Kendall Marshall, a dying breed of a classic pg

 If he had any atheletism I might agree with you but I think there is a reason why that kind of PG died out.

perfect landing spot for marshall is phoenix, the team’s already built for him. I’m not trying to say he’s anywhere near the player nash is, but a pass first fascilitator would certainly stop the bleeding a bit for the suns. Of course, in my selfishness, i want him to be a King baby!

COME TO UTAH KENDALL….

lol like you actually have choice where you go or not…but a dreamer can dream…..

Utah is set up so much like this past UNC team it’s scary. Two dominant post players (Zeller, Henson–> Jefferson, Millsap) and a young athletic 6th man post to back em up (McAdoo->Favors) and a trio of great wings (Hairston, Bullock, Barnes—> Miles, Hayward, Burks).

Marshall also showed an improved jumper towards the end of the season with a couple of high scoring performances along with some nifty moves to get to the basket.

 Kendall is a good fit at utah and phoenix. with utah he already has the big man and wing pieces for the future. but phoenix needs work at the wing badly. so he would be with gortat and morris and wait until phoenix gets a gurad who can score. also though does utah even have a first round pick? im not sure i think minnesota has it

 If Scott Machado was as tall as Kendall Marshall would he then be the best pure point in the draft? i think so

@RichieRebel, that kind of point guard hasn’t died out, they’ve always been rare. It’s not easy to come by players who naturally command respect from other players and play the game with no wasted movement, incredible feel for the game and high IQ. He’s the type of guard who historically makes teams MUCH better upon arrival. As a kings fan, the emergence of isaiah thomas made me realize the true value of a player who commands the respect of his peers and keeps everyone accountable. Isaiah is a 5’9" scoring guard essentially and marshall is a 6’4" floor general with incredible passing ability. A sure strike? No, but he’s the kind of guy who most GMs would likely be able to justify taking a risk on.

 I actually agree with RichieRebel, How can you say Rondo is not a pure point but Marshall is.  Just because Rondo is athletic enough to blow by his man a lot doesn’t mean he is not a pure point guard, could probably say the same about Rose too.  The reason that these point guards are dieing is because the point guards nowadays are super athletic and it is so hard for non athletic points to keep up with them.  Obviously points with great skills and basketball IQ like Nash and Calderon can make it work, will have to see if Marshall can too.

In right team with rigt coach he would do grat, kind like Billaps

 I think Kyrie still kind of fits that mold of pure PG, even though he is a pretty good athlete. 

 The more you see him play the more you have to like him as a prospect. He’s going to be a good pro for a long time.

Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Andre Miller, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio, Ty Lawson, Mike Conley and Kyle Lowery all disagree.  The pass first point guard is alive and well. Kendall could end up being very similar to Andre Miller post-CLE.  Marshall would have to become a better defensively.

I personally don’t like saying there are pass-first point guards and score-first point guards. The very definition of a point guard is that he is pass-first. I consider Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook some of the best basketball players on the planet, but I don’t classify them as point guards. They’re scorers who happen to accumulate some assists due to their volume of minutes and touches. Allen Iverson was the same way.

It’s not that all 30 teams start one PG, one SG, one SF, one PF, and one C, and each player has to neatly fit into those little categories. Some teams just don’t play with a point guard, they play with two scoring guards in the backcourt.

Derrick Rose is definitely a PG. Last year he didn’t really play like one, but the two years before that he did. You should watch the games in the beginning of this year, Rose was displaying great PG skills. The injuries really killed him.

Rose and Russell are explosive players, and they are 2 of the very best players in World, but I too feel that they could play Sg and nobody would know the difference…Lets say a guy like Marshall gets drafted by a team like The Bulls or Thunder and Rose and Westbrook slide to the Sg spot in a a few years, tell me those teams would be worst by having a pure set up guy…

Hell even Rose and Westbrook could use an assist here and there

Imagine this scenario for a second

The Bulls trade for Kyle Lowry in the offseason

They start Lowry at Pg and Rose at Sg, Hamilton becomes the 6th man

you mean to tell me the Bulls are a worst Team by starting Lowry at Pg and allowing Rose to play Sg, it’s not like Sg’s don’t handle the ball for a majority of the game(Wade,Bryant,Johnson,Evans,Harden,Turner)…Most Sg’s are ball dominate in today’s NBA, The Bulls wouldn’t lose a step in my opinion, Lowry would be a very effective Pg off Rose, they’d be a bigger/better version of the Eric Snow/Allen Iverson backcourt that went to the NBA finals

When Derrick Rose had John Salmons back when he was good and Ben Gordon, nobody was saying Derrick Rose wasnt a PG. He literally HAS to score the way he does because he is the only player on the Bulls capable of creating his own shot.

 I don’t think you would want Rondo as a 2, as he can’t shoot and struggles to finish at the rim.  He is just as much of a pure point as Marshall.  Marshall will probably be a little better as a shooter when he reaches the same point in his career as Rondo, but Rondo is better at just about everything else.  Marshall does look Rondo-esque with his passing ability though. 

And Derrick Rose is a better pg than sg.  Putting him at sg limits his open court ball handling ability and takes the ball out of his hands.  Rose isn’t a off-the ball player; he is a star attacking the basket in the open court, off the pick and roll, and in isolation.  Sure, he could play SG if necessary, but he is most effective and helps his team the most as a pg.  Just because a pg scores a lot doesn’t mean they are selfish or do so to the detriment of their team.  It can be a liability if a pg can’t score and most good pgs are scoring threats.  Rajon Rondo is a great player, but developing as a scorer would be what could help him contend for the title of the league’s top pg. 

