As John Shulman was preparing his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball team to face Wake Forest and point guard Chris Paul in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, he noticed one thing never changed as he watched Demon Deacons game tape.
“Paul was involved in a mess in every single game they played,” Shulman, now the head coach at Alabama-Huntsville, said Monday afternoon. “He’s just meaner and nastier. He just wants it more than everybody else.”
The record will show that a meaner, nastier Paul helped Wake erase a three-point halftime deficit that March 17th night in Cleveland, Ohio, against UTC, the Demon Deacons ultimately prevailing 70-54.
But can a 36-year-old Paul now similarly will the Phoenix Suns to their first NBA title – and his first, as well – when the Suns host the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night in the opening game of the best-of-seven NBA Finals (9 p.m., ABC)?
Can Paul, the shortest starter on the floor at six feet even, cement his reputation as one of the best point guards in league history after injuries and bad luck have so often cut short his championship dreams in the past?