New Orleans' plan is to lean on Paul's new backcourt mates

LAFAYETTE, La. -- When coach Byron Scott's 3 ½-hour practice on the first day of training camp was finally, mercifully over, Darren Collison walked around the court with ice packs attached to each calf.

"I lost track of the time," the rookie point guard said with a weary grin. "It was one of the hardest workouts I've ever been through. We were running and running and when I thought we were done, we were running some more."

Fact is, with all of the offseason changes made to their roster, the Hornets are in an all-out sprint to get Collison and Bobby Brown up to speed. That's because they figure seeing less of Chris Paul on the floor every night over the course of the regular season will result in a fresher, even more productive Paul when it counts in the Playoffs.

Of course, that's also been as much a staple of every Hornets' training camp for the past three seasons as gumbo and rice on a Cajun dinner table. CP3 has become a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate by growing his stats from 16.1 to 17.3 to 21.1 to 22.8 points per game, and 7.8 to 8.9 to 11.6 to 11.0 assists. Yet Paul's minutes have steadily and alarmingly risen from 36 a game in his rookie year to 36.8, then 37.6 and then an eye-popping 38.5 last season.

The 6-foot-2 Brown is entering his third NBA season after stops in Sacramento and Minnesota and came to the Hornets with Darius Songaia in exchange for Antonio Daniels and a draft pick. New Orleans took Collison, 6-foot-1, with the 21st pick in the draft after he established himself as a solid penetrator, pick-and-roll man and averaged 4.7 assists last season at UCLA.

"It's going to take him (Collison) some time," Scott said. "He's a very intelligent young man, but it's a different game than he's played. Some of the reads are a little bit different. It's going to take him some time. But I've got to get him up to speed as quickly as possible."

"We know we don't want CP playing all those minutes anymore," Scott said. "We can't have it continue. The difference this time is I think we have players in Darren and Bobby who can fill the role and really handle it. They both played well in the scrimmages we had before camp and I believe they're gonna be in there really fighting it out for the job."

Still, the bigger battle Scott has could again be the one with himself and with Paul when training camp and the preseason are finished and the games begin to count in the standings. Paul's well-known hunger and passion for the game, as well as his natuarl ability, have helped him rise to stardom. If it were up to Paul, he'd be on the floor for the 48 minutes from the opening tip to the final buzzer and the head coach can clearly see a drop-off in the level of play when he's not.

Over recent seasons, the Hornets have had Jannero Pargo, Bobby Jackson, Speedy Claxton, Mike James and Daniels in the backup spot and yet Paul's minutes have climbed.

"I'm gonna do it," Scott said. "If these other two guys behind him stay healthy, I'm gonna do it. I have the talent right now to do it. If Chris can play at 34 minutes a game, he'll even be more effective, because he'll be fresher. So that's a big thing that's on my mind is to try to keep his minutes down to that 34-35. I've been trying to do that for the past couple of seasons, but it just hasn't worked out because we haven't had the type of quality backup point guards that we have right now. So right now I feel pretty comfortable and confident that I'm going to be able to do that."

Scott also hopes to play Paul occasionally off the ball, teaming up with Collison or Brown in the backcourt, cutting down on the pounding he'll take, but also opening up offensive potential.

"If you can get the ball in CP's hands with a live dribble and get him to a spot on the floor where he can be effective, it's almost impossible to stop him," Scott said.

Maybe it was the experience sharing so much of the playing time on Team USA's gold medal-winning drive at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with Deron Williams and Jason Kidd. Or perhaps it was the Hornets' drop-off from 56 to 49 wins and a stirring second-round effort against San Antonio to a dismal first-round playoff whipping by Denver from 2008 to 2009 that has made Paul more ready to embrace a few more minutes on the bench each night.

"It does help with the confidence, not only with me but for the team," Paul said. "Hopefully, a lot of the time when you play fewer minutes that means you're winning and other guys can get that experience you need in order to win a championship. Coach knows I want to play as much as I can. I always want to see my teammates succeed, but I want to play."

But Scott knows that, even at 24 years old, Paul can't keep running his tank down to empty all of the time and then carry the Hornets deep into springtime.

"CP has played a lot in the past just on his own will and his determination and, frankly, because I needed him to do that," he said. "The difference this season is we're both more determined to change that."

Because in the long run less of Chris Paul is the only way to get more of Chris Paul.