{"id":1197,"date":"2010-11-28T22:08:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T02:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2010-11-28T22:09:21","modified_gmt":"2010-11-29T02:09:21","slug":"the-top-12-point-guards-in-college-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=1197","title":{"rendered":"The Top 12 Point Guards in College Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a while now, ever since early NBA departures became the norm, college basketball has been a guard-dominated sport.\u00a0 You don’t have to look any further than last year’s champion Duke team that was led by three stars on the perimeter and just relied on their big men to rebound and defend.\u00a0 And in a sport that is increasingly dominated by freshmen and sophomores, it’s telling that this list of Top 12 Point Guards consists of 10 upperclassmen.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the already-crucial point guard position has become even more important.\u00a0\u00a0Most point guards in college basketball used to just focus on their passing and let the other guys handle the scoring load.\u00a0 Now, with\u00a0so much of the elite talent in the backcourt, point men have to set up their teammates and <\/em>find their own shot.\u00a0 And, of course, they have to be able to stop their counter-part from pulling off those dual tasks on the other end of the\u00a0court.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, we present the top point guards in college hoops this year.\u00a0 We’re trying to limit the list to guys that are\u00a0truly point guards, meaning that some top players that spend a lot of their time playing off the ball (K-State’s Jacob Pullen, Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs, and Nova’s Corey Fisher, for example) didn’t qualify.<\/p>\n

12) Juan Fernandez, <\/em>Jr., Temple:\u00a0 <\/strong>This list has been shaken up by what’s happened in these first couple weeks of the season, and Fernandez is lucky to hang on to a spot on this list after his abysmal performance in the Old Spice Classic this week.\u00a0 Though he’s had a rough start, he showed last year that he’s a big time player.\u00a0 He’s a very crafty and creative player that generally has a good idea of what to do with the ball.\u00a0 He can knock down perimeter shots and finds ways to get into the lane and get the ball into the basket despite his limited quickness.<\/p>\n

11) Dairese Gary<\/em>, Sr., New Mexico:<\/strong>\u00a0 Full disclosure: I’ve never seen this guy play.\u00a0 Mountain West teams are never <\/em>on TV, which is a shame because it’s been a really good league the past couple of years, this year included.\u00a0 Gary came into his senior year already closing in on 400 assists, and he averaged 13 points last year for a team that went 29-4 and earned a 3-seed in the tournament.\u00a0\u00a0I’ll have to let the experts and the stats\u00a0do the talking, but it seems like he belongs on\u00a0this list somewhere.<\/p>\n

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Battle's headed for 2,000 points<\/p><\/div>\n

10)\u00a0Talor Battle,\u00a0<\/em>Sr.,\u00a0<\/em>Penn State<\/strong>:\u00a0 There haven’t been too many wins, but its still been a pretty incredible\u00a0career\u00a0in Happy Valley for Battle.\u00a0 He’s less than 6 feet tall, he’s not a great shooter, and he’s not even all that quick, yet somehow he’ll probably score 2,000 points in his career.\u00a0 And remember,\u00a0he’s playing most of his games\u00a0against Big Ten defenses.\u00a0 He’s also somehow managed to average\u00a0over 5 rebounds a game over the last two\u00a0seasons.\u00a0\u00a0This is just a guy that knows how to play the game and does all the little things, along with scoring 18 a game.<\/p>\n

9)\u00a0Isaiah Thomas<\/em>, Jr., Washington:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>If you’re going to be a small point guard, it probably doesn’t hurt to have the same name as arguably the best small point guard to ever play the game.\u00a0 Let’s just hope this Isaiah isn’t planning a career in an NBA front office.\u00a0 This\u00a0little\u00a0guy (listed at 5-8)\u00a0definitely reminds you of former Huskie Nate Robinson.\u00a0 He can get up and dunk it, and\u00a0though\u00a0you\u00a0expect a\u00a0guy his size to be mainly a distributor, he definitely looks to score it.\u00a0 In fact, he’s on pace to become Washington’s all-time leading scorer.\u00a0 He had a chance to get higher on this list, but with a disappointing showing at the Maui Invitational, 9th is probably generous.<\/p>\n

8. Malcolm Delaney<\/em>, Sr., Virginia Tech:\u00a0 <\/strong>Like Thomas, Delaney is a point that looks to score first.\u00a0 Unlike Thomas, though, he\u00a0looks <\/em>like\u00a0a scorer, at 6-3 and 190 lbs.\u00a0 Delaney actually led the ACC in scoring\u00a0last year (20.2) and was 1st Team All-Conference.\u00a0 He’s not a great\u00a0long-distance shooter, but he’s tough to handle off the dribble, can hit from mid-range, and lives at the free throw line.\u00a0 And even while putting up 20 a game, he still managed to average 4.5 assists a year\u00a0ago.\u00a0 He’s had a rough start to this season, averaging over 6 turnovers, and he’ll have to\u00a0get better at taking care\u00a0of the ball if he wants to\u00a0play\u00a0on the next\u00a0level.<\/p>\n

7) Kevin Anderson, <\/em>Sr., Richmond:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The reigning A-10 Player of the Year spent a lot of time at 2-guard last year, but\u00a0the point\u00a0job is his now.\u00a0 It doesn’t seem to be bringing him down so far, as he put\u00a0up 28 points in an upset of Purdue on Saturday.\u00a0 Also, his assist\/turnover ratio has doubled so far, from 1.1 last year to 2.2.\u00a0 If he can keep that ratio in that range and still\u00a0average the 18 points a game he did last year, there’s no reason he won’t repeat as the\u00a0Player\u00a0of the Year and take his team back to the NCAA tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

