Great Expectations

Twitter is an excellent networking tool for coaches and among the coaches that I have met, one of them struck me with his love and passion for the game. His name is Tyler Roberts and he is an up and coming coach. Over his career Tyler has had stops at many different schools in the Rochester, NY area. To name some: St. Johns Fisher, Victor High School, Geneva High School and he is the current head coach at Midlakes High School. I was impressed with Coach Roberts knowledge and asked him to do some blogging over here at Dif's World. Coach Roberts decided to be topical and write about point guard play. Take a look, and you can follow him on Twitter he's @CoachxRoberts.

Here is a list of what most coaches EXPECT an "average" point guard to be able to do on the basketball court consistently.

• Handle the ball under pressure.
• Find the open man.
• Knock down game sealing free throws.
• Recognize/exploit mismatches.
• Defend bigger guards.
• Run the offense.
• Balance the floor.
• Make impeccable decisions in the open floor.
• Pass to shooters with the seams on their fingertips.
• Finish in traffic.
• Make open 3's.
• Act as an extension of the coach on the floor in games and practice.
• Set the tone on defense.
• Stay out of foul trouble.
• Get the ball to the right people at the right times.

If a point guard fails to accomplish these tasks they are considered unworthy of the position, and are either moved to an off guard position or they are simply benched. Often times the expectations of a PG are so demanding that you'll hear coaches say that they are splitting the responsibility between two guards that will play at the same time. This happens more at the high school level.

As a high school coach I like to have at least two capable point guards on the floor at once and designate one of them as a "primary point guard" to receive outlet passes and bring the ball up. I've had as many as four guys on the court at once that could assume the role of PG. I think it's important to have multiple players on the floor with the mindset that they have significant responsibility for relieving pressure and carrying out the other tasks of a PG.

Next time you watch a basketball game ask yourself if you are holding every position to the same level of expectations. It would be safe to say that PGs are expected to do far more than any other position.