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  • Arguing Against the Combo Guard...

    http://www.nbadraft.net/combo-guard-conundrum

    The article's pretty good (aside from calling Wade a combo guard...) and shows why taking a combo guard, such as the highly-tooted (at least around here) Avery Bradley, is a big risk. Can the Raptors afford to be taking such a risk? Or should we be going for BPA? Or most NBA ready?

  • #2
    I like combo guards who can get to the rim. This is not what Avery Bradley is..

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    • #3
      Maybe I'm confused, but isn't a combo guard a guard that doesn't have the skills to be a point guard but is too small to play the 2? Guys like Dwayne Wade are not Combo guards because they do have the skills to play the one and if they had anyone on their team who could score they could get 10 assists a night easily. Same with Chauncy Billups, Monta Ellis, and Tyreke Evans. Just because a Point guard can score or plays with a shoot first mentality doesn't make him a combo guard.
      "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

      -Churchill

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      • #4
        Combo guards have the skills to play both positions. Typically they're players who have the mentality of your prototypical SG but in the size of your typical PG.

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        • #5
          Apollo wrote: View Post
          Combo guards have the skills to play both positions.
          This is the definition I would use. Jarret Jack is our version of a combo guard on the Raptors imo.

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          • #6
            Apollo wrote: View Post
            Combo guards have the skills to play both positions. Typically they're players who have the mentality of your prototypical SG but in the size of your typical PG.
            Ok cool. So if they have the skills to play the one spot why is their a concern? Jerritt Jack (whom Marz used as an example) does a great job running the offense and scoring. Wouldn't it be better to have a point guard that can score if he wants too or make a good pass than one who has no natural scoring ability?
            "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

            -Churchill

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            • #7
              Jarret Jack is a veteran who has learned how to play at both the 1 and the 2. However, there are many more benefits (again, my opinion) to having a true 1.

              Players like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, DeRon Williams... all of them make their teammates better than combo guards can. Yes, I know, I just named a bunch of all-stars, but even Jose Calderon does a better job of making his teammates better than Jarret Jack.

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              • #8
                hateslosing wrote: View Post
                Ok cool. So if they have the skills to play the one spot why is their a concern? Jerritt Jack (whom Marz used as an example) does a great job running the offense and scoring. Wouldn't it be better to have a point guard that can score if he wants too or make a good pass than one who has no natural scoring ability?
                Well it all depends on what the team wants. Typically combo guards have a shoot first mentality and as such if the team in question is looking for a distributor then a typical combo guard might not be the best fit. I would use examples like Ben Gordon, Leandro Barbosa, Allen Iverson, Monta Ellis and OJ Mayo. All those guys are "combo guards" and have all the skill in the world to play the point but do they think like PGs to play it full time? All depends on the team.

                Marz wrote: View Post
                Players like Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, DeRon Williams... all of them make their teammates better than combo guards can. Yes, I know, I just named a bunch of all-stars, but even Jose Calderon does a better job of making his teammates better than Jarret Jack.
                Come now, why don't you name some Champions like Rondo, Billups and Parker?
                Last edited by Apollo; Thu Jun 3, 2010, 10:40 AM.

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                • #9
                  I don't consider Rondo, Billups, or Parker combo guards. They are scoring point guards. You can't play Billups at the 2. Maybe Parker, but certainly not Rondo. Perhaps they are not the same as a true 1, but they at least bring strong decision making and solid defense. I'd still take Deron Williams over them any day of the week.

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                  • #10
                    I wasn't referring to them as combos. I was commenting on hatelosing's comment about pure PGs.

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                    • #11
                      Combo guards a like "all-in-one" printers/copiers/scanners.

                      They can do several things but don't excel at any of them.
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                      • #12
                        I really don't like combo guards, but the article, I don't think, makes a very good argument. First of all, I don't think guys like Wade, Flynn or Mayo are combo guards. To me, a combo guard is a player who doesn't have the size to play SG, but isn't a PG. Wade and Mayo are both SG. Flynn I've never seen as anything but a PG.

                        Evans is a strange case. He's a guy who needs the ball, but can't run an offense. He definitely has the size to play SG, but at this point, he's Sacramento's best guy to have with the ball.

                        I think Curry is a PG, but a shooting PG. I think he's got a high enough basketball IQ to be able to run an offense, but his strength is definitely shooting. I don't know if I would call him a combo guard.

                        I think teams can win with guys like Curry starting at PG, but not guys like Ben Gordon, who doesn't seem to have any PG skills. He's simply an undersized SG.

                        I really don't understand the NBA's fascination with combo guards. They almost never work and generally are, at best, bench players.

                        And by the way, if a combo guard is simply a player who has the skills to play both positions, Kobe, Brandon Roy, Joe Johnson and Manu Ginobili could be classified as combo guards. I don't think they are, though.
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