At around 1:30 this morning I sat upright in bed, two knees tucked deep in my chest, far from exhaustion and completely enveloped in the most competitive/entertaining/violent series these playoffs have so far produced. It was then that an idea for a column appeared in front of my face; I’d name it, “The Call That Changed Everything”, and here’s how it would go. Read more…
At the risk of using hyperbole: this entire sequence is breathtaking. The way Paul controls a basketball as if there is no ball in his hands is remarkable. He dances around the court, going as fast or as slow as he thinks is best—making you believe he wants to get to the line one moment and then quickly stepping back between his legs and preferring a jumper the next. Sometimes we say people are too smart for their own good, that they have so many thoughts brewing in their head at once that the collision of separate ideas will cause them to outthink which one should be chosen. Something tells me we won’t be applying this saying to Chris Paul anytime soon.
Normally, when a big man switches onto Chris Paul, he lures the giant out, waits for his large teammates to position themselves under the basket in the unlikely event he misses, then launches one of the deadliest mid-range jump shots basketball’s ever seen. This past weekend, when he chose to put one of the most devastating in and out dribbles I’ve ever seen on Marc Gasol, Paul instead chose to show off and have some fun. Needless to say, it was awesome.
The dazzling performances Chris Paul puts on have almost gotten to a point where there’s nothing left to write, nothing left to analyze, nothing left to explain. Paul is one of the universe’s best shooters. He orchestrates one of the most organized and efficient 4th quarter offenses in league history. And his crossover remains a nightly masterpiece of slippery theatre.
In order for this Clippers team to win the season’s final game, it comes down to Chris Paul doing the type of extraordinary things that only a talent like him could make a regularity. It’s plays like the one above, when a defense desperately throws yet another man at him (in this case, Rudy Fernandez, which is like using a snow ball to stop a plow), where Paul is at his most commanding, cooly adding two more points to his team’s total. Astonishing work. Hopefully in L.A., he’s able to perform on the type of early summer stage that could take moments like this and put them under the biggest spotlight he’s ever seen. It’d be most deserving.
Today, NBC’s Pro Basketball Talk posted a clip featuring various NBA players discussing who they think owns the league’s best crossover. Guys like Jason Terry, Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday, and Courtney Lee cite both Jamal Crawford and Derrick Rose as being the top two candidates. As I mentioned in this morning’s piece on Deron Williams, both are fine options, and there’s really no placing one above the other. But where this clip gets it wrong is it’s exclusion of what I believe to be one of the league’s four or five most unstoppable sequences.
Chris Paul’s crossover is more devastating to a defense because when it happens, all five defenders are equally in trouble. Once he blows by that first guy he’s infiltrated the core. Instead of focusing on getting to the rim or knocking down a shot for himself, passing lanes have naturally developed and everything breaks down. When it happens—as the relentless torture ensues—opposing coaching staffs are forced to look away. As good as Rose and Crawford are, once they get close to the basket it’s like a shark sniffing blood: they want to score, and defense’s have very tall men who’re paid to stop them. Paul is different though, because the ways he can put two points on the board for his team are unpredictable, smart, and varying. Crawford and Rose have elegant crossovers, but I believe Chris Paul’s is the best.
Take note of the move above. Right now Tony Allen is regarded as the best perimeter defender in basketball. Just LOOK at what Chris Paul does to him. For me, it’s an open and shut case.
Throughout last night’s Warriors/Clippers game, transition baskets came in spades. More than one situation saw a Warriors miss come down the other way for a Los Angeles man advantage, ending in an alley-oop or equally easy basket. These sequences are wonderful theatre, and have taken over as the NBA’s number one topic of casual conversation, but when it comes down to winning playoff games and eventually a championship, the Clippers must work well in their half court offense, especially to hold a tight fourth quarter lead. In the clip seen above, Chris Paul doesn’t wow your pants off with an insane handle we know him to be capable of placing on display, but he does manage to turn Golden State’s defense into a marionette puppet.
The first of the two plays is a simple pick and roll with the role of Paul’s counterpart being played by DeAndre Jordan. Running it with Jordan is a bit predictable, because he’s the least likely player in the league to step out for the pop. In certain spots—if a defense wants to double Paul off the screen for example—the fast moving Jordan can be hit for a lob if the defense doesn’t rotate, but mostly the play is to free up Paul and let him work his magic. It takes him about three seconds to put a quick right to left cross on Steph Curry, fake an in and out with his left hand on Kwame Brown, then cross back to his right for an open, and easy, foul line jumper. Piece of cake.
In the next play, Monta Ellis gets a little confused as Blake Griffin slips the screen instead of setting a hard pick. Paul crosses him over anyway, and proceeds to take a run at poor Kwame for the second time. Griffin sets another screen on the backtracking Ellis, making sure he can’t recover, and all of a sudden the Clippers have a salivating Chris Paul vs. Kwame Brown matchup to play with. After wiping the drool from his mouth, Paul keeps his dribble alive and takes the ball back to the perimeter, forcing Kwame out from the painted area. Meanwhile, Griffin intuitively cuts to the basket with a helpless Ellis hanging on to his shoelaces. Paul has two main options here: 1) Hit the overpowering Griffin with a quick pass either over or around Kwame’s head, and at the worst end up with two free-throws, or 2) Step back and knock down a wide open shot. If it misses, Griffin will probably be in position to grab the rebound. But, of course, Paul doesn’t miss.
