Spotting even the worst team in the league a 20 point lead with 15 minutes left in a game should be certain defeat in the NBA. Paul or no Paul, this was a huge win anyway you cut it. And refering to Maris's original post their was a definite skill learned tonight by the young Blazers. The most aggresive team will generally win the game. Portland set back for 3 quarters before they decided to go balls out. When they finally did, momentum switched and the Hornets were helpless to stop it. Big big win, and hopefully a lesson learned.
Hell, all the Hornets had to do was play solid defense and this one was in the bag for them even without Paul. Instead Bayless ripped their hearts out their chests and ate it in front of them. This was in fact neither a good win nor a bad win, it was simply a win.
And he had a menacing scowl on his face the entire time... That dude went over to the dark side and I love it
More like Bayless showed why he is in the team's future while Sergio's weaknesses were magnified by Chris Paul. Would Paul have set an NBA assist record if Sergio had guarded him all night?
Except the Clippers don't have any All-Stars, and the Hornets still had a two-time All-Star on the court. So, not really.
Barrett said something about 7 assists for Paul with 6 minutes left in the first quarter. I thought he must have meant for the entire team, but no, Paul had a few baskets plus 7 assists in that time period. Damn he's good...
I really think he might be the best player in the NBA. Either he's the best, or he's right there with LeBron. Paul is a legit quadruple-double threat.
I wasn't being negative, but some of you have no comprehension skills or just come here to make personal attacks rather than offer your views. It's a fair question, and I was interested in other's opinions. As I said, I think any win is good. Someone pointed out it was on the road, which is always nice. But I think the players will have the same thought in the back of their minds that I do: Could/would they have come back with Paul playing? It certainly never appeared that way, but now we'll never know.
It's a great win. You can bitch and complain about shitty ball for 3 quarters, but last time I checked, the game is 48 minutes.
Actually he was 0-3, and pretty much the only Hornet not being given a free pass to the basket. Joel would have made a huge difference in the start of the game had he been in. After checking the play by play, Paul scored all 3 of his first 3 attempts against Bayless after failing on all 3 of his first 3 attempts against Sergio. Paul finished 3-11, scoring a single point against Sergio on a FT. Clear evidence again who can defend and who got schooled repeatedly. This has been a pattern since Blake went down. When Bayless learns to move his feet and body instead of slapping wildly at the ball, he'll become a defender. Right now it's just pure effort and adrenaline with no thought or experience involved. It looks good to the casual observer, but it plays into the hands of the opponent.
It might have been a fair question had you really been asking a question, but this kind of drives home the point that you were making a statement: It sure sounds like you'd give this one back if you could, or that the players who gutted it out shouldn't take pride in the fact that even though the way was made a little less tough with the loss of the opponent's best player, it was still a 20 point deficit that had to be made up in about 14-15 minutes of play time, against James Posey, David West, and NBA players. But why don't we stop beating around the bush, the real purpose of this thread was meant to denigrate the fact that the whole "comeback" was made possible by our rookie point guard and not by your boy Sergio -- Comeback against scrubs, ergo not a real comeback generated by Bayless' defense and relentless attacking and play making. I can only imagine the crowing you'd be doing if Sergio had led the charge; about him being a future hall of famer and how only a fool wouldn't be able to see this, etc., etc. blah, blah, blah. Was this a flawless win against an opponent at full health? No. But just because it took a little bit of change in fortune and the balls to mount a furious charge, doesn't mean the team doesn't realize they maybe got away with one and still have lots of work to do.
