Ric Bucher has a thing for guards, and now ESPN.com has a thing about guards, too: We're calling it "Ric Bucher On Guards" and it's about, well, guards. Look for this feature each Monday. Better yet, be on guard for it.
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| Jackson |
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| Bibby |
This week's feature guards: Vancouver's Mike Bibby vs. Toronto's Mark Jackson.
Time to go north of the border and check out the point guards running the
shows in Vancouver and Toronto. Discovery? Mark Jackson, despite the phat
assists average and the Raptors' .500 record -- that's playoff material in the
East -- is showing his age, while Mike Bibby, despite Vancouver's horrendous
7-17 record, is playing as solidly and consistently as any point guard in the
league.
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RIC'S GUARD RANKINGS
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THE WEEK'S TOP 10
1. Kobe Bryant - League's top scorer, best perimeter defender?
2. John Stockton - League's second-best FG pct.
3. Gary Payton - Flourishing under Nate, double-digit assists in 4 of last 5
games
4. Stephon Marbury - 5:1 Asst/TO ratio in two games back from injury
5. Jason Kidd - assist leader but on 0 for 12 streak from beyond arc
6. Baron Davis - 9.8 assists in last five games
7. Allen Iverson - FG pct (39.1) drops to career low
8. Eddie Jones - averaged 20 points in last five games while shooting 52
pct.
9. Jerry Stackhouse - Scored 26 or more in last five games
10. Andre Miller - 4:1 Asst/TO ratio in last five games |
Movin' up: Bibby
(14.5 ppg, 7.5 apg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 stls, .434 FG, .833 FT)
For those crying about the young players coming into the league without a
grasp of the game's important subtleties -- don't worry, I've been guilty of
it myself -- do yourself a favor and catch a Grizzlies' game. Bibby, only in
his third season, operates at the wheel of that hooptie squad as if it were
a brand-new S-model Boxster. His numbers would be better if he held the ball
more, but no one passes it ahead on the break or swings it in the halfcourt
quicker. He plays as if there's a egg timer in his head and every time he
gets the ball he has three seconds to do something with it. That doesn't mean
he won't put it on the floor and attack the basket; he just won't take the
three or four moves that so many young players need to set up his drive.
Deceptively quick and fearless, he'll go inside and find angles to get the
ball up through the thicket of surrounding arms and bodies -- but he only goes
if the opposing guard is looking to help out elsewhere or playing up on him
to deny him jumpers. There's a good reason for the latter; Bibby has become
adept at curling and drifting into open spots on the floor for mid-range
jumpers, which he is deadly knocking down. He reminds me a lot of Terrell
Brandon. His body isn't very well defined, but he's a lot stronger than he
looks and has learned how to use the baseline and the sidelines defensively
to help squeeze his opposite number.
Movin' down: Jackson
(8.3 ppg, 9.4 apg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 stls, .374 FG, .837 FT)
It pains me to put him in this category because Action Jackson is as heady
as they come and truly a great locker-room presence -- but his age is showing.
After starting the season by dishing 12 or more assists in five consecutive
games, he's had only five double-digit nights in the 19 games since then.
He's shooting a career high in free throw percentage but a career low in
field-goal efficiency. Raptors officials say he's frustrated because
Toronto's younger players can't remember plays, and, to be fair, much (though
not all) of my assessment is based on his performance against the Lakers and
Kobe Bryant in a 104-101 overtime loss on Sunday. But last year in Indiana Jackson was still
capable of coming up with big performances in big games, especially against
younger players trying to show him up. Not anymore. Bryant twice trapped him
on the sideline and forced him to lose the ball out of bounds, and, overall,
gave Jackson very little room to maneuver. There was a time in Jackson's
career that he would've made Bryant pay for overplaying him by reversing his
dribble and finding his way into the paint; but he looked as if it took all
his concentration just to protect the ball. Even when Bryant wasn't guarding
him, Jackson never found his way inside, four of his five shots coming from
outside the three-point arc. He was so ineffective that coach Lenny Wilkens
didn't play him in the fourth quarter or overtime. Word is that Jackson has
head-coaching aspirations and Wilkens is grooming him; that's good because
the league desperately needs (even if Bibby doesn't) his basketball
knowledge. But unless he makes a dramatic turnaround, there's little chance
he'll finish out the four-year contract he signed with the Raptors over the
summer.
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| Christie |
This week's guard to watch:
Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings: He's averaged 17½ points over the last six games, four of which the Kings
have won. He's also averaged three steals a game over that stretch, taking
over the league lead. With the Wizards, Grizzlies and Sonics coming up,
Christie should be able to bump that scoring average even higher.
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ALSO SEE
On Guards (Stockton, Blaylock), Nov. 27
On Guards (Nash, A.Miller), Nov. 20
On Guards (Anderson, Billups), Nov. 13
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