I’ll admit the shots they create aren’t pretty but they are effective at times, Deng more so than Boozer IMO

Rose has offensive options at his disposal

When Billups and Rip played off each was Hamilton not an offensive option, Billups was a guy who like Rose could play some Sg because he’s just so talented offensively

I think in some players cases they would be better served to play a certain position and allow the Team to surround them properly

Rose doesn’t need a Rip Hamilton to create shots for, he needs someone creating him shots

We never told Kobe to pass the ball to Ron Artest, we want the scorer to score and the defensive thug to goon it up for 38 minutes 

Rose is a scorer, and most Sg’s will be no taller than 6’5 on average in the future so he can play off the ball for stretches

If I were the Bulls I’d want a Defensive stopper/Pass First Pg with an Outside Shot to play alongside Rose, his job would be to give it to Rose half the time for Iso’s and to create for the other players the other half…

 Rose is a pretty good shot creator.  That is basically what he does.  He creates shots for himself or others.  He doesn’t need another player to create shots for him.  Attacking off the dribble is what makes him special.

Kobe does everything you described about Rose  

" Rose isn’t a off-the ball player; he is a star attacking the basket in the open court, off the pick and roll, and in isolation. "

Kobe attacks the basket in the open court, attacks off the pick and roll better than Rose due to his superior jumper and is the King of Isolation…

What is one of the biggest needs the Bulls have, it’s a shot creator, what better shot creator is there in the NBA but a Point Guard, Imagine if Rose had a player on the team who could get him a few easy baskets every game, and play good defense at Pg giving his legs a rest

I think 2 guards can work if one of the guards is Derrick Rose

A Rondo/Rose back court would be killer, a more realistic Back pairing would be Holiday/Rose where both players could defend either guard and play off the other for stretches, a player like Holiday wouldn’t get in Rose’s was as much as Rondo and Jrue can hit open jumpers…

 In you’re example of Kobe, you just pointed out a significant reason why Rose is better as a pg than sg.  Kobe has a better jumper, while Rose is more of a slasher.  At this point in his career, Kobe does most of his scoring in the half court.  He is not a player who relies on handling the ball in the open court or attacking the basket in transition at this stage in his career.  When Kobe is isolated or runs a pick and roll, he has a very different goal in mind than Rose.  Kobe is a more complete scorer than Rose, but he isn’t the slasher or ball handler that Rose is, and he is a less willing passer.  Kobe doesn’t play a game that is similar to Rose’s at all.

Kobe has also had most of his success next to jump shooting points who allowed him to function as a pseudo-pg part of the time, anyway.  Rose, on the other hand, is, and has always been, a scoring pg.  That isn’t a bad thing.  His court vision and playmaking ability is actually quite underrated; he just is especially gifted as a scorer and is able to finish at the rim when many pgs would pass it out or try a dump off pass.  

Rose also is not a great spot-up shooter and is doesn’t have experience as a full time off the ball player.  While he certainly can attack the basket off of cuts to the rim, that isn’t his forte. 

The Bulls already have a premier shot creator in Rose.  They just need other players who can take some of the offensive load off of Rose.  A wing who can create his own shot and a big who excels playing an aggressive style in the low post would be great additions to the Bulls.  

Again, I am not saying that Rose couldn’t play the 2, he just is better as a pg and likely always will be.  

 @LegendaryPoster, put it this way: Boozer, Hamilton, Deng, and the rest of the Bulls players are not guys you want going out on a nightly basis looking to create shots for themselves alot. Derrick Rose is the only player on their team who can consistently get his own shot well. The rest of their roster is not to be depended on to create scoring opportunities. They need probably 2 more guys who can get shots so that Rose wont have to be relied on so heavily for them to be good.

@b-ball fan:

– Neither Legendary Poster nor I said Rondo could play the two. Our examples were Rose, Westbrook, Iverson.
– Neither Legendary Poster nor I said Rose is selfish or a detriment to his team.
– Attacking off the dribble absolutely is what makes Rose special. I never said it wasn’t. I’m just making the case that what identifies a player as a point guard is that he is a pass-first player whose primary responsibility is to get everyone involved, not a score-first player. But having someone play that role isn’t necessary when you have players like Rose, Westbrook, or Iverson, who are so explosive.

I think we got of the subject by talking about Rose, Westbrook, etc. etc. Marshall is not the athlete those guys are and he never will be, but he can have a long successful NBA career. Here our a few teams that I think would do well by having Marshall.

Kings-Yeah I know they have Iasiah Thomas but he is 5’9 and a hard foul away from being the next TJ Ford. I like his game but he is to small. A great back up pg for a guy like Marshall. With the Kings offense and young players, they need a guy like Marshall to run the team.

Hawks- The Hawks have some issues with there offense. I like Jeff Teague but he is a scoring guard not a pass first guard. Trade Teauge for a pick or backup wing and let Marshall run the team. Josh Smith would look like a all-star and Joe Johnson would probably put up numbers that would actually justify his contract.

Utah-

Hi there. I watch a player like Steve Nash and I can’t believe how good he makes the rest of the team look. A pure point guard is an underrated thing. John Stockton or Jason Kidd could never score much, but made their teammates better with their vision and creativity. Great pick. My two cents. Take care. Thanks.

                                                                                                                                                                     Mark