OT-Chris Paul

[GP]

I know people here for some reason hate CP, but just watch this guy play. As someone who wanted the jazz to pick CP, it is painful to watch him play against SA. He runs the fast break better, passes better and never turns the ball over. To make things worst D-will was shut down by fisher, while CP is torching parker. ouch.

[CAE15]

A] parker is a terrible defender, B] Fisher is a much better defender, C] Deron shot horribly, fisher didnt shut him down, D] Deron fits the Jazz' current style better, E] The Hornets are more of a run team, F] Jazz dont have a guy where you can just lob the ball up and get a dunk.

I love watching Paul take down the Spurs and you can bet if something happens to Utah i'll be cheering for the Hornets.

[HammerDunk]

I have a gut feeling that someday CP3 is going to suffer a pretty bad injury, and we'll be thanking our lucky stars that we took Deron. He is every bit as good as Paul, just in a different system, and he us much hardier.

But, I am like Jazzy, I like watching him play, and I think he is pretty awesome. I don't hate him one bit.

[Reckless]

Deron torched parker and the spurs last year in the WCF

no surprise Paul is doing the same

[Allanon]

D-Will has and would torch CP3.

[JStockLivesOn]

Deron wouldn't put up Paul's numbers in New Orleans, but Paul would not look half as impressive if he were playing in Utah. It would be a terrible fit. Paul would break down just setting screens in practice.

That's all speculation, of course. All we really know is that Deron has played great for us and had a bad shooting night in Game 1, and Paul has been consistently fantastic throughout these playoffs.

[Sloanfeld]

I have a gut feeling that someday CP3 is going to suffer a pretty bad injury, and we'll be thanking our lucky stars that we took Deron.

And if CP3 gets injured with the Hornets that doesn't mean he would have gotten injured with us.

[idajazz]

why beat this dead horse??????

Pour dang thing is nothing but a pile of mush.

Both teams are lucky as heck to have picked these guys.
A better conversation would be about the dip sticks who picked ahead of Utah and the Hornets.

Who were those 2 guys picked ahead of Paul and Williams?

Marvin Bogut, and Andrew who???

[gojazzgo]

Bogut was a semi decent pick and is excusable since big men are hard to get and he has done pretty well. Marvin on the other hand was terrible though as he plays the same position as both Paul and Williams.

[loserX]

Marvin on the other hand was terrible though as he plays the same position as both Paul and Williams.

???

[BiggMann]

This discussion has been beat to a pulp. Chris Paul is a phenom! he's a fantastic player that come's around once every 15 years. I for one dont hate the guy by any means, because i know we drafted the guy we wanted and got the player that can run our offense and wont break down.

...that being said. Deron is our guy, and will be our guy for a very long time. This discussion needs to stop, Deron is our superstar and anyone that thinks we made a mistake is badly mistaken. Deron will be a dominate force in the NBA for years to come, comparing the two is "Sixes".

[isrred]

Bogut was a semi decent pick and is excusable since big men are hard to get and he has done pretty well. Marvin on the other hand was terrible though as he plays the same position as both Paul and Williams.

[edfmx86]

i agree with bigg, Deron is our man and i couldnt be happier to have him.

i will be even happier if he keeps being "the only guy in NBA who can stop Chris Paul"

[carrottop12]

Yeah, Paul has been amazing.

He is your traditional superstar in that his team looks to him to carry them from start to finish and looks for him to put up the big numbers.

Deron's more of your traditional superstar PG, somewhat a mixture of Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, John Stockton mix.

He can take over games offensively like GP, he's counted on to be the powerful floor general like Kidd, and he's asked to do the dirty work behind the scenes like Stock.

I guess you could say Paul is more like the Chamberlain of PG's, Deron more of the Russell.

[JDubJazz]

Anyone who's trying to knock Chris Paul this season is such a homer that he doesn't even deserve comment. CP has been amazing and he's even raised his game for the playoffs.

I think the world of Deron, and nothing would make me happier than a Jazz/Hornets WCF (with the Jazz advancing, of course). But trying to say that Deron is better than Paul this season is a real stretch, and quite frankly its a pointless arguement right now. Lets worry about Kobe and the Lakers, not some fan-fabricated rivalry between the leagues best two PGs.

[JStockLivesOn]

But trying to say that Deron is better than Paul this season is a real stretch, and quite frankly its a pointless arguement right now.

I don't think anyone's made or had that argument in this thread. We can be happy we have Deron without it being an insult to Paul.

[JDubJazz]

I don't think anyone's made or had that argument in this thread. We can be happy we have Deron without it being an insult to Paul.

I wish more RealGM posters could wrap their brains around that statement.

[carrottop12]

Wrong, you guys are haters.

Also, because you are Jazz fans you can't say anything about John Stockton with out being a naive Homer.

[d-will8]

Paul is a phenomenal player, it is almost indisputable that he has had a better season than Deron and I love watching him play. That being said, one bad shooting night does not change the fact that Deron is a phenomenal player as well and a much better fit for this team. The topic's been beaten to death, but here's what it comes down to:
1.) The two are in very different situations. Whereas the Hornets had no foundation when they drafted CP3, which made him the franchise player from day one, the Jazz already had a solid core in place with AK, Boozer and Memo, so Deron was just another piece in the puzzle, albeit a very big piece. This, combined with the fact that Sloan's offense does not allow for Deron to dominate the ball as much as Paul does is a big reason for the discrepancy in stats, reputation, etc.
2.) Each is playing his role to near perfection and probably better than the other could.
3.) Whatever gap there is between the two is not very big. They're both leaders, they're both clutch, they're both very tough and highly competitive and either one can dominate a game with scoring and/or passing and play solid defense. I'd argue that they are the best two point guards in the league.

All in all, given that Deron is a top 2-3 point guard in just his second year and a perfect fit for our team, I have a really hard time seeing how anyone could think that we made a mistake, even if Paul is a little bit better.

[Neon Black]

Who hates Paul? nobody i know of hates the guy, he's a great person and an amazing player, every bit as good as Deron.

The thing is, if you're looking at Paul's stats and dying becuase Deron's aren't as high, you don't understand our offense. Paul is not blessed with a group of phenomenal passers (boozer, kirilenko, okur all avg. high assists) to run the offense through.

He has talented scorers like Peja and West, but he creates DIRECTLY for them most of the time. And, with our UCLA style offense of movement and hard cuts, many players get the chance to score (the jazz lead the league in # of players scoring in double digits). Deron runs alot of plays that get other people involved in scoring and assisting.

Let's face it, as long as Deron plays for Utah his #'s will be slightly lower than they would in some other team's system (or lack thereof).

The only real advantages i see in Paul are his tenacity to steal the ball aw well as hold on to it better, not to mention he's a bit quicker. Deron has his own advantages: the ability to post up, use his strenght to finish, a higher fg% and great 3 point shooting. He's also finally getting some credit for being faster than previously advertised.

I love both players, but I couldn't be happier with anyone at the point than Williams.