09-12-2023, 12:35 PM
(09-11-2023, 09:17 PM)Benskix2 Wrote: I don't think it's useful to add the word point to the front of every position just because the guy playing the position can handle the ball. Joker plays 100% of his minutes at the center position. He doesn't bring the ball up the court on dead balls, and being able to dribble and pass at a high level doesn't make you the point guard.
You can say point is a role, but guard and forward are not roles, they are specific positions on the court, and Luka spends almost none of his minutes offensively in the positions that are traditionally occupied by a forward, and asking your best player to change positions would a very unusual strategy.
We're really close to agreeing. "Point" is an offensive role like "post" or "stretch". Brunson (like Marc Jackson before him) scores from the post a lot. Like playing from the point as a forward or center, this unusual role for a PG causes huge matchup problems. How many guards know how to guard from the post? Dirk was 100% PF, but he unusually would stretch the defense from his outside shooting. Did that make him a guard? No, he was a stretch big, which wasn't a thing until Dirk, at least not at his level of effectiveness. Luka and Lebron are no as point forwards.
Let's put it this way. For those on this board who watch an inordinate amount of Mavs, is there any doubt that Luka normally plays with a PG, SG, PF, and C? Just process of elimination makes him a SF.
Again, none of this matters (is only labels) except for surrounding Luka with the best possible supporting cast. That is a PG, SG, PF, and C. We do not need a starting SF because Luka checks every single box of a SF, PLUS he plays from the point.