What's the difference ...between a Forward and a Wing?

[LwrcasefaN]

I'm serious. Height? One can only make layups?

 

[Cornell Lt]

Old timers like myself will still call a forward a forward, others will use the modern term wing. In the end they are one in the same. How that position is utilized has changed over the years, but that's the only difference.

 

[Mdoggie]

Wings taste better with sauce.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Old timers like myself will still call a forward a forward, others will use the modern term wing. In the end they are one in the same. How that position is utilized has changed over the years, but that's the only difference.

Ranking services seem to think there's a difference. I was wondering why.

 

[DEpup]

I think of wing as more of an umbrella term and location. A wing player can go either in the guard or forward direction from that court positioning.
As professionals, KLS and Pheesa would be considered wings with KLS being a guard and Pheesa being a forward.

 

[bballnut90]

I think they overlap in some capacities. A lot of players could be classified as a wing or a forward, since wings are usually shooting guards/small forwards, while forwards are small forwards/power forwards.

If someone is labeled strictly a wing and not a forward, to me implies they're likely a power forward and spend some time catch the ball inside the arc or in the paint. Often times we'll see power forwards either post up or catch the ball from the elbow/high post and operate from there. They usually defend opposing PFs or centers. Forwards in the pros can often knock down perimeter shots but you seldom see them run off a series of screens or handle the ball much on the perimeter unless they're uniquely talented like a Candace Parker/Breanna Stewart/Elena Delle Donne.

Wings are often more perimeter oriented, typically have better ball handling skills and often catch the ball from outside or near the 3 point line. They're less likely to post up in the paint or operate from inside the arc. They usually defend opposing perimeter players.

 

[JoePgh]

I thought "wing" referred specifically to the "3" position, i.e., someone who is typically away from the basket on offense, often beyond the 3-point line. A "power forward", on the other hand, plays in or near the paint on both offense and defense (either "high" or "low"), and is unlikely to take 3-point shots very often, if at all. A wing is different from a guard in that she is relied upon for rebounds at both ends, whereas any rebounds collected by guards are icing on the cake.

Aaliyah is a (power) forward; Evina is a wing. Maya Moore was definitely a wing, while Stewie (in college) was definitely a power forward with an unusual ability to hit 3's.

I think Caroline Ducharme will be a wing, although she may be flexible enough to play the 4 if others (Aaliyah and/or Dorka) get in foul trouble -- which I expect will happen often enough.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think they overlap in some capacities. A lot of players could be classified as a wing or a forward, since wings are usually shooting guards/small forwards, while forwards are small forwards/power forwards.

If someone is labeled strictly a wing and not a forward, to me implies they're likely a power forward and spend some time catch the ball inside the arc or in the paint. Often times we'll see power forwards either post up or catch the ball from the elbow/high post and operate from there. They usually defend opposing PFs or centers. Forwards in the pros can often knock down perimeter shots but you seldom see them run off a series of screens or handle the ball much on the perimeter unless they're uniquely talented like a Candace Parker/Breanna Stewart/Elena Delle Donne.

Wings are often more perimeter oriented, typically have better ball handling skills and often catch the ball from outside or near the 3 point line. They're less likely to post up in the paint or operate from inside the arc. They usually defend opposing perimeter players.

Sounds like the old terms power vs small forward (wing).

 

[Centerstream]

The spelling...

 

[meyers7]

There were 3 positions in olden days. Guards, Forwards, Center

But they have been broken down. Now you have

Guards
Point Guard - 1
Shooting Guard - 2
Combo Guard - 1/2

Forwards
Wing/small forward - 3
Forward/strong forward/stretch forward- 4

Center/Post - 5

 

[nwhoopfan]

There were 3 positions in olden days. Guards, Forwards, Center

But they have been broken down. Now you have

Guards
Point Guard - 1
Shooting Guard - 2
Combo Guard - 1/2

Forwards
Wing/small forward - 3
Forward/strong forward/stretch forward- 4

Center/Post - 5

It gets even more complicated w/ combo forwards, point forwards, and maybe even in a few rare cases point center (you could argue Nicole Powell was this way back when at Stanford).

 

[Vowelguy]

Power forward to me is a banger. Someone who has the power to mix it up in the paint. They are less common these days as even some centers are more finesse.
AE is definitely a PF.

 

[UConnCat]

Maya, Stewie and Napheesa played the PF position at UConn (often the featured position in UConn's offense) while Maya and Napheesa became wings in the WNBA.

 

[oldude]

As we relentlessly head towards positionless basketball, the distinction between forward or wing, or guard or center for that matter, have been substantially blurred. Ultimately, every team wants 5 interchangeable players on the court who can all shoot, pass, rebound and play defense.

 

[EdSaid]

Call them any position you want. Does it really matter?

