Andre Iguodala: Can he succeed as a two-guard?

As of right now, our starting lineup shakes out like this:

PG-Miller
SG-Iguodala
SF-Young
PF-Brand
C-Dalembert

If for whatever reason, either Thad or Iguodala, or both fail in their new position, we might have to witness Willie "garbage" Green move back into the starting lineup. That would be the worst case scenario, obviously. For that to happen, Thaddeus would have to vastly regress from last season, which I don't see happening because we aren't asking him to do anything out of his comfort zone. His glaring weaknesses are ball-handling and creating his own shot and neither should be an issue since all Thaddeus needs to do is: hustle, play good defense, run the floor and make the occasional open jumpshot. Last season, Thad started a handful of games at power forward, but the three clearly his natural position, so moving from the four to the three should be a very smooth transition.

Iguodala at shooting guard is a different story. There's been a ton of speculation this off-season that Iguodala might not be capable of being a successful two-guard in this league. So, why do people think that? Is it that he "can't shoot"? Is his ball handling not good enough? Will he be able to create his own shot consistently instead of being a slasher? All legitimate questions. Let's see if we can search for answers.

What makes a good shooting guard? Scouts Inc. breaks it down.

There are many names for this position: Shooting guard, two guard or even off guard. But they all require one thing -- a player who can score, and ideally someone who can score in as many ways as possible...A shooting guard needs to have size, length and athleticism. If he has good strength and power, that is an added bonus. Ideally, a shooting guard is a good ball-handler and passer who can relieve pressure from the point guard.

Someone who can score, and in as many ways possible: Ehhh, Iguodala has shown flashes. Sometimes he looks like he can score at will. Other times he doesn't even come close (First round of the playoffs). What ways can Iguodala score?
-Dunk
-Dunk
-Alley-oop
-Dunk
-Slashing
-Open jumper
-Drive to the basket
So, he can score in a lot of ways, but he still needs a much improved jumper and a consistent shot off the dribble a la Kobe.

Size: check
Length and Athleticism: check
Strength and Power: check
Good ball-handler: check
-I think Iguodala's ball handling is very underrated. Last season he cut his turnovers from 3.4 to 2.6 and most of his turnovers are due to trying to do too much. Iguodala is all about the "spectacular" and a few turnovers here and there don't bother me too much. Once you see Thaddeus Young's ball handling ability up close and personal (as I did in the Summer League), you really appreciate Iguodala's ability to fly down the court on a fastbreak without dribbling the ball off his leg or doing a spin move and shooting the ball out of bounds like a shotput. If your one of those people who think Iggy can't dribble or pass, please watch this video.

There are two offensive factors that separate the good shooting guard from the great one. The first is whether he can shoot on the move. If a shooting guard can knock down the open standstill jumper and also shoot off movement and screens, he becomes very dangerous. The second factor is whether a guard can create his own shot. If he has deep range and can create his own shot off the dribble, he becomes a very difficult matchup.

I rarely recall Iggy ever coming off a screen and knocking down a jumper. Obviously he still needs to polish his offensive game, but there's no reason to believe he won't continue to improve.

Here's the Scouts inc. official grading system. Let's grade Andre, shall we?

Shooting Guard Grading System

Scouts Inc. will evaluate shooting guards on the following criteria:

1. Scoring: Does the player have scoring versatility? Can he score from the perimeter and also drive the ball to the rim? Can he penetrate and get to the foul line? Can he create his own shot when the offense breaks down or the shot clock is running down?

Perimeter game: Improving
Driving to the rim: Cash Money
Getting to the foul line: 6 attempts per game. I thought this number was a lot higher. Good, not great.
Creating his own shot: Weakness

2. Shooting: How deep is the player's range? Can he shoot the 3-pointer? Can he shoot off the move (catch and shoot)? Can he take his man off the dribble and score with a mid-range game?

3-pointer: 33%. Out of the 36 players who made at least 0.7 threes per game last season, Iguodala ranks 31st, so his 3-pointer is very below average. The five players ranked below him are: Jerry Stackhouse, Quentin Richardson, Josh Howard, Tracy McGrady and Kevin Durant.
Catch and shoot: Weakness
Mid-range game: Weakness

3. Size and strength: How tall is the prospect? What kind of length does he have? How strong and physical is he?

Height: Ideal for the two
Length: Perfect
Strong and Physical: Very

4. Defensive toughness: Does the player have the physical and mental toughness to defend some of the top scorers in the game? It is imperative to be able to defend at this position.

Iguodala is one of the top perimeter defenders in the game and will continue to be for years to come.

5. Ball-handling and passing: Can the prospect handle the ball and be a complementary ball-handler against pressure? Can he pass, finding the open man either on the break or on drives or double teams?

Ball-handling: Solid
Passing: He doesn’t consistently make the perfect pass, but when he does, it’s spectacular (See video above)
Finding the open man: Solid

6. Athleticism: What type of athlete is the player? Can he only shoot the perimeter shot, or does he have the full complement of speed, lateral quickness, running ability and jumping ability needed to run the break, defend in the half court or full-court press?

Next category.

7. Mental toughness: Does the player posses the mental toughness to take the big shot? If he misses five shots in a row, does it affect his game? Does he have the poise to step to the line late in the game and knock down free throws?

Well, Iguodala always wants to take the big shot; making it (or even coming close) is the problem. He seems to get too nervous or anxious on the last shots. The only two I can remember him making are; the one against Memphis last year and the tip in vs. Minnesota (?) a couple years ago.

As for missing five shots in a row affecting his game, I would say it does. In the playoffs vs. Detroit Iguodala seemed to get frustrated and force a lot of things after being shut down by Tay Prince. He even missed an open dunk, which is very out of character. The good news is he slowly composed himself and stopped forcing things as the series went on.

He knocked down some big free throws in the Detroit series. I have confidence in that part of his game.

Not too long ago ESPN ranked the top 10 shooting guards of all-time.

	Years	PPG	RPG	APG	PER
Jordan	15	30.1	6.2	5.3	27.9
Bryant	12	24.9	5.3	4.6	23.6
West	14	27.0	5.8	6.7	22.9
Gervin	14	25.1	5.3	2.6	21.4
Iverson	12	27.8	3.8	6.3	21.5
Drexler	15	20.4	6.1	5.6	21.1
Miller	18	18.2	3.0	3.0	18.4
Maravich	10	24.2	4.2	5.4	18.4
Monroe	13	18.8	3.0	3.9	17.2
Dumars	14	16.1	2.2	4.5	15.3

Well, we definitely can't compare Iggy to any of these guys, but here's his stats.

Iguodala 4 years 14.8 PPG 5.7 RPG 4.1 APG 16.4 PER

So, we've looked at all the stats and all the qualities an NBA shooting guard should have and still have the question, "Can Andre succeed as a two-guard?" The answer is yes. My theory is, not all point guards have to be great passers. Not all small forwards have to be athletic slashers, not all power forwards have to be a dominant post player, so why does Andre need to be a great jump-shooter to player shooting guard in this league?

He doesn't. Out of the seven qualities Scouts inc. requires in shooting guards, Andre is above average in six of them. There's no question, his jumpshot needs improving, but he is only 24 years old and has improved at least one facet of his game each season and there's no reason to believe that won't continue.

Don't get me wrong, I think Iguodala would be better suited at the three IF the Sixers had someone like Ben Gordon, or any stud/scorer at the two, but they don't. We have Willie Green and if anyone thinks our team is better off with Green at the two, Iggy at the three and Thad coming off the bench, ultimately stunting his development, they're wrong.

What are your thoughts?