Tony Parker Exposes Chris Paul's Overrated Defense - 2008 NBA WCSF

It boggles the mind that Chris Paul has made 8 All-Defense teams when he is lit up so often and repeatedly year after year in the playoffs. Perhaps voters are misled by his steals titles and don't see that the number of times he is burned on defense far exceed the 2-3 steals he gets on average.

During his first playoff run, Chris Paul made the same defensive mistakes against the 2008 Spurs that he has been doing on a regular basis throughout his career
slow rotations, specifically in this 2008 WCSF within the Hornets' zone
slow getting back in transition
gambling / reaching leading to defensive breakdowns
inability to defend off the ball
inability to defend or fight through screens
being easily beaten off the dribble

Tyson Chandler, not the vastly overrated Chris Paul, was responsible for the Hornets' great team defense. He held Duncan to the 3rd-worst FG% of any playoff series in his career, after the 2005 Finals and 2016 WCSF - when Duncan was 40 year old in the last games of his career.

Tim Duncan 2008 Playoffs

10 games vs PHX/LAL
23.6 ppg 15.6 rpg 46.1% FG (95/206)

7 games vs NOH
15.3 ppg 13.0 rpg 42.1% FG (40/95)

http://chrispauloverrated.blogspot.com

Tony Parker put up similar or slightly better stats on CP3 that he did in the regular season and in the 2008 WCF against the Lakers, who were ranked 19 of 30 in PPG allowed. Further proving the negligible, or negative, effect of Chris Paul's vastly overrated defense.

Tony Parker, 2008 season
18.8 ppg - 6.0 apg on 49/26/72

Tony Parker, 2008 WCSF vs Hornets
19.4 ppg - 5.7 apg on 49/44/71

Tony Parker, 2008 WCF vs Lakers
19.4 ppg - 5.6 apg on 48/14/82

In classic CP3 fashion, he would choke in the crucial moments, going 0 points on 0/2 FG with 1 assist to 1 TO in the last 6:50 of Game 7. He also allowed Tony Parker to hit the dagger in his face to go up 5 with 50 seconds left.