Apropos of nothing in particular. (Reed Sheppard)
Is YOUR team’s point guard “too small”? Do squirrels, chipmunks and voles tower over him? Is he awful wee? Diminutive? Compact? Fun sized? Totally teensy? In need of embiggening? Adorable? Lilliputian?
Find out why that’s The Very Worst Thing Ever here!
Around these here parts there’s been some concern, from some parties, perhaps even concern trolling, (with a soupcon of thinly coded language), that 6’2” (or within 1⁄4 inch or .63cm so by NBA measurement creep definitely 6’3” and 6’7” in shoes) might be Too Small for an NBA point guard.
The position these days, despite what you might believe, what you might even have seen with your own eyes to the contrary, now demands a giant. Preferably a French giant, but if the generally dismal history of French guards is just too dispiriting for you, you could consider a very tall Australian, or even Canadian.
As a last resort, you might try an American, but only after having tried any passing very large man from the Balkans in the role, or worst case, a European of some sort,(a Balt of last resort). Honestly, if you do stoop to employing an American, that American should probably be a lanky, toolsy, wing player who has at some point expressed a mild interest in guarding the point. No matter that the current talents of this hypothetical player are confined to running fast, jumping high and playing defense. His profile, and those attributes are far more important than such outmoded, and frankly old-timey, concepts as “passing”, “shooting”, “vision”, “organizing offense”, “unselfishness”, or “feel for the game”.
Point Guard is, after all, the easiest position in basketball, maybe all of sports. Smaller, or if you will, undersized, player have to figure it all out using speed, skill, intelligence and dedication to craft. No so for the Properly Sized Player. He need only employ his marvelous standing reach and you’ve got yourself a point guard! Remember, the taller you are, the less you need to, or are even required, to dribble. At all. Just ask Giannis.
What you don’t want in this modern, tall, slim, elegant and Gallic version of the NBA, is a Not Tall By NBA Standards American. That is not only passe, but also outre, and possiblement declasse.
Ideally your point guard is 6’5” or taller, of course. That’s really the absolute minimum these days, as set forth in “The Righteous Deeds of McDuck”. Better still, this player has arms that allow him to tie his shoes while standing, without bending over at all. Once you have that, pretty much all the other elements of playing elite NBA basketball, and being the hub of the offense as well as point of attack defender, will assuredly fall into place. It’s happened a couple of times, so it will certainly happen for your team.
This change is coming, and is long overdue.
How do we know this is a needed change? Well, just look at how many NBA teams have failed, utterly failed, to employ the Right Sort of Point Guard as of today. It’s like an antiques shop or something. And how many of those teams won the title last year? Right. Zero. (Please ignore previous seasons. And everything about Golden State.)
Here’s a list of teams whose starting point guards are NOT 6’5” or taller, as they absolutely should be by now. Frankly, it’s a shocking list, and a damning indictment of American Basketball, if not America itself. The sheer lack of growth by these players is nothing less than a disgusting deficit of character, or to use a word these venerable and ancient hoopers might understand, gumption.
Consider these fashion-backward teams:
Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trailblazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards.
A couple of teams might join this list, but have somewhat fluid PG situations, or shared responsibility, or PG who is actually a SG I guess, so I left them out (Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix).
In any case nearly a revolting 2/3rds of the NBA employs Undersized Point Guards! Guards who refuse to grow to meet modern standards. It’s shocking.
Even if we drop the height number to 6’3” it’s still more than half the league. (I think we shouldn’t do that, as players might be measured accurately before they’re drafted, but then proceed fudge the number somehow. Chris Paul isn’t six feet tall, for example. Damien Lillard has shrunk an inch as he’s become elderly. It’s all very odd.)
For myself, I’d say that 6’1 3/4” inches is definitely close enough to 6’2” to include Reed Sheppard in the almost two-thirds undersized majority of NBA point guards. He’s young enough that maybe with enough grit, and time in the gym, conditioning and sheer “want to” Reed Sheppard* might grow to 6’5”. Failing that, of course, he’s doomed to low altitude mediocrity. Just like Steph Curry and Chris Paul.