# Brandon Knight: Point Guard or Shooting Guard?



## Basel

> It was one of the recurring debates of the Bucks' 13/14 season, and one that promises to bug us through the summer and start of next season: Is Brandon Knight a point guard or a shooting guard?
> 
> As simple and straight forward as it might seem, I'd argue it's also a rather loaded question, brimming with assumptions about what point guards and shooting guards should do, burdened by the false need to categorize players with a single position, and colored by competing views of how good he is in the first place.
> 
> So spoiler alert: I don't think the answer to this question is as simple as one or the other, and it's probably still too early to really be sure no matter what we think we've seen to date. But that's not to say Knight's fit isn't an important question and one the Bucks should be pondering carefully. Though he's still just 22, the Bucks' leading scorer is now only a year away from restricted free agency, and he figures to find himself playing with a number of different types of guards--both old and new--this coming season. So how good is Brandon Knight, and how might he best be used going forward? Let's take it piece by piece.
> 
> Forgetting position for a moment, how good has Knight been in the first place?
> 
> Let's start with an observation: the better you are at basketball, the less people worry about labeling you one thing or another. And while Knight is far from position-defying greatness, he's at least trending in the right direction.
> 
> Having only turned 22 last December, Knight made major strides across virtually every offensive statistical category a year ago, increasing his scoring and assist rates, lowering his turnover rate, getting to the line 40% more, and upping virtually every efficiency metric in the process (PER, TS%, WS, ORtg) while cutting an ugly -1.2 offensive xRAPM in Detroit to a more respectable +0.70 in Milwaukee. According to MySynergySports.com, His pick-and-roll, isolation and transition finishing all jumped notably, indicative of his improved ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. The only notable offensive decline came in his three point accuracy, where he dropped from 38.0%/36.7% in his first two seasons to 32.5% last year on comparable volume.
> 
> Defensively it wasn't the same story, as the Bucks were worse defensively with him on the court, his opponent stats went from good to mediocre (12/13 vs. 13/14), his Synergy stats were largely below average, and his defensive xRAPM tanked (from -0.4 to -1.9) under the weight of the Bucks' flimsy defense. Then again, he was also playing on a mostly rudderless Bucks team with little semblance of a consistent defensive scheme, so I'd caution against drawing strong conclusions about any of the young Bucks defensively (for now).
> 
> Still, to Knight's credit both he and the Bucks also became more effective offensively as the season wore on. After suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener and coming off the bench as he worked his way back into shape, Knight averaged 19.7 ppg on 53.4% true shooting to go with 5.0 apg and 2.6 turnovers in 35.4 mpg over the season's last 50 games. The Bucks were also mostly awful in that span, but their offense quietly turned around after the all-star break as well, ranking 14th in the league efficiency-wise over the final 30 games. So while we should be wary of mistaking causation and correlation, it is nevertheless a positive that Knight carried the load while both his team and personal efficiency increased.


http://www.brewhoop.com/2014/7/24/5790868/brandon-knight-point-guard-shooting-guard


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## Bogg

Combo guard is an established enough term at this point that I don't think this needs to be too much of a mystery. He'll never be Rondo, but at the same time he can score the ball pretty well and there's value in that. No need to try to force him to be someone he's not.


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## roux

Brandon Knight is a scorer, thats what he is going to do regardless of what position you want to classify him into


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## BlakeJesus

He's a small guy who can score and isn't afraid to be a tenacious defender (see him getting dunked on while trying to contest a dunk vs DeAndre Jordan aka The RIP Dunk). He needs to continue improving his skills, but the main question to me is about to what extent can be improve them and not which position can/should he play.


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## R-Star

jessesnakemuench said:


> My only concern is that the Bucks young guys that don't play PG might not get enough touches if he's shooting too much. Parker and Alphabet-soup (and Henson imo) have the potential to be great scorers if they get consistent playing time and touches.
> 
> I like Knight, but if he is shooting before passing too much it could become an issue for the team. To this point, I don't think he's overdone it though. He seems to get a feel for when the teams needs him to take on more of the scoring load and when it doesn't, and he also does get a pretty hot hand from time to time, so you can't blame him for taking advantage in those instances.


Yea. Bucks could use a quality pass first PG at this point. I can see Parker being fairly ball dominant as he develops, and like you said if there's a PG looking to set himself up first, it will be a negative for the team.


