In honor of the on-going writer’s strike, today’s column is a re-run. Okay, it’s not word-for-word something posted before. But the Chris Paul and Deron Williams story has been told before in this forum. What I am doing in this column is updating this tale with data from the first half of the 2007-08 season. In the course of telling the story I am also going to note (and I think I have said this before also) that the Hornets are not quite the surprise this year that people seem to believe. Before I get to that point, though, here is the Paul-Williams story (again).
Updating the Chris Paul-Deron Williams Story
Williams was selected with the third choice in the 2005 NBA draft. Paul was taken with the very next choice. So if we go back about 30 months or so, Williams was believed to be – at least by the Utah Jazz – the better player. However, when we look at the college numbers of each player – reported in Table One (originally posted HERE) — it was clear that Paul was the more productive collegian.
Table One: Williams and Paul in College
As rookies it was also quite clear that Paul was the more productive player. In 2005-06, Williams posted a 0.020 WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes]. Meanwhile, Paul’s mark of 0.308 easily led all rookies. When the season was over Paul was named Rookie of the Year and people were wondering what the Jazz were thinking on draft night in 2005.
Last year, though, Utah’s fans might have thought the Jazz had been vindicated. Williams and the Jazz advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Paul and the Hornets literally didn’t show up in the playoffs. After seeing Williams in the playoffs for three rounds, and not seeing Paul play at all, many observers began to believe that Utah had made the right choice.
The numbers, though, said otherwise. Table Two reports what each player did during the 2006-07 regular season.
Table Two: Williams and Paul in 2006-07
Table Two reports that Williams improved his sophomore year. Paul, meanwhile, was a bit worse. Despite such movements, though, Paul was still a much more productive player last year.
So here is the story I have told about Chris Paul and Deron Williams:
Chris Paul was the more productive player in college.
Chris Paul was the more productive player during each player’s rookie season.
Chris Paul was the more productive player in 2006-07.
At the beginning of this year (in the following columns), I again noted that Paul was the more productive player.
Chris Paul vs. Deron Williams, Again
When we look at where the Hornets and Jazz were at earlier this season, and if we consider the 2007 NBA playoffs, it seemed like the Jazz were the better team. And consequently, for many people, Williams had to be the better player. Hence, many people read these columns and politely (or not so politely) offered an opposing viewpoint.
But at the midpoint of the 2007-08 campaign, the Hornets have the best record in the Western Conference. And the Jazz are just barely in the playoff field. Suddenly, as the team results have changed, the perception of Paul and Williams has again shifted. Now Paul is being referred to as a possible MVP candidate. And Williams is now just a very good point guard.
When we turn to the numbers each player has generated this season, we see that the general perception of each player is now consistent with the data.
Table Three: Williams and Paul at the midpoint of the 2007-08 season.
As Paul has done in the past, he bests Williams with respect to rebounds, steals, and turnovers. In fact, his value with respect to net possessions (rebounds + steals – turnovers) is worth more than eight additional wins across an 82 game season. When you add in Paul’s advantage in assists and personal fouls, you can see that even though Williams is the more efficient shooter (and slightly better at blocking shots), the level of productivity offered by Williams does not come close to what we see from Paul.
Let me repeat something I have said in the past: Statistics are tracked to separate the player from the team. When we look at the numbers, we can see that Paul has consistently offered more than Williams. Although the team results differed, the numbers alwasys told the same story. Too often, though, people ignore (or don’t understand) the numbers. And when that happens, the team result ends up driving the evaluation of the player.
Now let me emphasize the story the numbers tell. Williams is most definitely an above average point guard. Paul, though, is currently the most productive point guard in the league. And one could argue, a good choice for league MVP.
The Hornets Surprise?
One of the reasons Paul is considered an MVP candidate is that few people believed the Hornets would be this good.
So how good is the team from New Orleans?
