he has been given a lesson all year by CP3 and it's working out great. see @tinman's thread: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/is-chris-paul-the-real-leader-of-the-rockets.287657.
I'm really hoping it's him saving his body because he's looked rather dispointing breaking down bigs on one on one defense. He's mostly limiting himself to mid range shots .
last 5 games.. 30.6 mpg 18.4 ppg on 7.6 apg shoots 46.4% from the field 38.5% from threes... I get its not spectacular post all star.. but seriously rockets have played 12 playoff teams in the last 13 games.. that's a ridiculous schedule to say the least, most of these teams are fighting for their playoff lives and fighting for a better playoff position, rockets aren't worried about either, they basically have first place in lock down.. these teams are throwing everything at James and Chris, so give them some slack. we are not going to beat a team on the road, thats coming with a ten game winning streak and sitting at 4th place, while they are 25-7 on home by 30 point..
I mean its not like you can expect him to be 100 in an 82 game season. I do agree he looks a bit slow out there but it shouldnt be anything to worry about.
Honestly I wouldn't want him hurling himself into traffic into the regular season. Chris Paul is pretty small, there's no point risking contact. His mid-range should be his bread and butter
that's really neat. Can you do this for let's say in the past month instead of just 6 games. It seems like he's actually getting to the rim but just blowing layups. Also bigs tend to affect his shot more than Harden's because of how small CP is
Those numbers aren't at all worrisome though. He was fine in Feb, but has taken a dip in March (19 days so far). Having one month of poor conversion wouldn't at all worry me that much, unless his April numbers are also down.
Time to use the "sore knee" excuse to let him sit out a couple of games. It's more important now than ever to be fresh for the playoffs. Guaranteed the Worriers are playing this.
Yes, I think he is carrying nagging injuries because he is not the best version that we've seen (when Harden was out) of himself right now. I also noticed his temperament is a bit "down" lately more so than during the rest of the season. Could be the grind, the injuries, or he's locking in for playoff mode. Whatever it is I trust cp3 because he's a vet and this 'aint his first rodeo. Pretty good post for discussion and this is the first reply.
He's averaging the most rebounds in his career along with the highest free throw percentage in his career as well. He's averaging 18.7 points per game while only playing 31.9 minutes. Last year was the least minutes he's ever played in his career at 31.5, so basically the same as this year. Now with all that said, no, I do not believe he is running out of steam as it were. I think he's just a savvy vet that realizes he's not 23 years old and knows his limitations at this point. He realizes the most important thing is the playoffs and winning a championship. Yes, we've seen Chris not be as dominant on defense as he has been through most seasons before, but on this team he doesn't have to be all world defense. However, if you notice when he wants to shut a player down he can still do that. He's so crafty at reaching and slapping the ball away and getting steals. His footwork and defensive stance is tremendous as well. I fully expect Chris to turn into an animal in the playoffs.
Idk if he's running out of steam. But for god sake MDA, SIT CHRIS A FEW GAMES FOR REST PURPOSES. We all know Chris's injury history combined with his stubbornness to play through injuries. He's a warrior. But his health is the most important thing. Even if he's not tired, just sit his azz for safety reasons. I wouldn't even play him against Portland tbh. Ryan Anderson sat a few games and looks like a totally different player
I imagine most of the starters are hiding injuries and won't sit until Harden sits. Felt like that's what happened last year when Harden and bev were calling the league out for being soft lol
Developing "championship habits" absolutely has to include holding our leads. When Harden goes out lately and Paul takes over, we don't hold them and it means we have to beat a team twice in each game. When we're playing so many teams that are so highly motivated by playoff positioning we can't have to beat them twice. We need to hold our leads and it's become almost a regular thing that if we go up by 20+, we will wind up squandering that lead and have to build it up again. I keep going back to the reduction in 3's attempted. When you have a bench that features Anderson, Gordon, Paul, and sometimes Green, that should be an offensive bonanza for us. Instead those four guys don't put up enough 3's to take advantage. Paul seems scared to put them up and there's too little effort getting Gordon, in particular, good looks from 3. That's lately. In the past I've wanted more 3 attempts from all of those guys. I can't complain about anything with this year's Rockets. Except for this issue of not attempting as many 3 pointers as we used to, a thing that contributed a lot to our current record. I want to see Anderson, Gordon, Harden, Paul, Ariza, and Green (when he plays - it is past time to give him Iso Joe's minutes because nobody shoots the 3 ball with more confidence than Green) each put up somewhere between 7-10 three-pointers per game. It's a crying shame to make Tucker take more 3's than Paul does. And it's Paul that's giving him more 3's than he takes himself. He stands open at the 3 point line, hesitates, waits for a defender, then passes out to a lesser shooter. I really think they need to get his head right on that going into the playoffs.
I would argue this is more a function of what the defense is giving us. Right now. They want Tucker to beat them or force Harden/CP3 into a contested shot. Right now it’s still working. That’s why someone like JJ finding the fountain of youth for the playoffs is so important. It’s another wrinkle to the offense opposing defenses have to prepare for...and most importantly they don’t have it on film. Playoffs are about who make the best counter measures and that’s why it’s typically a battle of what role player makes the difference in these close series. Preaching to the choir I know
I think lots of people are missing one very important about how the Rox are playing lately of late. The style had been changed. The pace had been slow down a lots. And for most people which hated the most, we are playing JJ more than Green. Well there is a reason behind all these : the team is gearing towards playoff now. Slow down the pace will have more chance to simulate the different style of playoff games, which is to some extend, quite suitable for JJ. And also more importantly, slow down the pace will vastly reduce the chance of getting hurt - look at GSW. This is a brilliant move, even though JJ is playing like sh't in most games, I still have ZERO issues that MDA keep giving him lots of minutes. I won't be surprised that this is a idea of Morey also. Forget about the scores and stats, focus on the playoff and get it done is the goal of this team now.
I was only referring to the totally open looks at 3 that Chris Paul isn't taking. We all see them and we see them every game now. He hesitates. He doesn't take the shot. And then he is covered and someone else (usually Tucker) is open so he passes to the open man. My issue is his refusal to take the open 3 himself. He's had at least one of these (and sometimes like 3 of these) in each of the last few games. He almost never shoots them and he used to shoot them so I'm concerned about his confidence. If he were covered up I wouldn't be pleading for him to shoot. I'm pleading for him to take the open 3's he gets.
You guys conveniently remember what you want about James' game, you then post some horrible negative garbage about a guy who has given his all for Houston for years. You put it out there on the internet for all the world to see and then you cry about Harden and Houston not getting respect on ESPN... It's hilarious. Newsflash, journalists read forums. No doubt CP3 makes us better but without Hardens' heart we wouldn't be in the playoffs every year since he's been here. This guy carries us hits game winner after game winner and every time I come on here I have to read some awful post about James Harden's heart, give it a rest already. You harp on his iso's, so he becomes the best iso's player in the league while also being one of the best point guard ever, you say stars don't want to play with him, we have cp3, you say he doesn't play defense, well he's playing it now and now it's no heart, you guy are priceless, lol.
It would cool if they had a 3Rd string pg to throw in some of these games down the stretch but I don't think he's playing too many minutes and I doubt MDA would even play a 3Rd string pg so..
