[Chron] Chris Paul on Rockets and Mike D'Antoni's offense: 'I love it'

Chris Paul imagined himself back on the floor, the ball in his hands, a center cutting to the rim with shooters all around. He smiled, enjoying the vision as if thinking of a nice memory, though his was just an hour old.

He had said since his return to the floor following 14 games lost to a bruised knee that adjusting to the Rockets, to their style and to his teammates, was not complicated. It is "just basketball," he had often said.

He's done this for years, he had pointed out, as if dismissing the idea that a transition could be difficult for so practiced an artist. But on his way out of Toyota Center on Wednesday, he thought of the way things are different, of changes that are largely subtle but that had to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Like shooters that take a place in Mike D'Antoni's offense and in the glow of the green light, see wide-open shots, Paul saw shooters and the passes he could deliver to them.

"I never played with three guys around the 3-point line, just spacing the court," Paul said. "I know I can shoot it. I know I can score and stuff like that. I don't have to. I've just always been a guy that takes what the defense gives me. If you're off me, I'm a shooter. If there's two guys on me, I'm going to find the open guy.

"I'm going to find you. I always say, 'there ain't but so many things you can do on a court.' I'm going to find you."

As he spoke, Paul pantomimed a few passes, his eyes moving around the court he envisioned in his imagination. He had not just adjusted. For six games, he had alternately run the Rockets offense and played off James Harden, and had embraced the combination of changes and the chances to do what he always has.

"I always heard that I like to dribble, dribble," Paul said. "But I'm loving this. I can go like this (shooting his hand forward like a hard jab.) I love it.

"For me, who loves finding guys open shots, it's been a lot of fun."

Paul, who will return to Staples Center to face the Lakers on Sunday for the first time since the trade from the Clippers, had long said he can always get shooters their shots. He could move through a defense and force it to move with him, opening room for teammates to be open.

With the Rockets, however, he has more often been tasked with finding the right shooter at the right time rather than maneuvering to get them open. He has displayed his talent to obey the traditional coaching demand to deliver "on time, on target" passes. Paul has averaged 10.3 assists (with just 1.3 turnovers) in just 28.1 minutes per game. He has also meshed well with Harden with their combined assists accounting for 53.7 points per game.

"Yeah, well, he's only been doing for the last how many years he's been playing?" D'Antoni said. "So, that's Chris Paul. Yeah, I have no doubt that he'll keep better and he'll keep doing it, and find a lot of guys.

"I think it will get better, but I also think it is who he is and what he does. He just knows how to play. You can throw him in any situation, any offense, any defense and he's going to one of the best in that because he can play anywhere."

That has been most conspicuous with Ryan Anderson, who has repeatedly caught Paul passes without so much as leaning out of his shooting stance. Anderson has made 77.3 percent of the 3-pointers he has taken off Paul passes. But he is not alone. The Rockets have made 50 percent of their 3s when Paul has delivered the pass. Their effective shooting percentage off Paul passes, which considers the added value of 3s, is 71.1 percent.

"He's Chris Paul," Anderson said of how quickly he and Paul seem to have grown accustomed to one another. "We have two of the best point guards in the league here. Chris is such a great decision-maker, great playmaker, as a shooter he gets the ball right where you want it. He lines those laces up for you. He makes it really easy for me. I'm happy to have that dynamic here. I feel fortunate that he's here. We have great chemistry."

Just as Anderson and Harden quickly found ways for Anderson to pick-and-pop his way to open 3s, often by feigning the screen to move in ways that timing is crucial, Paul and Anderson have been in sync since Paul returned to the floor.

"I don't know. I watch a lot of basketball and play a lot," Paul said of his instant chemistry with Anderson. "I played with Paul Pierce. I played with David West a long time. I played with a number of pick-and-pop guys, guys that don't space it as much as him, but it's just a little further back."

Paul is more closely identified for his play with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, and in a Clippers offense that worked much more slowly than the Rockets' with Paul methodically probing in the middle of the floor.

With the Rockets, Paul still takes the mid-range jumpers thought to be anathema to their style. D'Antoni said he would never dissuade a great player from doing what he does well. Paul has taken an average of two shots from between eight and 16 feet, one fewer than last season and about 11/2 fewer than the year before. But he said he has enjoyed not having to look for those shots.

"I had to perfect that midrange shot because everything was so compact," Paul said. "We were great. Don't get me wrong. I loved what we were doing. That's the shot that was there for me a lot of times. DJ would be there. Blake was there. He didn't used to shoot 3s like he has this year. They were in the lane. I had to move in the lane to get them open and sometimes I'd have the mid-range shot.

"Now when I come off (the screen), it's made it easier for me. I love what I'm seeing."

Paul took a moment to see it again in his imagination. He has not lost a game while wearing a Rockets uniform, which would tend to make a player happy. But before he left, he had to share one more thought.

"I'm having a lot of fun," Paul said. "I love it."

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...l-on-Rockets-and-Mike-D-Antoni-s-12396304.php

 

This one stood out: That has been most conspicuous with Ryan Anderson, who has repeatedly caught Paul passes without so much as leaning out of his shooting stance. Anderson has made 77.3 percent of the 3-pointers he has taken off Paul passes.

 

Harden has been learning from the master. His TOs are diving after Paul returned. Last game he only has 1 TO in 35 minutes!

 

Gravity of Ryan Anderson will be peaked.