What is the definition of a floor general?

[carib]

Second who are the top floor generals in the NBA today?

[mogrovejo]

A floor-general is a player who plays at the point of attack and commands the offense of his team. A guy who more than creating shots for himself and others, runs and orchestrates the offense. Needs to be someone who understands what's happening on the floor, when it's time to push the ball or to slow down a bit - to play at different tempos, lots of point guards can only play at the same speed all the time, when it's time to go to the post, when it's the moment to hit the guy who's running off screens, when a player needs an easy shot or the ball on his hands and to go on a 1x1, a guy who identifies the mismatches, a guy who surveys the floor and decides if the offense should be initiated on the right or left side of the court (a very underrated skill), who knows when it's time for him to hold the ball, to create for others, to construct points himself, a guy who tells his teammates where to go, a guy who knows which plays to make at any point of the game, when get a quick shot or milk the clock, to identify and take advantage of a favourable mismatch, when to call the team go to play because making a shot in that possession could be pivotal, etc. And that has the ability to execute all that stuff he envisions on his head.

To me the best floor general in the NBA right now is Deron Williams. Maybe Kidd is still the second, but the erosion of his skill-set is holding him back. Rondo is creeping him as a top floor-general, maybe he's top 3 - impressive considering how 2 years ago Garnett and Pierce were the first two options for the Cs to run their offense. The MIP floor-general is probably Ray Felton, who has progressed a lot under Larry Brown. A PG doesn't need to be a good floor-general to be successful. For example, Bibby best times where with Sacramento which used a high-post offense run by the big man - Weber, Divac, Miller - so the PG responsibilities are limited. Bibby would bring the ball up, pass to one of them and they'd decide where to go from there. The he was used to create shots for himself or for others later on the play. In Vancouver he was used as a floor general - his numbers looked great, but his team offensive efficiency was bottom 2 in the league. He had a resurgence in Atlanta - an offense extremely heavy on isolations, where once again the floor-general skills are less needed as the decision-making is simplified (same reason why Kidd's impact in his first season in Dallas was limited, two many isos for him to impact his teammates game substantially). Also happens in 2-guard front systems, like the triangle offense - the decision-making process is easier for the guy running the offence because it's shared.

The best floor-generals I've ever seen were Theo Papaloukas and Magic Johnson.