# Is there a difference between Shooting Guard and Small Forward ?



## Skeet Skeet Skita

Probably not according to Paul Pierce.

A Chat transscript from a Q&A with PP:



> *Jake, Westford: Hey Paul How has the move up to the three spot changed your game? In addition, how does it change how the team opperates on defense and offense? Keep up the good work!
> 
> Paul Pierce: I don't really see any difference. The biggest difference is who you guard, who you match up with on the defensive end. Otherwise, whether I play two or three, I play the same game offensively.*


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## P-Dub34

That's because Paul Pierce has the skillset to play the 2 or the 3 effectively, whereas a SF like a Van Horn type couldn't play the two. If Pierce plays the two he can seriously just outmuscle pretty much whoever is thrown at him.


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## cambyblockingyou

It's pretty much the same on offense. The only thing is that you usually put your better ball-handler as the 2. Guys who are not great ball handlers like Rashard Lewis can play 3 but not really 2.

On defense it's a matter of foot speed and length. Doesn't really matter though, the best defender will guard the best opposing wing.


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## Skeet Skeet Skita

P-Dub34 said:


> That's because Paul Pierce has the skillset to play the 2 or the 3 effectively, whereas a SF like a Van Horn type couldn't play the two.



You totally missed the entire point. There is no difference between SG and SF thatswhy KVH could play the two, because it is actually the three.

SG and SF = Wing...

Paul Pierce and Van Horn = Wings

The only difference is the defensive assignment.

That's it.


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## P-Dub34

Why did you ask if anybody thought there was a difference if you were going to tell us that there is no difference regardless of what is said?


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## GTA Addict

There are no concrete guidelines as to how a player is supposed to play at a certain position. Positions are there only for the sake of matchups. If you had to classify TYPES of players, you'd have smalls, swingmen, and bigs.


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## Sir Patchwork

They are pretty much the same. I'd say the differences are that you want your shooting guard to be able handle the ball and you want your small forward to get rebounds. But with more and more small forwards becoming great at handling the ball and shooting guards grabbing 5+ boards per game, the differences are pretty minimal. You could chalk it up to size. Shooting guard is anywhere from 6'4 to 6'7 and small forward is 6'6 to 6'9 or 6'10 even.

Regardless, they're wing players. The responsibilities aren't much different. Like power forward and center, the main difference is just size.


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## qross1fan

IMO Nope. Every team has two post players, two wings and a ballhandler/play maker. One of your wings should have handles and hit the outside shot consistently(which by many is considered the 2guard or offguard) and the other to slash/post up(which by many is considered a SF by many)


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## Darkwing Duck

It depends on the offensive scheme of the team. Some teams that have a well established point guard generally will have a 1-2-2 type system on offense, and the 2 and 3 position have generally the same assignments. On a team without a good point guard, the system is a 2-3 or 2-2-1, and the 2 and 3 position are not close to identical.

In any case, in today's NBA, the concept of "position" itself is being brought into question.


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## Yao Mania

Well generally a "shooting guard" has better range than a SF, and a SF are better post players (speaking in very general terms of course). When I think typical SF I'm thinking of a Richard Jefferson or Darius Miles. Shareef Abdul Rahim is an extreme case of someone who can play SF but never SG. Meanwhile, typical SGs would be Ray Allen and Michael Redd.


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## Pimped Out

iverson used to be a 2 and i really cant imagine him moving over to the 3.


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## naibsel

the only difference between the two is that the 2 hangs back with point as the ball is brought up the the court on offense while the the 3 generally camps on the 3pt line ready for the offense to set.

and in 2-3 zone defense the 3 defends on the opposite low block to the 4, while the 2 defends around the elbow

i love playing 3 coz i get to play on the perimeter for offense and i get to grab the boards, only bad thing about it is that im barely the size of 2 guard (5'9 150lbs) so i get smacked around alot in the paint on defense. but then i got lots of time to recooperate on defensive transition coz everyone else is a lazy fat ****er


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