6) Brandon Knight, <\/em>Fr., Kentucky:\u00a0 <\/strong>This is the fourth straight year that John Calipari has a freshman starting at the point and the last three were some guys named Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall.\u00a0 Rose and Evans won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award and Wall is\u00a0favored to do the same this year.\u00a0 So, I guess it’s a disappointment that Knight is only checking in at 6th on this list.\u00a0 If this were a list based on\u00a0NBA potential, he’d probably be higher, but he’s\u00a0definitely played like a freshman at times so far, averaging almost 5 turnovers.\u00a0 Still,\u00a0he’s lightning quick, makes some nice passes, and he’s probably a better shooter at this point in his career\u00a0than any of the three guys he’s following.\u00a0 He’s very skinny, but with some added weight and seasoning, he’ll be\u00a0yet another lottery pick\u00a0point guard for Calipari.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5) Chris Wright,\u00a0<\/em>Sr., Georgetown:\u00a0 <\/strong>Wright is\u00a0sort of the opposite of Knight.\u00a0 He’s not all that quick and never really wows anybody, but he’s rock solid all-around and has probably been underrated to this point in his career.\u00a0 He’s very much in control of the Hoya offense and offers a nice mix of scoring and distributing.\u00a0 He averaged 15 points last year and though his scoring is down a bit at the start this year, he’s averaged 7 assists through the first six G-Town games.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4) Kyrie Irving,\u00a0<\/em>Fr., Duke:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>When you’re the top-rated\u00a0point\u00a0guard\u00a0coming out of\u00a0high school and you’re stepping into the starting line-up for the defending champs, there will obviously be a lot of pressure, and Irving\u00a0seems to be handling it well so\u00a0far.\u00a0 This is nitpicking, but I haven’t seen elite quickness from him, and he has an easier job than someone like Knight because he’s playing alongside some really good seniors instead of other young guys.\u00a0 That being said,\u00a0he’s averaging 5.8 assists to just 2.3 turnovers\u00a0and shooting 49% from the field and 40%\u00a0on 3’s.\u00a0 Against a top-notch defensive team in Kansas St. he put up 17 points and 6 assists.\u00a0 He seems to be the complete\u00a0package in terms of skill, basketball IQ, and physical tools, even if not an absolute elite athlete.\u00a0 He could possibly be #1 on this list by March.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0Demetri McCamey, <\/em>Sr., Illinois:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>McCamey is the best distributor on this list but he also has a well-rounded game.\u00a0 He averaged 7 assists a game last year and has\u00a0raised that so far this year to 7.7, with\u00a0just 2 turnovers per game, giving him a pretty ridiculous 3.9\/1\u00a0ratio.\u00a0 He also averaged 15 points a game last year and it looks like he’s improved his mediocre shooting, hitting 13 of 27 3’s so far.\u00a0 He’s got a wide-body\u00a0but is still surprisingly quick and\u00a0he’s so big and strong for a point guard, which\u00a0he\u00a0really uses to his advantage.\u00a0 An underrated player and maybe the best “pure” point man in the nation this year.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Walker is on top, but will he still be come March?<\/p><\/div>\n

2) Kalin Lucas<\/em>, Sr., Michigan State:<\/strong>\u00a0Considering Lucas was the Big Ten Player of the Year two years ago as a sophomore, he probably should be #1 on this list, or even in the NBA, but a somewhat disappointing junior year has kept\u00a0him from the top spot.\u00a0 He’s an absolute jet with the ball, and it looks like the Achilles tendon tear he suffered in the tournament in March is fully healed.\u00a0 He had a terrible game when they\u00a0lost to UConn in Maui, but he came right back\u00a0and put the team on his back, scoring 29, to beat Washington the next\u00a0night.\u00a0 If he can get his assist\/turnover ratio back up to where it was two years ago and keep shooting it well like he has so far this year, he’s definitely an All-American candidate, and maybe the best point guard in the country.<\/p>\n

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1) Kemba Walker,\u00a0<\/em>Jr.,\u00a0Connecticut:\u00a0 <\/strong>It’s safe to say that Walker would not have topped this list\u00a0before the season started, but an electrifying start to the season has put him at the front of any conversation about the best point guards in the nation.\u00a0 He’s averaging 30 points\u00a0a\u00a0game, including 42 against Vermont, 30 in a defeat of then-2nd ranked Michigan St, and 29 in a defeat of highly-ranked Kentucky.\u00a0 Walker is a similar player to Lucas.\u00a0 Undersized by NBA standards (6-1), but\u00a0incredibly quick with the ball and an excellent passer.\u00a0 In his first two years at UConn, he looked like the proto-typical New York City point guard:\u00a0 a relentless penetrator and tenacious defender that couldn’t make a jump shot.\u00a0 Well, at least through 5 games, he looks like he may now have a jump shot.\u00a0\u00a0If that is the case, it hasn’t come out of nowhere.\u00a0 He improved his 3-point\u00a0percentage from 27%\u00a0 his freshman year to\u00a034% last year.\u00a0 If he can shoot it at 40% this year, like he has so far, he is the best point guard in the country, and probably an NBA lottery pick next summer.\u00a0\u00a0Adding to the impressiveness of his start is the fact that he’s the only established player on a team\u00a0that is\u00a0full of freshmen and a couple sophomores.\u00a0 He came into the year knowing that the team would go as far as he could take them, and he’s\u00a0stepped right up to that pressure with the best November of any player in the country, leading his team to a\u00a0very surprising win in the Maui Invitational.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions:<\/strong><\/p>\n