I guess it just shows you that CP3 was half assing last season. Pretty obvious that Westbrook is not an upgrade over a full-effort CP3. But would Paul be motivated if we didn't trade him? Probably not.
I dunno. His blocks assists steals and rebounds are all down. He is shooting better across the board though.
I really think last year was a season of CP3 being butthurt about Melo, and then trying to turn it on in the playoffs and failing miserably.
I remember him being the only one to show up in game 4 of the Utah series when we could have closed them out in a sweep.... Falling on the floor to get live balls and such.... Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly though.
See, I'm no expert, but this is what I saw for a majority of last season, and I thought others saw it, too. To me CP appeared to be his normal productive self to start the season. After that injury in Miami in December, he appeared to play more timidly, as if he was trying to save himself for the playoffs. But then we reached the playoffs and it was like he was still trying to save whatever was left in the tank, or he was overpacing himself. It's for that reason I don't blame Rockets fans for being so upset with him. It wasn't fair, I don't think. But he didn't (couldn't?) turn it on when we need him to the most. I'll disagree here. I don't have any inside information or anything, but whatever philosophical issues Chris and James had, I believed that Chris was willing to work it out. I never really questioned his dedication to the team. After all, he was one of the first Rockets players to be back in the Rockets practice gyms a mere two weeks after the Game 6 loss, putting in work. It made the trade difficult for me to swallow.
Chris Paul is still a great basketball player. He was a great ballplayer last season as well. But he can't beat his man anymore, so he can't dominate games, he has to let things come to him. He also requires a lot of rest and maintenance. But he's still a spectacular defensive player, a great shooter, and the best offensive floor general in the league. I would still much prefer him to Westbrook (in all honesty mostly for his defense), but both guys are grossly overpaid relative to what they bring overall at this point.
CP3 gifts the team with suits for the holidays. This is pretty cool! I can't get over Steven Adams and his personality to go with the drip . Looking like a Bond villain. Spoiler: Drip
Everbody loves Cp3 at the start, BG was like a kid on Xmas day when he got to Clippers and the first year between Harden and Cp3 was like a match made in heaven. Let's a wait a couple of years to see if the Cp3 declined claims were indeed "overblown". The reality is Cp3 is in a reverse contract year he is out and motivated to prove he isnt a cancer and he isnt washed. Where were these custom suits last year? I guess Cp3 was too busy pouting over losing Melo and not getting touches to buy Danuel House and GG suits.
that was the danger of bringing in melo, i applaud rockets for boldness and decisiveness in cutting him but it was unrealistic to think you can just cut ties and cut losses and everything will be fine... thats why its called chemistry, because its not a linear/math thing
I don't think cp3 can get away with half assing things because of his mouth and personality. His averages this year aren't the next coming of Steve Nash. Given how thirsty okc is for offense, he can choose his spots more often. Automatic dibs. Dude is slipping from his peak and couldn't justify that raise he got in the off-season. That's probably enough to create tension between him and James even without the melodrama. They're both competitors but James internalizes drama more than he should.
Yeah but did he get injured cuz he was out of shape? I think he was too busy partying with Melo in the offseason
I think a big reason why he came out of the 2018 offseason a bit out of shape is because he did just injure his hamstring that May... That doesn't allow for much physical activity for at least several weeks.
The only criticism of Chris personality-wise that I'll take is that he has a habit of rubbing people with big egos (James Harden, Blake Griffin, not that there's anything wrong with that) the wrong way. Anything else is overblown in my estimation.
