Chivalry In Basketball: Why Being An Impure Point Guard Isn't A Bad Thing - SBNation.com

SB Nation's Tom Ziller created a point guard "purity" scale (above) to describe why "impure" point guards - often derogatorily referred to as "combo guards" - aren't inherently bad.

I applied the scale to the WNBA in light of our ongoing discussions about Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird's "purity" and came up with some interesting results. Anyone could probably guess that the two purest point guards in the WNBA this season are LA Sparks point guard Ticha Penicheiro and Atlanta Dream point guard Shalee Lehning...while the Tulsa Shock's Ivory Latta & Andrea Riley are the two least pure.

So where does Bird fall? Out of 27 ball handlers I looked at, Bird is only in the 38th percentile this season, just behind Noelle Quinn and Becky Hammon. That puts Bird firmly on the "impure" side of things. The reasons for that are obvious, but that scale confirms what some people around here have been assuming.

10 months ago Nate Parham 5 comments 0 recs |

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In terms of the leadership rating

she is purer than H2O! And that’s what matters

by thewiz06 on Jul 29, 2011 7:43 PM EDT reply actions

Bird Overrated; Taurasi, Pondexter Better

I don’t know why you Seattle guys feel like you have to promote Bird all the time. Yes, she’s a great floor general, and a great shooter, and she works tirelessly to get her open looks. But she has one fatal flaw. She relies too much on screens. She misses her shot a lot more often when it is contested, or when she is forced to shoot off-balance. Danielle Robinson on SA pretty much shut her down. She is also not that good at penetrating. When she tries to post up, she usually has to hook the defender to get around them, and doesn’t always get away with it. She’s also only an average defender who often gets called for her reach in fouls.

She is a solid combo guard, who has the advantage of playing on a team loaded with solid veterans that set a lot of screens, but she’s not nearly as versatile as Diana Taurasi. Yes, Taurasi gets called for a lot of fouls. I think about half of them are because the dumb refs are not sure who to call it on, but they know her number, and some of them just don’t like her. She also gets fouled a lot when she is shooting, and often they are not called.

As far as Pondexter goes, she’s like poetry in motion. I would rate her right up there with Taurasi.

I’m sure I’ll get blasted by the Seattle fans, but that’s the way I see it.

by OVJ on Jul 29, 2011 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

I think you make some solid points here.

A few rebuttals (from someone who may or may not might have sipped some of the Emerald City flavored Kool-Aid):

1. “She relies too much on screens.” – She has shot a lot off screens. And I think the notion that she’s “automatic” from that range is overstated (she mid-range numbers here). That said, I think you have to take into account the system she’s in, normally – with LJ – the Storm work a lot of pick and rolls and with the personnel they have the threat of her pulling up is huge because defenses respect it.

2. “She is also not that good at penetrating.” – She’s definitely reluctant to penetrate, which I always find odd. I don’t know if it’s a matter of not being good at it as much as not doing it – when she does, she can get herself to the line or set up others fairly well.

3. “She is a solid combo guard…” – agreed … and there’s nothing wrong with that. The Storm’s offense is always noticeably more fluid with Bird on the floor, whether due to her scoring or passing. Sure Taurasi is more versatile, but she’s also not a full-time point guard – there have always been others to handle the ball for the Merc.

I think this year she’s not clearly the best point guard. But for the majority of her career, she’s been one of the top 3, which is impressive. I think part of the point of this purity scale is that purity isn’t the best way to judge a point guard and Bird might be one of the chief examples.

SwishAppeal.com for women's basketball...SB Nation Seattle for Seattle sports...and trying to maintain a Golden State of Mind about the Warriors. Twitter: @NateP_SBN.

by Nate Parham on Aug 1, 2011 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions