Besides scoring being down and defense being up, there's another factor to consider, if you ask me.
Stockton was a point guard. A *true* point guard, IMO the best ever.
His job was to bring the ball from one end of the court and get it to whoever could use it the best, whether that be Hornacek, Malone, or himself.
He wasn't a combo guard, out to put up 20/8 every night (though 17/14 works just as well). Stockton made it his goal to use his skills to his advantage--he was a phenomenal passer and a great shooter. He was a GUARD that averaged over .500 FG% FOR HIS CAREER. Now, we had a player--Sam Cassell--come close to that this season, at .488 FG%. But not for his career. That's almost an insane feat.
Stockton's job was to pass the ball--at which he might easily be considered the best ever--and to shoot, which he was one of the best ever at.
Another amazing stat: His ast/TO ratio: 3.72 for his career. That'd put him third overall this past year, but with 10mpg more than the guys in front of him.
I had never looked at it the way the first poster had, seeing how many APG someone would have to average to catch him. But I agree--it's never going to be broken.
Originally posted by KeiranHalcyon!
Besides scoring being down and defense being up, there's another factor to consider, if you ask me.
Stockton was a point guard. A *true* point guard, IMO the best ever.
His job was to bring the ball from one end of the court and get it to whoever could use it the best, whether that be Hornacek, Malone, or himself.
He wasn't a combo guard, out to put up 20/8 every night (though 17/14 works just as well). Stockton made it his goal to use his skills to his advantage--he was a phenomenal passer and a great shooter. He was a GUARD that averaged over .500 FG% FOR HIS CAREER. Now, we had a player--Sam Cassell--come close to that this season, at .488 FG%. But not for his career. That's almost an insane feat.
Stockton's job was to pass the ball--at which he might easily be considered the best ever--and to shoot, which he was one of the best ever at.
Another amazing stat: His ast/TO ratio: 3.72 for his career. That'd put him third overall this past year, but with 10mpg more than the guys in front of him.
I had never looked at it the way the first poster had, seeing how many APG someone would have to average to catch him. But I agree--it's never going to be broken.
Simply. Amazing.
not to damper this stockton appreciation thread, and he was truly remarkable over a long period, but i think it trivializes the role of the pg and the objective of the game to say his job is to pass the ball.
and i'll always say there's a decent size gap between magic and stockton as pg's (well, oscar's there with magic as well).
Originally posted by jokeaward!
Baseball from 1900-1920 set pathetic home run totals, but the pitching won't be touched, ever.
I think that's the key. Virtually all longevity-type records are going to be a combination of a great player during the correct era to maximize their skill.
Rickey Henderson's stolen base record is unlikely to be challenged for a long time, not merely because he was the best at it, but because between the eighties and now home runs & runs scored went way up and therefore stealing bases has become a lot less common.
Ever is a REAL long time. Who knows, depending on the way pro basketball evolves in twenty or thirty years an average PG might be getting 8apg and a good one a lot more than that.
Stockton was a great, amazing player, and I agree the record *seems* unbreakable. But the statistical norms for a sport can and do change. Surprisingly fast sometimes too.
__________________ "Alexander, born in 356 B.C., was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia and Olympias, one of his many wives; or, to put the matter in its most startling form, Colin Farrell is the son of Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie. Wow. Given parentage of that calibre, the boy was never going to be your basic, middle-income Macedonian. Either he was going to conquer nation-states all the way from Athens to India, engraving his name in history, or he was going to wind up running a club called Oedi***** on the wrong end of Mykonos. "
I honestly think Chris Paul will be able average 10 assists a game once he gets a 2 or 3 years of NBA ball under his belt. He is a true pass first point guard. Those are rare these days, but Paul definately displays the same kind of attitude that kidd had when was at Cal. With a little luck (health and a Big who can Finish) he wouldn't be a bad bet.
I think that's the key. Virtually all longevity-type records are going to be a combination of a great player during the correct era to maximize their skill.
I see what you're saying, but I think pitching is just going to become less and less dependant on a few arms. It's not like, say, the 40's had an Eckersley and was a bullpen age and things went back for Koufax's era, things have just gotten to where guys pitch fewer innings and it's done so steadily. 5 man rotations, the closer, the setup man, the specialists, late season callups, pitch counts, more injuries, etc.
__________________
When I go to Albertson's I need to buy some Mitchum Ice Blast... and bananas.
Hence, John Stockton is the all-time best pure point guard.
And he is probably the best prototype of what a point guard is suppose to be.
If NBA wants new records set, they would need to implement new rules. Maybe increase game time from 48 mins to 60 mins. So that more players can put stats. But it aint gonna happen.
Some of the more "unbreakable" records I can think of:
Jerry Rice's career receptions total
-Ancillary record: Rice's touchdown record
-Ancillary record: Rice's receiving yards record
Wayne Gretzky's career points record
-Ancillary record: Gretzky's goals scored record
-Ancillary record: Gretzky's assist record
Cy Young's career wins record
Ty Cobb's career batting average record
Nolan Ryan's career strikeouts record
-Ancillary record: Ryan's career no-hitters record
To me, all those records are more unbreakable than Stockton's career assists record. I'm not trying to denigrate Stockton's achievement at all. But it doesn't seem like basketball records really ever seem unbreakable. There are single-game and single-season basketball feats that may be unbreakable, but career totals seem made to be broken in the NBA.
__________________ Nothing ever burns down by itself
Every fire needs a little bit of help
Give the anarchist a cigarette.
All you have to do to break the assist record is..