In both plays Chris Paul exposes the Warriors’ poor pick and roll defense by forcing a switch. He did this over and over and over again in last year’s playoff series against the Lakers, and to no avail it has yet to be solved.
I suppose Steve Blake should feel super self-conscious after this move, but we’re well familiar with his defensive failings. On the other hand, Kobe’s the all-world defender. Thus, nothing stings like the embarrassment of a *former* teammate.
But who cares about all that right now. Speaking as a basketball fan, how cool is this? Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Chauncey Billups, and Caron Butler as a starting five? Who’s better? In a Western Conference that’s up for grabs, why can’t the Clippers get to the finals? Apart from a backup front line highlighted with Brian Cook (ugh) and rookie second round draft choice Trey Thompkins, the team has no significant weakness—and they might be able to take care of that problem later this year by dangling Mo Williams and his expiring contract as trade bait.
So,why can’t they beat the Heat? Say what you want about David Stern and the veto (Rockets and Lakers fans aside), but this deal makes the league SO much more intriguing. Thank goodness for it.
When news first broke that Chris Paul would be traded to the Clippers for Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, and Minnesota’s unprotected first round pick, I tweeted a prediction that was neither bold nor calculated: The New Orleans Hornets will sweep the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of 2014′s postseason. After a quick loop of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin running thunderous, arena-shaking pick and rolls played in my head, this was the very next thought. The Hornets fleeced a team about as best you can despite parting ways with the greatest player their franchise has ever known. Not bad, Stern. Not bad at all.
As was proven evident by the rash chaos thrown at a wall these last few weeks—by agents, general managers, players, owners, and a commissioner’s office—predicting tomorrow in the NBA might be more futile than deciphering who the government mole is on Homeland (Carrie’s unseasonable speaking confidant/stalker who lives in a sketchy white van is my guess). Transactions that have purpose and seem rational at first, end up twisting and turning through ESPN owned Blackberries and beat reporter tweets, ad infinitum, until there’s nothing left but ink on paper. It’s a convoluted process, and from beginning to end, through the dozens upon dozens of intricate levels, no one person can possibly predict what a team will do. Subtract an owner and the process gets even worse. So while I say the Hornets will defeat the Clippers three years from now, it’s under a complete understanding that a thousand different scenarios exist: Chris Paul could become a free agent and sign with the Knicks, Lakers, or Heat two years from now, Eric Gordon could plateau his aggressiveness and fade out by the time he’s 25, or Minnesota could win the NBA championship this season and leave New Orleans with a crappy draft pick. I don’t care anymore; I’m expecting anything.
What we know:
Carl Landry signed a one-year, $9 million contract with the Hornets today. With the expected loss of David West to Indiana official, this was both a smart basketball (filling their role at power forward) and financial move.
The Hornets are $2 million under the salary cap, allowing them to place a bid on amnestied players. As of right now, none are too realistic or worthy, but with Jarrett Jack as the team’s starting point guard, bringing Baron Davis in would be interesting. Or not, whatever.
Eric Gordon is really good, and should be signed to an extension as soon as possible.
Here’s what the Hornets should do if they played in an alternate universe where expectations were met, ceilings were reached, and the NBA was a predictable entity. Oh yea, they’d also have an owner.
Once the 2011-12 season ends:
Under the expectation that Emeka Okafor has another 10 ppg, 10 rpg, 2 bpg season, either flip him for 75 cents on the dollar to a team in delusional belief that they’re one rim protecting presence away from winning a championship, or amnesty him
Be patient with Chris Kaman’s expiring contract, then let him walk in the offseason. Now you have $24.7 million of salary coming off the books if you also happened to amnesty Okafor.
Take Minnesota’s unprotected draft pick that’s almost surely going to be a top 7 choice, and pair it with your own. In the last lottery, the Cavaliers selected Kyrie Irving with the first overall selection then took Tristan Thompson with the fourth. Now, in a much deeper draft, there’s a good chance New Orleans will be this year’s Cleveland.
Get lucky in the lottery, replace Okafor/Kaman with Anthony Davis and John Henson. Or Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis. Or John Henson and Andre Drummond.
Throw a max contract at a player who deserves a max contract. Like, say, Kevin Love.
Um, Eric Gordon’s resigned, right? What, he’s not?? Pay the man! Okay, now we’re cool.
Look! New Orleans now has the league’s premier front line of the future, one of the scariest go-to shooting guards locked up through his prime, and cap flexibility to surround these two cornerstones with smart, savvy veterans or a big name splash. Maybe Aminu fills out into a quality rotation starter, and you’re able to squeeze every last drop of athleticism and heady play from a newly motivated Trevor Ariza. That’s a pretty cool, pretty competitive basketball team right there.
If you took a poll of every GM across the league, how many of them wouldn’t want their roster to be described that way? Anyway, that’s how I’d play my cards.
Recommended Reading is a daily (occasional) rundown of truly superb NBA related literature, pictures, and videos. Some is brand new, others are timeless. Enjoy!
7th Inning Sketch: Everyone involved in this picture is very talented and very cool (except for David Stern, of course).
HoopSpeak: The death of Brandon Roy’s career is one of the greater tragedies manifested by the sport of basketball. A player like him should never be forgotten.
Grantland: Once again, David Stern is just sucking it up hardcore.
The Classical: One more time…ladies and gentleman, David Stern!
TrueHoop: A breakdown of the one question every basketball fan is asking: Who’s out of shape?!
