In The Lane With Licht: December 16, 2005

There aren’t many players in the NBA (where the average height is 6-foot-7) shorter than Hornets rookie point guard Chris Paul, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.

Bob Licht

Earl Boykins of the Denver Nuggets is 5-foot-5 (second shortest in league history), and Paul’s teammate Speedy Claxton is 5-11. Among the other sub-6-footers are Damon Stoudamire of the Grizzlies at 5-10, Knicks rookie Nate Robinson at 5-9, and Cavaliers guard Mike Wilks at 5-10.

For one of the smallest players in the league to be the best player on his team certainly has to be considered against the norm. Then again, almost everything about Chris Paul goes against conventional thinking.

He’s a 20-year-old with maturity beyond his years.

He’s a 6-footer who rebounds better than many behemoths in the league (5.9 per game).

He’s a first-year player who commands respect in the locker room.

He’s a guard who prefers a pass to a shot, which is about as common in the NBA these days as a set shot.

Chris Paul is not only the best of a very good rookie crop this season; he’s a diamond in a very rough league. He’s the purest of pure point guards, and he’s the most talented of a gifted point guard draft class (a group that includes Deron Williams of Utah, Raymond Felton of Charlotte, Nate Robinson of New York, Luther Head of Houston, Orien Greene of Boston and Salim Stoudamire of Atlanta).

He already has a great game and a great nickname (CP3) and the numbers to back up them up.

Here’s where he ranks among first-year players in various categories:

No. 1 rookie scorer: 16.5 PPG

No. 1 rookie assists: 7.1 APG

No. 1 rookie steals: 2.19 SPG

No. 1 rookie minutes: 36.9 MPG

Wait, there’s more.

No. 4 rookie rebounder: 5.9 RPG

No. 6 rookie field-goal percentage: .443

No. 7 rookie free-throw percentage: .800

Hold on, there’s still more.

He’s averaging more assists per game than Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas – all likely NBA All-Stars in Houston this February.

He’s had at least one steal in every game and two or more steals in 15 of his 22 games.

But the impact he’s having on this Hornets team is something that appears in every newspaper in the country: 10 wins through 22 games. That’s approximately two months ahead of last year’s forgettable 18-win season. At the current pace (7 wins in November) of seven victories per month, the Hornets would be in the playoff hunt in the NBA’s BESTern Conference and finish with a 42-40 record.

Don’t laugh.

The Hornets already have victories over Phoenix, Sacramento, Seattle, Denver and Philadelphia (all playoff teams last season) and Minnesota and the L.A. Clippers (two likely playoff teams this season). Once they get past perhaps their toughest month of the season (December) they have some favorable matchups next month. Atlanta, Charlotte (twice), New York and Portland all appear beatable. In addition, there are 16 off days in January.

It’s still too early to officially call the Hornets playoff contenders, but the baby steps they’ve made in their first six weeks of the season are encouraging signs. Couple that with the expected week-by-week improvement of emerging star Chris Paul at the point and it’s reasonable to believe this cast of youngsters will show progress as the Hornets play into the middle of the six-month season.

There were at least three NBA draft doubters ahead of the Hornets who must be questioning their decision to pass on Paul, which is ironic. After all, the most important thing on the floor for the selfless CP3 happens to be… passing.

BOB LICHT BIO Bob Licht is in his first season as the Hornets television play-by-play broadcaster. Licht spen the previous nine seasons as the New Orleans Hornets radio play-by-play voice. Licht, known for his high-energy, colorful broadcasts (including his signature big basket call, "bottom"), has also provided fill-in play-by-play on Hornets television broadcasts during parts of the past five NBA seasons on Fox Sports and Cox Sports Television. Along with his play-by-play duties for the Hornets, Licht is also responsible for negotiating and building the Hornets Radio Network as well as authoring a weekly column "In The Lane" for Hornets.com. For five seasons, Licht was the play-by-play voice of the WNBA's Charlotte Sting and co-host of the Hornets and Sting monthly TV magazine shows. The 28-year broadcast veteran also has an extensive background in professional baseball that spans three levels of minor league play. During that time, the Detroit native served as play-by-play voice for the Florida Marlins' Triple-A team (Charlotte Knights, International League) in 1996 and 1997 and the Pittsburgh Pirates' Double-A team (Carolina Mudcats, Southern League) from 1990-1995. He was named the league's broadcaster of the year in 1995. The Mandeville resident graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in broadcast journalism in 1981. During his time at Syracuse, he was involved in radio broadcasts of S.U. football, basketball and lacrosse. As a junior, he served as a reporter at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and did play-by-play for the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A team (Syracuse Chiefs). Following his graduation, Licht was the play-by-play voice of Marietta (Ohio) College football, basketball and baseball. From there he moved back to North Carolina, where he worked with the Wake Forest University football and basketball network as an engineer, color analyst and play-by-play broadcaster. Licht and his wife, Monica, have three daughters, Rachel, Sara and Alexandra.