Q. Should Pacers rest Paul and C.J. Miles more than the original timetables? Make sure they both are 100%. Also, the recent Al Jefferson is the man. Seemed to have played himself into shape.
-James
A. I think the Pacers are doing just that, at least in the case of George. He could play if he had to, and if this was the postseason, he no doubt would be. But rather than let him try to gradually heal his ankle and back while playing, they have decided sit him out and let him get over it completely. He expects to be nearly 100 percent by the time he returns – probably on Sunday against the Clippers.
Miles is less certain. He injured his knee, and was told he was fortunate not to have torn his ACL. He began full-scale workouts on Monday, and might be able to return on Sunday. They won't rush him back, particularly with the way Robinson has been playing.
Jefferson has played well the last two games. He scored 16 points against both Brooklyn and the Clippers, after scoring 16 total in the previous six games. He told me after the game against the Clippers that it usually takes him awhile to get his legs. He's 31 years old and 290 pounds, so maybe that's why.
Q. I am trying to figure out where Paul George ranks in the eyes of the NBA. Is he top 5-10, 20, 30? With that said, take age, contract, etc. into play, how many teams would say no to a one-for-one swap for their best player?
Tier 1, I see straight up the opposing team laughs at the trade. Tier 2, I think it's split. What say you? TIER 1: Steph, LeBron, Davis, Towns, Harden, Westbrook . TIER 2: Kemba, Jimmy Butler, Griffin, Conley, Lillard, Cousins, Leonard, DeRozan, Hayward
-Cory
A. I don't think there would be laughter regarding any of the Tier 1 players George is too highly regarded for that. But, I mostly agree with your Tier 1 reaction, with the exception of Harden. He puts up great numbers, but he's certainly not as good a defender as George, and he needs to have the ball to be effective. Despite his impressive assist totals, does he make his teammates better? Perhaps the fact I've seen George shut him down a few times colors my impression.
As for Tier 2, I would take George over most of the players you listed.
It's a little difficult to evaluate George now, because we haven't seen the best of him yet. His injuries and the adjustment process to a new system and teammates have held him back. I continue to be impressed with his emphasis on defense and his willingness to fit into the framework of an offense. He always seems to be straddling the line between being assertive and involving teammates. He's surrounded by scorers on this team, so he doesn't want to be selfish.
The offense has improved the past three games, as players have moved the ball better. It will be interesting to see how it goes when he returns from his injury. We know this, though, he's a go-to guy who can be relied upon to create and hit a big shot late in the game when the offense can't produce one. That's valuable. The trick will be incorporating him into a system that utilizes his ability while bringing out the best in his teammates.
Q. Hey Mr. Montieth my name is Malcolm, thanks for taking my question. Sorry this email is long, it's sort of a long statement and question.
Paul George had a stellar postseason last season against Toronto where he flat out embarrassed DeMar DeRozan and he followed that up by winning a gold medal. But, so far I'm a little disappointed in Georgie.
As of today he's averaging 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Before the year he said he wanted to be MVP, but I'm disappointed in his numbers and style of play. It's only been 12 games, but 21 points for him is a huge letdown. I thought this would be the season where he's averaging around 26-27 points 8 rebounds and 4 or 5 assists. All of the other stars and superstars seem to be doing more than him right now. When I watch the games this year, it seems as if he's standing around a lot more than normal. It seems as if he's just standing in the corner watching Ellis and Teague dribble, waiting to shoot a 3-pointer.
All of the other stars are getting so many points by getting to the free throw line constantly and currently George is not attacking the basket. Also, I think the ball should be in George's hands a lot more since he's the superstar. Here are some of my main questions:
Why do you think George is standing around more and not having the ball creating?
Why isn't George putting up the great MVP type stats?
Why is getting to the free throw line consistently such a problem for him?
Why does he attempt so many threes?
-Malcolm
A. I suppose George kind of set himself up for criticism by declaring his goal of earning league MVP honors. But it's too early to be passing too much judgment on his season.
I agree he hasn't performed to the level of last season's playoff series with Toronto, when he averaged 27.3 points and hit better than 40 percent of his field goal attempts. The reasons for that have already been mentioned here: adjustment to a new system and new teammates and injuries that have kept him out of six games and limited him in others.
He has been stagnant in the offense at times. Whether that's the result of its structure, his fault or the fault of his teammates is difficult to know. Probably a combination of all three. He's an easy bailout option in the offense if things aren't going well, the guy to whom you can throw the ball and watch go to work. He hit some big shots early in the season that way.
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That's hardly ideal, but it's not what he wants. It should be encouraging to fans that he gathered his teammates after practice the day before the game with Brooklyn to talk about sharing the ball and communicating better. And they have responded, so far. As I mentioned in an earlier answer, he always seems a bit uncertain how assertive to be on offense, so we'll have to see how it goes with this group.
I agree, he should try to get to the foul line more often. He's at his best when he does that, and it seems he has to fight himself on it sometimes. I'm sure it's tempting to hang out on the perimeter and shoot threes instead of driving into the lane and getting knocked down. But he does that plenty. Besides, he's a really good 3-point shooter, so it's good that he gets up a decent number of them.
