point guard.....pass first or shoot first?

[ramsters60]

This has been kicked around in various threads, but here it comes again.....a pass first "floor general" with elite court vision who should probably be a bit more unselfish {Kendall Marshall} or......an extremely efficient shooting point who needs to work on his vision and passing skills and probably become less selfish {Damian Lillard}....best fit for the direction we are moving in?

[thefuture]

There's more to the debate between the two. If Marshall had Lillard's athleticism it wouldn't even be contest

[BeeBall Reasons]

In general I would say a pass first point guard. But in all honesty, when you start the conversation with specific players, you would have to say Lillard. The dark horse in the who is the best point is Wroten. He's a guy who can be a pass first point guard and look for his own shot. He came out way too early though, he's really raw right now, maybe more so than any other prospect, he can't shoot, he can't go right, and he is too reckless at times, that being said between the 3 of them he has the most talent. I would warn point guards to stay at least two years. It's a position where you can't always excel by just being more athletic than everyone.

[Eman5805]

It doesn't matter. Whoever you think will make our team better the most, that's who we want.

Anyway. Don't assume Lillard is selfish or all about getting his own cuz he scored a lot. He only lost the conference finals cuz he spent the whole game trying to set up his teammates. The dude is a playmaker. He's not the perfect passer, but he's a willing passer.

[BeeBall Reasons]

It doesn't matter. Whoever you think will make our team better the most, that's who we want.

Anyway. Don't assume Lillard is selfish or all about getting his own cuz he scored a lot. He only lost the conference finals cuz he spent the whole game trying to set up his teammates. The dude is a playmaker. He's not the perfect passer, but he's a willing passer.

Yea I think he's a lot like Irving or Curry in the way that he doesn't look to score, he looks for whoever will get the best shot, but often it's himself. He's not Westbrook or Rose where he often looks to score where he could have passed it for a better shot.

[Pelicans78]

Lillard was really efficient at Weber. He is an older prospect so that gives him less margin of error compared to younger prospects.

Unlike at Weber, he will play next to Gordon and Davis.

The only question is will he take shots at the expense of the rest of the team or fit within the team concept and play off the ball more with his deep range and attack when necessary. I do think he is a slightly better prospect than Marshall right now and would give the team an extra perimeter scorer and floor spacer.

[Mr. West]

I think it comes down to risk vs. proven. I like Lillard alot, and have no doubt that he will come into the league and be at the very worst an average scorer and an average passer. But Marshall WILL be a above average passer and have a good, if not great, assist to turnover ratio. Will Lillard come in and be Russel Westbrook, or fall closer to an average PG like Mike Conley? I don't really know, and I'm not trying to heat up any Lillard lovers by saying that.

I personally like Marshall myself, if you look at them in a vacuum. I just love the idea of someone coming in and making their teammates better and just controlling the tempo and offense like a well oiled machine... But then you take it out of a vacuum and who does he pass it to? Of course Gordon for one, and Davis for alley oops for two, but then who? Ariza? Aminu? Oak? I mean, we are a defensive first team, but we can't expect Davis to come in and average 19 ppg his rookie season any more than we can expect Gordon to put up 30 every night. We really need more scorers and Lillard is undoubtedly the better scorer of the two. His shot and lane penetration may be unrivaled in the whole draft. If we plan on keeping Ariza/Aminu at the 3 and Oak at the 5, we need a scorer at the 1. That's just common sense.

So basically I'm saying... I don't have a clue if I would prefer Marshall or Lillard. Either would make me a happy man with the tenth, personally. Kind of a cop out answer, but I honestly don't prefer one or the other.

[Pelicans78]

I think it comes down to risk vs. proven. I like Lillard alot, and have no doubt that he will come into the league and be at the very worst an average scorer and an average passer. But Marshall WILL be a above average passer and have a good, if not great, assist to turnover ratio. Will Lillard come in and be Russel Westbrook, or fall closer to an average PG like Mike Conley? I don't really know, and I'm not trying to heat up any Lillard lovers by saying that.

I personally like Marshall myself, if you look at them in a vacuum. I just love the idea of someone coming in and making their teammates better and just controlling the tempo and offense like a well oiled machine... But then you take it out of a vacuum and who does he pass it to? Of course Gordon for one, and Davis for alley oops for two, but then who? Ariza? Aminu? Oak? I mean, we are a defensive first team, but we can't expect Davis to come in and average 19 ppg his rookie season any more than we can expect Gordon to put up 30 every night. We really need more scorers and Lillard is undoubtedly the better scorer of the two. His shot and lane penetration may be unrivaled in the whole draft. If we plan on keeping Ariza/Aminu at the 3 and Oak at the 5, we need a scorer at the 1. That's just common sense.

So basically I'm saying... I don't have a clue if I would prefer Marshall or Lillard. Either would make me a happy man with the tenth, personally. Kind of a cop out answer, but I honestly don't prefer one or the other.

I agree with this post. Its close either way and really wouldn't get upset at either pick.

I could also live with the team going for Meyers Leonard if they believe he will develop into a strong solid center.

Right now my gut is leaning towards Lillard/Marshall and Leonard over Lamb/Ross and Terrence Jones.

Its really close with Lillard/Marshall/Leonard.

