Nuggets Show How to Slow Chris Paul

There really are no words to describe the Hornets' 58-point home loss on Monday, in what was unquestionably a must-win playoff game against the Nuggets. But embarrassing, humiliating, inexcusable, and unconscionable are all good places to start.

After trailing by 22 points at the break, there was no fight in New Orleans to start the third quarter, and they managed just 11 points in the period while Denver continued to play as if it were Game 7 of the Finals.

Part of the blame for the second half lack of effort falls on Byron Scott, but a more than equal share should also fall on the shoulders of Chris Paul. Either way, give Denver their due for providing teams with a blueprint for how to defend one of the league's best point guards.

There's no way around it: Paul played timidly and poorly in his team's biggest game of the season. He didn't get many chances to attack the rim, but when he did, the results were ugly. And he didn't get many chances to create for his teammates, thanks to Denver's defensive scheme that has completely rattled Paul since the final minutes of Game 3.

Let's focus on Denver's defense, because it's something more teams will undoubtedly try to emulate against Paul next season. And if the personnel is there for his opponents to properly execute it, Paul is likely to struggle just as mightily.

Denver has been doing everything that they can to get the ball out of Paul's hands, by sending a double team at him out high above the three-point line. The normally reliable screen and roll with David West has been repeatedly jumped by the Nuggets' defenders, which has forced Paul into tough decisions or impossible situations. More than a few times in Game 4, Paul was seen heaving long shots, or trying to force the ball into tight spots that simply weren't there, as his one-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio (six apiece) will attest.

Again, the players on the roster matter, and there aren't many teams in the league that have the type of big, physical defenders that the Nuggets do, much less guys who match up perfectly with the Hornets. But there's no denying that Dahntay Jones and Kenyon Martin have flat out manhandled Paul and West in this series, which should be cause for concern as the team looks to reconstruct itself this summer.

If other clubs can match the defensive schemes that Denver has shown in the playoffs, it's not that much of a stretch to imagine Paul's numbers dropping from the otherworldly to the simply mediocre. And if that happens, the Hornets can plan their summer vacations a couple of weeks earlier than usual.

In fact, they can schedule them to begin exactly one day after the end of the regular season.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-28-2009 @ 7:10PM

mrcaring4u said...

like i said before,it is time for the hornets to go fishing.byron scott probably can't do that right either.what a mediocre coach.hopefully,jeff bowser(hornets gen mgr.)has started his search for a new coach already.there are plenty of young coaches out there that can do more in 3yrs. than what scott has done in 5.

4-28-2009 @ 7:11PM

so long byron,enjoy your retirement

4-28-2009 @ 9:42PM

cantstopdrinkin said...

Lol i love people that just know whats going on from a general point of view try to write a "breakdown" type article about what really happened. yes the Nuggets did play great defense for them. But that wasnt the Hornets team out there at all. They couldnt even run anything close to the offense they are built for. Real Hornets fans knew coming into the playoffs that we werent going anywhere unless we got real healthy really fast and that didnt happen, in fact with how physical this series their injuries got worse and worse. The Hornets entire offense is predicated on CP and Tysons pick and roll game, as you can tell Tyson's ankle and toe injury are basically forcing him to jump off one leg (notice the duo lead the league in alley oops last year and had almost twice as many as second place) and if you really wanna get an idea of how bad it is just count how many times the top alley oop dup in the league connected in this series. When Tyson is healthy they are able to use the pick and roll game to get West some space to work with and also to get Peja much more open looks then he has gotten this series. But when Chandler has no mobility (ankel/toe), West his trying to hide it but his ankle is making him shoot ALL jumpers instead of just mostly jumpers (if you dont believe me just watch the last 4 games of the season, West is literally hopping on one leg, and Peja's back is making him even slower then he already is. That offense has to have a healthy center with Tyson's size and catch/dunk ability for CP to use the pick and roll to play with defenses and get the defense to collapse more and create mismatches . When he's healthy to do that the offense can funtion like its designed to do instead of everyone standing around and letting the defense just focus on CP like this entire series has been. When CP's teammates dont have their mobility to play basketball and move like they need to for this system to work then games are gonna look like they have this series. Whats gettin on my nerves is a lot of sports writers are going overboard with the Denver defense talk and not actually stating what the REAL problem is. So no CP wont struggle next year like this article trys to predict and no Denver didnt "figure out a way to shut CP down" , yeah the stragedy is to surround Chris Paul with hurt players so the offense cant funtion and just becomes a 1 on 5 game.....

4-28-2009 @ 9:47PM

P.S. By the way i have also maintained that since the 2nd game ended that if the Nuggets shoot the rest of the playoffs as well as they have for most of this series they can seriously beat ANYONE no matter what. And thats not an exaggeration like the talk about the Denver's D from everyone , i have never seen a team shoot this well in the playoffs. Go back and watch all these games, they are just burying shots no matter if they are covered or open.... So dont think just because of my above comment i think that if the Hornets were healthy they would for sure beat Denver, i dont think that. I just think it would be completely different - but if Denver still shoot like this like i said they can beat anyone....

