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Best Guards 1970's

Max APP+
#	Player	Team	APP+
1	Nate Archibald	1973 KCO	25.44
2	Jerry West	1971 LAL	20.23
3	Walt Frazier	1974 NYK	17.57
4	Pete Maravich	1977 NOJ	16.09
5	Magic Johnson	1980 LAL	15.79
6	Archie Clark	1972 TOT	15.63
7	Oscar Robertson	1971 MIL	15.46
8	Lenny Wilkens	1972 SEA	15.29
9	Calvin Murphy	1976 HOU	14.49
10	Dave Bing	1975 DET	13.89

Average APP+
#	Player	Years	APP+
1	Jerry West	4	17.02
2	Magic Johnson	1	15.79
3	Nate Archibald	9	13.24
4	Oscar Robertson	4	12.15
5	Lenny Wilkens	5	11.23
6	Walt Frazier	10	10.95
7	Pete Maravich	10	10.27
8	Dave Bing	8	9.63
9	Norm Nixon	3	9.24
10	John Lucas	4	8.80

Total APP+
#	Player	Years	APP+
1	Nate Archibald	9	119.18
2	Walt Frazier	10	109.45
3	Pete Maravich	10	102.71
4	Calvin Murphy	10	82.89
5	Dave Bing	8	77.01
6	Jo Jo White	10	71.06
7	Norm Van Lier	9	70.74
8	Gail Goodrich	9	69.99
9	Jerry West	4	68.06
10	Lenny Wilkens	5	56.13

Best Guards
#	Player	Max APP+	Average APP+	Total APP+	Points
1	Nate Archibald	1.0000	0.7782	1.0000	2.7782
2	Jerry West	0.7952	1.0000	0.5711	2.3663
3	Walt Frazier	0.6907	0.6432	0.9184	2.2523
4	Pete Maravich	0.6325	0.6036	0.8618	2.0980
5	Dave Bing	0.5460	0.5658	0.6462	1.7580
6	Calvin Murphy	0.5696	0.4871	0.6955	1.7523
7	Lenny Wilkens	0.6011	0.6597	0.4709	1.7317
8	Oscar Robertson	0.6078	0.7142	0.4079	1.7299
9	Magic Johnson	0.6207	0.9282	0.1325	1.6814
10	Norm Van Lier	0.5280	0.4619	0.5935	1.5834

NOTES:
Guard Positional Average APP: 8.48
Calculated using APP from 1947 to 2009

Average APP+ Per Position By Decade

Position 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's

G -3.47 -1.14 0.22 0.42 0.71 0.45

G-F -3.71 1.36 0.93 0.55 0.17 0.77

F-G -4.05 0.55 2.03 0.03 0.15 0.75

F -4.94 -0.95 -0.61 0.29 0.64 0.94

F-C -2.37 1.10 0.57 -0.16 0.19 0.34

C-F -2.40 0.82 2.18 0.06 -2.30 1.15

C -2.06 2.39 2.67 0.10 -0.27 -1.41

All -3.35 0.07 0.72 0.29 0.26 0.41

Average APP+ Per Position By Decade
Position	1950's	1960's	1970's	1980's	1990's	2000's
G	-3.47	-1.14	0.22	0.42	0.71	0.45
G-F	-3.71	1.36	0.93	0.55	0.17	0.77
F-G	-4.05	0.55	2.03	0.03	0.15	0.75
F	-4.94	-0.95	-0.61	0.29	0.64	0.94
F-C	-2.37	1.10	0.57	-0.16	0.19	0.34
C-F	-2.40	0.82	2.18	0.06	-2.30	1.15
C	-2.06	2.39	2.67	0.10	-0.27	-1.41
All	-3.35	0.07	0.72	0.29	0.26	0.41

Nate Archibald
Although guard play was increasing in every way (especially shooting efficiency), the 1970's were officially a big man's decade. With the exception of Julius Erving in 1974, the MVP award was given to a center or forward-center every single season.

So it is surprising that the supreme guard talent resided in the smallest man in the league: 6-foot-1, 150 lbs. Nate "Tiny" Archibald. He was a deadly mid-range shooter and used his blinding speed (49%)

Update: December 20th, 2009

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