2009 1st Round Chauncey Billups 23-4-7 on 48%, 1.2 TOpg and 66% 3PT Chris Paul 17-4-10 on 41%, 4.8 TOpg Billups completely exposed and outplayed overrated Chris Paul in this series. Billups scored way more efficiently and was the way better playmaker, Paul had quadruple the turnovers as Billups. Billups had a 6:1 ast:to ratio to Paul's 2:1. Knowing that his overrated defense was getting exposed, Paul actually resorted to avoiding guard Billups for long stretches in this series. Billups also shot an insane 19/29 (66%) from 3-point land. To put that in perspective, Steph Curry has yet to shoot 50% on 3-pointers in a playoff series. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chauncey Billups is vastly superior than Chris Paul as an all-time great point guard. Billups isn't as impressive statistically, but Paul pretty much explains the difference between himself and Billups here, albeit unintentionally. "...He's (Billups) always been a winner... you see some people who, you know, can go out and score 25, 30 points every night, but their teams always lose. He's just a big time winner." Paul is the guy that can put up numbers every night, but not lead his team anywhere. He's basically Tracy McGrady, but with a few first round wins under his belt. Billups is the guy who, regardless of his statistical production, can turn mediocre teams into title contenders, something which Paul can't do regardless of his statistical production. It seems like a strange comparison to make, but Billups vs Paul is similar to Russell vs Wilt. Guys like Billups and Russell make their teams successful, but in comparison players like Paul and Wilt are the guys who put up numbers, but don't have what it takes to bring their teams to the next level, or in Wilt's case, not nearly as often as Russell. And although Billups and Russell's numbers don't always look great, they can put up big numbers when it's needed in addition to making their teams successful (Russell along with Hakeem is the only center to lead a championship team in points (1962) and assists (1965), and set the NBA Finals FG% record in 1965). Paul can only do the former. For example, Billups completely smoked Paul in the 2009 Playoffs, and even outplayed Melo, after Paul had his best statistical year, joining Magic and Kevin Johnson as the only players to average 20+ ppg and 10+ apg on 50% in a season (Magic and KJ did this twice). Billups also outplayed Kobe in the 2004 Finals, so he could dominate statistically if needed, but not at the cost of his team success. On a side note, Paul only outplayed Kobe in the 2011 1st Round, which was the absolute worst playoff run in Kobe's entire career as a starter. The next round, Kobe was outplayed by Jason Terry, so for Chris Paul at his best to outplay Kobe at his absolute worst and lose in the first round is nowhere near as impressive as Billups outplaying Kobe in the 2004 Finals, after Kobe had averaged 25-5-6-2 on 42% through 3 rounds as opposed to 23-3-3 on 45% in the 2011 Playoffs for 2 rounds. Billups from 2003 to 2009 was supremely successful at making his team better to a high degree, something Paul has never done. The Pistons had not made an ECF since 1991 before acquiring Billups, and then made 6 straight ECF under Billups, including 2 NBA Finals and a championship. And Billups made the 2007 and 2008 ECF without the help of 4x DPOY Ben Wallace, and Billups also didn't have Larry Brown after the 2005 Finals, yet still made 3 more ECF without the Hall of Fame coach. Granted, the East was weak after 2006, but likewise the 2009 Pistons were so weak without Billups that they went from 6 straight ECF to 39-wins and a first-round sweep in the weak East, even with Rasheed, Prince, and Hamilton on the team. Billups then came to the tougher Western Conference, and picked up where he left off, taking the 2009 Nuggets from a first round sweep in 2008 to the 2009 WCF, while completely exposing and outplaying Paul in the process. In his first year in the tough Western Conference, Billups did what Paul hasn't been able to do in his entire career, and led a mediocre first round team to the 2009 WCF. And this wasn't even prime Billups. Billups proved he could take any team in the East or West that would normally get swept in the first round and make them a Conference Finals contender, regardless of his statistical production. If you want empty stats, take Chris Paul, but your team damn sure isn't going anywhere. If you want your team to win games and make several Conference Finals, at the very least, and a guy who can still outplay superstars like Kobe (2004), Melo (2009), and Paul (2009) when he has to, Billups is the clear and obvious choice. http://nobodytouchesjordan.blogspot.com/2015/11/section-24-chris-paul-most-overrated.html