Is Chris Paul a Defensive Liability?
CP3Wait, didn’t Chris Paul lead the whole freakin’ NBA in steals this season? How could anyone dare suggest that he plays shaky D? We found this over on True Hoop this morning, where Henry Abbott called upon the All-Stars of basketball statistical geekdom to illustrate that the baby-face assassin isn’t cutting it on the other end of the floor.
But even after those gentlemen discover that the Hornets surrender 6 more points per 100 possessions when CP3 is on the floor, Abbott says that Paul simply can’t get out and disrupt shooters.
“Paul really never bothers Parker’s shots. Even when he can close the massive gap, he’s sometimes still so far from the ball that he doesn’t even bother to put his arms up. If Parker gets hot from downtown, someone else is going to have to be the one to try to stop him.
Paul doesn’t just give Parker a lot of room. He also gives that half-acre to Manu Ginobili, Michael Finley, and Bruce Bowen. He just doesn’t get out there to bother shots, even against great shooters. The Spurs have obliged by missing a ton of wide open looks in many of their games. But the open three-pointers are there, and they are there in large part because of a combination of a clog-the-paint defensive philosophy, and Paul’s lack of size. Here he surely hurts his team.”
Wouldn’t the folks who selected Paul for the 2nd NBA All-Defensive team this year have kept him off the squad if he was a defensive liablity?
May 16th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Prof. TX says:
The Spurs had a ton of open looks last night, but it wasn’t always Paul’s assignment that was shooting. New Orleans needs to cover the perimeter better. They double or triple on every guy who penetrates which leaves open shooters around the arc.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
the_don_mega says:
hmmm… it hink cp3 was included in the 2nd all-defensive team because he led the L in swipes… i dunno… thats just how i see it…
May 16th, 2008 at 8:58 am
GEE...Word to mama, I tongue kiss a pirahana... says:
Don’t know what games they been watching but Paul has been playing ok D. He has been contesting Parker’s shots and attributing to Parker not blowing up for 30 and 40.
Last two games Parker has gotten many points on other dudes guarding him and some wack calls. Paul has been fighting through screens and picks and really on Parker well considering Parker is going to get points anyway.
Liability no way. For his size and the way he has been really getting after it, I have been somewhat impressed.
Need to holla at who’s guarding Manu…that is the liability.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Ross says:
I’ve noticed this too in this series. I was wondering how he got on the All-Defense team, which I didn’t think you could make on steals alone.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:18 am
DO says:
he goes for the steal.
if he gambles and misses, then his man has a clear path or shot. sort of like iverson.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:18 am
DO says:
he goes for the steal.
if he gambles and misses, then his man has a clear path or shot. sort of like iverson.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
fallinup says:
I wouldn’t count the Hornets lack of D for last night’s loss. They seemed lethargic, just wanting to get back home for game 7. And you have to give it to the Spurs, they were running a clinic, especially in the second half. There’s not much you can do when they are hitting those extra passes for open looks and easy buckets. The Spurs were on point last night. And you could tell how those foul calls and technical in the 3rd sapped the juice from NO.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:49 am
rangerjohn says:
fallinup is right, the hornets went into this game 6 KNOWING they wehre going to lose. you dont make comments like “were playing with house money” and all that if you expect to win on the entire day before the game talking about home court and all that. they knew they would lose at sa and as “cheap shot” said, “thank god we are going back to N.O.”
they now have to worry that the spurs have them figured out. remember the spurs beat them at home during the regular season (since everyone brings up how the hornets beat the spurs in SA)
monday is going to be great, just to bad it is so far away, the excitement is hard to handle lol
and i have been saying all along cheap shot should not have been on the all D team, all he does is steals, and when he misses he is lost in the play unless a big can cover for him.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am
yallallreadyknow says:
geekdom article is right. desperate. they just needed something to write on chris paul. nice try fellas….but a sad failed attempt. no one is buying this junk.
steve nash is a defensive liability. chris paul aint no great defender, but he aint no liability either.
thank you. but please try again later
May 16th, 2008 at 10:11 am
mrparker says:
So what if they average giving up 6 more points a game when hes out if they average scoring 16 more points a game when he’s on the court.
