Roscoe Sheed wrote:og15 wrote:TrueLAfan wrote:Kidd realized his weaknesses too; he was always a smart player, and was able to make adjustments and improvements that kept him a top flight PG after his physical skills were in decline. I saw him play when he was a high school senior and it was truly a man among boys thing--not just because he was Jason Kidd sized at 17/18, but because he was already a well rounded player. His pull up perimeter game was not good when he was young--he got everything by using his physicality. He shot .325 from three in his first 10 years--then got good from behind the line (.369 for his final nine years) and got better with the improved passing lanes he saw.
CP3 would help any team right now. I don't want to rehash Lob City's weaknesses--but I will say that we could be a lot better than that team was with a lesser player than Chris Paul. We've got leadership and ball movement; I'd rather have a no frills guy at PG.
Yup, Kidd also had great longevity due to improving skills, defense and IQ. That's what differentiates a Kidd from for example a Westbrook who has good size, is still very athletic, but his skills and IQ are not at the level to make him effective into an older age.
What I was referring to though was early 2000 Kidd, he was on Phoenix and consistently losing in the 1st or 2nd round, then went to the East where his ECF opponent was worse than the first round opponent he would play in the WC.
Roscoe Sheed wrote:I agree with most of what you are saying- the Suns are better suited to CP3's skillset. However, I haven't noticed much of a physical dropoff- in fact he seems to have lost weight and is more fit and therefore less prone to injury.
You did mention compared to his 30's, but if you go back and watch Clippers CP3 in isolation compared to now, you'll see that even though he had lost his top level athleticism from his early New Orleans days, he still had enough blow by speed on the perimeter to get by quick players. Right now he's mainly going to use pick and roll or he'll hunt for a switch on a big or slower perimeter defender (eg Luka).
True- he is always hunting for switches- however, I do recall him pulling up for jumpers when bigs switched on him more than driving to the basket even during his time with the Clippers.
On a side note, I think teams switch far too easily. I know you run the risk of giving up semi-open jump shots by trying to stay on your man, but I think you should at least try when there are such glaring mismatches.
Seeing some of this action makes me concerned about keeping Kennard. I know he has improved to an extent, but I see teams ruthlessly seeking mismatches and feel like he would be hunted against high level playoff teams.
I think these last couple of games have given an example of what I was getting at. Father time is undefeated. CP played against Memphis' defense with Tony Allen guarding him and with Blake useless due to injury and dropped 32 ppg on 55% FG in those two games. The team didn't have 5 out or any of that, but he could pick and roll, iso against guards and wings, attack switches (though less switching happened), get to the basket. He played against the Spurs with Green and Leonard and got his and others.
Current CP is calculated, he can iso against bigs, get to spots on pick and roll, but father time wins, he can't easily get by defenders and he no longer gets to the rim. His offensive arsenal is not the same because every bit of quickness, speed and jumping ability he loses takes away from what shots he can get off as a 6'0 guard. There's no shame. Tim Duncan at 37 couldn't do what 02-03 Tim Duncan did, but he was still very good, impactful and effective.
If Suns had Clippers Paul they would have already closed out this series. Clippers Paul would be able to do a couple of things current Paul can't do. One is split the defenders on those hedges and get to the rim or gain an advantage. He has not split the defenders once as far as I can remember because he no longer trusts his quickness to do it.
Second, he would attack individual defenders more without the help of a screen. Even with the screens, he no longer has the ability to keep the dribble alive and turn the corner on the second defender. All those things change the way he can attack. He's used IQ and skill to make it seem like he is still as good, but he's definitely not even though he's still quite good.