"Pinpoint passes," said Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer, an All-Star during a season in which — with the benefit of hindsight — Williams probably should have been one as well.

"If you guys ever play Madden, it's like QB Vision," Boozer added with reference to a popular football video game with a feature that rewards passing accuracy. "He has that QB Vision. All you have to do is get your hands ready and catch it and put it in."

It's not just the passing and the points, though, which blow Boozer's mind.

"Deron's more athletic than y'all think he is," he said after a game this season in which Williams threw down a particularly spectacular dunk. "He (doesn't) show everything in the games. He (does) more stuff in practice than he (does) in the game.

"DWill's game is more than scoring. Much more," Boozer added.

"He can get steals, he can defend, he can get deflections. Obviously he gets everybody involved, getting a bunch of assists. But he affects the game — more than just one facet of it."

Paul's own teammates undoubtedly would spew similar sentiments about their point.

Such over-the-top plaudits, however, are no mere product of he's-mine loyalty.

Throughout the just-concluded season, after all, one opposing coach after another could be heard singing Williams' praises.

"He's very good at finding the slips, finding the spot on people," said Washington's Eddie Jordan, who added that the Wizards tried "about 100 different things" to stop the Jazz's new-age pick-and-roll of Williams-to-Boozer. "He's good with vision from the strong side of the floor all the way to the weak side of the floor.

"He's one of the best at it."

What ultimately will define the degree of separation between not only Paul and Williams, but also Williams and the West's other best, is the issue of titles.

Fisher — who was Williams' backup last season in Utah, but now is back with the Lakers — has his. So does Parker, and they're not to be dismissed.

But the chase is on for the next, and Williams and Paul are the new-breed point guards leading a rather rabid pack of pursuers.

It's virtually anyone's to be had, and Williams is readily willing to admit as much.

Best team in the league, huh?

"I believe that everybody that's going into the playoffs," Williams said, "has got to believe that."

---

By the numbers

How the eight starting points guards in the West compare

. . . . . Team . . . . . Pts. . . . . . Ast. . . . . . Reb. . . . . . TO . . . . . FG% . . . . . 3FG5 . . . . . FT%