As Houston coaches gathered in a Las Vegas high school gym in July to watch what they assumed would be a casual pickup run between summer leaguers and the real Rockets, a scream pierced the air.
"FLARE SCREEN!" someone yelled with Game 7-level urgency. "FLARE SCREEN!"
It was Chris Paul. A few minutes later, Paul stopped the scrimmage, jogged over to the coaches, and asked how the Rockets defended an action the summer leaguers had just run.
"It was like Christmas," says Jeff Bzdelik, Houston's associate head coach and defensive coordinator. "Chris is a militant, and I mean that in a good way.