Megan Walker

[rt bb fan]

What position does Megan Walker play? Guard, wing or forward?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Yes.

 

[Sonny44]

Yes.

You stole my answer Rock.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You stole my answer Rock.

Its the quick and the dead around here Sonny.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Its the quick and the dead around here Sonny.

Must be true---I was about to post YES.

 

[UConn82]

Hmm, may I ask exactly what a wing is? I know, or think I know, what a guard and a forward are. How does "wing" fit in? I mean, of course, I have heard the term. But, ... There was no such term when I started watching basketball in the 60's. Sigh.

Thank you.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Hmm, may I ask exactly what a wing is? I know, or think I know, what a guard and a forward are. How does "wing" fit in? I mean, of course, I have heard the term. But, ... There was no such term when I started watching basketball in the 60's. Sigh.

Thank you.

A wing is a forward who only wants to hang out in the corners and thinks rebounding is someone else's job.

 

[meyers7]

Hmm, may I ask exactly what a wing is? I know, or think I know, what a guard and a forward are. How does "wing" fit in? I mean, of course, I have heard the term. But, ... There was no such term when I started watching basketball in the 60's. Sigh.

Thank you.

A 3 is basically a wing. One part F, one part G.

 

[Aluminny69]

Must be true---I was about to post YES.

Not necessarily. It depends on whether the original question meant the inclusive "or", or the exclusive "or". Exclusive "or" means wing or guard, but not both.

Soooo, the correct answer is also the universal answer, "it depends."

 

[Boreifs]

The old terminology was one Center, two forwards, two guards. When one of the guards was designated as a point guard, the two and three became wings and the four and five posts. Today, almost no one uses that terminology; shooting guard and small forward are preferred.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Meg plays mostly SF, but may play some SG and PF as well.

 

[Dillon77]

The old terminology was one Center, two forwards, two guards. When one of the guards was designated as a point guard, the two and three became wings and the four and five posts. Today, almost no one uses that terminology; shooting guard and small forward are preferred.

Hey there. Preferred by whom? I'm not so certain that the basketball community is in complete agreement with your statement above in blue. Many find the terms interchangeable.

Some examples:
- Go over to Prospects Nation, one of the basketball recruiting services leading websites and you'll see wing quite often. Here's a link to the 2018 Players listing: 2018 Players | Prospects Nation

- Hoopgurlz also refers to players as wings, citing a Aquira DeCosta is called a wing, as is Emily Engstler.
2018 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN

If a rating service is using the term as a descriptor, my guess are so a lot of people that are in contact with said services.

- I play basketball on Sunday mornings with a bunch of guys, some of whom are high school basketball coaches. A few coach guys; one, girls. Two of them referred to players yesterday as "wings." In both instances, they were guards who could run the floor and also attack/slash into the lane.

My thought. I was a small forward in high school years ago and felt like my job description was both inside and outside. Many seem to invert the priorities now. For instance, when I initially saw Engstler, her game was lane-centric, but she's improved her jumper and dribbling to become effective in both areas. Faith Masonius is similar in New Jersey. DeCosta is a classic slasher. I consider the former(s) small forwards and the latter a wing. But folks seem to interchange them depending on what system they might be using/seeing them in.

 

[Kaizen]

Yesterday game, I saw Katie Lou was list as guard. If this is true I will put Megan as guard

 

[UcMiami]

The old terminology was one Center, two forwards, two guards. When one of the guards was designated as a point guard, the two and three became wings and the four and five posts. Today, almost no one uses that terminology; shooting guard and small forward are preferred.

I think it is more that everyone now recognizes that any terminology is suspect because the skills the players possess and the offenses teams run have expanded so much that trying to pigeonhole players into one of five distinct positions on the floor is meaningless for the majority of players. the old distinction of:
Center (5) - no handle, back to basket, incapable of hitting the backboard from greater than 7 feet. Unlikely to ever pass the ball.(Shack)
Power Forward (4) - shorter than a Center, with no handle, maybe able to hit the backboard from 10 feet. Only likely to score off rebounds which was their primary responsibility. (Paul Silas)
Small Forward (3) - can actual be counted on to dribble a few times and to occasional pass the ball to a teammate rather than out of bounds or to an opponent. Range from 7 - 18 feet and can hoist prayers from the arc. Afraid to go closer to the basket than 7 feet except on a break.
Shooting guard (2) - actually has a handle, but almost never passes the ball thinking they are always open and any shot taken from 15 feet out is a good shot. (really old school - centers and PFs would deck any guard that came within 10 feet of the basket every time until they learned not to attempt it.)
Point Guard (1) - can't hit the backboard from anywhere on the court except on the break, but loves dribbling and passing.

There were basic height ranges for the various positions as well.

As skills began to expand (and as offenses expanded to match the players' skills) 'wing' was used as a blend of Small Forward and Shooting Guard, Post was a blend of Center and Power Forward and Guard was a blend of the two Guard spots. Forward was a blend of the PF and SF skills. But those designations are still more limiting than the skills some players possess. At the same time there are still 'old school' players that are still quite easily designated into one of the five older designations.

The interesting thing is with the expansion of positional year end awards the basketball powers are trying to turn back time in the way we recognize player skills. There was already a debate with the Lieberman because it had become blurry as to who should be designated a PG. Now they are going to try to designate five specific positions and pigeonhole players that have much broader skills into a single position on the floor. Where do you put any one of Gabby, Napheesa, or Lou?

I find that people use any of the terms indiscriminately depending on the player being talked about or the offense being described. Fowles is a Center because she doesn't shoot from further than about 10 feet and is not likely to pass once she gets the ball near the basket. Sue is a PG because she prefers to pass most of the time. Charles is a post player because she has so much more range than a 'Center'. etc.