Its about both ends of the floor
May 16th, 2008 at 10:16 am
yallallreadyknow says:
the hornets give up 6pts less (per 100 poss) less when chris paul is sitting because….drum roll please…
chris sits when the starters on the other team sits. therefore, when he’s NOT on the court, the other team has their bench scrubs in. afterall, would you expect a lesser production total from a teams bench as opposed to their starters?
chris sits when tony parker sits. that leaves jacque vaughn or damon stoudamire on the court. them bums cant even dribble no more. so its no surprise the hornets defense would give up 6pts less.
and by the way…true hoop geeks….
you’re talkiing about 6pts here. SIX FRIGGIN’ POINTS…..is that your basis for a defensive liability?
May 16th, 2008 at 10:48 am
MC Welk says:
Saying CP3 is a defensive liability is like saying Sir Charles is a gambling liability. So, um, yes.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Dave says:
It was a travesty that he was even considered for an All-Defensive team.
He’s like Allen Iverson gambling all the time, sometimes he gets a few, sometimes he gives up a layup or an open three. He gambles a lot and gets steals.
Paul’s a better version/defender than/of Iverson but not a strong defender. He’s thoroughly mediocre defensively.
What he’s good at defensively is pressuring the ball upcourt and playing the passing lanes. What he’s not good at is denying penetration, screen and roll defense and like it said above .. closing out shooters and altering shots. He also isn’t good at taking away players strenghts, for example he wouldn’t force a Delonte West to go right, he’d give him his left hand.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:52 am
YOUNGFED says:
Article ain’t even worth commenting on. Pure Trash!
May 16th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Diego says:
The all-defensive team is a bunch of subjective baloney. Seems it has morphed into a twisted mirror vision of the all-NBA team (same dudes basically), with a few well-deserved add-ons (like Bowen) and some guys living off their reps (like Bell). J-Smoove getting hardly any votes? Bullsh**. When Smith and Garnett were covering each other in the prior series–who did better on whom? There is a reason Garnett settles for a bunch of outside jumpers–because he gets his boney ass pushed out of the paint when he ventures in.
What about Kirilenko? You can’t tell me that gangly-armed dude is not still a great defender. (Even though he can’t shoot.)
Just because a guy is a superstar doesn’t mean he is a great defender.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:58 am
djKianoosh says:
tony parker was maddeningly reluctant to shoot last night. he was forever passing up open perimeter shots. he only had 15 points cause he passed up a ton of shots. he could have had 30. spurs shooters have definitely been open on the perimeter, but the only guys who’ve been shooting without hesitation all series are Ginobili and Udoka. Finley, Bowen and Parker have been aggravating to watch at times when they pass up open jumpers. At least Bowen lets it fly with more consistency, but even he passes up a ton of shots.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am
GEE...Word to mama, I tongue kiss a pirahana... says:
Parker has Paul’s hands in his grill on most shots when Parker hasn’t been switched off.
Most of Tony’s scoring is coming off of driving the lane on Parker last two games.
Paul in the last two has really disrupted TP.
Come on we talking pg’s too. There is not really a lockdown defender pg in the L. Also it’s kinda hard to be a lockdown defender in the L now being a pg with how fast they are and how they come off screens and picks.
For what he is doing he is straight. Who is a lockdown defender we are comparing Paul too that hasn’t got done on defense?
Don’t worry I’ll wait - Katt Williams
May 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Chris says:
Voting for the all-defensive teams is based on a popularity contest with a quick look at stats for good measure. If anybody actually payed attention to the league this year, Shane Battier was the best on-ball defender by far, his stats back it up. CP3 may have led the league in steals, but the guy sags off of his man and disrupts passing lanes, which is effective but his on-ball defense is no better than any other point guard this side of Steve Nash.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Kudabeen says:
It’s weak to use the notion that unless you are big at the guard position you can’t really be a good defender. Nobody says that crap about Lindsey Hunter… Paul disrupts penetration and the passing lanes. That’s all he needs to do to be an excellent defender. He closes out quickly and is very quick to snatch a ball from a Big who thinks he has room to dribble more than twice to get a move off in the post. Meanwhile you have guys like Carmelo who get in excellent shape to only play on one-side of the floor…
I’ll take Paul’s combined play on both sides of the floor over any PG in the league. Watch when Paul is on Parker and how Parker don’t blow buy him. CP is too aggressive to be humiliated one on one. He plays Parker more physically then any other guard I’ve seen to date.
