play?

 

The guy is deadly off screens and spotting up, two things that are not generally what you look for in PG's, but covet as a SG.

[The Ghost of John Gabriel 0]

quote:

Originally posted by chosen12:

quote:

Originally posted by The Solution:

Cleveland someday, with a different coach, will have Lebron playing point guard because of his court vision and passing abilities.

 

http://nba.aolsportsblog.com/2007/02/11/lebron-james-should-play-point-guard/

 

Redick is too good of a player to be a 3 point specialist. Converting Redick to a point guard allows the team to capitalize on his talents and have him on the floor more.

 

Now that makes sense, and it is worth a shot, what's the worst that could happen, we sink below 500???? LOL

 

Lebron actually played a lot of PG his rookie season with mixed results.

[The Ghost of John Gabriel 0]

quote:

Originally posted by The Solution:

Many of you that think JJ can't be a point guard need to read again why you believe he can't - then ask yourself if your favorite point guard ON THIS TEAM can do that same thing. While your at it, check the turn overs/assist ratio's for Jameer and Carlos.

 

JJ's handle is not in the same league as Carlos'. Carlos has the skill set to be a very solid PG. He simply doesn't have the mindset. Jameer developed into a shoot first PG in college and hasn't shown the mindset to adapt to being a PG again.

 

Lebron, T-Mac, Penny, Wade, Hill...all these players have been tried at PG and all these players were better at their natural positions. The key difference between JJ and these players is handle and athleticism. JJ compares far more favorably to players like Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Micheal Redd, & Rip Hamilton. None of which have ever played PG.

[Undisputed4 0]

Its not hard to be a point guard in the NBA. No one really presses.

 

But his talent that got him here is his scoring.

[The Solution 0]

quote:

Originally posted by bhnole:

I guess my question is. If JJ was getting solid minutes at SG, would we even be having this discussion. Is this out of need for a PG or a need to see JJ play?

 

If we had a reliable scoring point guard with decent size and we were giving JJ adequate minutes, I would say this discussion would not be necessary.

 

The fact that we need two STARTING positions filled and need these guys to SCORE, it makes sense to look at what players we HAVE. We will likely get a go-to-guy guard this summer(Vince), but we still need a point guard.

[Emory889 353]

The only reason that this is even being discussed is because JJ can't get any playing time at his current position. We already have a point guard that can shoot from anywhere on the court and Diener can't sniff the court either.

 

JJ struggled with his ballhandling at Duke. Late in games Duke would spread the floor and give the ball to JJ because of his great free throw shooting ability. JJ did ok in this position but if a good defensive guard started pressuring him he turned the ball over more times than not. I guarantee he would struggle at this level against superior athletes.

 

As it has been said before just because he is a little smaller and can shoot doesn't mean he can play PG. He isn't quick enough off the dribble to break pressure and his ball handling isn't good enough either.

[Emory889 353]

quote:

Originally posted by Undisputed4:

Its not hard to be a point guard in the NBA. No one really presses.

 

But his talent that got him here is his scoring.

 

 

Thats only because most PG's are very good at breaking pressure and it compromises the defense if the pressure is broken. If opposing coaches sense weakness in the guards handling ability they will release the hounds I assure you. I don't know if you've noticed or not but Diener gets pressured all the time when he's in the game.

[The Solution 0]

quote:

Emory889,

JJ struggled with his ballhandling at Duke. Late in games Duke would spread the floor and give the ball to JJ because of his great free throw shooting ability. JJ did ok in this position but if a good defensive guard started pressuring him he turned the ball over more times than not. I guarantee he would struggle at this level against superior athletes.

 

As it has been said before just because he is a little smaller and can shoot doesn't mean he can play PG. He isn't quick enough off the dribble to break pressure and his ball handling isn't good enough either.

 

Good response and post. I guess that is what I was looking for.

 

Do you feel JJ is big and strong enough to be a starting guard in the NBA?