[Back In The Saddle]

You seem to have overlooked a rather basic rule:

SECTION 23 GUARDING
ART. 1 . . . Guarding is the act of legally placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent. There is no minimum distance required between the guard and opponent, but the maximum is 6 feet when closely guarded. Every player is entitled to a spot on the playing court provided such player gets there first without illegally contacting an opponent. A player who extends an arm, shoulder, hip or leg into the path of an opponent is not considered to have a legal position if contact occurs.

This section defines regular old guarding, article 2 further defines legal guarding position. Article 1, regular old guarding, plus a distance restriction, clearly is sufficient for a closely guarded count. Even without the further requirements of LGP. Also, as the basis for LGP, regular old guarding cannot be disregarded. In other words, path still matters to LGP because without path you are not even guarding, let alone have LGP.

Consider:

c. The guard may move laterally or obliquely to maintain position, provided it is not toward the opponent when contact occurs.

This is one of the extra protections afforded the guard by obtaining LGP. What "position" is it that the guard is moving to maintain? It is a position in the opponents path. That is the fundamental basis for guarding.