Posts tagged ChrisPaul at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Basketball Jones: World exclusive: Brian Scalabrine has a rap song, and it's amazing.

2. Pounding the Rock: "Chris Paul is a kerfuffle-toucher."

3. Bob Wolfley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ray Allen's mother is in the witness protection program. (via TrueHoop)

4. Need4Sheed: All hail the powers of Arnie Kander.

5. Converse: Design your own kicks: Kyle Korver does.

6. NBA.com: Playoff nickname generator. Just call me Brett "HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS" Edwards from now on.

Chris Paul is Jordanesque, Chris Paul is a great human being, blah blah blah. Tony Parker put up a very similar stat line to everyone's favorite point guard last night, his Spurs got the win, and all I can hear is praise for CP3. Can we please give it a rest people, at least for one day?

For a single night, in the Spurs' Game 3 victory over the Hornets, I believe this to be true: that Tony Parker was at least just as good -- and possibly better --than Chris Paul. Statistically, they were virtually identical: Paul scored 35 points on 15-25 shooting, with two rebounds, nine assists, and just one turnover, while Parker had 31 on 12-24, four rebounds, 11 assists, and three turnovers. And as a reminder (because it's hard to hear over everyone's extremely loud praise-singing of Paul), the Spurs actually won the game.

As a team, the Spurs had assists on 13 more of their buckets than the Hornets did, and that's in large part to Parker creating and then his teammates making one more pass to get a wide open shot. This is a big reason why the Spurs were 11-25 from three-point land, while the Hornets were just 2-11. With Bruce Bowen all over Peja Stojakovic, and most of Paul's passes going towards the rim or to David West for a jump shot, the Hornets weren't able to get the open looks from behind the arc that the Spurs got, and that was largely due to Parker's playmaking.

There's no doubt that Chris Paul has had an incredible season, and an even more incredible playoffs. And he may end up being the greatest ever. But after a game in which Tony Parker played just as well and lead his team to the win, I think it's okay to not praise Chris Paul for a day. I'm sure he'll get over it.

Good times all around in 2008 for Dwyane Wade!

The NBA announced the All-NBA teams tonight, and really, there wasn't anything shocking within all three squads chosen. Naturally, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul led all vote getters, with Mamba the only member unanimously chosen (although I'd love to know who was pounding the Haterade by picking Steve Nash and Tracy McGrady over Paul for the first team).

Rounding out the first team were second tier MVP candidates LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, neither of whom was a shock at the forward slots. Dwight Howard was named first team center, in the only reasonably close voting race with Amare Stoudemire. Personally, I give the nod to D-Ho, based on defense and the value of five rebounds a game over five points per.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Hornets-Spurs Western Conference Semifinals Game 3 this evening.

1. Choose To Abuse: Bruce Bowen tried to guard Chris Paul. He did. But the problem is, the guy is, well, Chris Paul. The common thought today is that he'll be switching to Peja Stojakovic, who torched the Spurs in Game 2. After saying "As long as Chris Paul doesn't go off, we're good" and then "As long as David West doesn't go off, we're money," apparently the thought is "As long as Peja Stojakovic doesn't go off, we've got this thing." The Spurs seem kind of surprised that the Hornets have more weapons than they originally thought. We'll see if the switch of Bowen allows the Spurs to maintain the same quality double they brought on West last week, and if they can keep their fingers in all the holes.

2. Gotta Rain Sometime: The Spurs talked a lot after Game 2 about the fact that they're getting the shots they want, they're just not going in. Now, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that, unless the Spurs have planned to shoot 10 more threes per game than they did in the regular season. Yeah, you hear right. 10. What's worse is that they haven't fallen since the first half of Game 1. The Spurs are counting on those shots falling in the warm and comfy confines of the AT&T Center, and that's pretty likely. But the Spurs might be better off thinking about ...

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Sporting Blog: Shoals on the humanization of Kobe Bryant.

2. Hardwood Paroxysm: Forget what I said, David West should actually mouth off more.

3. Gilbert Arenas: If Antawn Jamison isn't in Washington, then Gilbert's not staying either.

4. Supersonicsoul: The Sonics are staying in Seattle!

5. We Rite Goode: Why Chris Paul is smarter than Janeane Garafolo.

6. Basketbawful: Spurs-Hornets summed up in a single photo.

We've known for a few days now that Kobe Bryant was going to receive the MVP award. What we didn't know, however, was how the voting was going to break down. It's been widely speculated that this was a very close two-man race between Kobe and Chris Paul, but as it turned out, it really was no contest. Take a look at how the voting shook out, and you'll see that Kobe was the clear cut choice.

