can point guard skills be taught?

[Big Cuz 15]

as many of you know, i'm still a fan of quincy. i know he isn't a point guard.. but can he learn point guard skills? wasn't theuss a point guard when he was playing? i hope they develop him some more this upcoming season. i really want this guy to succeed.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Reggie Theus 6'7 played in a system at UNLV under Coach Tark that was geared as extreme up-tempo more than anything else. While he handled the ball as a point guard he was also a gunner off guard in many sets and match-ups. When he arrived in Sacramento (after being in the NBA for around 5 years) he was a PG, but so was Larry Drew 6'4 who played a lot. Mike Woodson 6'5 was the other off guard who was in the mix in a big way. Thus, the Kings rotated them all fairly interchangeably - but Reg was 'the star.' I think the best Douby 6'3 will ever be is a nice little combo guard - not a star NBA PG by a long shot.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Combo guard/sparkplug should be Quincy's goal for the short term. We dont need another Travis Mays situation again where we take a pure shooter and try to shove passing skills down his throat...if we're going to get the most out of Douby's game, he should be brought off the bench for offense, and nothing more...and that's not a BAD thing by any stretch.

 

[Bricklayer]

as many of you know, i'm still a fan of quincy. i know he isn't a point guard.. but can he learn point guard skills? wasn't theuss a point guard when he was playing? i hope they develop him some more this upcoming season. i really want this guy to succeed.

Well PG skills can sometimes be taught. PG instincts or PG mentality almost never.

Of course Quincy does not really have to develop great PG instincts -- his high end, his goal, is not as starting PG, but rather as fa irst combo guard off the bench in BJax fashion. But he has been distressingly slow in picking up even the PG skills, and that's what has squashed any real minutes for him. At this point he's a tiny backup OG stuck behind a major young OG and a pack of full sized swingmen. This year will be make or break for Quincy, but without a major upgrade in his playmaking (or a major injury to Kevin)...

 

[Telemachus]

as many of you know, i'm still a fan of quincy. i know he isn't a point guard.. but can he learn point guard skills? wasn't theuss a point guard when he was playing? i hope they develop him some more this upcoming season. i really want this guy to succeed.

I believe that they can be refined and improved upon, but for the most part it is something that you either have or don't have.

I watched teams try to turn shorter SGs into PGs for years, and can't think of one success. They usually become sparkplugs off the bench for scoring like Eddie House or Tony Delk, or are paired up with taller PGs who can guard the other SG.

I think that Douby's best chance of making it in the NBA is to play more like he did in the first summer league game. Come into the game thinking score, score, score. I don't want him to be quite that big of a ballhog, but do want the scoring mentality and aggressive confidence he played with. If he plays like that, he could turn into a guy who plays 10-15 mins and averages about 10-15 pts a game. That would make him a useful player for the Kings.

 

[NME]

They can be taught to some extent. The question is whether they will be learned, and Douby has not really shown any signs of picking up the skills or mindset in the slightest. It's a long way from unrepentant gunner to point guard, and I don't think we've even seen the first step.

 

[DocHolliday]

You can't teach the vision that Darren Williams has. A person can either develop it or they can't. They have to want to develop it first, and then have the ability to.

Ball handling, passing (quality of passes) can be taught, sets can be taught.

 

[NewMonkey]

They can be taught to some extent. The question is whether they will be learned, and Douby has not really shown any signs of picking up the skills or mindset in the slightest. It's a long way from unrepentant gunner to point guard, and I don't think we've even seen the first step.

Heck, it's a long way from unrepentant gunner to semi-efficient gunner, and I don't think we've seen a lot of progress in that direction either.

 

[bajaden]

Taught? Yes. Learned? Nope. Were talking about instincts. You either have them or you don't. If you do, you can improve on them. If you don't, you better become a good shooter.

 

[Spike]

You can learn them. When you're in middle/high school. If those skills are not what got you to the pros, you're not going to willingly change your style of play. I think they can be learned, but it takes a total change of who you were (in this case.)
Douby's not going to change his way of thinking on the basketball court, because he'll be a lot slower than those who are past thinking and just reacting based on years of thinking a certain way (if that makes sense.)

[Insert something about a leopard changing his spots.] To try and change someone at this stage is foolish.

 

[tyrant]

the answer is no!!

you have to ask yourself "what are point guard skills"? ball handling, good decision making, court awareness, etc. things that a regular basketball player should learn in elementary school. in that sense, BASKETBALL skills can be taught. however, a point guard such as nash, johnson, stockton, kidd, chris paul each have devoted themselves to making others better. thats their game. pass 1st, score 2nd. thats their attitude and thats why all of them are in (will be in) the top tier of assists in NBA history. you can teach how to throw a behind the back pass, or an alley hoop, or an inbetween the legs no look pass; but you cant teach how to do it at the right time. it just has to feel right. and if you're a natural scorer you rarely get that feeling.

to answer your question, we cannot teach douby how to make plays like a chris paul. thats something he has to develop into on his own. there is nothing wrong with a point guard that can score. as long as you can make the right decisions. i think douby will do fine if we give him the playing time

 

[beb0p]

Yes, point guard skill can be taught, but it takes years, maybe even decades to master. It also depends on how much PG instinct is already present in a player. For Douby, I think it's too late for him.