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## Kreutz35

I really think Knight will be starting at shooting guard when the season rolls around. All reports say that Kidd loves the Marshall signing, and he's exactly the kind of passer that the Bucks need to develop Giannis and Parker. Plus, his lack of any sort of defense acts as a great stealth tank tool to bring in one more good pick while developing the key guys. 

Back to Knight, I see his ideal role as a combo guard off the bench in a sixth man role. He'd be perfect for that, but unfortunately he's just too good compared to the rest of this Buck's roster to be coming off of the bench


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## BobStackhouse42

Knight can play 2 on offense but 1 on defense.


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## roux

R-Star said:


> Yea. Bucks could use a quality pass first PG at this point. I can see Parker being fairly ball dominant as he develops, and like you said if there's a PG looking to set himself up first, it will be a negative for the team.


Kendall Marshall baby!


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## roux

BobStackhouse42 said:


> Knight can play 2 on offense but 1 on defense.


That pretty much sums it up


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## R-Star

roux said:


> Kendall Marshall baby!


Yea........


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## Basel

R-Star said:


> Yea........



You said yourself in a different thread you didn't watch the Lakers much. Marshall is a terrific pass-first PG given how little he has played in the NBA. He's only going to get better. I'm not saying he's Chris Paul or Steve Nash in his prime, but the kid is a great fit for what Milwaukee wants to do.


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## R-Star

Basel said:


> You said yourself in a different thread you didn't watch the Lakers much. Marshall is a terrific pass-first PG given how little he has played in the NBA. He's only going to get better. I'm not saying he's Chris Paul or Steve Nash in his prime, but the kid is a great fit for what Milwaukee wants to do.


I've gone out of my way to praise his passing in the past, including when he was signed. 

He just severely lacks in other areas. Hopefully they can teach him how to play some defense.


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## Basel

R-Star said:


> I've gone out of my way to praise his passing in the past, including when he was signed.
> 
> 
> 
> He just severely lacks in other areas. Hopefully they can teach him how to play some defense.



He'll improve defensively, I think. Keep in mind the system he was playing in. 

He's also a pretty good 3-point shooter so he can keep the defense honest.


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## Kreutz35

Not to mention that he'll be coached by Jason Kidd now. That should be a tremendous help to him as a PG in this league


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## Basel

Kreutz35 said:


> Not to mention that he'll be coached by Jason Kidd now. That should be a tremendous help to him as a PG in this league



Yup, which is why I think he'll become a good defender. Kidd was one of the best defensive PG's in the league in his prime. Perfect person to coach him. 

As for Knight, I consider him a SG more than I do a PG. Let Marshall dish the ball to him and he'll thrive much more than trying to create for himself off the dribble in my opinion.


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## roux

Basel said:


> Yup, which is why I think he'll become a good defender. Kidd was one of the best defensive PG's in the league in his prime. Perfect person to coach him.
> 
> As for Knight, I consider him a SG more than I do a PG. Let Marshall dish the ball to him and he'll thrive much more than trying to create for himself off the dribble in my opinion.


Think any of Marshalls assist numbers were overly inflated due to D'Antoni's system? Thats my biggest concern... Marshall was an absolute train wreck as a rookie and I have seen alot of bad players put up good numbers in that silly system.


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## Basel

I think part of it could be, but watching him play, it just seems his style of play more than anything. Pass first, shoot second type of player.


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## XXV

Basel said:


> I think part of it could be, but watching him play, it just seems his style of play more than anything. Pass first, shoot second type of player.


Why have three teams let this guy go? Going back to college, every time I've seen him play, he gets great looks for his teammates and is a threatening enough shooter that you can't stray too far from him.


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## Basel

XXV said:


> Why have three teams let this guy go? Going back to college, every time I've seen him play, he gets great looks for his teammates and is a threatening enough shooter that you can't stray too far from him.



Well the Lakers waived him to clear up space to sign their other players. They were hoping he would clear waivers but the Bucks got him. Lakers wanted him.


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## XXV

Yeah, but they had to know somebody was going to pick him up, especially at league minimum. I saw they got Lin and still have Nash. If Lin is coming off the bench, is he really a better fit at $8.5 million vs. Marshall's $800k? Just feels like the Lakers are the latest team to give him up for peanuts. Why does everyone quit on this guy?


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## Basel

Again, they had to release him to sign their other players (who they obviously deemed more valuable).


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