After 41 games (yes, I know they have played 44 games but I am working off my mid-season data base), the Hornets had an efficiency differential – offensive efficiency minus defensive efficiency – of 6.2. This projects out to about 56 wins across an 82 game season.
What if each player on the Hornets (except the rookies) played as well as they did in 2006-07? The answer is in Table Four.
Table Four: The Hornets at the midpoint of the 2007-08 season
Table Four tells us that the Hornets, if each player did what he did last year, should expect to be on pace to win between 50 and 51 games in 2007-08. So New Orleans has improved, but only by about five games. In sum, the Hornets are not really much of a surprise. Given what Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler have done in the past, we should have expected this team to be competitive in the West. Yes, the team is improved – primarily due to even more production from Paul – but we should not be surprised.
Once again, if this entire column read like a re-run, that’s because I have said all this before. Even the stuff about Paul and Chandler was said in the following post:
The Best One-Two Punch in the Association
For those looking for new stuff, let me note that on Tuesday night the Hawks finally managed to play their 41st game of the season. So I can now complete the mid-season database. This means that I should be able to offer some original material (or not so original stuff) on the first half of the 2007-08 season. Look for this stuff to be posted soon.
– DJ
Our research on the NBA was summarized HERE.
The Technical Notes at wagesofwins.com provides substantially more information on the published research behind Wins Produced and Win Score
Wins Produced, Win Score, and PAWSmin are also discussed in the following posts:
Simple Models of Player Performance
What Wins Produced Says and What It Does Not Say
Introducing PAWSmin — and a Defense of Box Score Statistics
Finally, A Guide to Evaluating Models contains useful hints on how to interpret and evaluate statistical models.
Wages of Wins Journal 
Sam Cohen
January 30, 2008
I know this is a post about Paul and Williams, but I was curious to get your thoughts on the year that David West is having. If I’m recalling correctly, in the past you’ve used him as an example of a player who changed his game (for the worse, according to WP) to get a better paycheck (i.e. he focused more on scoring at the expense of other areas of the game). This year, I’ve started to see a number of commentators mention him as a player in the running for all-star consideration. In looking at your chart, I noticed that he’s an above average performer so far this year according to WP. Is his improvement scoring related (i.e. better efficiency), or has he returned to being a more all-around player?
TG
January 30, 2008
The Williams vs. Paul thing again? Everyone agrees with you and has always agreed with you so why do you keep harping on the same issue over and over again as if the rest of the world were heretics and you have the one true knowledge?
Hollinger’s PER has Paul at 22.1,22.0,27.4 (05/06, 06/07, 07/08) against Williams at 12.4,17.1,20.5.
Oliver’s ORtg has Paul at 114, 116, 122 against Williams at 103,111,116.
Oliver’s DRtg has Paul at 104,106,100 against Williams at 110,110,109.
Kubatkos’s Win Shares has Paul at 30,25,25 against Williams at 9,22,15.
There is not one season where anyone above has suggested that Williams is a more efficient player than Paul no matter whose system is used… so what’s the beef?
It would be far more interesting to do a Wilt vs. Russell comparison by estimating certain unavailable stats. Then we are talking about Zeus and Poseidon, instead of mere Hector and Achilles.
dberri
January 30, 2008
Sam,
West is better this year with respect to rebounds and blocked shots. His shooting efficiency is about the same.
Overall he is offering more this year, but he is not one of the top power forwards in the West. Hopefully I will be able to get the list of all players on line sometime in the next day or so.
Owen
January 30, 2008
TG – I don’t think its really about the other stat methods here. It’s about the popular media. In the press,, Williams has been judged to be as good a player for about the last nine months, ever since the Jazz went to the playoffs.
