What is a point god to a non-believer? Before yesterday’s Game 4 vs the New Orleans Pelicans, a 118-103 New Orleans win, Chris Paul had already put together two impressive performances in the fourth quarter to help the Phoenix Suns take a 2-1 lead. It looks like that won’t happen again this series as the Pelicans’ plan looks like it’s going to work 2-2 after the evening of the series.
Two rookies in Jose Alvarado and Herb Jones held Paul on just four points on eight shots last night. Alvarado, the 6-foot guard whose pressure is as annoying as it is effective, picks him up all over the court. Then the much taller and longer 6-foot-7 Jones switches to him at half court. It’s a plan that worked absolutely perfectly for at least one game, as Paul was visibly frustrated on multiple occasions.
Jones fairly blatantly nudged Paul while “boxing” for a rebound, a play that led many on Twitter to label him a dirty player, but Paul actually crashed into Jones in frustration just prior to that. When Jones intercepted an inbound pass in backcourt and drove in for the layup, Paul slapped him in the face in a non-basketball game that was ruled a flagrant 1 but could easily have been a throw.
Grand Theft Alvarado forced Paul an 8 second injury and got one of his patented steals where he hides in the corner while the other team takes him to the court, runs at them from behind, I imagine him making fighter jet noises goes all the time and steals the ball. Paul saw it coming in Game 1 but Alvarado stuck with it and it paid off. It was a game that ironically ended with a layup by Herb Jones.
Jones was the 35th pick in last year’s draft and Alvarado was undrafted. These weren’t generational candidates, they were two guys who didn’t get drafted in the first round. It’s both incredibly unlikely that two rookies could questionably take out one of the top five point guards of all time, and pretty obvious in hindsight.
Last year, Jones was Alabama’s SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Alvarado was Georgia Tech’s ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Maybe we shouldn’t be so shocked that they’re good at defense. Perhaps this is an indication of flaws in the way prospects for drafts are evaluated. Upside seems to be the only thing teams do after draft time, and actual achievements and a track record don’t seem to matter that much.
And that’s no holier attitude than you, “I saw it coming all along.” If you’d asked me about a year ago who you want your team to put on the draft, I wouldn’t have said, “Oh, there’s this guy from engineering school who’s the same size as me who’s going to be a threat.”
Even with hindsight, I can kind of understand how Alvarado fell this far considering he’s undersized and not a super athlete, but how on earth Jones fell in the second round. He wasn’t just a talented guy who played four years in college and lacked the athleticism to do well in the NBA. I didn’t watch the combine, but surely an NBA scout must have seen that he can apparently jump to the moon, as he demonstrated by blocking three pointers from Mikal Bridges and Cameron Payne. “A young Kawhi Leonard on defence? No thanks.”
The best moment of the night for Jones came when he was on the floor and Paul offered his hand to help him up. Jones just shook his head, didn’t say a word, and waited for a teammate. Ultimately, defending is about desire, and these two definitely have that.