I want winners on the floor.

 

[Skeets]

As we relentlessly head towards positionless basketball, the distinction between forward or wing, or guard or center for that matter, have been substantially blurred. Ultimately, every team wants 5 interchangeable players on the court who can all shoot, pass, rebound and play defense.

Oldude, I mostly agree with you, but I think the point and the center are least likely to be blurred. Everything else in between is pretty much blurred already.

 

[Sakibomb25]

It gets even more complicated w/ combo forwards, point forwards, and maybe even in a few rare cases point center (you could argue Nicole Powell was this way back when at Stanford).

I think Nicole Powell was known as a point forward, not a point center. She had the vision and passing ability of a point guard, and the body type and physicality of a forward and the shooting touch to hit the 15-foot jumpers.

 

[oldude]

Oldude, I mostly agree with you, but I think the point and the center are least likely to be blurred. Everything else in between is pretty much blurred already.

Maybe, but it should be noted that UConn’s starting lineup for much of last season was Paige, Evina, Nika, Christyn & Liv: essentially 3 pg’s, a shooting guard and a center.

 

[Boreifs]

Old timers like myself will still call a forward a forward, others will use the modern term wing. In the end they are one in the same. How that position is utilized has changed over the years, but that's the only difference.

Wing is not a substitute for forward. It is a terminology developed for the 1-2-2 offensive set, which has a point, two wings and two posts. The old 2-2-1, which almost no one plays anymore, featured two guards, two forwards and a center. One can argue that the player at the three can be called either a forward or wing, but given the proliferation of three guard sets, calling that player a forward would not be particularly accurate. Small forward would still work, but in most modern sets the two and three are interchangeable.

 

[hoophuskee]

I'm serious. Height? One can only make layups?

You can google "what is wing in basketball terminology." Several explanations will pop up.

Primarily a wing is either/a combo of a shooting guard/ --and/or small forward. It’s associated to be more of a perimeter player. Another terminology is "a swingman." Thus the player "swings between sg and a perimeter sf." A wing generally plays very little inside.

In your reference to the name "forwards." There is two specific forwards. I don’t think for this discussion you meant to reference power forward. So the other is small forward.

So in regards to a sf – that position is more likely to play inside and outside. So while a sf plays both inside and out offensively and/or defensively with some frequency- a wing rarely plays inside and exhibits more “guard” attributes.

Think of it this way - if there is a lineup of Nika, Paige, CWill, AE and Liv - the wings are Paige and CWill as they are playing a lot primarily around the perimeter. The perimeter is their specialty.

If this year they had Nika, Paige, AE, Dorka, and Liv- AE would be the small forward. You wouldn't classify her as a wing because her style of play would be inside/out - completely different than the style of Paige/CWill who are predominant perimeter types.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think Nicole Powell was known as a point forward, not a point center. She had the vision and passing ability of a point guard, and the body type and physicality of a forward and the shooting touch to hit the 15-foot jumpers.

I thought she was somewhat the center out of necessity, not because she really fit the position. Who was the center for those teams? At least on defense.

Magic Johnson played center very briefly for the Lakers when Kareem was out w/ an injury.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Basketball has 5 positions. It seems to me that some of these new terms...like "combo guard", "wing", "stretch 4"...etc....are skill sets that can be associated with any of the 5 positions, some more likely than others. What do you call a 5 that can shoot the 3? Stretch5? If a 5 can advance the ball up the court what's that? A Combo 5? It's getting kind of...ridiculous.

I think if this continues some of the purity of the GAME will start to fade....if it hasn't already. AND...that's at all levels. Pick and rolls are becoming rarer by season. I think these terms are more about ranking players than about offensive schemes. For example, ESPN has the #1 Forward and the #1 Post. I think they realized that the #1 post could be ranked 25 in the class so these new terms "kinda" fixed or explained that. Problem is...for ME...is that these new terms aren't positions, but skills.

 

[oldhusky]

I think the terminology has evolved from just forward because a PF is generally a low post inside player, and a SF is more of a perimeter player with more in common with a SG than a PF. A PF has more in common with a C than the SF in many cases, thus the reference to "bigs", "wings' and PG's.

Still the distinctions are blurred, because we know some players are described as swing or combo forwards that can play 3/4, and some PF's with perimeter shots are described as spot up 4's, so all of these terms may be applicable to some players.

 

[LoboDays]

Coach:
“Jones, you are our wing man except when the shooting guard moves to the post and our strong forward finds space in the corner. Then you become the point guard while our center strays out to pick for….for…
Wait a second…..there’s no one left”

 

[chrissaran]

A forward is a player on the team. The wing is a position on the floor. Breanna Stewart was a forward, and she sometimes took shots from the wing.