Yup. I don't think CP3 has ever made it past the 2nd round. He has had a legitimate shot everytime too. Janero Pargo had to play for him that one game because CP3 couldn't handle the pressure in the elimination game.
Legitimate shot every time? Look at his teammates. Which of them could ever consistently create their own shot?
Blake Griffin is a perennial all-star. Jamal Crawford is a 6 man of the year candidate, and if he had his own team as the number one option, he would score 20 plus points a game. Deandre Jordan is much like Tyson Chandler in regards to being a rim protector, albeit Chandler is better at it. Paul is so overrated. Flashy, skilled pg who slows the game down to his teams detriment. He will never be a championship player being the best player on that team. Sorry. I love watching Chris Paul, but his style of play isn't good for a team. He isn't scorer oriented enough. If I had a choice to build a team right now out of these players: Rose,Westbrook,Irving,Paul Paul would go 3 or 4. I think he can make a bad team average and an average team good, but he isn't a championship player.
That's b/c he's a flashy dunker. Does he bring anything else to the table? No mid-range jumper. No post game. Can't consistently create his own shot. Poor free throw shooting. Average defender. If you replaced his power dunks with layups, do you still think he'd be a perennial all-star? What's your point? You can say that about a lot of guys. In fact, you could say that about our 3rd string pg. Crawford's value comes from his scoring. In the regular season last year, he shot 44% from the field and 38% from the 3pt line. In the playoffs, those percentages dropped to 39% and 27%. Except Chandler is significantly better at it. Doc Rivers is trying to encourage Deandre Jordan to play better defense. Chandler was a DPOY. Best pg in the league with no weaknesses....sure, he's overrated.
he actually might be GOOD for harden; someone that harden actually respects enough to let run the offense and play off the ball. based on what i saw all year last year, harden is most dangerous not as the primary ball handler but primary scoring option, either coming off of a pick and attacking right away before the defense had time to react, or pull up for open jumper. he is otherworldly efficient when he does this. holding on the ball for 20 seconds trying to get a shot off? not so much.
Paul commands way too much control over an NBA offense. Harden was meant to be the primary ball handler. Harden is a complete offensive basketball player, and for that reason he can mesh with anyone. But to get Harden at his best, he needs to have the ball in his hands.
Weeko? First of all Blake Griffins athletic ability makes him a great player. That is like saying would Lebron be Lebron if he was Aaron Brooks height. Stupid on your part. In regards to Crawford, he is a very talented player. Paul has enough talent to move on in the playoffs. Someone Dwight Howard did with an arguably lesser squad, as did Lebron/Dwade in there respective playoff runs. Deandre Jordan is a good defensive player. He effects the paint in a tremendous way. Is he Tyson Chandler good? Nope. But it isn't as far off as you tend to believe. No weaknesses? Playing poorly in the playoffs two years in a row and getting train ran on by Tony Parker and Mike Conley say different. He may win you some regular season games, but why do these players play the game? To win a championship. CP3 is wayyyyy to passive to be the number one option on a team. Accept it.
Seriously? You think that athleticism is the only prerequisite to being a great player and you're calling ME stupid? Why isn't Javale McGee one of the best players in the league? Why wasn't Stromile Swift? How did James White's career turn out? Before you go around calling other people stupid, you need to sit back, reflect on your position, and use some critical thinking. Crawford is a talented scorer. That's it. Nothing more. So when he's missing his shots, like he was in the playoffs, he's useless. Sorry, but you're totally wrong about Dwight and Wade's supporting cast. You're right about Lebron, but Lebron is one of the best players of all time. CP3 isn't. Wade had Shaq who was still at an All-NBA first team level. And make no mistake, at that time, you could still run an offense through Shaq. Also, Alonzo Mourning was a fantastic backup for Shaq. He probably could've started for a few teams. After that, they had very solid role players in Jason Williams, Antoine Walker, and Haslem. Look at Dwight's supporting cast with Orlando. Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, and Marcin Gortat. And none of them were over 30 years old. You really think that Paul's Clippers have anything close to that kind of talent and skill? Chris Paul has no weaknesses. I didn't bother checking Tony Parker's stats, but I checked Conley's for that playoff series you referenced. Chris Paul clearly outplayed Conley. Chris Paul had a PER of 29.2 in the playoffs last season. If you call that playing poorly, I can't imagine what you consider "average"... Look at his stats. In the playoffs, he becomes more aggressive offensively. But when you're the only legitimate offensive threat on your team, your team isn't going anywhere in the playoffs unless your name is Lebron James or Kevin Durant.
