Steve Nash was listed 6'3", an exaggeration, in fact he was slightly smaller than Tony. rather small, thin and not really fast. would Nash still be that successful today. (yeah I know he didn't win a ring). likely yes, his feel, genius IQ, dribble and shooting might be as useful as it was 20 years ago. he couldn't defend anyone back in the days and wouldn't this days. (but there is likely no Steve Nash equivalent in todays NBA)
Ky was measured 6'1.75" w/o shoes, (average 6'4" wingspan). Dame exactly the same height (longer wingspan at 6'7.75"). Brunsen is 6'1" in socks (ws 6'4"). they do well, at least on offense.
I think the decisive factor is strength, when evaluating a smaller player, asking if he can survive on defense. Chris Paul did well on defense using his strenght.
Tony Parker was listed 6'2" at a time when teams regularly added an extra inch to everybody on the roster list. I met Tony and we are the same height (6'1") in shoes. It pissed me off when he dunked in-game because he was 1 month younger than me and the same height, lol.
Skill matters most... but when skill is the same, size breaks the tie.
I am not loving the line of reasoning that says small guards can’t win championships, except that only the last eight to ten years count, and Stephen Curry doesn’t count because reasons, and Kyrie Irving doesn’t count because reasons, and Fred Van Vleet and Kyle Lowry don’t count because reasons, so really we’re talking about a sample size of three years.
Not saying you can't in a vacuum, but Curry and Kyrie were MVP level players, the first one being the best shooter in history and the second one who had arguably the potential to be one of the best shooting PG in history too, wiht even better handles and penetration skills than Curry.
So that leaves us with FVV and Lowry as the excpetion if we're talking lesser PGs, which is the argument I believe regarding some PGs available in this draft, who I'm really not sure could actually reach Van vleet or Lowry level. Do I believe you can win a ship or really compete in the POs with Dillingham as your starting PG? I'd say no. His skills and talent are not big enough to compensate his flaws and how targeted he would be.
I think the key point is “MVP-level players” or at least Hall-of-Fame caliber. You get a couple of those and you’re cooking, even if one of them is 6’2”.
I don’t think Rob Dillingham is that. I actually suspect he is too small — not just short, but small and slight — for his assets to make up the difference as an NBA player. But if I’m wrong and he actually becomes the second coming of Tony Parker, then I don’t think his being 6’1” or whatever is a barrier to winning.
The problem is that we're all too quick to dismiss or hype these players.
FVV was undrafted. Didn't get meaningful minutes until he was 23.
Didn't play close to his current level until he was 25. There are just too many variables for us to be certain how someone develops.
And I'd take Lowry out of this discussion. While he's short, he's damn strong and easily guards a lot of wings.
I think context is important when talking about small guards and back courts generally. A 6'2" PG paired with a 6'6" SG is fine, as was the case for the successful years of Steph with 6'6" Klay, Kyrie with 6'6" JR Smith, Lowry with 6'6" Danny Green, Parker with 6'6" Manu/Green/Barry etc... The trouble occurs when both back court guys are undersized, as was the case in Dame/McCollum, Iverson/Snow, Conley/Mitc . Guard combos where both are smallish almost never win championships.
and on that note, Vassell is a legit 6'5 and change, with a solid wingspan. not exactly skinny/frail either. he was small-ish for a forward, but well sized for a guard
True, a team can compete with a small point guard if it can compensate through, not just size, but great defenders in the rest of the lineup. Vassel is not exactly a great defender, Sochan should be better but constantly makes mistakes on defense, and champagnie is just a placeholder. The Spurs have a lot of work left to do and choosing a one-way player as the point going forward is just going to make things harder
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