Top NBA Back-courts?

[Employee]

Afflalo is a (very) good defender and certainly above average on offense (since rookie season lowest 3p% 0,398).

Lin might have been overhyped and overrated, but the response by many (who don't like the Knicks) has been to undervalue him as a reaction. He's looking ok with Houston.

Chalmers, so far this season, is - looking at the stats - getting the ball in his hands to do some playmaking a lot more. Only 4 games of course but 7 assists a game can't be done without getting serious playmaking tasks.

I was going to say the same thing about Chalmers. He's averaging so far more assists per game than Lebron.

[Soft Euro]

Lin/Harden - Not making it.
Lawson/Afflalo - Not making it.

Reason? Because Lawson is a good point guard, while the other in Afflalo is a HUGE drop-off.

That's a reason why I didn't include Lin/Harden. Lin is an overrated guard. Solid starter AT best. Both guys need to hold their own.
If people will hate on me for including OKC & Boston back-court, it's because the talent of one of their guys makes up for the entire back-court. Westbrook and Rondo are top 5 point guards in the league. It's obvious that Westbrook/Rondo > Lawson/Lin.

And to the constant questions of "Isn't Chalmers and Wade the back-court?" Yes, technically speaking, but I included LeBron as the guard for he initiates the offense. Technically, the back-court is made up of the point guard and shooting guard, but that back-court is just based on how I think. Hopefully that answers things, and remember, this is all just MY opinion. I'm asking others for their opinions.

Afflalo is a (very) good defender and certainly above average on offense (since rookie season lowest 3p% 0,398).

Lin might have been overhyped and overrated, but the response by many (who don't like the Knicks) has been to undervalue him as a reaction. He's looking ok with Houston.

Chalmers, so far this season, is - looking at the stats - getting the ball in his hands to do some playmaking a lot more. Only 4 games of course but 7 assists a game can't be done without getting serious playmaking tasks.

[ReubenJRD]

The backcourt consists of two people. I don't understand what your point is. Houston added Harden, just like Denver added Iggy. Would Ty/Afflalo have made the list?

Lin/Harden - Not making it.
Lawson/Afflalo - Not making it.

Reason? Because Lawson is a good point guard, while the other in Afflalo is a HUGE drop-off.

That's a reason why I didn't include Lin/Harden. Lin is an overrated guard. Solid starter AT best. Both guys need to hold their own.
If people will hate on me for including OKC & Boston back-court, it's because the talent of one of their guys makes up for the entire back-court. Westbrook and Rondo are top 5 point guards in the league. It's obvious that Westbrook/Rondo > Lawson/Lin.

And to the constant questions of "Isn't Chalmers and Wade the back-court?" Yes, technically speaking, but I included LeBron as the guard for he initiates the offense. Technically, the back-court is made up of the point guard and shooting guard, but that back-court is just based on how I think. Hopefully that answers things, and remember, this is all just MY opinion. I'm asking others for their opinions.

[Superchunk]

Watching the cleveland game last night gave me a lot of faith in a Waiters/Irving backcourt. Damn they looked good.

[Employee]

Call me crazy but isn't Chalmers and Wade Miami's backcourt?

And i agree with most people here, Lin and Harden have to be on that list somewhere. And I would rather have K-Mart than Safolosha.

[ebrian]

If it were Lin/Martin would you say that's better than Ty/Iggy? Maybe Harden/Lin should be in the top 10, but the reason being it's because of Harden, NOT Lin.

The backcourt consists of two people. I don't understand what your point is. Houston added Harden, just like Denver added Iggy. Would Ty/Afflalo have made the list?

[ReubenJRD]

Lebron isn't a point guard though, he's a small forward. Just because he's initiating the offence doesn't make him part of the backcourt.

And I don't understand saying Lin/Harden isn't better than, say, Ty/Iggy. I suspect by the end of the season there will be no doubt about that.

If it were Lin/Martin would you say that's better than Ty/Iggy? Maybe Harden/Lin should be in the top 10, but the reason being it's because of Harden, NOT Lin.

[Superchunk]

Technically speaking, yes, but LeBron James plays that pure point guard role for the Heat. LeBron is a small forward, but no doubt he plays the position.

Even IF I did get rid of the LeBron/Wade duo, Lin/Harden would NOT be there. Lin is still unproven, and isn't even a top 10 point guard in my opinion. Harden is making him look a lot better than he is, for Harden is a play-maker. Make shots, find shots.

Lebron isn't a point guard though, he's a small forward. Just because he's initiating the offence doesn't make him part of the backcourt.

And I don't understand saying Lin/Harden isn't better than, say, Ty/Iggy. I suspect by the end of the season there will be no doubt about that.

[ebrian]

This list is suspect without Lin/Harden. By the end of this season they might be in the top 3. The thing is they're the whole team. You look at your 3, 4, 5, 6 -- these are all duo's that are heavily supplanted by some very frontcourt.

Find me a frontcourt with better averages than these:

50.7 points, 13.7 assists, 12.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals, 0.7 blocks, 8.0 turnovers, 47.7% FG, 34.5% 3P, 84.4% FT (15 FTA per game)

Here's ours, more efficient but not as prolific:

42.7 points, 8.3 assists, 12.3 rebounds, 5 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.7 turnovers, 62.9% FG, 65% 3PT, 88.2% (11 FTA)

[Papa Burgundy]

1. LeBron James/Dwayne Wade
2. Deron Williams/Joe Johnson
3. Steve Nash/Kobe Bryant
4. Chris Paul/Chauncey Billups
5. Rajon Rondo/Courtney Lee
6. Russel Westbrook/Thabo Sefolosha
7. Brandon Jennings/Monte Ellis
8. Ty Lawson/Andre Iguodala
9. Tony Parker/Manu Ginobili
10. Kyle Lowry/Demar Derozan

I'd remove Paul/Billups ... add in Lin/Harden.
I'd also move Lowry/Demar ahead of the 3 in bold.

[CT2010]

All unproven. Wall/Beal, Rubio/Roy haven't played together yet.

Irving/Waiters and Curry/Thompson are ifs.

Not to mention that Roy looks done. He doesn't have any spring left in his knees and was easily contained. Rubio and Roy 5 years ago Roy yes. But not now.

[enlightenment]

Well Demar and Lowry have also been absolutely STELLAR on the defensive end. adding up to 12 steals in the past two games i think.

[RPT23]

I'd agree for the most part that Ky-Mar deserves to be considered as one of the top back courts in the NBA but we'll get a better indication after about 1/3 of the way through the season if they are in fact the real deal. I am confident that Kyle can hold his own, but can DeMar keep up the production?

I'm excited that they are playing well. I think if Bargs gets out of his slump, we'll have a pretty good 3-headed monster on our team (at least speaking offensively that is).

[Drake_Marcus]

Well if we're only looking at the 2012 performances you can't do much other than tip your hat to DeMar/Kyle for now. Here's hoping they keep up the play we've seen this weekend and the rest of the guys pick their play up.

[Blacklash2k4]

It's too early to put DeMar on any best of lists.. Kyle obviously bumps them up, but I'd wait and see how it goes after at least 25/30 games.

Minny's combo of Rubio/Roy is not too shabby. Irving/Waiters may be up there too. Same with Wall/Beal and Curry/Thompson.

Rubio/Roy looks really juicy and good, but Rubio is gonna need time to heal his injuries and get back into the zone. Roy also isn't the same Roy from Portland. Waiter and Beal still have a lot to prove before I would include them in the top 10 front courts...