You state that he does not have the talent around him to succeed. I say Blake Griffin who is basically a 20-10 player. Deandre Jordan is a double double almost consistently. Jamal Crawford is a great scorer. You had Caron Butler, Chauncey Billups on the wings. I mean there is more than enough talent there. More so than what Dwight or Wade had. No, athletic ability is not the only prereq, but you need it to excel in this league. The top 50 list is filled with guys who were athletic freaks, more so than not. If Lebron was AB's height, he would be about what AB is. You just argued that Blake is nothing without his athletic ability. Well then how does he average what he does when Javale(a equally athletic guy) can't put together anything close to that? Because Blake is good at basketball. I don't know what else there is to argue if you honestly think CP3 isn't at fault for his playoff failures. Isn't that the time of year where your supposed to step up your game?
Like I said before, Griffin can't consistently create his own shots. He has no post game. He doesn't even have a mid-range game. He's useless without Chris Paul. Chauncey Billups? Seriously? You're trying to use a 36 year old Chauncey Billups to prove that Paul had help on the wings?!? He played 22 games last season! Caron Butler? At this point in his career, he's the definition of "role player". How is Deandre Jordan a consistent double double? Last year, he averaged 9 ppg and 7 rpg. In fact, he's never averaged double digits in points or rebounds. But then again, since you see him as comparable to Tyson Chandler defensively, I can see how you'd think 9/7 is a double double... Athleticism is nothing without skill, and Griffin is not a skilled player. Chris Paul takes a step up in the playoffs. Other players on his team take a step down. Is that really so hard to understand? I think that of all people, someone named "tmacfor35" would understand this very simple concept. You seem to think Blake Griffin is a great player. Look at his playoff performance last year. He consistently got in foul trouble and averaged 26 mpg. I'm looking forward to seeing how you're going to spin that to make it Chris Paul's fault.
If athletic ability is nothing without skill, how does Blake average 18ppg in 2013. Just what? Jamal Crawford top tier 6 man Chauncey Billups is a good playoff vet. Caron Butler was a very good role player Blake Griffin is a top 5 PF in the game Deandre Jordan is a top 10 center in the league The bench was top 10 in the league. I am so confused on what your argument basis is. The Clippers have been assembled the last two years for CP3 to succeed and all he has done has underperformed when it matters most. Give me Rose, Westbrook, Irving all day. Traditional Pg's don't get it done anymore. Like I said a 100 times in this thread. I think CP3 wouldn't be overrated if he was more aggressive offensively. Take more shots, score more points.
He's used heavily in the pick and roll which means he relies on Chris Paul. He also gets transition baskets as well as offensive rebounds and put-backs. But he's not a player you can run your offense through. He has too many weaknesses. None of this showed up in the playoffs last year. And no, Griffin isn't a top 5 PF. Not even close. The top tier of PF's can be the centerpiece of an offense and are good defenders. Duncan, Aldridge, Horford, Love, and maybe Garnett. After that, I'd rather have guys who have polished offensive games. Dirk, Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph, Boozer, David Lee, and Bosh. After that are players past their prime who are still productive or raw players with a lot of potential. This is where I'd put guys like Blake Griffin, Ibaka, Anthony Davis, and David West. Regarding your absurd claim that Jordan is a top 10 center, he's easily behind Dwight, Brook Lopez, Noah, Cousins, Asik, Al Jefferson, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler, and Hibbert After that, I'd still take Pekovic, Larry Sanders, Monroe, Drummond, Gortat, Nene, and Varejao over Jordan. And depending on health, I'd also take Bynum, Kaman, and Bogut over Jordan. I'm so confused on what your argument basis is. In the playoffs last year, CP3 had a PER of 29.2. You call that underperforming? Which he did in the playoffs last year. Yet you still complain about him.
