CP3-Chandler 'Oop Magic Seems Unstoppable

I'm sure you've noticed that Chris Paul throws a lot of alley-oops to Tyson Chandler. For the record, they connect on more of these than any other duo in the league. So much so that, in today's Hornets Beat, you get a definitive treatment on the matter, from all invlved. Award-winning stuff, for sure.

Quotes from everyone: Chris Paul getting technical, Byron Scott explaining, proudly and defensively, how this is and isn't like his Lakers. But it's Chandler who cuts to the heart of the matter, while at the same time taking an aw-shucks approach to the team's most potent offensive weapon:

"We just kind of play," Chandler said. "We just play basketball out there, and it's kind of freelance. It's not something that we set up. We just kind of have a feeling. When we see the opening and opportunity, we both connect and we know it's coming, maybe three or four seconds before it happens.

"It's just chemistry. It's being on the floor playing and figuring each other out. For the first while in camp, he was throwing me the ball, and I wasn't expecting it. Then I started being ready for it and telling him how I like passes and from there, it was just money."

One time long ago, Skeets and myself were discussing why the 'oop wasn't more often deployed as a serious feature of a team's offense. With the right combination, it could be both simple and unstoppable -- not that far away from Kareem's sky-hook. Well, the Hornets have done it. And when you get athleticism, strategy, and intuition synced up like this, and this regularly leads to results, you can expect the Hornets to keep milking it for all it's worth. They've got something lethal on their hands, and who knows, maybe next season Julian Wright can also become part of that mix.

Unless Chandler shrinks three inches, has his elbow amputated, and straps on leg braces, while Paul goes blind and forgets his own name.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.