Gordon Chiesa: Offensive Concepts/Point Guards

By: Gordon Chiesa of the Orlando Magic

Follow him on twitter: @gchiesaohmy

• The NBA is a Point Guard driven league.
• The hardest position in the NBA to learn and master is the “point guard position”.
• About Point Guards…There are two kinds of Point Guards: 1) “New School,” aggressive, looking to score points early, by creating off the dribble; 2) “Old School”, trying to execute the offense first by getting other players shots early. As the shot clock is winding down, then being more aggressive.
• The Point Guard position is about “winning intangibles.” The best ones make it special by their assists, leadership, clutch shooting, and defense!
• About NBA Point Guards: You never want your point guard to be so “Shot Happy”, that he doesn’t or won’t get his teammates involved first in the flow of the “Team Offense”.
• Good NBA Point Guards will always see the floor, control the tempo of the game, make timely jump shots, and uncanny lay‐ups in the lane.

• Good point guards should have an assist to turnover ratio of 3 to 1.
• Good NBA point guards play the game “one pass ahead”. They feel/see the “play” before it happens.
• Bright Point Guards learn to limit their own personal “emotional fogs” during games by playing forward, not backwards. Stay focused to lead!
• Winning Point Guards respect the ball. Their focus is to get as many offensive possessions possible by not committing “reckless turnovers”.
• Smart point guards understand how/when to count internally, when the shot clock is winding down. This “mental countdown” creates confidence.
• Elite Point Guards master the intellectual, physical and verbal challenges of playing the position by consistently making “big plays”.
• Winning, scoring point guards have that “instinctive mental balance” of understanding when to look to score, and when to get their teammates going.
• Solid back‐up point guards have an underrated impact towards winning by being ready to play due to injuries, foul trouble, and speed match‐ups!
• Electric Point Guards add value to their teams by scoring and creating in the open floor. They’re “tempo changers” of velocity and emotions.