They do it in Europe, so it must be cool

Another sports post. Grumble, grumble.

But the art of playing point guard in this country is fading, and fast. It doesn't help that guys like Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, and Allen Iverson spent the last 8 years calling themselves point guards, when they weren't even close.

I guess we have a few last hopes, guys like Chris Paul and Steve Nash.

I watch the NBA casually, but where I see the effects of this more so is when I go out and play with strangers. You almost never see a true point guard in a pick-up game anymore. Ever. And of the dozen or so basketball players I know personally and could call to go play sometime, or to start a league? You know how many play point? Zero. That just sucks.

Ok, so what does it mean to be a point guard? Handle the ball well, good court vision, hit 20 foot jumpers consistently, and stop penetration on defense. Simple.

But you'd be amazed at how rarely you find all those traits walking around on the street.

So my idea, just getting to that now, is to learn those four skills. If you have any interest in playing pick-up basketball, male or female (girls are more than welcome in pick-up games, especially if you can play. You might be surprised) then these are the things you need to work on. People will LOVE you. In fact, just work on stopping penetration. This is what offense gets degraded to. Guys go past their defender, defenses collapse, the guy with the ball kicks it out and you get an open shot. It's that simple. So if you take the initial drive away, the offense goes away, and you'll win games.

They'll be telling epic tales about you for years to come.

I think everyone, regardless of size, in Europe gets some practice doing this. Which is why we end up with a lot of out of position 6'10" point guards coming from over seas.

It's a dying art in this country.

And it is frustrating to me personally, which is why my idea for all of you is to learn how to be a point guard.