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Swingman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Basketball Positions | |
| Point guard | |
| Shooting guard | |
| Small forward | |
| Power forward | |
| Center | |
| Additional Positions | |
| Swingman | |
| Point forward | |
Swingman is a basketball term denoting a player who can play both the small forward and shooting guard positions. Whereas 6'9" (2.06 m) Larry Bird was a natural small forward and 6'7" (2.01 m) Reggie Miller was a natural shooting guard.
The "swingman" concept first came into vogue in the late 1970's and early 1980's, when star players such as George "Iceman" Gervin defied traditional pigeonholing into the 2 or 3 position. The best swingmen use their "in-between" height and athleticism to exploit defensive mismatches: they will run past bigger players, and post up or shoot over smaller players. Michael Jordan, although he defined the prototypical shooting guard, was another notable swingman as was his teammate Scottie Pippen and some of the most famous players in the NBA today are natural swingmen, including All-Stars Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets, Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets, Grant Hill of the Orlando Magic, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics, Peja Stojakovic of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Other notable swingmen include Stephen Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, Desmond Mason of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, Mike Miller of the Memphis Grizzlies, Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers, Jason Richardson of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks, Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs, Morris Peterson of the Toronto Raptors, Jerry Stackhouse of the Dallas Mavericks, and Bonzi Wells of the Houston Rockets.
Along with the swingman, another fusion position is the point forward, a player that combines the skills of point guard and small forward. Scottie Pippen is arguably the most celebrated point forward of all time. Today, LeBron James, Antoine Walker and Lamar Odom are the most notable point forwards.