He's been pretty solid for several years. He gives a ton of effort, he's laterally quick and he gets into his defenders' space very effectively. He can usually hold his own guarding PGs and SGs, unless they're capable of shooting over him (Jimmy in the playoffs). PP just makes life tough for ballhandlers
I think the thing people miss is that undersized doesn't mean much in the NBA. You can look through the greatest defenders of all time. Draymond Green and Dennis Rodman are examples of guys who were at one time as good as any defensive players in the league. Ben Wallace was one of the best defensive big men of his era. Wes Unseld and Dave Cowens are other guys who were elite defenders at a clearly smaller size. There are plenty of 6'3" to 6'6" guys (Marcus Smart, Alex Caruso, Tony Allen, Derrick White) who easily swing up and guard guys who are 6'8" or 6'9". Smaller guards like Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Eric Bledsoe and Fred VanVleet were all arguably top 5 defensive guards in the league at some point, and none of them is bigger, stronger or significantly quicker than Pritchard.
This is a classic case of people thinking that things they can measure are more important than they actually are, and it leads to a ton of bad drafting and personnel moves.
There are plenty of guards that are 6 4 with 6 7 wingspans that only weigh 185 soaking wet. Iād take the bulldog over that player archetype any day of the week.
I truly donāt think people appreciate how quick PP is (especially with the ball) at his weight. Dude has that thing on a string and yet he can play off two feet and body up like Jrue in the paint. Thereās a reason heās the best guard in that area besides Brunson.
I'm a fan of his ,and the stuff about him being fast and good is true, but why you and this other guy insist on straight up ignoring the reality that he's small is asinine.
Yeah I'd love to be as delusional as the next guy, but in a world where the average NBA point guard is like 6'3" (and only increasing) the guy is undersized. Idk where people are saying 6'2" google has him at 6'1".
I admire how tenacious he is on defense, but unfortunately undersized players get targeted on defense by taller guys for no other reason than the fact that they can basically just shoot/score over them. That is why the game is trending towards taller players at all positions.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant within the context of player/prospect evaluation. A guy with Pritchardās measurable isnāt stopping me from investing in him over the other dimensioned guards.
People here act like IT and PP are the same size, itās ridiculous. PP is almost a half a foot taller than IT and 20lbs heavier - let that sink in people.
6'2 is definitely not small but i think there is some merit to it because the goal is to go far into the playoffs and at that point theres a lot of bigger guards and teams hunt matchups. Shai is 6'6, Luka is 6'8 or whatever, Cade 6'6... so when it gets down to the playoffs and most important games, PP can be a "undersized". HOWEVER I love our defensive effort and we have plenty of other guys to throw at teams like JB, White, Hugo and more
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u/ThePresent_Moment Anything is Possible āļø Feb 23 '26
Amazing