FanPost

The Great Point Guard Debate

With the addition of Coach Avery Johnson, Devin Harris is in a prime position to have his best years ahead of him. Now depsite what he has done (and no disrespect to Coach Frank) Harris hasn't had a stand out coach who could groom him and allow him to grow as an all star. Even Coach Avery Johnson pointed out that while he did coach Harris in Dallas, he was coaching a young Harris not an All star Harris. Now things have changed and after reading this assessment, i hope i can re-affirm some belief in our PG.

The Rundown

The top five PG's in the league are becoming blurred. After the emergence of Rondo, i cannot effective put them in any kind of order. Chris Paul was injured and so was Tony Parker, so it would be unfair to say Rondo is better then either of them. Deron Williams had a great postseason, but his team is not playing for the title. So i'm just going to name them in no particular order (yall can have fun debating who's better then who)

1.) Chris Paul

2.) Deron Williams

3.) Tony Parker

4.) Rajon Rondo

5.) Steve Nash

These five are the best players at there position in no particular order. One thing they all have in common is a strong coach, a coach how has groomed them into the players they are today. All three of these players have the talent and oppurtunity but what is often overlooked is the system. each system allows for these players to thrive at what they do. And that can only be credited to the coach.

The Theory


Devin Harris has proved he can on this level of point guard. In his first all star year, devin harris lead all PG's in scoring and also averaged 7 assist and 2 steals (estimates). And this was in coach franks dribble drive system. Now Harris has a big name coach, a coach that understands he is now the star of his team and will thrive if given the correct personel. During his All star year, Harris was rated top five in point guards and everyone had there two cents on the trade that sent him to jersey. I believe that under Avery Johnson, Harris can return to this level of skill and ultimately his all star form. I think Rod Thorn realizes he has a diamond in the rough in Harris and he knows that anything short of Chris Paul will not pry Harris from his team. Harris is still 27 so he still has upside and bringing in AJ assures that he will reach it.

Look at harris numbers when he had a team (well the best he had in jersey around him) The year highlighted in bold is the one i want you to focus on.

Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2004-05 21 DAL NBA 76 19 15.4 2.1 4.8 .429 0.6 1.7 .336 1.0 1.4 .757 0.4 1.0 1.3 2.2 1.0 0.3 1.1 1.8 5.7
2005-06 22 DAL NBA 56 4 22.8 3.4 7.2 .469 0.1 0.4 .238 3.0 4.2 .716 0.5 1.8 2.2 3.2 0.9 0.3 1.5 2.2 9.9
2006-07 23 DAL NBA 80 61 26.0 3.7 7.4 .492 0.2 0.6 .280 2.7 3.3 .824 0.6 1.9 2.5 3.7 1.2 0.3 1.8 3.0 10.2
2007-08 24 TOT NBA 64 61 31.6 5.0 10.8 .463 0.9 2.6 .335 3.9 4.7 .824 0.4 2.3 2.7 5.8 1.4 0.2 2.5 3.0 14.8
2007-08 24 DAL NBA 39 39 30.4 4.8 9.9 .483 0.6 1.8 .357 4.1 5.0 .821 0.4 1.9 2.3 5.3 1.4 0.1 2.4 3.3 14.4
2007-08 24 NJN NBA 25 22 33.5 5.4 12.2 .438 1.2 3.9 .320 3.5 4.2 .829 0.4 2.8 3.3 6.5 1.4 0.3 2.7 2.5 15.4
2008-09 25 NJN NBA 69 69 36.1 6.6 15.1 .438 0.9 3.2 .291 7.2 8.8 .820 0.4 2.9 3.3 6.9 1.7 0.2 3.1 2.4 21.3
2009-10 26 NJN NBA 64 61 34.7 5.6 13.8 .403 0.9 3.4 .276 4.8 6.0 .798 0.4 2.8 3.2 6.6 1.2 0.3 2.8 2.8 16.9
Career NBA 409 275 27.5 4.3 9.7 .445 0.6 2.0 .301 3.7 4.6 .800 0.4 2.1 2.5 4.7 1.2 0.2 2.1 2.5 13.0

This is just a testament to how Devin Harris really is. The fact that he did this without a grooming coach tells me this was solely off pure talent, and not really any solid direction. Given the right coach, Devin Harris can be a top PG talent in the NBA consistently.

The Debate

This is where i need opinions. I want everyone to chime in on this one. My theory is, Devin Harris can ultimately be one of the best PG in the league given the right coach. he's proven he has the talent for it, and even in his tumultous 12 win year, he still showed flashes of greatness. I purposely disregarded last year because Harris was never fuly healthy then, so it would be a bit unfair to judge the extent of his talent off that. But i want people to find fault in my argument. I want people to disprove my theory. Because, if they can't, then i know i'm right. If not, then i'm an awfully big dreamer lol.

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