True point guards becoming endangered species in college basketball

Robert Smith is the guy you hear on the radio during UNLV basketball games, the one his university should be ashamed of because it still hasn't retired and hung his jersey in the rafters of the Thomas & Mack Center, the best point guard in Rebels history.

Which is the opinion, by the way, of his contemporaries and those who played after him.

It's tough to find Smith today. Not literally. But the type of player he was. The point guard as we once knew it disappeared from the college game — and most other levels, for that matter — long ago.

It's just not cool to be great at one thing anymore.

Which means we get a whole lot of average.

The UNLV that plays its second game under interim coach Todd Simon at 7 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack against Air Force has several capable pieces, but for all its recruiting successes over the past four years, the Rebels have never really offered outstanding play at point guard during that time. This season has only magnified that fact.

They're not alone. Even those players considered the best at the position nationally — Marcus Paige of North Carolina, Melo Trimble of Maryland, Yogi Ferrell of Indiana, Fred VanVleet of Wichita State, Kris Dunn of Providence — are almost always spoken about first through their scoring.

One of those names probably will be handed the Bob Cousy Award for the country's best point guard at season's end — ironic when you consider that while Cousy was ahead of his time in terms of ball handling and scoring and creating the modern-day fast break, he still led the NBA in assists eight straight seasons.

He still was known most for his passing and decision making.

When the Rebels have been at their best during different times of the program's history, they always featured a terrific point guard. Smith directed Jerry Tarkanian's first Final Four team in 1976-77. Mark Wade facilitated things at the 1986-87 Final Four. Greg Anthony led the national champions of 1989-90 and helped the Rebels return to a national final the following season. Kevin Kruger was a big reason UNLV reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2006-07.

It's pretty obvious how much capable play at the most important position translates into deep NCAA runs.

"It's not being taught properly, and players aren't willing to take the time to really learn it anymore," said Smith, the game analyst for UNLV who works alongside play-by-play voice Jon Sandler. "I had a high school coach who from Day 1 taught me the finer points of how to play point guard. Kids today, they go to a camp and learn a little here or there and think that's all they need to know. It's a big problem."

Here's the biggest issue: Kids connect the ability to play multiple positions with the fastest route to wearing an NBA uniform.

We don't have point guards and shooting guards. We have combo guards, and everyone, from parents to players to the high school coaches and those college assistants sitting in crowded gyms, eat it up.

It's the same with bigs. No one wants to be a true center anymore. They all want to be stretch-4s. They all want to be Kevin Durant. They all want whatever it is they think will get them to the league in the shortest amount of time.

And that's exactly how college coaches recruit them.

What such impatience has created is a culture of players who are good at some skills but great at few. UNLV is a prime example of that this season, a team with lots of names who have the ability to contribute nightly, but one that has struggled mightily at point guard.

Jerome Seagears is a combo guard. So is Patrick McCaw. Jalen Poyser is a freshman some think should play the point on a more regular basis, but he averages only 12 minutes a game. Daquan Cook might be the closest thing UNLV has to a point guard, but he was suspended for the nonconference schedule and has seen just four minutes of action since returning.

"I can't even watch a full NBA game anymore, it's so frustrating," Smith said. "It turns me off. It starts in middle school and then high school and college. You watch point guards now make the league, and two, three, four years later, many of them haven't gotten any better.

"Back when I played AAU ball, it was far more under control than it is now. Not so anymore. Coaches are out of control, thinking it's their team and their program and what kid can they get to the league next. So when it comes to the point guard, they tell them it's about scoring, about getting theirs, instead of really teaching the position. They make kids think it's better to score 20 than get 12 points and eight to 10 assists and make the right decisions with the ball in their hands."

Robert Smith remains the best point guard to ever direct UNLV. Why his jersey isn't retired remains one of the more (and there are a lot of them) inexcusable missteps in the athletic program's history. He knows that of which he speaks.

And when it comes to point guard play today, he's spot on.

It's a combo, all right. Of some good and not much great.

— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.