Chris Paul is part of the problem

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In five games since returning from injury, he's averaging 15.8 points, 14 assists, 4.8 boards and 3.4 steals.

Having noted all of that, this next sentence might seem a little misplaced: Chris Paul is part of the problem.

I say that because I don't see him buying into what Jeff Bower and Tim Floyd are trying to do with the offense. We saw some nice progress made towards more ball movement and less pounding when Paul was out injured, and I assumed that would continue when CP came back. Unfortunately though, I'm seeing the offense regress into Paul dribbling most of the shot clock away before launching a contested jumper while his teammates stand and watch.

Of course, there's no denying Paul's brilliance, and with the way he's been shooting this season those contested jumpers aren't necessarily bad shots. The problem is that the Hornets can only go so far with Chris Paul dominating the basketball. For the Hornets to be a real threat offensively, they need everybody involved, multiple passes on each trip down the floor, not just one guy prodding the defense for 15-20 seconds. That requires too much of Paul and too little of everyone else, including the guys playing defense.

Chris has been responding to the team's poor performance by playing hard, playing hurt, and getting on his teammates even more so than usual. I'm thinking what would serve him and the team better is to realize that his Herculean efforts aren't adding up to more W's. A smarter approach is needed.

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