 

[JoePgh]

A wing is a forward who only wants to hang out in the corners and thinks rebounding is someone else's job.

I hope you didn't think you were describing Megan, because that is certainly not what I see in the first three games. I see someone more like Napheesa or Morgan Tuck, who is certainly not afraid to mix it up in the paint, but who can do more than that. It doesn't look like the 3-point shot is something that she particularly cares for -- she shoots them to make people defend her on the perimeter rather than because that is a mainstay of her offensive game.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I hope you didn't think you were describing Megan, because that is certainly not what I see in the first three games. I see someone more like Napheesa or Morgan Tuck, who is certainly not afraid to mix it up in the paint, but who can do more than that. It doesn't look like the 3-point shot is something that she particularly cares for -- she shoots them to make people defend her on the perimeter rather than because that is a mainstay of her offensive game.

I was just having fun Joe! Guess I should have

 

[JordyG]

Its the quick and the dead around here Sonny.

Da Rock!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Center (5) - no handle, back to basket, incapable of hitting the backboard from greater than 7 feet. Unlikely to ever pass the ball.(Shack)
Power Forward (4) - shorter than a Center, with no handle, maybe able to hit the backboard from 10 feet. Only likely to score off rebounds which was their primary responsibility. (Paul Silas)

My laugh of the day!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Not necessarily. It depends on whether the original question meant the inclusive "or", or the exclusive "or". Exclusive "or" means wing or guard, but not both.

Soooo, the correct answer is also the universal answer, "it depends."

The use of the Inexclusive OR suggest Yes is a non-committal response suggesting all positions are a possibility.
It is however inexcusable in nature. It maybe mandatory to separate some thoughts with restrictive elements or coordinating conjuctions and give them a wide birth.
After reviewing all the possible words or phrases and grammatical arrangement; yes may be the most definitive.

 

[mntncougar]

I never played basketball except pick-up games and when I was forced to in High School, so I certainly won't profess any great knowledge of it. But just by observation it seems the terminology discussed above really isn't that meaningful any more except on defense. I think players tend to assume the traditional roles much more on D, in terms of floor positions and responsibilities.
The guard positions are really the only ones that are still somewhat the same while in the offensive zone, only because they have primary responsibility to keep the other team from breakaways, which is really defense also.

 

[Gus Mahler]

A 3 is basically a wing. One part F, one part G.

I like to say a "2.5."

In the olden days also known as a "swing." As in, Jones is useful as a swing player.

 

[Go/huskies]

It looks like Walker was used as a backup power forward in the two exhibition games, but got minutes at the small forward spot yesterday, I think shes a 4/3 this season, not sure her perimeter game is where it needs to be right now for her to be used as a guard. With only Lou, Nurse, and Bent the only guards really being used in 3 games, I think Williams can get a lot of early minutes next year.

 

[UcMiami]

Just to expand on this a bit. I can't but agree point for point with Uc's entire blurb. But here it's almost a chicken or the egg thing to some degree. We live in a time when we see ourselves constantly defining and redefining ourselves. Constantly redefining, combining, deconstructing and reconstructing concepts and their relevance to us and society in general. We like it.

It's a way of seeing ourselves (and I include mostly all of Western society) as different and special. Of not pigeonhole-ing ourselves. Not to be too political, but when this country elected Obama many of us couldn't wait to break our arms patting ourselves on the back in front of other countries. Sports has not been immune. Yet, did basketball redefine its ideas of positional play because of the expanding skills of the players, or did these players when young intentionally expand their definitions on positional play because of society's and the (NB)Association's push toward flexibility and individuality?

Yeah, yeah who cares. We have both the chicken and the egg now. We can have BBQ and omelettes on the same plate. But I think, and I may be wrong, if society is the impetus for further change, expect more system wide changes with social implications. If players are the impetus, expect personal changes that have more of a ripple effect.

Enjoyed and agree on the societal issues.
On the court - it all has to do with player skills. Russell and Chamberlain never wanted to be more than a step or two from the basket at either end on the floor, nor did Silas and a bunch of other power forwards and centers. And Bob Cousey (6'1") never wanted to get too close to any of those big guys. But along comes Magic as a 6'9" point guard and why not post him up and with injuries play him as a center, or Dirk Nowitzki, a 7' who can hit 40% from three, or Parker or Stewart, or Maya, or Tina, or Stef. And confining them to a single area of the floor no longer makes sense so you start adjusting you offense to reflect skills of the players you have. The offense and defense Geno ran with Maya and Tina or Lobo and Wolters or Stewart and Jefferson is different from what he now runs with Gabby and Lou and Napheesa so ...

I would say the player skills came first, the systems adapted, and then the coaches started looking for those skills to plug into the systems and more players discovered what was possible. The best coaches adapt to the skills available on their team, the bad coaches try to shoehorn disparate players in the fixed roles in their system. And the absolute best coaches try to expand the capabilities of the players on their teams.

 

[TroySNAlpha]

...My am-mah
<<...Chamberlain never wanted to be more than a step or two from the basket at either end on the floor....>>

Beg to differ.
The Big Dipper performed in the mode he was requested by the teams' need(s) & Coaches' design.
Lead the League in scoring... Yep (50.4 ppg, if memory serves)
Be the setup for team mates... Yep (A la Gabby leading in assists from the "semi-Center"!)

We fondly bring to mind his orchestrated break to the FARTHEST reaches of a corner to toss in a one-handed (maneuvering it in a massive hand like a softball) 24 1/2 ft shot.

 

[tomcat]

Maybe I'm wrong, but in her day, wasn't Shea Ralph a wing?