Kobe's first place vote margin over Chris Paul was a whopping 54 votes. And while Kobe did receive a couple of fourth place votes, no one decided to pull a Tom Ziller and leave Bryant off of their ballot completely. (Oh come on, I kid the vacationing one!)

The argument will rage on (especially in New Orleans) as to whether Paul deserved more consideration in light of his amazing season, and the fact is, we know that the award itself is more than a little flawed. But it's clear that the voters believed that this was Kobe's year, hands down. And besides, the way Paul has been playing, it appears that he'll have many more chances to take home his own piece of MVP hardware.

The one-word answer to this question is a resounding "no," but let me get a few things out there before I get into my issue with David West.

I understand that the cheek-tap on Dirk in the first round was minor, and said so at the time. I also understand that this clip I'm about to show you did take place against the Spurs -- who are known for playing chippy -- and that a few words and clapping in someone's face isn't exactly the same thing as standing over someone grabbing your crotch after a dunk. I get all that. But I still find it annoying that David West -- who just became an All-Star this season and has only done so thanks to Chris Paul -- is now acting like a superstar who thinks he's the best player on the court.

Here's the incident with Oberto that occurred during the Hornets' Game 2 blowout of the Spurs. You can see (in super-fast motion) West clap in Oberto's face after the foul is called and have a few brief words with him as well.

I hate to break it to him, but West is basically the equivalent of the 2004 version of Kenyon Martin, albeit with a slightly better jump shot.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Spurs-Hornets Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 this evening.

1. Western Aggression: I've been saying it all season. David West is the most offensively versatile power forward in the league this season. There's not a lot this guy can't do. The idea in Game 1 was to try and contain West with Oberto, Horry, Kurt Thomas (snicker). Now, there's a prevailing sense that Tim Duncan manning up on him is the best option. Here's the problem. If you put Duncan on him, you're essentially saying "KT/Oberto/Horry, you have to guard the lane against Chris Paul. Not a good idea. Not only that but the thought is that Duncan can contest some of West's 17-18 footers. But Duncan can't really get that far that fast anymore. He's still an elite defender, don't get me wrong. But he's going to have to come way out on West to contest those. Which means if West gets by him, the other big man for the Spurs has to leave Chandler. That's not good. I think at some point,the Spurs need to adjust accept West is going to have an advantage on this series and focus on the backcourt.

2. Shootout, Manu a Manu?: Manu Ginobili averaged 5.3 three point attempts this season. In Game 1, he took 9. That was a central part of the Spurs' approach, to try and attack the New Orleans defense at the perimeter with their key shooters. Which was all well and good in the first half when they were on fire. But when they cooled? That was when the Hornets kept attacking the basket. I would doubt that Greg Popovich tries to rely on the perimeter shooting as much in this game. Especially from ...

The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Tom Ziller.

Chris Paul, basketball messiah of New Orleans, has the rapt attention of the world right now ... and he's still being underrated. "He can be the best little guy ever." "He can be the best scoring point guard ever." No, no, no.

He can be the best ever.

There's no ceiling for Chris Paul, no limit on his eventual peak. Don't compare him to Deron Williams and Steve Nash and Isiah Thomas. If he keeps this up, we'll be weighing his abilities against LeBron and MJ.

Chris Paul was feeling so salty Saturday night in NOLA he even got in this great jab at The San Antonio Spurs Modus Operandi (via RealClearSports). The one minute, seven second mark is the best view.



Don't think he was trying to get Bruce Bowen, a practiced defendant, T'd up. Clearly, Paul wanted to offer an indictment of the wooly ways of Bowen, Manu Ginobili, and Fabricio Oberto. How better than parody? Performance art show daps for Paul.

It has been three years since the Atlanta Hawks passed on Chris Paul, who is most likely not human, in order to draft Marvin Williams. Marvin has been, how do we say, not better than CP3. In fact, even if Marvin becomes an All Star, it will still be a horrible choice. Unless Paul buys a motorized unicycle in the next few years anyway.

It has also been four year since Anchorman took the world by storm (I know, it doesn't feel that long), and yet somehow, it took until tonight, mid-FanHouse live blog, for the perfect nickname for Marvin to come to fruition.

Because you can't really get enough live blogs, can you? Hornets - Spurs. The new hotness that is Chris Paul. The somehow old hotness that is Tony Parker. The always emotional Tim Duncan. Tyson Chandler. Other people as well.

