Deron Williams and Chris Paul will be forever linked in this league. Not only because they are two of the best young guards around, but also because the Jazz had to pick between them in the 2005 draft, and they selected Williams with the third pick, letting Paul go to the Hornets at four. We're only halfway through the third season of their respective careers, but so far, the Jazz seemed to have made the right choice, at least when comparing the two based on their head-to-head match-ups.
At this point in their young careers, Deron Williams absolutely owns Chris Paul when the two play against each other, and it's not even close. Williams' team has won seven of the eight meetings, and Deron is out-shooting Paul by almost 20 percentage points from the field in those games. Last night's performance by Williams though may have been the most dominant of all.
Williams had 29 points and 11 assists (on 11-13 shooting!), while getting Paul into early foul trouble and holding him to just six points and six assists. The Jazz won their ninth in a row over a very good Hornets team behind this monster performance from Williams.
As Will mentioned earlier, Deron clearly played this game with a chip on his shoulder, obviously feeling a little snubbed for being left off of the West All-Star roster, perhaps in favor of Paul. The reason Paul made it though is because he's lead the Hornets from a lottery team to the top of the Western Conference, while putting up similar, slightly better numbers than Williams. So while Williams may own Paul when they play head-to-head, the fact that Paul's contributions made such a big difference in his team's fortunes made it a no-brainer to select him to the All-Star squad over Deron.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-05-2008 @ 12:25PM
Rob said...
Also, don't forget about their college match up. Illinois absolutely crushed Wake Forest in 2004 when Wake Forest was ranked #1.
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2-05-2008 @ 12:34PM
Ryne Nelson said...
I was at that game, and it was a dream. Deron is probably the only person in the NBA who can handle CP3.
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2-05-2008 @ 1:08PM
Eric said...
No way. Chris Paul is one of the top 10 players in the league, Deron can not say that at all. Paul is leading Williams in points, assists, rebounds, steals, shooting percentage. Absolutely wrong on this one.
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2-05-2008 @ 1:28PM
MC Welk said...
Hey Eric, since you love stats, look at their stats head-to-head. They at least invalidate the theory that Paul is a better man-on-man defender.
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2-05-2008 @ 1:38PM
Matt said...
Baron Davis is better than either one!
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2-05-2008 @ 2:06PM
John S. said...
"The reason Paul made it though is because he's lead the Hornets from a lottery team to the top of the Western Conference, while putting up similar, slightly better numbers than Williams."
I guess everyone forgot how GREAT THE UTAH JAZZ WERE before they drafted Deron Williams. Oh yes, a spectacular 26-56. What a garbage argument. Paul has gotton far more media coverage all the way from his days at WF and has always been outshined by Williams. Look at the UofI WF matchups. Everyone just feels all "poor pitiful pearl" for the Hornets cause they didnt have a "home court" persay for two years. well get a better owner and stop pressing inferior players in the media.
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2-05-2008 @ 4:20PM
§ said...
Although D-Will pwns him in the H2H battle, CP3 is the MVP candidate! #1 Fantasy player on Yahoo
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2-21-2008 @ 9:50AM
Jeremy said...
Yeah CP3 might have bigger numbers than Deron, but thats only because Deron makes better use of the team around him. He is a much better leader. Not to mention in all the games that they have played eachother Deron has dominated!! He fits in with Jerry Sloans game!
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2-28-2008 @ 4:46PM
Brent said...
If Williams makes better use of the team around him than Paul, why aren't his assists higher than Paul's? I agree that the Jazz have more options, but its not Deron making every play either. They are both very, very good though and Deron does own Paul H2H.
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