There are PGs in this league who don't play like traditional PG, like Derek Fisher and Jarrett Jack. They basically just bring the ball up, pass to the real playmaker, and wait for the open shots. Maybe Douby can be this type of PG. But even Fisher and Jack have way more PG instinct compare to Douby. I think Douby will eventually develops into a Juan Dixon clone. And there's nothing with that.

 

[tyrant]

Yes, point guard skill can be taught, but it takes years, maybe even decades to master. It also depends on how much PG instinct is already present in a player. For Douby, I think it's too late for him.

you had it right when you said it depends on the instinct thats already in the player. but this isnt kungfu, being a point guard doesnt take decades to master. and its not a gift given to you at birth. its the willingness to share the ball. your attitude and the way you approach the game. "i wana make everyone else better". you can practice making unique passes, but you have to develop the instinct. not everyone is willing to sacrifice. you have more shooters than playmakers today.

i think the actual topic of the thread should be changed. because basketball skills are just basketball skills. anyone can throw a behind the back pass or go inbetween the legs if they practice. this could go a million and one ways

 

[Smills91]

Yes, see Chauncey Billups.

 

[SacKings7]

IMO, Ball handling/passing/dribbling etc CAN be taught. The ability to see plays before they happen, and court vision...no

 

[tyrant]

IMO, Ball handling/passing/dribbling etc CAN be taught. The ability to see plays before they happen, and court vision...no

and THATS what makes a point guard. case close.

 

[beb0p]

you had it right when you said it depends on the instinct thats already in the player. but this isnt kungfu, being a point guard doesnt take decades to master. and its not a gift given to you at birth. its the willingness to share the ball. your attitude and the way you approach the game. "i wana make everyone else better". you can practice making unique passes, but you have to develop the instinct. not everyone is willing to sacrifice. you have more shooters than playmakers today.

I didn't say it takes decades for everyone, I said it takes years for some people. Having the willingness to share the ball is just the first step, tyrant. There are many other steps a person has to take to be a PG at an NBA level. Douby actally did tried to make everyone better, but he was so lacking in instinct that he made dumb passes and he put the ball in the wrong places. Even Theus said Douby got into trouble trying to play too much like a PG, but he stopped short of saying Douby should strictly be a SG.

A PG has to control the game's tempo and to be a coach on the floor; And it takes years for those instincts to develop. Yes, you have to develop the right approach, but it takes a while for that approach to become second nature. If it's as easy as convincing a player to make everyone better, Francisco Garcia would be our PG.

 

[Alacron]

I am just curious as to what, specifically, in Douby's college or pro career thus far, has given anyone any indication that he could be a competent NBA point guard?

Other than the fact that he's too short for almost every other position, of course.
~~

 

[beb0p]

I am just curious as to what, specifically, in Douby's college or pro career thus far, has given anyone any indication that he could be a competent NBA point guard?

Other than the fact that he's too short for almost every other position, of course.
~~

He played PG during his soph year at Rutgers.

Note: this is not to be taken as an endorsement of Douby's PG ability. Just stating a fact as reported in various articles.

 

[Bricklayer]

He played PG during his soph year at Rutgers.

Note: this is not to be taken as an endorsement of Douby's PG ability. Just stating a fact as reported in various articles.

It was a mere technicality however -- he always played pretty much the same role in college, just a question of whether he brought the ball up and then chucked a shot, or whether he let somebody else bring the ball up and pass it to him so he could chuck up an shot. He was basically a mini-Iverson in college (actually bigger than A.I., but I mean talentwise).

 

[AriesMar27]

it depends... their are players who are basically a sg in a pg body that have learned to play like a pg really well... billups, iverson, hinrich, bibby mo williams to a certain degree... but douby is a scrub... we should be lucky if he turns into a house or juan dixon... bobby jackson is giving douby way too much credit...

the crazy part is that he could play for a team like the lakers and be a pretty decent pg without having to learn anything... bring the ball up, pass it to kobe and wait behind the arc for the wide open shot... even sasha mastered that....

 

[LPKingsFan]

Look, I'm really not sure what the fuss is about here with Quincy becoming a point guard or not. Yes, he's not a point guard. That's fine. B-Jax wasn't either. We just need Quincy to become a B-Jax level playmaker, a score-first combo guard off the bench. We'll likely have Cisco and/or Salmons as the primary ballhandler off the bench anyways. As long as he can guard point guards on defense, we can have one of our point forwards handle the ball on offense. What's the big deal?