Scoring is clearly the number one bias in the NBA. But the bias towards judging players to be better than they are because of the team they are on is a big one also. Is David West better than David Lee. I don’t think so, but it becomes much more difficult to make the argument with the way the Hornets have been playing thus far.
stevem
January 30, 2008
Charley Rosen has argued that Williams is better than Paul. Rosen certainly isn’t a stat-head, but his view of the game is complementary and he shouldn’t be dismissed.
antonio
January 30, 2008
From what I know, there was a tiny debate at the beginning of the season about who was better. Now, almost everywhere in the media, Chris Paul is considered an MVP candidate while Deron Williams is fighting for one of the last all-star spots. Huge difference. I agree that this is a story that really isn’t different than anybody elses. For about the first month of the season there was a debate, and Chris Paul has quickly ended the debate.
Joseph
January 30, 2008
https://dberri.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/defending-chris-paul/
Read the comments. Pretty big debate at the end of last season, almost 2 to 1 emphatically proclaiming Deron as superior to Paul.
Reasons cited: playoff success, durability, Paul’s “showmanship” (disparagingly compared to Vince Carter), Paul’s unskilled teammates inflating his individual stats, Deron’s grasp of the “team concept”.
I don’t think it should be implied that no one commenting on this site ever argued dberri’s conclusions regarding Paul and Williams. Such discussions were prevelant in the media as well. The difference is that they’re not held accountable for their proclamations.
Jason
January 30, 2008
“Inflated stats” due to teammates seems to be one of those things that can be argued either way. I’ve seen people argue that a player has “inflated stats” because his teammates take pressure off of him, making it easier to collect the stats. I’ve also seen it argued that a player has “inflated stats” because his teammates are terrible and boost his numbers since “someone has to get the .” It seems to me that both are ad hoc explanations to disregard any statistical measure.
Do either occur more than the other? Is the effect of teammates really pronounced enough that either scenario are regularly worth considering?
Jason
January 30, 2008
sentence should have read “someone has to get the points/rebounds/assists/steals.” WordPress appears to have issues with my formatting from my away-from-home computer.
dberri
January 30, 2008
Thank Joseph,
I was beginning to think my memory wasn’t working. I certainly remember this being a debate.
antonio
January 30, 2008
what I was saying is that now this debate has ended. So to bring up a point that was a debate months ago and argue with those people now seems like not the most interesting piece of work. Especially because almost everybody is in agreement now that Paul is superior. When Berri first wrote it in may and again the second time, there was good reason for it. Now there is no reason for this argument.
dberri
January 30, 2008
Antonio,
I think you missed the point of the post. I am arguing that the reason people don’t see this as a debate is because the Hornets are now better than the Jazz. In other words, people are not separating the team outcome from the evaluation of the player.
If the Jazz pass the Hornets in the standings in the second half of the season, you can expect this debate to return.
Ben Guest
January 30, 2008
Who did the Bulls trade Tyson Chandler for? PJ Brown and somebody else? Will that go down as one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history?
dberri
January 30, 2008
Ben,
The Pistons once traded Dennis Rodman for Sean Elliott. So that was pretty lopsided.
Maybe a post on most lopsided trades would be good. Anyone have any other suggestions?
jpf...........
January 30, 2008
Deron Williams is the best point guard in the league! Did most of the NBA fan base (especially Paul fans) not see Western Conference Playoffs? Deron was torching the Bowen and the Spurs. His first 4 games he was averaging 30 points and 9 assists a game. First of all, has Paul ever had a 4 game stretch like that, let alone in a championship game. It’s too bad the team (jazz) as a whole dug them selves a hole in the beginning of those games. Because Deron would have won those games for the Jazz. Deron in a desperate attempt to save the games turned it on in the fourth quarters. The majority of his teammates had a horrible series against the Spurs. Guys like Okur, Fisher, and Harpring couldn’t buy a shot. Deron would have averaged a few more assists if the team wouldn’t have shot so poorly.
Deron was so clutch. He put on a great show. He clearly showed that he can dominate. He has every tool and can get any shot he wants.
And dont forget about the two series before the Spurs. He was huge in both of those as well.
