To Hornets coach Byron Scott, the smallish Paul is perhaps the biggest reason the Hornets — much, some might argue, like the Jazz — are well on their way to establishing themselves as legitimate new-school contenders in a conference long dominated by old-school stalwarts San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix and the Lakers.

Scott was so impressed with how Paul handled himself this past offseason that he was not at all surprised to see his Hornets leading the Western Conference earlier this season.

"Chris talked to his teammates," Scott said of Paul, who is listed at a generous 6 feet tall and probably weighs his supposed 175 pounds only when soaking wet.

"Trying to get everybody in early to start playing and working out together, I think, was big," he added. "Because everybody came. So I knew right then that the chemistry was not going to be an issue."

The action, Scott suggested, was follow-up to a promise made after last season ended.

"Those guys," the Hornets coach said of Paul and fellow New Orleans All-Star David West, "were adamant about 'There is no way we will miss the playoffs' this year."

The approach, Scott said during the recent NBA All-Star Game Weekend, was one he had not seen previously.

Not even, that is, after Paul earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 — when he was listed first on every media ballot submitted except that of Jazz broadcaster analyst Ron Boone, who went with Williams.

"It was totally different than it was the last two years," Scott said. "His rookie year, obviously, he was a rookie. He didn't want to step on anybody's toes. He didn't really want to take that leadership role, because we had (veteran) P.J. Brown and some other guys.

"Last year he exerted himself a little bit more," Scott said. "But this year he's been phenomenal."

Paul focus has been intense indeed, despite the fact the Hornets have had to shuttle between New Orleans and Oklahoma City because of all that Hurricane Katrina wreaked upon Louisiana.

Now that they're settled back in New Orleans, he's made it a home — even though the city still is struggling to recover from 2005's killer storm.

"I love New Orleans more and more every day, to tell you the truth," Paul said. "I tell people a lot of times it's the people that make the city, and not any of the buildings or the streets or anything like that.

"The people ... could easily have turned their backs on us, because there are more responsibilities than us winning basketball games. But they haven't.

"I feel like the people here in New Orleans are my family," he added. "When I was drafted, I was drafted here to New Orleans — and the storm hit (about two months) later. So, I felt the devastation."