Comparisons persist for Paul and Williams

OKLAHOMA CITY — New Orleans/Oklahoma City's Chris Paul, taken by the Hornets at No. 4 overall only after the Jazz took fellow point guard Deron Williams at No. 3 in last June's NBA Draft, is the runaway favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors.

Just Thursday, in fact, ESPN.com's John Hollinger wrote this: "Portland. Boston. Utah. Milwaukee. Atlanta. Charlotte. Toronto. All of them, and perhaps a few other teams, could have had Chris Paul in the 2005 draft. And with each passing game, the mistake those teams made is becoming more and more obvious. Based on his rookie year, Paul has essentially been the next Magic Johnson . . . only better."

The Jazz, though, aren't about to concede they made the wrong pick.

To the contrary, they're feeling awfully good about the way Williams has played since the mid-February NBA All-Star break.

Williams' stats since then still pale in comparison to those of Paul, who is averaging 16.4 points, 7.9 assists and 2.26 steals on the season.

But the University of Illinois product, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested as Williams prepared to face off tonight against Paul for the final time this season, has value that cannot be quantified.

"This guy's pretty good," he said of Williams, who is averaging 12.8 points and 5.2 assists per game since the break — a period in which Utah has gone 14-12 while the Hornets struggled at 9-17.

"I won't compare him to anybody, but I know . . . he understands basketball probably as well as anybody I've ever coached, for a young guy," Sloan added. "I mean, you can run an offense and he knows exactly where all five guys are going to be, what's going on in a game, and he can adjust to situations. I haven't seen a guy able to do that."

At least not since a fella named John Stockton.

Sloan said he does not regret not making Williams his regular starter at the point until a few games after the All-Star break; it had to be earned in practice, he suggested. And the Jazz coach definitely does not regret using Williams at shooting guard some early on — something Williams largely resisted, but Sloan believes will eventually pay off in terms of knowledge of the offense.

It's only down the road, after all, that Sloan believes the wisdom of taking Williams will be realized in Utah.

In the meantime, it seems Williams must learn to live with constant comparisons.