Seems legit, I would trust their ranking. They ranked Chrissy the best defensive PG in the NBA. I didnt use to think he was a good defender but ESPN told me otherwise so that makes Exum a terrible defender since they rank him pretty low in defense.
Hot Rod didn't like those pesky TWolves, let's beat them for him (GT)
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Seems legit, I would trust their ranking. They ranked Chrissy the best defensive PG in the NBA. I didnt use to think he was a good defender but ESPN told me otherwise so that makes Exum a terrible defender since they rank him pretty low in defense.
da ThRONe
Active Member
I have no idea how the narrative of Chris Paul being a great defender got started. He was awful early in his career then after spending a summer with the Olympics team he came back as an adequate defender. He's has been that pretty much the rest of his career.
Last year on Synergy I watch ever last defensive ISO and PNR play Paul they had available. He still had issues and both situations.
seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I don't trust it. I'll trust what I see instead - but I won't argue based on what I see because it's purely subjective and defense is just too hard to measure to a point where it can be argued intelligently, even with advanced stats. But at the very least these are people who watch basketball for a living and have played the game and who aren't fans of any particular team - with that they have much more credibility than me as a biased jazz fan or anybody else on this site who is similarly biased.
ESPN is completely unbiased and their "experts" are very trustworthy.
Plus stats say that Chris Paul steals the ball a lot so he must be a really good defender.
Plus stats say that Chris Paul steals the ball a lot so he must be a really good defender.
seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
Right they are unbiased, but not nearly as unbiased as Jazz fans are when discussing one of their own players. To be frank, Jazz fans are the only unbiased fan base in the league. Pretty admirable, tbh.
Handlogten's Heros
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Chris is a good defender... he gets to foul **** out of everyone he plays against and gets a ton of deflections as a result. He is also extremely strong for his size. I don't think this is ESPN bias, but more the superstar treatment.
Wait, I thought he just had quick hands.
Chris Paul in fact IS a pretty good defender. Here's the shot-chart of opponents against him:
Here's an article about it: https://grantland.com/features/department-of-defense/
According to some new advanced defensive metrics, Chris Paul is the best perimeter defender in the league.
As a comparison, here's the defensive chart for a horrible perimeter defender in Harden:
Here's an article about it: https://grantland.com/features/department-of-defense/
According to some new advanced defensive metrics, Chris Paul is the best perimeter defender in the league.
As a comparison, here's the defensive chart for a horrible perimeter defender in Harden:
framer
Well-Known Member
Honestly of the 200 or so people, how many of them have seen more than 2 Jazz games all year?
Chris Paul is a decent defender, not great and not the best defensive pg in the NBA. He takes a lot of gambles and plays the passing lanes. He does do a good job of trying to funnel people towards one of the most intimidating defensive bigs in the NBA. Chris does have quick hands and slaps at players a lot.
Clippers are a middle of the road defensive team. I would guess if CP3 was the best perimeter defensive player in the NBA paired with one of the best defensive centers in the NBA they would be a little more elite defensively but maybe the rest of the team is so bad defensively it counters everything they do.
I do not think Chris Paul is the best perimeter defender in the NBA. I think he has gone from a poor defender to an average defender who plays on his strengths and the team hides his weaknesses on defense. His defense has been really poor in the playoffs for his career but maybe this year he really steps up.
Clippers are a middle of the road defensive team. I would guess if CP3 was the best perimeter defensive player in the NBA paired with one of the best defensive centers in the NBA they would be a little more elite defensively but maybe the rest of the team is so bad defensively it counters everything they do.
I do not think Chris Paul is the best perimeter defender in the NBA. I think he has gone from a poor defender to an average defender who plays on his strengths and the team hides his weaknesses on defense. His defense has been really poor in the playoffs for his career but maybe this year he really steps up.
The Blue Elephant
Well-Known Member
As far as clippers defense and chance for finals NBA.
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/582517927557099520
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/582517927557099520