22 points a game is crap for a guy that controls the ball the whole game. I don't know if you have ever played in a competitive game of basketball before, but it is hard to get in a rhythm when one guy dribbles the ball via PNR every play. In regards to your Blake Griffin talk. Everybody said the same thing about Amare without Nash and he seemed to do pretty well. I am convinced Blake is a stud. CP3 has had the talent and he has not performed. When you are getting destroyed by Tony Parker, you are not the best.
What option does Chris Paul have? No one else on the Clippers can create his own shot. Amare had a consistent mid-range jumper. Blake Griffin doesn't. Yeah, it's pretty clear you think Blake is a stud, but I've made a lot of criticisms about his game, and you've been unable to refute any of them. That should tell you something about how you're perceiving him. In the 2012 playoffs between the Spurs and Clippers, Parker averaged 17 ppg on 36% shooting, 3 rpg, and 8 apg. Paul averaged 13 ppg on 36% shooting, 4 rpg, and 9 apg. You call that getting destroyed? Are you aware that just about all of your opinions are unsupported by stats?
I see you have trouble separating team and individual The Clippers don't have a primary scorer, and they really need one, the Spurs strategy is to strangle Paul with traps, doubles etc, basically force anyone but him to beat them, and they can't. The problem is Blake, even DeAndre seems to be coming to grips with the role of garbage man, but Blake's offense is about as refined as Dwight's, pnr, spin moves, athleticism that's it, yeah that can get you 18-20 ppg with supreme athleticism, but really nothing more. Except Dwight has league pinnacle defense and rebounding. Heck David Lee gives you equivalent offense, much better rebounding, equivalently crappy defense and people call his similar contract terrible. Blake is being paid for potential, but he hasn't had any tangible improvement since he entered the league, yeah his mid range has improved from mid 20's to low 30's, but there's no tangible gain from that, because he should still not shoot that ****. The most natural player for Paul, and probably trade for his team is Griffin (5 yr contract) for Love (2 yr contract), Love can be that primary scorer, has a far more refined offensive game, is an equivalent rebounder to Dwight, and at least has team defense discipline down even if his man defense is lacking lateral speed. Maybe Griffin will develop, but it's not happening under the auspices of the Clippers contention, perhaps a long term grouping with Rubio, no expectations and no media will do it.
You guys are seriously underrating Blake. First of all, the idea that he is nothing without Paul is absurd considering that his best numbers were when he was the #1 option as a rookie. He has a much more developed offensive game than Howard because he's an excellent ballhandler and passer for a big. I don't know if Paul is the best fit as Griffin actually likes to handle the ball and Paul is very ball-dominant. What Griffin can't do yet is shoot. He is not as awful in the post as everyone thinks though. He just has happened to have gone up against elite defenses in Memphis & SA in his two playoff runs, and yeah, he looked ****ting in game #1. But it is #1/82. I expect him to abuse Lee tonight. Let's see.
I guess I am having trouble as they are extremely correlated. Lebron's 27 point game is much better than Carmelo's 35 point game. Players have certain impacts on games. Chris Paul is like the dictator. That isn't winning championships. Spread the rock, let other guys get involved off the dribble. There is more to basketball than stats. The whole season they rely on Chris Paul for everything. Come playoff time, teams take Chris Paul away and make the Clippers do something they haven't all season. Wait for other players to create shots. Chris Paul needs to accustom his teammates to off the dribble opportunities. It helps the flow and rhythm of his team.
Who though? Dudley's the only other player on that starting lineup that isn't going to turn it over trying to do anything resembling a dribble drive, but he's never been able to create opportunities.
Blake can create, jj reddick off screens, DJ power game in the low block. The clippers are easy to stop in the PNR. Clog the lane and let Blake and Cp3 shoot long 2's.
