His defense during those years was hawkish at times, while his passing reads seemed more polished and his shot more accurate Paul jumped over the Barry line in 2015 (hitting 90 percent of his free throws) and his 3-point shooting trended way up in his final few Clipper seasons.Īs of the middle of the 2018 season, Paul is at the backend of his prime. He’s so handsy that he high-fives Nic Batum on the following play, before subtly hooking him on a spin on the final possession of the sequence: Notice how physical he is with hands in the 50 second clip below from 2015, first maintaining contact with his own mark through screens, then by holding the big man (literally) in the lane. He wasn’t quite as fast during the Clipper years, but those were likely his best defensively. His quickness and anticipation led to great defensive plays, such as the one below, where it almost appears that he baits an entry pass just so he can steal it:
4 Paul started leveraging his strength on defense like this during his Clipper years, blowing up screening action or chasing loose balls like a fullback finding a fumble.
He’s posted three seasons in the top decile in relative defensive rebounding rate, despite standing just 6-feet tall. Notice how his feisty positioning earns him the rebound: Here’s a physically springy Paul nabbing a board and tossing an elite outlet. Whether it was his knee healing or his conditioning from the extra girth, he was largely back to form by 2012 as a Clipper. But while a shell of himself, his low-center of gravity and strength still allowed him to manipulate defenses, bouncing into certain areas before threading great passes:
3 Assists at the rim are a decent indicator of these kinds of high-leverage, quality dishes, and incidentally, Paul’s layups assists (as a percentage of his overall assists) were below-average every year he was a Hornet.Īfter knee surgery for a torn meniscus, Paul hobbled through the 2011 season at half speed. 2 This is the hardwood version of a quarterback who rarely throws downfield ball-security doesn’t necessarily offset major bang-for-your-buck passes. He threw “bad” pass turnovers at half the rate of someone like Steve Nash, which, counterintuitively, might have held him back. Paul’s OCD approach led to historically low adjusted-turnover rates, falling in the 96th percentile among all players, with only a few high-volume creators in history turning it over less frequently. For instance, he misses a clear bouncer here for a layup while eagerly setting up a fade: 1 His assist numbers and highlight passes might create the appearance that he’s a flawless passer, but he takes fewer risks than the greats, and his vision is sometimes clouded by a desire to score. His dribbling comes at a slight cost - his high time of possession can eliminate backup options when the on-ball action fizzles out - and his passing fell a notch below the all-time greats in limited film study. Otherwise, he was incredibly measured – the all-time Type A point guard. He rarely pushed the ball down the other team’s throat, but if he felt a transition chance, he would attack it. And at 4:13, he outwits Tim Duncan in basketball roshambo, lob-faking Timmy into oblivion because Paul knows that Timmy knows that Paul will throw a lob: At 3:00, he’s back to table-setting, hitting Chandler with a lob, a precursor to his Lob City teams in Los Angeles. Two plays later, nothing’s open so he seeks out empty space away from the hoop (a Paul special). On the first play (2:18), notice how he keeps looking for his big man, Tyson Chandler, to find a layup. This is all on display in the game highlight below. If opponents overplayed his passes, Paul downshifted past them for an easy score, or bunny-hopped backwards for unreasonably clear jumpers for a 6-footer.
CHRIS PAUL STATS PLAYOFFS BLUETOOTH
He intuited the value of a rolling big man, playing deadly two-man games where he could bluetooth a bounce pass or a lob for a layup. His quickness confounded big men while his handle gave him unfettered access to nearly any spot on the court. Paul erupted into his prime in 2008, a basketball ballerina who electrified the league with twirling spins and dazzling passes. Developed into a positive defender with decent longevity.Ball-dominance and conservatism slightly overstate numbers.Combination of elite passing, efficient scoring and low turnovers led to elite offenses.
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