Talk about a match-up. OK so yes it is just hyperbole I know this isn’t the finals might not even be the best series but for my money this is about as good as it gets, sans a Kobe vs. Lebron match-up but I’m still leaning towards that not happening. I’m glad to hear that people are finally saying they are not gonna underestimate the Hornets anymore, even though usually when everyone says that is when said team falls on their face, they have finally had enough answers to show that yes Chris Paul really is that good and his supporting cast ain’t half bad either. Yeah they are what he makes them for the most part but whoever the GM of that team is needs to get some recognition, maybe people like me learning his name would be a good start (note: the GM is Jeff Bower, Google is indeed your friend ) Anyone who knows me, or e-knows me, knows I think Chris Paul is the MVP and he also just so happens to be my favorite player to watch, I take every chance I get to talk him up but enough is enough the GM Jeff Bower needs his respect because he has built the perfect team around Chris Paul ( more on this later ) and a team that has a real shot at beating the Spurs. So why I will preview the other match-ups when they are finalized this one is too good not to get it’s own separate post.

I realize this isn’t one on one Chris Parker vs. Tony Parker but it might as well be. To watch them go back and forth driving the lane making ridiculous pass after redonkulous lay-up/fall away jumper is gonna be an edge of the seat, constant back and forth battle that makes even Charles Barkley say he would spend money to watch, and anyone who watches the TNT in game studio show knows Sir Charles doesn’t like to spend his money unless it’s something special. ( or he stands to win or lose a lot as a result ) Now the obvious difference is Paul is the catalyst of his team while the Spurs world revolves around Tim Duncan and you can even make an argument that Manu Ginobili is better/more important to the Spurs success, don’t try and argue this with me Manu is their closer and I’m not saying he definitely is more important I’m just saying there is an argument to be made. There is no one on the Hornets even in the same vicinity of importance as Chris Paul but I’m not trying to go on another Paul for MVP tangent, OK so maybe I wouldn’t mind so much but I’m sure you don’t need to hear it again. Regardless to watch them go back and forth is going to something to behold, if you know people who don’t like the NBA tell them to watch the first 2 games of this series I promise you will watch a new NBA fan born right in front of your eyes. The NBA is so often about the best/most dominate big man it gets so much better to watch when the little guys, or in life outside the NBA avg. size, take over and control the game. It will be interesting to see Paul try and defend Parker, as he is probably a better defender than you think, but can he stay in front of and keep Tony Parker out of the lane ? Can Parker stop Paul ? The answer to that is no but it will sure be fun to watch him try.

Tony Parker is underrated as he is almost always left off the list of top flight PG’s and is better than some who are always on there ( Steven Nash I’m looking at you and your terrible turnovers possibly costing your coach his job ) but in my humble opinion Chris Paul is already better than Parker and well every other PG on earth. Deron Williams might have an edge in a one on one match-up because he is bigger and stronger and can stay in front of him but against the rest of the league I’ll take Paul every time. So the Hornets have the edge at point, but the next 2 best players easily come from the Spurs as I said before Duncan and Manu are forces of their own that will need to somehow be contained and as always the Spurs are filled with great complimentary role players and that combination may still be causing lots of you to have doubts that the Hornets can hang with the Spurs but this is where I get into more detail about the great job Jeff Bower has done building the Hornets.

If Chris Paul is the Hornets Sun, what revolves around him is possibly the best offensive rebounder in the league and a dominating big man who patiently awaits easy lay-ups/alley oops repeatedly, a great forward who can and will hit spot up jumpers all day when Paul creates the space for him and a killer 3 point shooter who can hit from anywhere on the floor. Add to that possibly the best back up point guard in the league and a tough defensive player who can at times dominate and get to the rim at will or back his defender down as he pleases, also coming off the bench and you got yourself one hell of a basketball solar system. The players I speak of are of course Tyson Chandler, David West ( whose only real knock is he doesn’t even try and go into the post nearly as much as he should, probably cause it seems like he hits every jumper he takes ) Peja Stojakovic, Jannero Pargo and Bonzi Wells. Pargo is the perfect back up because when he goes in for Paul they don’t have to slow down even the slightest as he is as quick as it gets and he can hit a jumper from just about anywhere as well, are you noticing a common theme here yet ? It seems everyone on the Hornets can hit jumpers with ease including guys I haven’t mentioned like Morris Peterson. When they play Pargo and Paul together defenses have to be down right scared cause theres no way you can account for the speed of both of them theres always gonna be someone open just waiting ever so patiently to calmly hit a jump shot. Wells has always been a great player, one whose game is made for the playoffs but was always deemed a cancer, maybe he learned to be happy with his role or maybe just being on a playoff team was his chemo whatever the case he doesn’t seem to ever damage the team in games like I have seen him do in the past. Of course he was always trying to force the issue probably cause he felt he had to and that is clearly not the case here. Then if you add Julian Wright and the way he has started to play the last couple of games and the Hornets are gonna be a tough out even against the Spurs.

The Spurs dispensed of the Suns in just 5 games but it wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounds as 3 of those games could of gone either way and really should of gone the other way if the Suns didn’t collapse and fall apart at the end of each half and to a lesser extent each quarter. The Suns constantly tried to force plays that led to turnovers and easy transition buckets for the Spurs. Whether it was a errant pass in the lane, god awful shot selection or just not taking advantage of match ups the Suns made it easy of the Spurs and constantly watched their leads disappear at the end of halves and games as they were unable to put the Spurs away. In years past I would shrug it off more as this is what the Spurs do they force you to collapse at the end of the game and make bad plays while they never miss a beat and make all the right plays but this series didn’t seem so easy. The Spurs seemed to sit back and wait for the Suns to make the mistakes, as opposed to going out and forcing the mistakes, and didn’t take full advantage of every opportunity they were given. Maybe they just weren’t that hard pressed as they knew in due time the Suns would hand them the game on the platter. This knack the Spurs have for closing out quarters/halves and games is what worries me the most about the Hornets chances. In their series against Mavs every game they won, with the exception of game 1, they seemed in control the entire game. They built up big leads and then casually let the Mavs back into the game at the end of quarters/halves and as the case last night the end of the game, there was never a doubt in my mind that the Hornets would win those games but against a better team like the Spurs they probably wouldn’t be able to hold them off. If the Hornets want to continue to prove people wrong they are gonna have to play 48 full minutes and take zero plays off, thats where you can beat the Spurs, because they do take plays off, much like the Pistons only they very rarely escalate to the point of them losing.

I don’t want to ride the fence and give a typical this series could go either way prediction so I’m just not gonna say that again. However this series is gonna come down to how the Hornets close out the games. Against the Mavs they would slip on D and let them back in and have easy shots, luckily for them the Mavs missed a lot of those easy shots, but the same can be said for the Spurs against the Suns, just look at how many free throws the Suns missed. ( They were 20-37 in the last game, thats 17 free points passed up you can’t do that against the Spurs and hope to win, instead they just lost by 5 ) Both these teams are gonna have to step their game up in the next round because they are both playing against much stronger competition and again which everyone does it more consistently will be the ones that are victorious. So now comes the time where I have to hop off the fence and pick a side, any side, and I guess I’m a have to go with the experience of the Spurs, thats no knock to Paul as I don’t think he will be phased but I can picture his team forcing bad turnovers, taking bad shots and coming apart at the seems towards the end of the game much more than I can see the Spurs doing that. Look whose counting the Hornets out now, hopefully they will continue to prove people, namely me, wrong.

SPURS IN 7