Swingman
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, some versatile players such as 6′6" (2.0 m) Kobe Bryant can "swing" between the two positions.
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, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Paul Pierce, Peja Stojakovic, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, and Earl Boykins.
Other Notables Swingman include Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks, 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, and Morris Peterson of the Toronto Raptors.
A player that combines the skills of point guard, and Forward–is called a point 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.
Source: This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia.
