Lakers shifting their eyes on deron or CP3?

[Slava]

Here are the head to head stats until 2010:

Stat - CP3 - Deron

PPG - 15.6 - 17.7
FG% - 41% - 56%
3pt % - 21% - 39.5%
Asts - 8.9 - 9
Games won - 3 -14

I really don't see where you guys are coming from when you say Deron gets blown past by faster guards. There are some guards that cannot be guarded 1 on 1. Westbrook couldn't keep Barea infront of him to save his life and he's the quickest PG in the league.

I like CP3's game except I cannot see a guy playing for my team flop so blatantly on every play.

[Jetset]

The only semi-shocking ratio out of the statlines you provided was the 3-14 record which can be attributed to a entire team rather than one individual. Deron has always been surrounded with the better team imo. And on how many shot attempts are those FG and 3pt percentages based on?

I'm not sure what is so difficult about Barea to guard but as these playoffs have shown, no one can. Paul stands a better chance against the faster PGs because he has natural speed himself, unlike Deron whom would have to rely on strength to combat the quickness of other PG's.

And I'm sure you wouldn't mind the flopping so much if it was benefiting our team. We've put up with Fisher.

[Slava]

You do remember there was a time when CP3 was an MVP candidate right? Its not like one is playing on the Lakers and the other is playing for the Raptors. Its clear that Paul struggles against Deron. Those numbers are at 35 MPG each so I don't think there's much discrepancy to be gathered by looking at the number of shots.

You are saying that Paul is quicker and can defend guards better while Deron is basically holding him to sub standard numbers on offense.

Deron is more likelier to succeed on faster guards because he gambles less and plays more traditional defense on his man while Chris Paul most likely won't.

Fisher flopping on charges is something entirely different than Chris Paul trying to flop on every offensive play.

[The_Trade_Seer]

I don't even see why it matters what they do head to head ... it matters what they do against the rest of the league which is dominate and I'd be thrilled with either ... as for JJ Barea ... no one can guard lightning quick little bugs ... might be smart to draft our own in Isaih Thomas?

[Jetset]

You do remember there was a time when CP3 was an MVP candidate right? Its not like one is playing on the Lakers and the other is playing for the Raptors. Its clear that Paul struggles against Deron. Those numbers are at 35 MPG each so I don't think there's much discrepancy to be gathered by looking at the number of shots.

You are saying that Paul is quicker and can defend guards better while Deron is basically holding him to sub standard numbers on offense.

Deron is more likelier to succeed on faster guards because he gambles less and plays more traditional defense on his man while Chris Paul most likely won't.

Fisher flopping on charges is something entirely different than Chris Paul trying to flop on every offensive play.

Yes I do, but I'm talking about the 17 games he's played against the Jazz like you did when you arranged those stats. I want the shot attempts on which those percentages were taken from. If they're not equal then they don't matter, because like many have said Paul is a passive playmaker by nature. And while both teams were far from the best in the league, Deron's teams have always had the slight edge in terms of talent.

No. I said Paul stands a better chance against the faster guards of the NBA, not that he's flat out the superior defender overall. Obviously if the PG he's matched up with isn't a speed demon then Deron would be able to guard the player better because there's more of him to guard the said player. Paul's speed will help him more to guard the faster PG better because he can keep up with them, unlike Deron who has more muscle than the average PG which in turn limits his quickness and explosiveness. But I will say Paul clearly has the better hands than Deron and can disrupt an offense more with steals, as attributed to the 188 steals that Paul recorded this past season to the 79 steals that Deron had.


So basically you don't like Paul because he's an academy award winning actor? I don't have a problem with it if it's benefiting us tbh.

[Slava]

Allen Iverson used to get an insane amount of steals by just gambling on defense, which is exactly what I see from Chris Paul. His foot speed doesn't matter much when he's not committed to playing his man 1 on 1.

For the record I don't mind if we get either guy, both clearly talented players but I think Deron is much more reliable, had much less health issues and fits out kind of team better than Chris Paul does and I think is the better player between the two. He's also less prone to be going into mid season slumps that Paul sometimes has.

[Jetset]

Call it "gambling on defense" if you want, whatever Paul's doing is quite effective. 177:79 is a very telling ratio (subtract 11 stls because those happened in the playoffs, which Deron wasn't a part of).

You have your opinions and I certainly have mine. I think Paul is the better player and at least you wouldn't have any drama with Paul like you would with the prima donna known as Deron Williams. And Deron has had health issues as of late too, but I guess none of which were as serious as Paul's knee injury. Either way you cannot go wrong with one or the other, and the presence of either one makes us drastically a better ball club.

[Slava]

Going by just the number of steals is not a good way to measure defense. In 2002-03 Iverson had 225 steals compared to Gary Payton's 133 but we know who the better defender is.

[Jetset]

I'm not just going by the number of steals but with no clear cut answer to who's the better defender, and Paul's ability to at least make just about every PG's life more difficult and the insane amount steals he has compared to Deron one has to begin to think who may be the better defender or at the very least respect Paul as a defender. Instead of saying things like "oh well he doesn't play traditional defense".

[PurpleGold]

I'd say their defense is a wash. D-Will is a better man defender. It's tough to post him up because of his strength, most PG's can't shoot over him easily since he's got good size and length and he generally knows where to be on the floor to keep his man away from the rim. Plus he's bigger than Paul and can fight over screens easier. His problem is consistency, he sometimes takes plays off and lets his man blow by him.

Paul is a better team/help defender. He doesn't just play passing lanes, leaving his man wide open. He often puts pressure on the ball unlike AI. Also, a lot of his steals come by helping on a post player, often from the weakside. When the entry pass goes, and the post player starts to make a move, Paul is there much like Stockton who was good at that too. He may not be a lockdown defender but he is still VERY disruptive and screws up what your team does. People seem to think the only defense that matters is how you limit your man.