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The Trend Of The Undersized Two Is Beginning, And It All started With A.I.
By Phineas Lambert, founding editor, The Back Page Sports
I don’t know if you remember the 1997 Final Four, featuring North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Minnesota. It was the first and only Final Four I had ever attended and dressed in full Carolina garb, and I watched Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter lose depressingly to eventual champ Miles Simon and Arizona. The second game, however, was hella-exciting, a shootout between defending champ UK and Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. There were several memories of note from that tourney’s final Saturday night, but for brevity’s sake, I will only mention one – the superlative play of Minnesota shooting guard Bobby Jackson. The Wildcats beat the Gophers 78-69, but Jackson had 23 points, 6 boards and 4 assists in the biggest game of his career. Not bad considering nary another Gopher mustered more than 10 points that night.
Jackson did everything short of mopping the collegiate hardwood to prove his worth to NBA brass, but on draft night he fell to the bottom of the first round, picked 23rd overall by Seattle. He has remained in relative obscurity ever since, despite moments of brilliance, buried on the Sacramento King bench behind Mike Bibby and under a host of his own injuries.
Jackson was never considered a blue chip prospect mainly because of his size. He is what sports fans know as a “tweener,” the skills to play one position, but the size to play another, a la former Piston great but reserve, Vinnie Johnson. At 6’1” he was considered more of a point than a two, the position he played at Minnesota alongside Eric Harris.
Jackson could have been one of the first examples of what I have come to fondly refer to as the “Iversonian Two,” a two in the body of a one, able to dominate games with his explosiveness, deadly jumpshot accuracy and solid defense (albeit mostly on the perimeter). The name is one of homage to Iverson, whose skills and quickness made him the deadliest two in the NBA, despite having the body of a point guard.
There’s a new trend emerging in the NBA. Iverson planted the seeds, but it’ll be cultivated by two young star players: Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and Chicago Bull rookie Ben Gordon, who after leading the Bulls back to the playoffs for the first time since 1996 has some fans pronouncing his last name with a soft G, as in Ben “Jordan.”
Both Iversonain Twos are scorers, with remarkable slashing ability and the kind of hops that would make a beer drinker orgasm. And both are now starring for their teams in the NBA, when only a few years ago, they would have been considered too small to have a serious impact on the game.
The Bulls and the Heat, two teams that seemed to have done everything wrong in the recent past, took Wade and Gordon high in the draft, despite “scouts” questioning whether they would be able to make the transition to the NBA game.
A Toronto Raptors scout even said: “Ben played both point guard and shooting guard in college but will be asked to stick to the point in the NBA.”
I’ve never understood why Gordon would be asked to “stick to the point in the NBA.” He regularly played off the ball in college, opposite point guard Taliek Brown. So if he's good enough to play in the NBA, let alone be a top three pick, why would he be forced to play out of position? Anyone, know the answer…Bueller?
While at least Gordon has the handle of a point, Wade turns the ball over like its going out of style. He is third in the league in turnovers, behind Iverson and Kobe Bryant. The Heat, of course, tried to start him at the point in his rookie campaign, despite how effective he showed himself to be at Marquette playing the two alongside Travis Diener. That decision resulted in the Heat starting the season 0-7 last year.
Eventually Heat coach, Stan Van of the Brothers Gundy, relented. He still started Wade at the point, but playing him off the ball with Rafer Alston running the show down the stretch. Wade, freed from ball handling duties, vastly improved in the season’s second half. The Heat, of course, rallied and made the second round of the playoffs.
One would think that a combo guard would be an asset rather than a liability. I mean if the guy can play, the guy can play no matter how tall he is. Right? Height, however, seems to be, in the eyes of NBA, more important than versatility. That notion seems counterintuitive. If the 5’5 Earl Boykins can play in the NBA, can size really outweigh talent?
So what of Bobby Jackson, who with this growing trend could now be considered a more covetable asset? Maybe if he had come to the league a few years later, after Iverson, or had been able to avoid the injury bug, he would have had a better opportunity. It’s hard to know. If he had, then maybe Wade and Gordon would be examples of a trend coming to fruition, instead of its first real installment.
In the end, however, the lack of interest in the Sacto product illustrates that GM’s still stubbornly rely too much on the outdated judgements of yesteryear and still have yet to catch on to the trend of the Iversonian Two.
If it weren’t for a player like Iverson, who is so good as to change our preconceptions of what a player should and shouldn't be, where would talent like Wade and Gordon be right now?
Probably sitting on the bench, right next to Bobby Jackson.
Email Phin at phin@thebackpagesports.com to discuss.
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