Top Five Point Guards This Season

The Point Guard position has become the deepest in the league, which always leads to the debate over who is the best out of all this great talent. Here is my top 5 list of PGs during the 2011-2012 season:

5. Rajon Rondo
The 26 year old Celtic starts off my list. He is second in the league in assists this year at 11 per game as he masterfully orchestrates the Celtics' offense, keeping their aging Big Three looking young. He also has a league leading four triple doubles, including a historical 17 assist, 20 rebound, and 18 point performance in early March. The last two people to have at least 15 in each of those stat categories in one game were Jason Kidd and Magic Johnson. Unfortunately in order for him to move up the list he will need to develop a more expansive offensive game.

4. Steve Nash
The 38 year old is still getting it done, leading the league with 11.2 assists per game. He is the best there is at diagnosing a defense and making everyone around him better. He also can tell when it's best for him to defer to his teammates and when he needs to take over offensively, and when he does he's one of the most efficient in the game: 53.7 FG%, 39 three-point %, and 88 FT%.

3. Tony Parker
In his 11th season Parker is having a career year. He is averaging a career high 8 assists per game while scoring 19.4 points per game. More important than his stats is how well he has the Spurs playing. At 35-14 the Spurs have the second best record in the West despite the declining play of Tim Duncan and the constant injuries of Manu Ginobili.

2. Russell Westbrook
To many this may be my most surprising ranking on this list. But Westbrook is turning in a phenomenal season averaging 24.4 points per game, 5th in the league and 1st among point guards. He also increased his offensive efficiency now shooting 47.5% from the field. His assists are indeed down this season which is what most people focus on, but if you watch him play you realize it's not because of poor point guard skills, but more because of the improvement of both Durant and Harden. They both have become better playmakers, so the ball is in their hands a lot more, making Westbrook play off the ball more and therefore having decreased assists.

1. Chris Paul

My number one point guard this season has taken the Los Angeles Clippers from an irrelevant team to the fourth seed in the West. The All-Star is averaging 19.4 ppg, 8.9 apg, and a league leading 2.5 steals per game. Paul is the ultimate floor general who knows when he needs to set up his teammate and when he needs to score the basketball. Over and over again this season the Clippers have been in close games and Paul just single handedly takes over offensively to win them the game. The most important stat that propels him to the top of my list is that he doesn't turn the ball over and has a league leading assist to turnover ratio of 4.39.

Honorable Mention:
Deron Williams: Although having a great season in many ways, leading your team to wins is an important part of making it to my top five list, and his Nets are a mere 18-35. He also is tied for most turnovers in the league at 4 per game and shoots only 41% from the field.
Derrick Rose: The defending MVP is having a great season...when he plays. Unfortunately he has missed over a third of his team's games. To be having the best season you need to be actually playing, so I couldn't have him in my top five.
Jose Calderon: Quietly fourth in the league in assists and second in assist to turnover ratio. However being on the Raptors his team doesn't have enough wins to make my list.

Ramon Sessions the Key?

The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the most difficult teams to figure out in this strange NBA season. After failing to trade for Chris Paul, and then losing both Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown, it was hard to imagine that the team that got swept in the second round last postseason would be a legitimate contender. Despite that, as of March 23rd they are 3rd in the Western Conference but have a mere 10-15 road record and have struggled with inconsistency, losing consecutive games to Washington and Detroit (combined winning percentage of 29.3%) earlier this month. In an attempt to shake things up at the trade deadline the Lakers acquired the 25 year old point guard Ramon Sessions, one of the more underrated players in the NBA, positioning them as what I believe is a serious contender.

The casual NBA fan probably had never even heard of Ramon Sessions, and understandably so. After spending the first two years of his career with the lowly Bucks, he spent one season in Minnesota, before finding himself as the backup on the post-Lebron James Cavaliers. Since the Cavs then took Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in the offseason Sessions found himself coming off the bench yet again. Even with limited minutes he was able to leave an impact on most games, especially in terms of distributing, with an average of 10.2 assists per 48 minutes. To make this number more understandable, let's compare that number to those of All-Stars Derrick Rose (10.7) and Deron Williams (10.6). As you can see on a per minute basis Sessions can distribute the ball with the best of them. What may be even more telling is Sessions' numbers when given the opportunity to start this season. In four games as a starter this season he is averaging 17.8 points to go along with 11 assists per game. As a part of the Lakers he will not need to score this much but it will be very helpful to have someone beside Kobe in the backcourt who is capable of taking over the game both as a distributor and scorer, seeing as the 37 year old Derek Fisher just wasn't getting it done for them (5.8 points and 3.3 assists per game).

Even more important than Sessions's offensive contributions will be his efforts on the defensive end of the court. Point guards have become the dominating position in the NBA and there has been an influx of young and very athletic PGs the past few years (Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Ty Lawson etc.). In his older age Fisher found himself unable to stop these athletes which really gave the Lakers problems, especially in the playoffs. Two years ago, second year point guard Russell Westbrook had his coming out party in the thrilling first round matchup of the 1 seed Lakers against the 8 seed Thunder. In the six game series Westbrook averaged 20.5 points per game while shooting 47.3% from the field, a noticeable increase from this regular season numbers (16.1 ppg and 41.8 FG%). The Lakers were able to survive that series and go on the win the Championship, but there definitely seemed to be some writing on the wall.

Last year in the playoffs is when their inability to defend point guards finally caught up to them. In the first round the Lakers were given a scare being taken to six games by the Hornets who were being carried by the play of Chris Paul after losing their former All-Star David West. Paul lit up the Lakers, getting one triple double (27 points, 15 assists, and 13 rebounds) and averaging 22 ppg, 11.5 apg, and 6.7 rpg, while shooting 54.5% from the field. They were able to survive this offensive onslaught only to get swept in the next round, in large part because of their inability to defend the Mavericks' backup point guard J.J. Barea. In only 18 minutes per game, Barea had 11.5 points and 5.5 assists per game. These numbers seem underwhelming but on a per 48 minute basis these numbers are elite (14.7 assists and 30.7 points per 48 minutes).

After years of getting torched by quick point guards the Lakers finally brought in a guy like Sessions, a young speedy guy who is a solid defender and will be able to prevent them from constantly having their defense torn apart by opposing point guards. Can he stop guys like Westbrook or Rose or Paul? No. But can he contain them much better than Fisher? Without a doubt. When you combine that with two 7-footers in the paint (Andrew Bynum and Pao Gasol) and the iron will to win of Kobe Bryant, it is impossible to count the Lakers out as a legitimate contender for the NBA Championship. This doesn't mean that they all of a sudden jump to my favorite team to win it all or even win the Western Conference, but what is does do is cover up their biggest weakness making them an even more formidable opponent for anyone in the NBA. Once you get Kobe in a 7 game series anything can happen, and with a guy like Ramon Sessions running the point, the Lakers are undeniably a championship contender.