Now as far as Paul barely leading Williams in Stats. There is a very easy reason for that. Rebounds: Set by Jerry Sloan’s game plan, Deron isn’t supposed to go get rebounds. He is to defend the fast break. There are only a certain amount rebounds possible game, like wise with other stats as well such as assists. And with the Jazz shooting the ball so well where are the rebounds to come from? And when they come, we all know they are going to Boozer. Assists: Paul has the ball in his far more than Deron. The Jazz play a completely different style. The Jazz lead the league in assists at 26.1 and Deron produces 9.5 of those. Think of those other 17 assists and that they are going to other players. Not that Deron couldn’t get more but it’s game plan by design. He put up 41 points in Dallas this year and again it’s unfortunate that Josh Howard scored 47 quieting Deron’s performance. I know Paul had 43 points in a game, and had a 20 assist game. Well Deron also had 20 assist game this year and last. So aren’t stats comparable by reason. There is no significant difference that says Paul is a better player, let alone a much better player.
The meter that I like to use to judge a player is how do they perform in the playoffs, in big games, and under pressure. Deron without a doubt showed he is clearly in the top class of the league. Along side guys like Dwayne Wade. Maybe Chris Paul will be big time too. But we haven’t seen that yet. So don’t crown his ass yet.
P.S. Look for Deron and the Jazz to put a smack down on the Hornets this monday like they have everytime they have met since these two were drafted. Even when they were rookies and Deron hadn’t been starting. Deron started against the Hornets and they layed woop down after woop down and Deron had a better game every game. Also I hope the Jazz meet up with the Hornets in the playoffs and these two can square off and put on a great show. But Deron Williams will shine brighter and the world will finally shut the hell up and realize Williams is the better player
dberri
January 31, 2008
Thanks jpf for proving a point a bit different from what you intended.
Antonio… as you can see, some people still think Williams is better than Paul.
Ben Guest
January 31, 2008
“Deron in a desperate attempt to save the games turned it on in the fourth quarters.”
If that is the case, why didn’t he “turn it on” for the whole game?
Ben Guest
January 31, 2008
DB,
I’d love to see a “lopsided trades” post.
yo
January 31, 2008
Williams and Paul are without question the two best young point guards in the league, but Paul is the better of the two. I have never seen anyone with the ability to go anywhere he wants to go so easily and to split double teams like they are not even there. Remarkable.
dberri
January 31, 2008
Ben,
Saw your blog last night (very good). I am sure you could write an interesting post on lopsided trades.
Jason
January 31, 2008
Baron Davis for Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton was pretty lopsided, though the Hornets were simply interested in erasing salary. It’s a funny world, but it’s the reality of NBAcaponomics that trades are often more about swapping and matching salary than swapping potentially equal talent.
TG
January 31, 2008
“Again, numbers help us think. Numbers do not do our thinking for us.”
Howard IS great, but Camby and Kidd are overvalued in your system (rebounds).
JPF yesterday brought up an interesting point or two, which have been mentioned before.
1) Roles: Team constructs and strategy often determine individual productivity that doesn’t necessarily correlate 100% to individual ability (or potential individual productivity). Famous example: Bob Cousy surely had fewer defensive rebounds because he was always heading up the floor for a fast break outlet pass from Bill Russell. Most teams on the offensive end designate one guard to hang back to prevent opponent fast breaks. Surely this designated guard gets punished with fewer offensive rebounds… and further punished with increased fouls on opponent fast breaks.
It is interesting that Deron Williams does get such a low number of rebounds, considering he has almost a Barkley-type body for a guard. Allen Iverson also has always had a low rebound total for a guard… but that could just be ‘body preservation’ because he takes repeated beatings in the lane when he’s trying to score. Again, this might come down to strategy in a way: “Allen, you can only take so much abuse… so take it when you have the ball and trying to score… and let the big guys try to get the team misses.”