4-29-2009 @ 5:18AM

Thanks Claytor. Really wanted us to get Fred Taylor. That guy still has some pretty good football left in him. But since we didnt when i saw an article the night after the first day of the draft talking about how it was almost for sure the Cards would let James go since they drafted Wells with a 1st round pick i immediately that he would be a great fit with the Saints for a year or two IF we can get him at a reasonable low priice. That second round playoff game keeps surfacing in my head if i see something said about doubts if he can still preform , he willed the Cards to that win and he was THE reason why their offense was able to do anything that game. before he got going they couldnt do anything that game....
By the way im not a Cards fan at all , just letting you knwo cause i read my comment and it kinda sounds like im talking like one ha .....

4-29-2009 @ 5:36AM

Im really surprised that instead of writing an article that breaks down an illusion of what this series has looked like instead of focusing on the real problem and notice just what injuries has taken from this year's playoffs - 3 of the top 6 teams that were expected to compete are now pretty much done for ... the Spurs are gone (Ginobli is out and Duncan was not even a third the player he was the beginning of this season), the Hornets are pretty much done (Chandler,Peja,and West all came back but werent in condition to play to start the series and no doubt the extreme physical nature of the first 4 games has made every injury worse)from injuries preventing them from playing the way they are built to play ; they cant run their offense and cannot guard anyone because of more then 50% of the starting lineup playing on one leg, and then of course as soon as it was announced KG would miss the entire playoffs barring a miracle everyone know that Boston was also out of the "serious" title contention talk. I guarantee at the beginning of the season the Celtics, Spurs, and Hornets were in almost every prediction magazine's top 10 and probably most's top 6 or lower. None of them really underacheived and none of the other teams they were matched up against "figured out how to shut them down" , they just had bad luck by having injuries to important pieces at this time of year. It's a fact - it happens to some contender almost every year and takes them right out of the race no matter what. It sucks but its part of the game....

4-30-2009 @ 2:30PM

The hornets will never advance past the first round of the playoffs as long as scott is the coach.Jeff Bowser(hornets gen.mgr.)should take this time and evaluate not just the players,but scott also.I do not think he is the coach to lead the team anymore.Scott is too laid back and seems to me he is always posing for the photographers.Can anyone tell me when was the last time scott got called for a technical?He never argues any crucial calls that are questionable.The hornets need a coach with more fire and less arm folding.He has been here for 5yrs.and now it's time for a change.Maybe some high school will recruit him.

5-01-2009 @ 4:26PM

jojocbaseballwin said...

cantstopdrinken really get over yourself why write so much. NUGGETS lose in game 7 of the 2nd round they're playin the mavs for christs sake.mavs have dirk, terry, kidd, and howard nugs all you got is melo and billups because you cant consider nene a good player really. cantstopdrinken STOP DRINKEN AND MAYBE YOULL THINK RIGHT!!!!!

5-01-2009 @ 4:29PM

the HORNETS lost by 58!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE HORNETS SUCK AND THE NUGS LOST TO THEM. IF THE NUGS WERE GOOD THEY WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE SERIES 4-0.STOP DRINKEN!!!!!!!!!!

5-01-2009 @ 4:31PM

stop drinken the nugs arent good enough to win it all blog about the game not the team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5-02-2009 @ 1:01AM

mrcaring4u said...
"The hornets will never advance past the first round of the playoffs as long as scott is the coach."

Ha they got to the second round last year with Scott and almost made it to the 3rd. They were 100% healthy and this year had 3 outta there top 4 players hurt . Do the math and youll figure out its not Scott. He is a pretty decent coach. We just have a bunch of injury prone players with no bench.

5-02-2009 @ 1:06AM

Lol jojocbaseball maybe you should stick to baseball. Get over myself? What did i say about myself? Only reason i typed so much is because there was no shorter way to say what i was trying to explain. Sorry if its my fault i know something about basketball and follow the Hornets closer then the casual NBA fan. All i did was type the facts bud. Im not a Nuggets fan so i dont know why your goin off on me about them.

P.S. Wow thats orginial attacking my screen name. Its one i made up in college 6 years ago. Just shows you dont have anything about basketball to type. Oh and the Mavs arent that good , i hate to tell you. Do you remember what my Hornets did to your Mavs when we were healthy last year in the first round ? We KILLED yall , .... bad. And yall were healthy also so there were no excuses, that was a fair series and we whooped your a$$....

5-02-2009 @ 8:56AM

the hornets did not show a marked improvement from last year.yes,they did suffer quite a few of injuries,but that is no excuse.look at the celtics.they are playing without garnett and just may make it to the finals.doc rivers is a quality coach,not decent.he knows how to motivate the players and makes no excuses.like i said,doc should have been coach of the year last year,not scott,for he is a decent(not great)coach.he will probably fit well with a high school team.the hornets will never be a conter unles they get a quality coach.surround the players with a good coach,they are out there.

5-02-2009 @ 8:58AM

send in your resumes to the high schools scott.that is about all you may qualify for

5-02-2009 @ 9:00AM

send in your resumes to high schools scott,that is about all you qualify for

5-03-2009 @ 6:58AM

cantstopdrinkin,sure the hornets got pass the first round last year, but isn't a team suppose to progress and not regress?like i said all alone,scott is not the person to lead the hornets this coming season.if you have not heard,the hornets have given scott permission to talk with other teams.now,what does that tell you?here's a coach of the year last year and his boss(jeff bowser)is starting to distance himself from him already.i always did say that doc rivers should have been coach of the year last season.scott do not fit in this puzzle.