Ca Them A Off

This week the league's shooting guards fall under the scrutiny of the SI Player Rating Formula.* Despite a thigh injury and an extremely public misunderstanding with coach Larry Brown, Sixers former point guard Allen Iverson (right) has taken very nicely to his new duties at off-guard, leading the league in scoring and pitching in with 4.9 assists per game through Sunday. The No. 2 two is Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, the best rebounding two guard in the NBA.

Now to the off part. Note that only seven of our top 20 shooting guards rank among the top 50 players in the league. Missed games due to injuries hurt the ratings of Atlanta's Steve Smith and Phoenix's Rex Chapman. Then there's the absence of that Jordan guy. His replacement in Chicago, Brent Barry, ranks 18th on the list of shooting guards and doesn't even crack the list of the top 100 players in the league.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]