2) Playoffs: Deron Williams was electric in the playoffs last year… so he certainly showed what he COULD do… when the games were more important and the 82-game team strategies weren’t going to get the job done. Again, this is a case a ‘Roles’… and Deron’s productivity now correlated better with his true ability.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of ‘Deron 2006/07 82-games’ vs. ‘Deron 2007 playoffs’.
3) I think the problem with many player debates is that one side is arguing that one player is more ‘productive’… while the other side is arguing that the other person is ‘better’. Meaning… one side is arguing about productivity… and the other side is arguing about ability. They aren’t always the same due to the reasoning above.
4) I think that what NBA coaches are trying to do is maximize the synergy of the team, thus maximize TEAM productivity. This may have the effect of certain individuals individual productivity being less than ‘true’ individual productivity (ability)… and this will naturally occur when you have five players but only one ball.
PS: Your bad trade analysis idea would be interesting. (Wilt vs. Russell would be best).
TG
January 31, 2008
By the way, I never mean CAPS to be shouting. I’m just too stupid to know how to put in italics.
dberri
January 31, 2008
TG,
So initially you argue there is no debate between Paul and Williams. Then you argue there is a debate.
I have always thought that you don’t read what others and I say very carefully. Apparently you don’t read your own words very carefully either.
dberri
January 31, 2008
About the trade post..
Jason brings up a good point about the salary cap. Some very lopsided trades were just about one team getting rid of salaries. I do not believe that was the case when Rodman was traded for Elliott.
TG
January 31, 2008
dberri,
God, are you sensitive! Read what I WROTE. There is no statistical debate about who is more productive. Absolutely none. And that is what you present on this site… STATISTICAL debates.
I am merely saying that it is open to debate as to who has more ability… not who is more productive.
You never talk about ability, or ranges of demonstrated productivity within true ability… and that is what I am presenting. For more on this concept, read CURVE BALL which was published a few years back. I think it was done by economists. There is a chapter that talks about performance vs. ability, but in a discrete game like baseball, the concepts will be slightly different than in a continuous game like basketball.
TG
January 31, 2008
dberri,
Even if I changed my mind (which I didn’t, really), what is wrong with that? What is wrong with reading and assimilating what someone else said (even if I don’t “read what others say… carefully) and being pursuaded by their argument? Isn’t that better than your resolutely sticking to a formula that overvalues rebounds?
Ben Guest
January 31, 2008
DB,
Thanks for checking out the blog. Appreciate the kind words.
jpf.................
January 31, 2008
Dberri, Absolutely it’s a debate! First let me just say that it is B.S. that Brandon Roy made the allstar team over Deron Williams. I can understand Paul. But why Roy? He didn’t have better numbers. Not even close. Roy- 19 & 4&4 Williams 19&9&3. What the hell are they going off of? We know they don’t choose point guards and shooting guards. They are grouped as just guards. Deron has been in the league longer. The Jazz have a better record. Deron is big enough to play shooting guard. Roy pretty much has played the point all year. I know he is a nice player but C ‘mon, Deron isn’t? ( on a side note: I swear their is a conspiracy to push for Rookies Of The Year to get more exposure. but that’s for another discussion). h As of now Deron has just been put down a notch on the scale of better players in the league. Are people already starting to sleep on Deron Williams? And Deron has just started to get warmed up. The Jazz are 12 and 2 out of their last 14. Deron in that stretched has averaged 20 and 11.7, he has been playing out his mind. And in the first 18 games of the season he averaged 22 and 10. I know the coaches pick the reserves but he barely registered on the voting balots. Because there isn’t very many Jazz fans. And the coaches are dumb for picking Roy over him.
