Hello, I'm a Knicks fan.  I know there's a lot of baggage with that statement, but I'm not here to talk about Paul's future with the Hornets or the Knicks or the Lakers of whatever.  I'm just interested in getting some perspective from people who watched a lot of Hornets games about how Paul looked athletically and whether he's lost a step and if he has if it's permanent. 

I love Paul's game and he was one of my favorite players to watch a couple of years ago.  I heard murmurs this season that Paul didn't look as good as he had in seasons past and it seemed as though his injury was very debilitating.  I remember not being impressed with how he played against the Knicks in our two match-ups; the second game was particularly disappointing considering it was a blow-out for the Knicks and Toney Douglas seemed to outplay Paul. 

Like most of the NBA world I was really happy to see Paul seem to get back to form against the Lakers.  He played great and dominated a couple of those games.  However, I've heard people suggest that his performance had everything to do with Derek Fisher being the one who guarded him.  To me Paul looked pretty quick, but he wasn't breaking people down and getting to the rim like he used to.

I'd love to hear from you guys about this.  Was there a confidence issue as well?  Did Monty Williams bring in a new system?  Did he play better once the knee brace came off?