Gary Payton of Chris Paul

[Storm Surge]

Who is better as a player?

Payton(prime) or Paul(now)

[miller31time]

Who is better as a player?

Payton(prime) or Paul(now)

Payton was the superior defender but the same can be said of Paul's offense.

At this point, I think Paul's advantage on offense is greater than Payton's on defense, so I'll go with Chris Paul.

[HarlemHeat37]

+1 on Miller's post..BUT I find Glove to be underrated by many fans..he's not mentioned enough IMO..maybe he will once he's been retired for a while, but GP was special in his prime..I modeled my own game after Payton's..

[mitchco]

Give me the Glove.

Aside frm maybe shot blocking, GP was good at every other aspect of the game. He may not be the best at certain things, but he could do anything.

And he NEVER missed games, and was always among the league leaders in minutes played. All the while manning up and shutting down the opposing team's best scoring option. Then he still managed to give 23 points, 9 assists, 5 boards, and 3 steals. And he brought that everynight.

GP came up in a tougher era. Guards in the NBA today have it easy. If GP were playing today in his prime he would be scary.

As HarlemHeat said, GP is one of the most underrated players of all time.

[AIfan3]

GP by a country mile.. I know Chris Paul is the talk around town right now, but GP did so many things, I find it impossible not to choose him..

[tkb]

GP never took it to the level Paul has been doing this season, so if Paul plays consistently like this, I'd take him.

Having said that GP was no slouch, and a hell of a defender (much better than Paul even though Paul is decent there).

[A.J.]

The Mitten

[G35]

This is the problem I have with Paul is that he is playing so well that his weaknesses are overlooked.

When Jordan was considered the best SG or best player in the NBA did he have any one player that he struggled against or could shut him down?

No

But Paul clearly struggles against bigger, stronger PG's that have well rounded offensive game ie Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, even Rajon Rondo gives Paul problems.


To me if you matched up GP in his prime vs Paul, Payton would kill him in the block and his defense would be enough to throw Pauls game off.......

[penbeast0]

Paul's ONE YEAR peak is tremendous, probably better than Payton's best. Payton was consistently excellent year in and year out, let's hope Paul does the same so the NBA can have another legit superstar.

[Copperhead]

Just as Paul may have problems with bigger, stronger offensive minded guards, those same guards may have problems with smaller, speedier guards. Be it they can't stay in front of the speedier player or whatever. Every player has some type of weakness to their games. Everyone figured coming into the league Paul's 'size' may be a problem. Heck, just about every guard that Paul goes against is bigger than he is. If he doubted his game because of his size he wouldn't be in the NBA right now. And yes, even Jordan had a guy that made him work hard. He wrote about Jeff Malone in his book as per Hornets' assistant coach Darrell Walker.

Why does Chris Paul have so much trouble with Deron Williams?
It's no secret. Deron and Chris have a rivalry, and Deron is such an imposing player. He's 6-4, about 210, and he's solid. Chris has had one good game against him, but Deron plays great against CP. Everybody has somebody they can not guard. Michael Jordan just couldn't guard Jeff Malone. I was a point guard playing alongside Malone, and Jeff just killed Jordan. Jordan even wrote about it in his book.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-3 ... alker.html

A few months ago Gary Payton and Paul were on The Best Damn Sports show and Payton said he liked the way Paul didn't back down from the defensive pressure and trash talk he dished out to Paul when they played against each other. He liked the way Paul dished it right back to him.

And if Paul's weaknesses are overlooked, it's probably because his positives outweigh his negatives ...... by a pretty decent margin.

[Chessboxer]

This is the problem I have with Paul is that he is playing so well that his weaknesses are overlooked.

When Jordan was considered the best SG or best player in the NBA did he have any one player that he struggled against or could shut him down?

No

But Paul clearly struggles against bigger, stronger PG's that have well rounded offensive game ie Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, even Rajon Rondo gives Paul problems.


To me if you matched up GP in his prime vs Paul, Payton would kill him in the block and his defense would be enough to throw Pauls game off.......

I agree, if Paul and Payton matched up in a playoff series, Payton would make his life miserable. He would abuse him down low and we won't talk about what he would do to Paul on the derensive end. Payton was DPOY for a reason, I see him shutting Paul down.

I would take Gary hypothetical matchups aside. He could do anything.

[nate33]

Just as Paul may have problems with bigger, stronger offensive minded guards, those same guards may have problems with smaller, speedier guards.

Good point. I recall Nick Van Exel abusing Payton on a pretty consistent basis.

My one problem with Payton is that I never considered him an elite pure PG like a Chris Paul, Stockton, Magic, or Nash. He didn't have the kind of court vision that inspired his teammates to bust their balls for 48 minutes and cut hard to the basket on every possession. Payton got a lot more passive assists from posting players up and kicking it out, or merely swinging the ball around the perimeter. His offensive game was more like a Chauncey Billups than it was like a Chris Paul. He was more of a combo guard than a pure PG.

I don't want to take away anything from Payton. He was certainly a great player and an all-time great defender. I just don't think he provided the same offensive dimension that Chris Paul does. True pure PG's a so rare.

I'd say that Chris Paul's season this year was better than any of Payton's. We'll just have to wait and see if Paul will have a better overall career.

[TheKingOfVa360]

GP of course, not really close because the game is played on both sides of the floor

[KyleCleric]

GP at his peak was a far superior player. He was one of the best offensive players in the game and an even better defensive player. Chris Paul is one of the best offensive players in the game right now, but he is certainly a far worse defensive player than offensive player.

[NO-KG-AI]

As far as Chris Paul and Deron go, both have given each other foul trouble, and both have scored most of their points either playing the other guy in foul trouble, or simply scoring on backups.

[j3yuen]

gilbert arenas fears gary payton and so should chris paul