The reason for Deron slightly lower stat is the Jazz had a horrible december plagued with back to back road games and more road games. And so with the whole team struggling so did Deron. He averaged 16 and 8 during that bad stretch. One bad month. So what? He is only 23 and the Jazz are the second youngest team in the league. Granted Portland is the youngest team. But the point is young teams go through bad stretches. Portland had theirs at the beginning of the year. They lost a ton of games too, in one bad stretch. Deron’s stats are more than likely to start going back up and be right in the mix again. And the person up there isn’t that far ahead. I’d be willing to bet though that he will continue to play at a high level into the latter part of the season and catch Paul. The next month will be a little bit of challenge for them when they play 2 more road games than homes games. But the Jazz finish the season with 10 home games and 4 road games. Think they aren’t gonna be blazing hot. Think again.The Jazz have the best home record in the league. The jazz already went throught their toughest part of their schedule already. I predict the Jazz will finish second behind Phoenix.
But Coming up real soon is a huge game between the Jazz and the Hornets. This monday after the Super Bowl. I promise you that you will see Deron turn it up to prove a point for being snubbed. I have watched him do it. He won’t say it. But he enjoys going up against Chris Paul and more often than not has out played him. Is that not perfect timing or what? It’s gonna be a big game with both teams being so hot right now. And with the whole allstar snub. It’s gonna be show and great to watch. The game might even have a chance of being picked up by TNT or ESPN. And now everyone can stop with the Jazz having a better supporting cast. David West made the allstar team. Just as Boozer did as a reserve. The Hornets have a better record. A better center who damn near made the allstar game. So I’d say thing are pretty much equal now. I promis Deron will out play Chris Paul and the Jazz will win and Deron will put up better numbers. He will cross Paul up real bad a couple of times. The crowd will go oooooh. The broadcasters will fumble over their words in awh and say nice things about Deron. And it will be awful for Paul fans to watch. Nothing against Paul, it happens to everyone he chooses to mess with. Even if they are friends. He’ll do it to make a point. But after all that the knuckleheads who think Paul is some how on a whole different level than Deron, will continue to think the same and make up more excuses about why Deron showed him up. Again! It seems like it has something do with the national bias against the Jazz. With them all being in that crazy cult town in Utah. And with that stupid name. The Jazz. What the hell kind of sports name is that anyways? And with that played out Jerry Sloan style pick and roll crap. C’mon people! What is the deal. Why can’t we look at Deron Williams and not think like that. He isn’t even from Utah. Doesn’t live in Utah. Did not choose to go to Utah. Did everyone forget that Deron led Illinois to one of the best college basketball seasons ever? With guys like Luther Head and Dee Brown. Can we as NBA fans not look at players from other teams and appreciate their talents. I think Chris Paul is bad ass and I think the same of Roy. All I would ask it for Paul fans and NBA fans in general, to say it’s a toss up. Or that’s a tough question. Not it’s conclusive, Paul is better. Folks. That draft was a special draft. With Paul and Williams coming out together. These two players are something else. But people are gonna sleep on Deron Williams and miss out. I can’t imagine a world where I would have purposely chosen not watch Dwayne Wade and the Heat in the finals and miss one the greatest performances in the NBA Finals. All because it wasn’t my team playing after all. Man! Crazy! I can’t understand that. I know what you wanna say next. That we aren’t saying that. We like Deron. We think he is a good player. But hehehe but we’ll take Paul no question. Deron Williams is on that level of performing high when it counts as Wade. That’s not a joke. Not as talented but just as capable of getting the job done the same. And I’m not Crazy! You people are Crazy! In time you will see and in the future you can all say that you thought Williams was great all along and you will still be cool. And for the record I do think Williams is better. But mostly because I seen what he can do in the playoffs……… Oh my hell that new fave 5 commercial with Wade is hilarious, where it’s a flash back of all the past commercials. I’ll see ya’ll later and I will be sure to check back after the game Monday to see what is being said then. And I will admit I was wrong if I am
jpf.................