Thrilling description, no? Seriously, this actually might be the best series in the entire playoffs. As Matt Moore pointed out, there aren't a lot of bad matchups available anywhere across the board. David West is up and coming, Tyson Chandler will make things tough for Duncan down low and this is the point guard matchup that Parker - Nash and Paul -- Kidd was supposed to be. Where amazing happens.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Spurs-Hornets game tonight.

1. Matchup Madness: It honestly doesn't get much better than this for NBA matchup analysts. Tony Parker versus Chris Paul, a point guard cage match where Parker is suddenly the more experienced, larger point guard. Tim Duncan versus David West, where West's offensive versatility may enable him to be the only power forward in the league to hold Duncan to a draw. Throw in Tyson Chandler versus the Spurs' ability to attack the basket, the Hornets' ability to take away the Spurs' rebounding advantage, and you have a tactician's dream. All of that pales in comparison, though, to ...

2. Who Wants It More?: Yes, the clichéd question that abounds yearly in the NBA playoffs. Generally speaking, I don't subscribe much to this question. Phoenix didn't lose to San Antonio because the Spurs wanted it more. The Spurs won because San Antonio was able to take Manu Ginobili left to the hole whenever he wanted, and controlled the boards. Likewise, desire had nothing to do with Dallas' meltdown.

FanHouse's Round Two previews will give you the critical points of every series, so you can talk to your friends like you've been following every team in the Association all season long. Or know what the hell an Udoka is.

Biggest Reason You Should Watch: Because Chris Paul v. Tony Parker is just like Chris Paul v. Jason Kidd, except this time CP3's opponent can shoot and play defense. Oh, and if you really ever wanted a "new - old" rivalry that you could wax all philosophical about by the water cooler, this is it. The Spurs have championships galore. The Hornets won the first divisional championship in the history of New Orleans this year. Plus, we're all a little sick of Manu at his point, no?

New Orleans Can Win If: Well, they can't, if you listen to most of the hating. Paul is going to be otherworldly. Peja Stojakovic has to do what he did last round, which is shoot lights out. It will be tougher this time against Bruce Bowen, who cheats plays hard nosed defense, but CP3 is so good at manipulating defenses that it's entirely possible. Tyson Chandler needs to come up with a little more offense (7.2 against Dallas) to take some of Tim Duncan's heat off of David West too.

San Antonio Can Win If: Tim Duncan can stop the X-man. West averaged 22 plus against Dallas and while Paul makes this team go, if they can't score in the post, it becomes a heck of a lot harder to hit from the perimeter. Duncan's defense is actually still pretty underrated, but then again so is West. Or is he overrated now? I can never remember. Whatever. This is the Spurs. They can't ever not win.

Video Clip to Get You Pumped: Well, I was going to use French disc jockey DJ Hornet (get it?) but I wasn't sure if it was safe for work, and well, frankly it sucked. Instead, a quite possibly irrelevant South Park clip about distinct styles. If Randy Marsh's wail at the end doesn't get you stoked, I don't know what will.

When a lock job Hall of Famer who has never won an MVP award averages 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.84 steals, all while hitting at a 46% clip from the floor as a shooting guard, and leads his team to the number one seed in the most competitive Western Conference regular season race in years, it is quite difficult to be angry if he wins the Most Valuable Player award.

That -- meaning the stats and seeding -- is what Kobe Bryant did this season, and the other -- the MVP award -- is what the Los Angeles Times reports he has now won, for the first time in his career.

Sources familiar with the outcome who were not authorized to speak publicly about the award until the official announcement from the league said Commissioner David Stern will be in Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

The award, selected by NBA writers and broadcasters, figured to go to either Bryant or New Orleans guard Chris Paul, who guided the Hornets to second place in the Western Conference in the regular season.

Again, it's difficult to be too bitter about Kobe pulling down the hardware. He had a season for the ages. The arguments against him are: CP3's otherworldly season, Mamba's offseason "trade me!" antics, and the addition of Pau Gasol to the Lakers as the key ingredient that propelled them to the top of the West.

On the other hand, we all seem to have forgot that Kobe is still basically playing through a pretty nasty injury on his right hand, and that when Andrew Bynum went down, he singlehandedly kept the Lakers afloat until they got Gasol for free in a trade. Maybe the most remarkable thing though, is 24's public relations turnaround; he went from despised would-be criminal in Eagle all the way to a guy who received "MVP" chants in visiting arenas and now the apparent 2008 MVP.