[BeeBall Reasons]

I wouldn't draft Leonard with the 30th pick,
Lillard
Sullinger
PJ3
Lamb
Marshall
At least one of those guys will be there, I wouldn't take anyone else.

[bradael]

It's tough to say. I'd normally prefer a pass first point guard, but it's not like we have great scorers on the team already. Gordon is not a 25 point a night scorer, or at least not yet. Plus there are injury concerns. Of Lillard and Marshall, I would have to go with whoever I feel is the better overall player... not just go off their playing styles. Certainly that's where working out these players will come in play for the team. The Hornets will probably work out the top 20 players in the draft... and rightfully so with the 1st and 10th picks.

I'd still prefer Sullinger at 10 since he's a good low post scorer and has very good basketball IQ. However, it's now looking like he will be long gone by 10 if doctors pass him on health issues.

[BallSoHard]

Score first PG off the bench, pass first pg starting.

[Big-EZ]

Score first PG off the bench, pass first pg starting.

Marshall to Davis alley oops. Jack or Dyson off the bench to score.

[Snarly]

If you want to speed up Davis development on offense, you need a pass first point guard who can get the ball to him in his favorite spots. If you aren't expecting him to be an offensive force any time soon and would only like him to focus on defense, you'd want a shoot first PG to take pressure off of him to score.

Either way, it's going to interesting to see what this staff does in the coming months. We do have a shoot first PG and a pass first PG on the roster at the moment.

[AD23forMVP]

Pass.

[TPDG22]

We don't need a PG. We need scorers.

[nikkoewan]

Because of recent events, I'm slowly moving to the Marshall zone instead of Lillard. Here's why...

With Gordon | Ariza (Aminu) | Davis | Okafor, Monty could EASILY hide Marshall's lack of foot speed (the same way he used to do with Belly). Also, Marshall is a very CEREBRAL player - one that's attested just by watching him. He's one of those PGs who you could actually say controlled the game without getting any points or assists. He was that good of a floor general.

Now, how does he fit with Gordon you say? Well, all he needs to learn is how to catch and shoot -- a very simple skill that a lot of NBA players eventually acquire (a skill that according to David Thorpe is the easiest thing to teach). Plus. I'm so impressed with his basketball acumen.

What really scares me though is his defense. Although I've thought of a way to cover that up - is it possible that Gordon guards the quick ones and Marshall guards the big ones? Marshall is listed as 6'4 (although he also has a 6'4" wingspan), so I think there can be times where he guards the big guards. That's just my opinion though.

In the end, I love Lillard but I'm also warming up to the idea of Marshall. Whoever, Hornets will be AWESOME!

[Purple Haze]

Pass first.

The comparisons don't really matter between Marshall and Lillard anymore because I think there is a fat chance Lillard is still there at 10. But if he is, I'd be just as happy with Lillard as I would with Marshall. I think he's going to be a heck of a pg.

[Pelicans78]

Hard to say for me between Lillard and Marshall. Neither have been good defenders in college even though I think Lillard has more upside defensively with his athleticism and foot speed.

Offensively Lillard can play off the ball and spread the floor or create a shot if needed while Marshall can run the offense and make the right plays and shoot decently.

I give the slight edge to Lillard because I think he's a more dynamic prospect with his scoring and athleticism. I'm also looking at Leonard closely and Terrence Ross and Lamb not far behind. I like Terrence Jones too, but he's behind those guys. If i had to make a list of guys available:

Lillard
Leonard
Marshall
Ross
Lamb
TJones

This list is fluid and will probably change.

[Unknown Poster]

Marshall would be a reach at 10th. And chances are there will be a better player available to preclude the option of trading down. This team is not in dire need of a point guard this upcoming season -- it can survive with Jack/Vasquez for purposes of growth/rebuilding. If Lillard is available, however, you take him because of his offense potential/athleticism. I just see no need to draft Marshall.

[iNolaNightmare]

We don't need a PG. We need scorers.

This.

Greivis Vasquez could take over the starting role next year and I'd be perfectly ok with it. I think him and Gordon play great together and despite his lack of quickness, I think he makes up for it with height and length. I mean, did anyone see this guy play last year?!

[iNolaNightmare]

Score first PG off the bench, pass first pg starting.

Ok then, Greivis starting and Jack off the bench.

Why waste a pick(s) on something we already have?

[iNolaNightmare]

If I were to get a PG in this draft, I'd trade down and get Teague. Explosive, played under one of the best coaches in CB, all -around game, and familiar with AD (obviously).

[BallSoHard]

Ok then, Greivis starting and Jack off the bench.

Why waste a pick(s) on something we already have?

I agree whole heartedly

[BallSoHard]

You get your bigs first who take longer to develop then next year or the year after add a point who can adjust to the game faster IMO

[StefanC]

For our team, the ideal PG is one who is a good passer, but can also knock down the open shot.

Late in games, EJ will be doing most of the ball handling, so we will need a PG who can help space the floor for EJ.
If our PG cannot make open threes, other teams will pack the paint, which will destroy the little offense we already have. This is why I also do not like Ariza or Aminu at the SF position. With Davis and Mek in the middle, we can sacrifice some length at SF for more scoring/shooting ability.

If I am forced to choose between Lillard and Marshall, I would take Marshall. I value passing ability much more than scoring ability for a PG. It's much easier to develop a shot than it is to develop court vision.