Last season, Chris Paul committed 11 turnovers. He was only guilty once in his other 16 games as a member of the Phoenix Suns. His careful possession is emblematic of his 18-year NBA career and deserves point guard gold.
That history is why Warriors coach Steve Kerr isn’t sweating that Paul handed out an unusual amount of gifts to opponents in his first two preseason games with his new teammates. is.
Paul played 20 minutes and committed five turnovers in a 129-125 win against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Friday night.
“He’s really taking it all in. We’re really lucky to have him because we need his organizational skills,” Kerr told reporters in Los Angeles. “We’ve talked a lot about reducing turnover and he will help us dramatically.
“I know he had some.” [turnovers] I’m not worried about tonight though. He has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios of any point guard in his career. ”
According to StatMuse, it’s the best. Paul’s career assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.98 ranks first all-time among point guards with at least 1,000 games, making him the most reliable ball-handler in the NBA.
But the man sometimes referred to as “The Point God” also committed two turnovers in 13 minutes in his Golden State debut on Oct. 7.
Seven turnovers in 33 minutes is usually cause for alarm for coaches. But you have to consider the situation.
“I feel like he’s trying to somehow fit in with everything we do,” Kerr said. “And that’s a little different than some of the offenses he’s had in the past few years. Obviously we play a little faster, a little more movement. He’s a little bit different off the ball at times. He’s just getting used to it.
“But he’s a very smart player, so it’s very easy for him to fit in.”
The breakdown of Paul’s sales is as follows:
No.1 in sales: Offensive foul, 9:00 left in the first half. Lead official Brian Forte whistled Lakers guard Austin Reeves for being too aggressive in trying to prevent him from stealing a pass in the half court.
Sales No.2: With 8 minutes and 39 seconds left in the first half, the pass was bad. Paul tried to connect with Stephen Curry as he came off a screen near the half-court circle, but misjudged Curry’s momentum, causing the pass to miss the frame just inches wide. Paul’s response was to slap his chest and say, “That’s too bad.”
Sales No.3: There was a bad pass with 8 minutes and 57 seconds left in the third quarter. Seeing Andrew Wiggins nearly pinned down along the sideline, Paul tried to squeeze in Rui Hachimura’s pass. Easy steal for the Lakers forward.
TUrnover No. 4: Bad pass, 6:01 left in the third. Seeing Dario Saric near the sideline, where there was more space than Wiggins, Paul attempted a 15-foot chest pass, but Reeves hurriedly approached Saric, put out his hands, and leaned in. theft.
Sales No.5: Bad pass, 5:23 left in the third. After receiving a pass from Curry, Paul darted out of the paint and tried to throw the ball around 6-foot-11 Jackson Hayes in hopes of catching it as Wiggins crossed the middle of the court. did. There’s no chance. The pass went wide to the right and rolled out of bounds on the other side. Paul was too cute.
There have been several times in Paul’s career where he has gone an entire week without throwing four bad passes. In this example, his two of the four were live ball turnovers, which sparked LA’s transition.
These are the kinds of giveaways that Kerr despises, and would provoke a stronger reaction if this were a regular-season game in January.
These preseason games are serving as an acclimatization period for Paul. Learn the best way to read your teammates’ tendencies and rhythms.
“I think it’s important right now for him to get enough reps with the other guys to feel the movement and feel the difference in the patterns we run,” Kerr said.
“But he’s just one of the smartest players I’ve ever met. And he’s very intentional and purposeful with each possession. He plays the game very well. I know him well. It’s really exciting to get him and I think he’s going to get better and better.”
At 38 years old, Paul is slower than he was 10 or even 5 years ago. But he is still a master of real-time analysis. Carr believes in history. So are the Warriors. Seems fair.
The first two games of the preseason aren’t representative of what Paul has been like thus far, and it’s not reasonable to believe that will be the case. He takes weeks and months to settle down and see if he’s still the guy.
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