I’m about to retire. Looking back, can I say that?
Chris Paul was the perfect point guard in the old era, but he was overpowered by the rule breakers in the new era.
The John Stockton of this era, right?
Ten years ago, there was a question on Zhihu, comparing Paul, who had been playing for ten years, and Curry, who had just won a championship.
What I said at the time:
Paul is the better point guard.
Curry is the better player.
Not everyone agreed when I said this, but ten years later, Curry and Paul's achievements seem to go without saying.
It is said that Paul is small, but Curry (and Parker) are not big either, right? Still have the Finals MVP in hand.
Paul is praised by many as the perfect point guard, not without reason:
A coach on the field, controlling the rhythm of the game, looking for players with hot hands to give the ball, calling appropriate offensive routines, leading the team, and boosting morale.
Tenacity, selflessness, overall view, competitive spirit, game rhythm, situation assessment, vision, personal attack threat.
can be regarded as the perfect point guard in the old era.
What Curry has:
An unparalleled shot in history. Close to the unparalleled pick-and-roll with the ball in history. Top ability to get away without the ball and with the ball. Top-notch dribbling and passing (although not necessarily as freewheeling as Paul). Quite a broad view.
Paul completed the old age.
Curry opened up a new era.
Paul's offensive and defensive skills are almost perfect, a textbook. Good passer, high efficiency, low turnovers, excellent defender.
Not only is he not perfect, but also because of his height, so back then Deron, who was half a head taller, would "beat Paul while eating and sleeping."
The second is an extension of this, takeover and toughness.
Many people will compare Paul Deronash, after all, "they both average 20 points and 10 assists per game", but they are different.
Deron runs the Jazz system in positional warfare, but he also likes to push counterattacks; Nash's seven-second blitz in the early 21st century opened up the era; the magician's "performance time" was earlier. Even Harden, the assist king in 2016-17, has a faster passing speed than Paul.
Paul is very stable. Both offense and defense. Stay calm and don’t take risks. Be selfless and don’t rush to attack. This is the criterion for a perfect point guard, so every tall man (Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, Ayton) can have a good time by his side; no matter which team he goes to (Hornets, Clippers, Thunder, Suns), he can achieve the best record in team history.
But when you need to fight bravely in the playoffs?
He reached the Western Conference Finals twice, once with the scoring leader Harden: In 2018, he was the Rockets' "non-Harden" option; after he was injured, the Rockets only had the magic ball, and finally lost 27 long-range shots in the seventh game to the Warriors. But Paul is indeed Harden's wing: Harden provides firepower and assault, and Paul is responsible for revitalization and scheduling.
In 2021, Paul and the Suns entered the Finals. Booker was the Suns' scoring leader, and Paul was responsible for conditioning. After leading the Bucks 2-0 in the finals, coach Budenholzer asked Holiday to face Paul. Paul could not break free, and the Bucks reversed 4-2.
Look at Curry:
In 2021, Paul was entangled by Holiday, and the Suns were reversed by the Bucks; a year later, the Suns were defeated by the Mavericks, and Curry led the team to defeat the Mavericks. In the finals, Curry encountered the Eastern Conference's No. 1 defense Celtics + Smart, the defensive player of the year, in hot pursuit. He averaged 31 points per game in the finals to win the championship.
In terms of passing, controlling the field, feeding and scheduling, I think Paul is always above Curry, the perfect organizer of the old era.
But Curry didn't need to schedule and broke the game directly.
Luka in the 2024 Finals and Alexander in the 2025 championship are simply the point guard scoring leaders: This is an era where the ball holder needs to be the scoring leader, not the assist leader.
Back to Stockton:
John Stockton ranks first in history in assists and steals, long-lasting, tough and reasonable.
But Magic is a better instigator than Stockton: It is said that Stockton's assist number is higher than Magic's, but assists are different from assists.
Stockton rarely takes risks, Magic is always taking risks; Stockton has a glimpse of long passes and chasing shots, and chasing pressure, finding misplacements and destroying defenses are Magic's daily routine.
Stockton is the perfect traditional point guard, Magic is unique.
So the Stockton Jazz lost to the Rockets in 1994 and 1995, and lost to Jordan in 1997 and 1998. It’s not that Stockton + Postman’s play style is unreasonable:
The Rockets are the four shooters around Dream, and the Bulls are Jordan.
The ultimate single devil, defeating the most perfect rationality of the old era.
This principle can even be applied to early years. Many people know that Oscar Robertson was the triple-double king before Westbrook (and Jokic), but his style of play is more like Paul who is nearly two meters tall than Westbrook. But in 1965, the Cardinals already believed that the Lakers' Jerry West could catch up with Oscar: because West's defense was tougher and his "range was beyond common sense."
"Beyond common sense" is enough to counter "existing perfection".
Just like Curry's illogical long-range shots, they can create a more superior offense than Paul's passes.
The great thing about Paul than Stockton is that he is a more gorgeous and powerful individual player than Stockton, and he has experienced more injuries than Stockton. Most players will basically be disabled after his knee injury from 2008-10, but he still had time to take the Clippers and Suns to the highest level in team history.
In 2005, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton believed that Paul was a pianist, mathematician, and a pure genius. Paul told SI in 2017, "If you want to go home, there are only so many ways to go." Also on the basketball court. After I pass one person, other defenders can only appear from a few limited places - his mind is always pursuing the most perfect basketball.
Essentially, they are both perfect point guards of the era: if you want to learn to play basketball, Paul and Stockton are the best examples. They adapt perfectly to the rules, perfectly assist and support their teammates, and can represent the "point guard" in the museum.
It's just that they are not Curry and Jordan after all: they are not traditional point guards and shooting guards, but they are strong enough to break the rules of the era.
source:www 7m cn