What I Look For in Guards
As of today, I’ve written 756 articles on this site. Last night, I thought about what I’d be writing about today, and I figured I’d talk about what I look for from players in each positional group. Today, I’d like…
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Continue ReadingAs of today, I’ve written 756 articles on this site. Last night, I thought about what I’d be writing about today, and I figured I’d talk about what I look for from players in each positional group. Today, I’d like to highlight what I look for in wings and guards and finish up with post players tomorrow.
Whenever I talk about guards, I mean lead guards or point guards, whichever way you’d like to describe them.
Defense
There are people I respect, and I’m sure plenty of college coaches have the same mindset. That would be, if you can’t defend, you can’t be a college point guard. If you have an elite defensive presence at the lead guard spot, it would obviously help, but in my eyes, there are always exceptions to the rule.
What makes a good defender at the guard spot?
The first thing that I look for is lateral quickness. No matter what level you play at, there will be guards who are quick and want to beat their initial defender. At the high school level, you have to be able to keep kids in front unless there’s guaranteed help behind from a post, like an Emma Mommesen type from Menomonie a few years ago.
Communication is critical at every position, but more so as a guard. I’m usually close to the floor so I can hear everyone. However, I have to hear or see communication on switches, screens, and a general overshare of information on defensive possessions.
I’ll also hear or read about kids whose coach, parent, or themself think they can defend at a high level but have no focus if they aren’t guarding the ball. I will never call someone a good defender who’ll get beat backdoor routinely, lose track of their assignment, or show a lack of engagement away from the ball. That makes guards who can guard the ball at a high level an average or below-average defender. In my opinion, what guards do away from the ball is more important than what they do on it.
The most important thing in my eyes, and to be fair, I can’t know every gameplan going into games, but can you execute what your team wants to do defensively? Can you force kids the direction they’re not comfortable with, create uncomfortable situations without playing for steals, or play within the structure your team’s defense requires without fouling?
In short, the four main things I look for in guards defensively are lateral quickness, communication, engagement, and playing with discipline.
Offensively
In the traditional sense, lead guards bring the ball up the floor, initiate the offense, create plays out of structure, and make things happen on the fly if needed. Most of that stands, but the better the lead guard, the more I want from them.
The number one thing I want in a point guard, even more than one who can defend, is press resistance. As kids get older, the competition in their age group will improve, kids will get more athletic, and teams will want to put pressure on the ball. There are elite-level upperclass guards I’m not all that enamored by because they aren’t the best when defenses throw pressure their way. I’m being serious when I say, at least at the high school level, there are a few freshmen I would rather have than some highly thought of juniors and seniors because they’re calm under pressure and don’t turn the ball over.
One thing I look for in guards, where some may not, is their versatility. College systems become more versatile with the more versatile pieces it has. One example that I’ll throw out there is Taylor Stremlow Taylor Stremlow 5'8" | PG Verona | 2024 State WI . I know Taylor is strong enough to play in the mid-post area as a passer. Her vision means she can find cutters and make a play in a spot she traditionally wouldn’t be in at Verona or with Wisconsin Flight Elite . That versatility could also mean they’ve shown they can cut, run off off-ball screens, or even set screens and create confusing situations for defenses.
Another big thing is the ability to create outside of structure. Every team will have an offense. It could set plays, motion, ball-screening action, zone offense, or whatever it is in their specific program, but things don’t always work. What can they do with the ball in their hands to create a good shot for themselves or their teammates? It may be as consequential at the high school level in Wisconsin without a shot clock, but if you want to excel as a lead guard at the next level, you need to be able to create space or get someone an open shot promptly to help maximize possessions that could seem lost.
As the game evolves, labels matter less over positions that seem to matter. However, if you want to be a player trusted with making decisions on the floor at the college level, you need to create good shots for your team and make good decisions under pressure. It also helps if you can do more than a traditional lead guard would do.
Quick Conclusion
A final thing to note is although I tend to look for these traits in guards, all the rankings I work on are recruitability-based. So, I could like the 4th ranked guard in a class more than the 1st or 2nd-ranked kid, but I know college coaches will like that 4th or 5th-ranked kid more than the 8th-ranked kid at the level for projectability reasons. I do my best to put my biases aside.