![]() Whether it was his knee healing or his conditioning from the extra girth, he was largely back to form by 2012 as a Clipper. But while a shell of himself, his low-center of gravity and strength still allowed him to manipulate defenses, bouncing into certain areas before threading great passes: 3 Assists at the rim are a decent indicator of these kinds of high-leverage, quality dishes, and incidentally, Paul’s layups assists (as a percentage of his overall assists) were below-average every year he was a Hornet.Īfter knee surgery for a torn meniscus, Paul hobbled through the 2011 season at half speed. 2 This is the hardwood version of a quarterback who rarely throws downfield ball-security doesn’t necessarily offset major bang-for-your-buck passes. He threw “bad” pass turnovers at half the rate of someone like Steve Nash, which, counterintuitively, might have held him back. Paul’s OCD approach led to historically low adjusted-turnover rates, falling in the 96th percentile among all players, with only a few high-volume creators in history turning it over less frequently. For instance, he misses a clear bouncer here for a layup while eagerly setting up a fade: 1 His assist numbers and highlight passes might create the appearance that he’s a flawless passer, but he takes fewer risks than the greats, and his vision is sometimes clouded by a desire to score. His dribbling comes at a slight cost - his high time of possession can eliminate backup options when the on-ball action fizzles out - and his passing fell a notch below the all-time greats in limited film study. Otherwise, he was incredibly measured – the all-time Type A point guard. He rarely pushed the ball down the other team’s throat, but if he felt a transition chance, he would attack it. And at 4:13, he outwits Tim Duncan in basketball roshambo, lob-faking Timmy into oblivion because Paul knows that Timmy knows that Paul will throw a lob: At 3:00, he’s back to table-setting, hitting Chandler with a lob, a precursor to his Lob City teams in Los Angeles. Two plays later, nothing’s open so he seeks out empty space away from the hoop (a Paul special). ![]() On the first play (2:18), notice how he keeps looking for his big man, Tyson Chandler, to find a layup. This is all on display in the game highlight below. If opponents overplayed his passes, Paul downshifted past them for an easy score, or bunny-hopped backwards for unreasonably clear jumpers for a 6-footer. He intuited the value of a rolling big man, playing deadly two-man games where he could bluetooth a bounce pass or a lob for a layup. ![]() His quickness confounded big men while his handle gave him unfettered access to nearly any spot on the court. Paul erupted into his prime in 2008, a basketball ballerina who electrified the league with twirling spins and dazzling passes.
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