I just read something about the prevailing thought that the best players in the NBA can score at will. This from a recent post at freedarko.com: “I guess I’m just surprised to see Harris, Granger, and Roy near the top, because I never considered them dominant scorers. Don’t Paul or Howard seem a tier higher than them? I mean based on presence alone.”

 I don’t think you can dispute the fact that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are better players than Devin Harris, Danny Granger, and Brandon Roy. But why are we conditioned to think that better players are automatically better scorers? Probably because scoring is the most glamorous part of basketball, the crux of the SportsCenter highlight and the first stat anyone ever mentions. However, as people who really study the game know, scoring does not always mean dominance. And dominance does not always mean scoring.

 This brings up an interesting question. If the ability to score at will does not necessarily correlate with offensive greatness, then what does determine how good a player is? I think mainly the ability to force the other team to change the way it wants to play. Let’s take a recent Dwight Howard game as a case in point. In the Magic’s 106-103 victory over the Lakers on December 20, Howard racked up 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. All of these statistics are below his season averages, so why was this such a great game for Howard? Because he put enough pressure on the Lakers to force them to change their entire game plan. Firstly, let’s look at the effect Howard had on Lakers’ budding center Andrew Bynum. After two fouls on Howard in the first minute of the game sent Bynum to the bench, he ended up playing 12 minutes, scoring 3 points, and grabbing 1 rebound. Those are Mark Madsen numbers. Not to mention the fact that the whole Lakers substitution rotation was thrown out of whack, disallowing the second unit from comfortably playing together as well. His team hit 12 3-pointers, often because of doubles down on Howard that prompted kick-outs and ball movement. Some may counter my argument by saying that when the game was close in the fourth quarter, Howard got to the line and connected on 8-11 free throws, taking over the game with his scoring. And I don’t devalue that point. But the Magic was only involved in a close game with the lakers because of Howard’s early play, which did not include much scoring.

The greatest players are those that don’t need to score to take over a game, but who can score when their teams need it. That is the difference between “point guards” Magic Johnson and Allen Iverson. We all know how many championships each has won.