What do we think of Chris Paul?

[Mori Chu]

Curious where folks stand on ol' Coach CP3. How do people feel about his work as a Sun so far?

[specialsauce]

Top 3 most hated players of the decade prior to this season, and he hasn’t done much for the Suns to change my pre-Sun hatred.

[Indy]

I am like a 2.5 on that scale, but I went with 3. He is a very talented basketball player, but his style doesn't mesh well with our team. Llook at our +/- with him vs Payne, for example. And in no way am I saying that Payne is anywhere near Paul when it comes to basketball talent/knowledge/ability. But you build a team by putting the right pieces together in the right way. I am not sure Paul is that guy. I hope he is, and I hope we figure it out soon.

[Mori Chu]

One thing I expected more of from Paul was flopping. When I would watch him on the Clips and Rockets, he was always falling to the floor to draw fouls from the slightest of contact. I don't feel like he does that very much as a Sun. Am I right? Or is he doing it but I just don't notice it due to being a Suns homer? I mean, it used to be a huge meme thing all over the web:

[Split T]

I’m at a 3, he’s not a great fit, but I’m still expecting improvement for 2 reasons:

1. He hasn’t played as well as he normally does, so he’ll get better individually.

2. As time goes on, the fit will get better. I’ve seen Paul make adjustments in the last few games, he’s playing faster. That should continue.

Also, even with how bad our “stars” have played at times(Paul, Booker, Ayton) we’re above .500. We’ve only been blown out once I believe(Washington) and most of our losses are weirdly coming against bad teams(Washington, Detroit, OKC, Sacramento) Add a so-so Memphis team, the Clippers, and those back to back Nuggets games and that’s all our losses. We’ve beaten the Jazz, Nuggets, Mavs, Pacers, Warriors, Raptors, Rockets, Kings, and Pelicans. We’ve shown we can play with every good team we’ve faced.

I have my concerns...we’re way too inconsistent, but last night showed that we can win when we’re not hitting 3’s at a high rate. We now have a formula to turn to, to avoid losses like the Pistons or Thunder ones.

Going with the theme of inconsistency, Ayton still perplexes me. We never know which version will show up. I am hopeful he’ll figure it out. Paul had a nice quote last night that inspires some confidence. Says that Ayton is very open to learning. Though we’ve been hearing that his whole career.

Booker hasn’t quite been himself yet, and I think that’ll change. I think we’re still definitely a playoff team and if we figure out how to mesh Paul into the offense, having Book and Paul is going to be very helpful come playoff time when teams can game plan to take us out of our offense more.

[Indy]

I haven't seen a lot of flopping, or hitting guys in the nuts. He is known for both.

[Democritus]

Too bu early to judge.. give him at least 25 games with the Suns uniform.

[LazarusLong]

Because of the shortened/combined training camp and preseason, the Suns are a work in progress.

[Indy]

Because of the shortened/combined training camp and preseason, the Suns are a work in progress.

That is my hope.

[AmareIsGod]

I'd say we give him 18 games before we can really judge him.

[Indy]

I'd say we give him 18 games before we can really judge him.

well, that is over 25% of the season. Feels like this one is flying by, even after the much delayed start.

[AmareIsGod]

I'd say we give him 18 games before we can really judge him.

well, that is over 25% of the season. Feels like this one is flying by, even after the much delayed start.

We're 9 and 8 so he still has time to reach that 18 game number.

[The Bobster]

Between the abbreviated training camp, the number of cancelled games and all of the players out for COVID protocols, it's been a hard season to get an idea of how good a lot of teams and players are right now.

Out of 17 games Booker has missed 3, Saric 10, Payne 4 and Smith 12. Hard to get a lot of continuity when some nights the only big off the bench is Kaminsky and your only real backup point guard is out now.

[Nodack]

My jury is still out on Paul. My biggest concern this season was Ayton and whether he stops being a pussy around the rim. Aside from the last game, he had just played 4 games in a row where he was attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He was playing like the Ayton most of us wanted him to become and I think a lot of that had to do with Paul.

[ShelC]

Voted 3. Not great, not terrible and I think it's due more to still needing to get adjusted to the team and style - but also on Monty to get him playing the way we need him to within the offense. That can be fixed and might be happening already given Monty's quotes after the Ws game. It's not like Paul can't play that way either so I'm expecting improvement there.

His 3pt shooting is off but I think that's just him needing to find his spot in the offense as a shooter. He's better than a 30% 3pt shooter so that number should come up. His midrange 10-16ft FG% is at a career high at the moment which is a good sign and helps draw the defense in and he's still shooting 45% overall.

I also think he's been a positive influence on DA so far. I just wish we had a full offseason, training camp and preseason to work out the kinks rather than needing the first 20 games of a shortened season to work things out. At the end of the day, he's Chris Paul and I'd rather have him than not. The issues aren't unfixable like a broken jumper or poor athlete or not being able to run offense. I'm still confident it'll work out.

[specialsauce]

My jury is still out on Paul. My biggest concern this season was Ayton and whether he stops being a pussy around the rim. Aside from the last game, he had just played 4 games in a row where he was attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He was playing like the Ayton most of us wanted him to become and I think a lot of that had to do with Paul.

He has had stretches his first two years where he would be motivated and elite for a 3-4 game stretch only to regress right back and get lazy. I don’t think this has anything to do with Chris Paul. IMO the number of Ayton easy buckets and gimme dunks are down this year, and that has directly to do with CP3.

[Superbone]

I already saw Paul pushing the pace more last game. I hope it continues.

[Nodack]

My jury is still out on Paul. My biggest concern this season was Ayton and whether he stops being a pussy around the rim. Aside from the last game, he had just played 4 games in a row where he was attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He was playing like the Ayton most of us wanted him to become and I think a lot of that had to do with Paul.

He has had stretches his first two years where he would be motivated and elite for a 3-4 game stretch only to regress right back and get lazy. I don’t think this has anything to do with Chris Paul. IMO the number of Ayton easy buckets and gimme dunks are down this year, and that has directly to do with CP3.

Before this year I can’t recall Ayton ever playing as good as he did in this last four game stretch. He has had a game here and there where he got pissed off and played more aggressively. I don’t remember him ever putting two good games together let alone four and none of them were as good as any of those in this four fame stretch imo.

[Superbone]

My jury is still out on Paul. My biggest concern this season was Ayton and whether he stops being a pussy around the rim. Aside from the last game, he had just played 4 games in a row where he was attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He was playing like the Ayton most of us wanted him to become and I think a lot of that had to do with Paul.

He has had stretches his first two years where he would be motivated and elite for a 3-4 game stretch only to regress right back and get lazy. I don’t think this has anything to do with Chris Paul. IMO the number of Ayton easy buckets and gimme dunks are down this year, and that has directly to do with CP3.

Before this year I can’t recall Ayton ever playing as good as he did in this last four game stretch. He has had a game here and there where he got pissed off and played more aggressively. I don’t remember him ever putting two good games together let alone four and none of them were as good as any of those in this four fame stretch imo.

I'm with you. And Ayton has always been a reluctant dunker. He's on pace for more dunks this year than any other by far.

[Nodack]

If history is any indication, Doncik will draw two quick fouls on Ayton tonight assuring we get puzzy Ayton for the whole game. Somehow I would like to see that change tonight.