Kleeman's Jump Hook: Chris Paul and Deron Williams Could Use an Assist

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Writer's note: Every Monday and Friday, I will publish an edition of "Kleeman's Jump Hook ." Since my work concentrates on the teams in the Texas triangle, this column affords me the opportunity to examine the happenings in the rest of the NBA.

In this space, expect these regular features: an opinion piece on a topic of league-wide interest, 'performance of the week,' 'give this a thumbs up,' 'malcontent of the week,' 'hardwood hyperlinks,' and a 'surprise players' showcase. Due to time constraints, prepare for a shorter piece than usual.

The regular features referenced above will appear in the Monday edition.

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The league's top point guards deliver spectacular dish after spectacular dish, using hard double teams and heavy defensive pressure to create easy buckets for teammates.

Now, the men who live off of the assist could use one themselves.

Anybody on the Utah Jazz or New Orleans Hornets interested in helping their All-Star teammates should feel free to start work now.

The Hornets posted a 2-3 record to start the year and the Jazz were 1-3 before Thursday night's duel with the San Antonio Spurs at Energy Solutions Arena.

The worst offenses included the Hornets' opening night 113-96 beatdown suffered at the hands of the Spurs and a Jazz fourth-quarter meltdown in Dallas earlier this week.

It seemed unfathomable in late September that the squads employing the league's premier floor generals could miss the playoffs. Now it seems like an absolution.

With all the talk about the Western Conference's final two playoff spots centered on the L.A. Clippers, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Jazz and Hornets have shoved their way into the dubious discussion.

After one week, a small sample size for sure, the Rockets have tapped into the defensive-minded, always compete, always run identity that will make them dangerous, regardless of the names on the injured list.

Houston lost by a point to the defending champion Lakers in overtime without the services of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, or impressive rookie reserve scorer, Chase Budinger.

For just the fourth time in the previous five years or so, the Rockets won a game in Salt Lake City. Monday night's drubbing was as thorough a bloodbath as any team missing its All-Star cornerstones could have delivered in the league's toughest home environment.

After two promising, close losses, the Clippers began to look like the Clippers again. Still, if top pick Blake Griffin returns after his knee injury and plays to expectations, you never know what could happen.

The Suns, defenseless and diaper soft as they are, can still outgun the association's mightiest of the mediocre. At times, Steve Nash looks like the same offensive machine who garnered back-to-back MVPs.

He is one of the worst defenders at his position in league history, but his lethal passing and scoring forays will keep the Suns in the hunt for the seventh or eighth spot.

The Thunder won its first two games—at home against the lowly Sacramento Kings and in Motown against the in-transition Pistons—and the young, energetic star trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Jeff Green looks poised to shower the NBA's newest avid fan base with at least 10 more victories.

The Jazz and Hornets? Both rosters are a mess, overstocked with lethargic or inconsistent players who either cannot perform the way Paul and Williams require or don't want to be there.

Was the Jazz's 113-99 win over the Spurs an indication of a pending turnaround, or was the contest more about San Antonio's early season deficiencies—missed defensive rotations, indecisiveness on offense, and turnovers galore?

With six new rotation players expected to fill major roles, the Spurs will need at least a month to mesh the summer arrivals with an established core.

Wake me up when the Jazz end that losing streak in the Alamo City that dates back to 1999.

The Hornets have tasted as hot and cold as prison food. Paul is the team's only ingredient with any flavor. The pieces around him fit as smoothly as garlic salt and raw onions on diet vanilla ice cream.

Emeka Okafor, the team's prime-time acquisition, has been anything but. He gives the squad more scoring in the post, but his defense has been flat-footed and passive. In the despicable loss to the New York Knicks, David Lee got wherever he desired against Okafor—from the hoop to the baggage claims at JFK and La Guardia airports.

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