Looking at some point differential stat is lame as well because Paul enables his guys to score so easy and quickly that the other team would get more possessions to score. Also if Paul is out of the game my assumption would be that the other teams starters is out as well. We also have to take into account that Paul racks up ALL these steals, yet he has never fouled out in his career…That’s big. Early Iversonian even…
Two Cents…
May 16th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
drewstar says:
dont kno why the hornets keep doubling down on duncan (when chandler isnt guarding him). leaves tons of shooters open, and unless the hornets can consistently rotate if they choose to go this route, spurs are gona win game 7. theyre becoming the toronto raptors where shooting wide open 3s all game happens.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
realtalk says:
WOW!! I can’t believe this article!! If I didn’t know any better, I would think u were suggesting tht my man CP3 was on the same level defensively as Steve Nash!!! NO WAY!!! Steve Nash is what you should consider a liability on Defense!!! We all know T. Parker is going 2 get his no matter who’s chkg him, however, he torched Steve Nash!!
May 16th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
frankiebuglisi says:
yallalreadyknow still posts on this site? THAT is the travesty. sad, failed attempt, huh? maybe you should go write for truehoop instead.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Desrat says:
Paul is quick enough to get in the way of TP and the like. That makes him a bit of defender in my book.
Who is the best defensive PG in the L?
May 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
GEE...Word to mama, I tongue kiss a pirahana... says:
Ain’t one lol.
No for my money I go with Derek Fisher.
Although money is starting to wear down. He still doing it though.
I heard some say Rondo is pretty straight.
Chauncy is real smart and strong with his. I really like him.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Promoman says:
Just because someone gets a lot of numbers doesn’t make them a legit defender. Marcus Camby, for instance, got a DPOY award and he doesn’t routinely lock guys up and the Nuggets are a team full of gunners. He’s basically the only guy who challenges shots. Eduardo Najera is the best defender on Denver’s roster. It’s pretty common for players, guards especially, to concentrate on passing lane steals. Unless their assignment is a lesser talent, is having an off night, or the guy that’s passing to them is a horrible passer, they’ll look like a defender. Put them against comparable or elite talent, then they won’t look as good.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Promoman says:
Chris Paul does play quality D
May 16th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
BxBaller says:
This is a perfect example of stats being used to favor someone’s arguement. Mr. Abbot must be a Spurs fan.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Kudabeen says:
I would say rondo is the best defender at PG. If his coach wasn’t so quick to over-coach and try to re-affirm in Rondo’s mind that he can’t hold his own against the likes of Chauncey. Rondo has all the tools to be a pest the whole game. It’s really about him having a coach that infuses confidence rather than doubt. like Doc, but someone was making the point about what a real coach is. They was saying the difference in Watching a guy like Byron Scott, Popovic, Phil Jack Sloan and guys like Doc Rivers, Mike Brown, George Karl, and Mike Woodson is that the top self guys look to command the respect of their players and their guys are attentive.
I don’t want to turn this into bash Doc Rivers, because I think he is an adequate coach, but what has he developed systematically for his team to contribute to their success outside of labeling the “Garnett Essence” as Ubuntu…?
Rondo, Leon Powe, and James Posey are the only steady heads on their team…including the coach…
May 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
JoeGym says:
I dont remember where I saw it, but an NBA scout said that Pargo plays better all around defense on TP than CP does. CP is aggressive on the ball & if the refs let him use his elbows etc (a la Bowen) then he can be tough. But from watching I think Pargo is a bigger hurdle for Parker. Funny nobody mentioned the day after CP got all defensive, Parker had 31 and 11 dimes in a W.
May 17th, 2008 at 12:28 am
doc says:
I wished he gave up 6 more points for my team every night.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:23 am
poop says:
there isnt a legit defensive pg in the league. paul gets steals, but he gambles. the best defenders in the league dont always put up big numbers.
that said, i’d take the -6 from paul any day. he makes up for the 6 with an absurd assist/turnover ratio
May 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Borgs says:
Deron Williams is a better defender than Chris Paul, but he won’t get NBA All-Defense honours because he doesn’t gamble for steals. I compared the averages of the PGs playing opposite the two of them about 70 games in to the regular season, and Deron edged Paul - easily in terms of FG%, and in PPG also. If scouts were picking the teams, and not media members, the All-Defense teams would look a bit different.