July 29, 1010

A brief break, then back to work

Training camp is still two months away and the season is three months out but there have been a lot of guys around Conseco Fieldhouse working out.

That lets you know these guys are here to work and that's what I'm here for. I feed off of them. They're veterans, still here, still working out. I really admire Jeff Foster. He's a 10-plus veteran and he's still here early in the morning to get his job done.

I'm getting an idea of what my role and what my job is for this year and a continuation of repetition will get me there. They want me to be a better ball-handler and decision-maker, stuff that's typical and things I know I need to work on.

With Coach O'Brien, he encourages me to take open shots and lets me play my game so I've just got to work on my game. I heard Coach O'Brien said on NBATV during the summer league that I dribble too much and that he wanted to break me of that habit. I'm working on that. I'm starting to get an understanding of his concept of "give it up and get it back."

After all the activity leading up to the draft and then the post-draft experience of rookie camp and then summer league, I needed a little bit of a break so I went back to my hometown. Palmdale is a growing city on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It's kind of a breath, or a taste, of L.A. without the crazy night life.

I'm definitely a celebrity in Palmdale now. I've still got grandmothers and aunties and uncles out there. Nobody really makes it big from Palmdale so when I go back there I get a lot of love.

After spending some time at home, I went to Fresno and kind of just chilled with the younger guys there and the guys I came in with, played a couple of open runs. During my week off, I wanted to just lay back and look back at everything that happened in the previous couple of weeks.

I went to a couple of friends' parties and it felt kind of weird. The incoming freshmen are like, 'You're Paul George.' It makes you feel like you're a legend or something. It was pretty funny.

That stuff won't affect me. I always have carried myself in a very respectful way so the attitude and the way I treat people is just the same as they've been treating me. I don't feel any different. I'm still that kid from Fresno State whether or not I went in the lottery. That's just how I want to carry myself.

I'm going to head back to Palmdale this weekend and hang out with my parents but then I'll be back in Indy to get back to work. I haven't really had much of a chance to get a feel for the city yet. Basically all I've seen so far is my hotel room and Conseco Fieldhouse and the sidewalks in between.

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