January 31, 2008
I’m not done.. If you disagree that Deron’s playoff run of 07 was not great. I say you are wrong. In the Houston series and Golden State series he played great. He put up his regular season averages, hit clutch shots, won on the road, and lead his team to victories. But when it came to the San Antonio series. He was on a whole different level. He put up numbers to back it up too. Averaged 30 points 9 assists in the first four games. I remember they threw up a stat that he was only one of a couple people to do that in Conference Finals game. And he did this against a one of the best defensive players in the league. Not even the mighty Lebron James could do any better than Deron . Lebron averaged 22 points and 6 assists in the finals against Bowen and the Spurs. And in the last game only scored 14 points and 4 assists because Bowen D’d him up. Lebron admitted it. So why couldn’t Bowen stop Deron? Not only could Bowen not stop Deron. He looked really stupid trying. He kept falling for Deron’s crossover over and over again. Deron would already be in the air shooting and Bowen would be 7 feet east of him looking south guarding nobody. The Spurs had to put Bowen on Deron because Parker couldn’t guard him either. And it should be noted than Bowen is 4 inches taller than Deron.
Let’s talk about those games though. Was it just me, or was Mark Jackson falling all over himself talking about how much he liked Deron Williams? He couldn’t stop talking about him. Neither could the other guy. It felt like it was more like the Deron Williams Show instead of the finals. In fact Mark Jackson started saying going into commercial breaks ” it’s the Deron Williams Show”. That’s all they could talk about, Deron and how good he was perfoming. Mark Jackson said he was his second best point guard in the league. Mark Jackson should have a respected opinion. Shouldn’t he? (2nd all time assists). Dan Patrick made mention to the fact that there is another emerging superstar with the initials D.W. in that years playoffs, essentially implying a similar performance. Charles Barkley. Everybody was in on it. At the end of the season Deron Was invited to go play on the USA team because of his performance. Now suddenly that all has been forgotten for some reason. But let’s talk about his play to prove my point. Deron showed that he can turn it up in the 4th quarter (by the way Deron is 2nd in the league this year in 4th quarter points behind Lebron James this year) Williams was averaging something like 17 points in the 4th quarters of those games. He looked unstoppable. He pulled out all the moves. Hit threes, mid jumpers, step backs , drove, layed it up over Duncan and Alberto again and again, got to the foul line, dunked on Alberto and his glossy hair, crossed everybody up, turned jauqe vaughn into a YouTube character overnight, played D (he averaged 3 steals a game and 1 block and 5 rebounds) . He couldn’t miss he was making practically every shot in the fourth quarters. And yes he did try to save the Jazz in a desperate attempt at the end. He had tried to play the right way first thoug . He should have been averaging some more modest numbers. Something like 20 and 10. But His teammates failed him and made him take over, plain and simple. Was Deron supposed to conquer the mighty Spurs all by himself.? His teammates couldn’t buy a shot except Boozer. Okur, harpring, kirilenko, Fisher, were putting up some flat numbers like 1 for 15 and and 1 for 7 and 0 for 10 and 2 for 12. night in and night out that is what his guys were giving him. What was he supposed to do. He tried to get his teammates involved. Most of his points came in the fourth quarter. When it was clear he wasn’t gonna get anything from his teamates. But it wasnt’t good enough because the Jazz couldn’t get a stop. So when the Jazz were already in a huge hole. He tried like hell to get them out of it. and damn near did every game, brought them back from down 20 or so in each game to 5 and 7 and 6 point leads for the Spurs in each of games 1,2,and4. Game three Jazz win because ” young team” at home played a lot better. Game 5 Deron plays hurt. But don’t negate the facts. Deron was incredible. His teammates blew. Jazz lose. Doesn’t mean he didn’t play like a Super Star should. The owner of the Jazz Larry Miller was impprest. A couple months after the series. He stated he was prepared to offer Deron a contract somwhere around 89 million next year.
jpf.................
January 31, 2008
lol…haha those are pretty long comments. Didn’t feel like i typed that much. Sorry. Didn’t mean to take over the forum
jpf.................
January 31, 2008
It also should be noted that Roy campaigned this year for his allstar selection by sending all the coaches Ipods with his highlights on them.
jpf.................
January 31, 2008
correction Roy averaged 5 assists this year