Point forward

A point forward is usually described as a forward (either a small forward or a power forward) who possesses the ball handling skills and court vision to bring the ball up the court and to initiate the team's offense. Having the ball in the point forward's hands increases offensive mobility by allowing guards to move without the ball and create plays when they receive the ball. Point forwards also need to be competent ball handlers and passers. As such, the point forward is a particularly viable option for teams with offensively skilled shooting guards or combo guards playing on the court.

One of the first examples of an NBA point forward was John Johnson, who played the point forward role for the Seattle SuperSonics of the 1970s, alongside two guards who were more scoring-minded in Gus Williams and Dennis Johnson. Some other notable examples are Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey, who both played that role while under Head Coach Don Nelson for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1980s. Perhaps the most notable NBA point forwards are the 6'9" Larry Bird, who while playing as a small forward or power forward often ran the offense for the great Boston Celtics teams of the 1980s; the 6'9" Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who orchestrated the Laker's offense in the 1980s and was actually the team's point guard, which allowed his teams to have a dominant size advantage over opponents and allowed Johnson to play all five positions on the floor at various times in his career; the 6'8" Scottie Pippen, who played with the Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, and ran the offense; . An example of a Euroleague point forward of this type is the 6'7" Greek player Theo Papaloukas, a player that brings the ball down the court, runs the offense, and creates plays.

LeBron James of the Miami Heat is one of the most well known point forward in the current generation of NBA players. Other notable point forwards include: Chris Webber before he retired, especially when he was with the Sacramento Kings, Kevin Garnett in his days with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Pistons forward Tracy McGrady, Suns forward Grant Hill, Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu, Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, Sixers forward Andre Iguodala. On top of that, many players can opt to run the offense through the post or from positions differing from the key. Tim Duncan and Detlef Schrempf were both known to do this at various points in their careers.

Alternatively, a point guard playing like a conventional forward can also be considered a point forward, although this usage of the term is uncommon. Guards playing as forwards, going for the rebound, scoring points, giving assists, able to post up guards and even with the ability to guard bigger wing players. Oscar Robertson (who had the size of many small forwards in his era) and Jason Kidd are examples of NBA players, who have averaged near career triple-doubles including both rebounds and assists. An example of this type of player from the Euroleague is Dimitris Diamantidis, and so is Chuck Eidson.

At the high school level, since height can sometimes be an issue, a point forward is often used as a guard on offense and as a big man on defense. At this level of play, the typical size of the point forward would be very tall as well as skinny and lengthy. On some high school teams where size is an issue or they have a great player who is too big to be a guard, the player will trail behind the point guard and be a secondary play maker. On defense the point forward may be asked to defend bigger guys such as the power forward. On offense and defense they will use their speed and length to their advantage.

References

Category:Basketball positions Category:Basketball terminology