HeartBreakKid wrote:GSP wrote:Terrific closeout game by Cp3 against the 9 seed 36 win Pelicans
onto an actual defense against Dallas....
What is your deal with the backhanded compliments? Did CP3 step on your sneakers or something?
I think the short answer is "haters gonna hate": denigrate the accomplishment to undermine its significance.
And doing so while ignoring some relevant context wrt how good New Orleans is/was; context indicating they were better [
at the time the playoffs began] than what their full-season record indicates [i.e. NOT just a "36 win" team; not
really]......
1) They started the year 3-16 in thru the first 19; then gradually began putting things together, going 33-30 over the last 63 [plus two play-in wins, so actually 35-30 over a pretty substantial 65 games [.538; would pro-rate to 44 wins in a full season].
They were 18-14 thru their last 32 (plus two play-in wins, so 20-14 over last 34 before the series [.588; pro-rates to >48 wins in full season].
2) Let's not overlook some of that late-season uptick occurred while missing their best player [Ingram], too. He missed a full third of the season. They were 29-26 on the year when he was around (31-26 including the play-ins [.544; would be 44-45 wins on a full season]).
3) They made some late-season moves, wherein the relevant roster subtraction was Josh Hart; the relevant additions were CJ McCollum and Larry Nance, Jr.. I'd call that a net positive exchange.
They were 14-12 [.538; comes to 44+ wins in full season] in the 26 games CJ played in; 16-12 including the play-ins [.571; nearly 47 wins in full season]. And that's despite Ingram being out for a number of that 26(28)-game sample.
In the 15 games they had BOTH McCollum and Ingram around, they went 9-6; 11-6 if we include the play-in wins [.647; prorates to 53 wins in a full season].
You look at all of this^^^---and noting they were full strength for the series---and it's sort of blatantly disingenuous to pretend that the true quality of this team can be summed up by saying "9 seed 36 win".
The reality of how good they were [with the roster they had present] going into the playoffs.......we could probably
conservatively say they were the strength of a typical 43-45 win team. Conservatively.
And Paul led the Suns to victory over that team in 6 games with his main co-star being absent for more than half the series, largely playing magnificent: 22.3 pts @ 66.3% TS, 11.3 ast, 1.5 tov (EDIT: while being defended by NO's best defender [Jones] thru much of the series).
That's an admirable accomplishment for ANY superstar, and especially impressive that he can pull this out of a hat at nearly 37 years old; it's illustrative of the quality of player that he is.
It seems almost absurd to me that even his detractors can't muster the grace to recognize and acknowledge it (or short of that, at least remain quiet).
But as a wise poster once said: People will dig in and die on all kinds of hills for all kinds of reasons.
"The fact that a proposition is absurd has never hindered those who wish to believe it." -Edward Rutherfurd
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
