"Washed up" Chris Paul is the best clutch player in the NBA and will be in All-Star Game this year

Ceiling is higher with Russ, with EG back (give him a few more games), this team is going to take off. The problem with CP3 is simply his age, he is only going to be more prone to a hammy injury come playoffs.

 

So he scored all of 4 points in first 3 and 3/4 Quarters?

 

cp3 can hit some important ball in the final minute to help to team to secure the win. Harden and westbrooks are unable to do this. Honestly to say

 

Yes.

 

Then I guess your definition of taking over a game and mine differ.

 

Chris Paul is still a top 10 point guard in the NBA , if not top 5 but he's not reliable in games played a season let alone post season games.

James Harden game definitely meshes better with the better shooter in Paul but I'm still not sold that either point guard will help us net a ring in the long run if James Harden doesn't play through the way the Refs call games in the post season.

Durant finally did it when he joined the Warriors but hopefully Harden will get us a ring before it's all said and done.

 

That's fine. All that matters to me is who's doing the work in winning/crunch time.

 

Cp3 would do be here if not for his injury concerns

 

the narrative changes for a lot of people here just based upon the agenda. the lack of consistency has been apparent for years. if the roles were reversed they wouldn't be saying the same thing

 

I think if Curry more as a shooting guard tbh. He's not very point-like to me.

 

Really? This is some deep statistical analysis...could of sworn I read somewhere Harden and Westbrook were pretty clutch, but I must be mistaken. I better start watching the games.

 

CP3's first year here was like magic. He was great at literally everything. Harden could rest on the bench and we would still kill teams. He didn't have an albatross contract either. If he didn't pull his hamstring we would have beaten GS and won it all.

Age and injuries have caught up to him. He's playing better than last year, but he's on a non-contending team and is allowed to take a reduced role and pace himself. He'll never be prime CP3 again. That wouldn't have worked for us as we're trying to win a championship in the next few years. Not sure if Westbrook is the partner Harden needs to carry us to the promised land, but I have confidence that he'll be able to play at full intensity.

 

Yet WB leads the decade in assists.

But if Russ is PG but plays like SG, it helps that Harden is SG that plays like PG.

Balance is good, complementary players even better.

Russ dominates in transition, Harden dominates in half court. And they are finally synched up.

 

Im not taking a side on whether he took over whatever game you guys are talking about, but...

this notion of winning/crunch time is silly. As if the last minute means anything at all more than the first minute. If a team goes up by 30 in the first quarter that game is nearly 100% of the time over. Winning time is the entire game.

 

That's your opinion. I respect that POV, but I don't really agree.

 

Disagree with Kyrie being better than CP3. Kyrie is easily the most overrated player in the league. I feel like every team he is on is better when he leaves. Look at Celtics this year and the nets without him. He’s all flash no substance. CP has a worse team in the playoffs in a harder conference. Besides untimely injuries CP has been known to carry teams.

People love kyrie cuz he’s soo flashy makes movies etc, but as far as leading a team he can’t do it. Sure he won a ring, but let’s be real that was mostly Lebron.

 

There are two "schools" on this subject. I actually debated this with another poster some years ago when I agreed with what you are saying.

In general, my position is that the so-called "clutchness" is overrated. From the statistical point of view, crunch time performance is by nature a small sample size. It may just be about luck.

However, "taking over the game when the game is on the line" is not totally meaningless. The stake is not on the same level in the 1st quarter and in the 4th. If you don't play well in the 1st, you still have a lot of time to catch up. The later in the game, the less time you have to correct your mistakes. Psychologically, it is more demanding in the later part of the game. It seems that some players thrive while others shrink in pressure situations. It may have something to do with mental toughness.

Harden has been criticized for wilting in important playoffs games. Hakeem on the other hand always shifted into another gear in those situations. I don't think you can totally dismiss this aspect of measuring greatness of a player.

 

everyone's just leaving a msg here saying CP is injury-prone because they don't have the balls to bump this thread once he has any real issues.

i'mma keep it real, and bump this thread when it counts.