Q. (Regarding Glenn Robinson III)
About time!!!!!!!!! I knew this kid was special. Hope this leads to a real breakthrough and a starter spot in the place of Monta before All-Star Weekend.
Great article on that Al Jefferson move by the way!
-Onra
A. This really isn't a question, but it is representative of several other questions and comments I have received regarding the starting lineup. Since you threw in a nice compliment, I'll let you have mailbag honors.
I understand the thinking regarding putting Robinson (or Paul George) at the "two" spot and bringing Ellis off the bench. A lot of people, me included, were puzzled that Nate McMillan tried bringing Ellis off the bench in the game at Philadelphia on Nov. 11 but then returned him to the starting lineup after that. The Pacers lost that game in Philly, but Ellis played well off the bench with 19 points (8-of-19 shooting), six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
I asked McMillan why he didn't stick with that lineup longer, and he said, basically, he just felt it was best to start Ellis. I don't know of any behind-the-scenes reason for not giving that lineup a longer look, and McMillan said Ellis accepted the move without complaint.
Ellis, to me, is a difficult player to evaluate, especially without watching practice or being in the locker room all the time. He's an erratic shooter – 33 percent from the 3-point line – and is turnover prone. His last three home games kind of summarize what you get from him. He hit 8-of-16 shots against Atlanta last week, then all six shots against Brooklyn, then 2-of-12 shots against the Clippers. All players have good games and bad, but Ellis seems to be all over the map more often than most.
What is difficult to assess are his intangibles. He's one of the most talkative players on a quiet team, and I'm told he speaks up in practice as well – and says the right things. He shows leadership, and he's got an edge to him that this nice-guy team probably needs.
Robinson is three inches taller, nine years younger, a better perimeter shooter and should be a better defender. So, yes, you can argue he should get a shot at starting in the backcourt, even after George and C.J. Miles return.
However: Ellis and Teague seem to be developing chemistry between them, and Ellis takes some of the ballhandling load, which allows Teague to play off the ball. One could argue whether that's a good thing, but Teague seems fine with it based on what he's told me in the locker room after games. George also has mentioned to me that he and Ellis have developed a nice chemistry between one another and know where to find one another on the court.
Also: Robinson is not a ballhandler or playmaker. Heading into Wednesday's game at Portland, he had just 10 assists in more than 300 minutes of play. Would the chemistry be right if he's playing with Teague, George, Young and Turner? Hard to say.
The other issue is how taking Ellis out of the starting lineup affects the other reserves. If he becomes the backup point guard, what becomes of Aaron Brooks. If you move Brooks to an off guard, what becomes of Rodney Stuckey?
The bottom line is that McMillan will have a glut of able contributors when George, Miles and Kevin Seraphin return, assuming no one else is injured by then. All I can say at the moment is that these things work themselves out over time. Most likely, McMillan and Larry Bird believe the team hasn't had enough time with its intended lineup together to really know what they have. If struggles continue for long, though, changes of some sort are bound to be made, just as they were last season when Turner was put into the starting lineup.
Q. I have a few questions, so hopefully you can get that "paid-by-the-word" worked out sometime soon.
Firstly, why do the Pacers seem to never run any alley-oop plays? When Vogel was still running the show, he started to call one designed for CJ (sometimes George) towards the beginning of the season, but it never really worked so it seemed like Vogel stopped calling it towards the end of the season. I might just be watching too many Clipper games, but it feels like all other teams do this (like the Bulls do with Butler a lot). I thought this would change with the up-tempo style and McMillan, but so far I haven't seen anything. Do you think some lobs would help space the offense?
I'm writing this right after the Pacers beat the Cavs, and the defense seems to be improving, but do you think the Pacers' defense might benefit from using a zone at times? The Mavs (I think) did something like this last season, where at 12 seconds on the shot clock they would switch to a zone. Do you think this would help, especially with someone like Jefferson on the floor?
Lastly (this is more of an ego thing, so I had to ask sorry...), do you know if my question from a bit ago about adding Danny Granger to the Legacy introduction video had anything to do with him getting added? A friend at a game said he was, but I wasn't sure if it was just coincidental timing with the new Decade games.
A. I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. The Pacers haven't thrown many lobs.
Part of the reason might be their center, Turner, plays on the perimeter much of the time, and is content (for good reason, usually) to fire up jumpers. More than that, I suppose, is that they don't set screens that often away from the ball. They pick for the guards out top, and then play off that. Most lobs come from weakside picks or backdoor plays, and so far the Pacers' offense hasn't featured much of either. McMillan wants the players to have freedom to improvise if they get the ball upcourt quickly, but it's going to take time for them to develop that kind of chemistry, I believe.
Few NBA teams play zone, and I understand why. Shooters are better than ever, and it's difficult to be proficient at more than one style of defense. Frank Vogel talked about installing a zone defense a few seasons ago, and I believe he did work on it in practice, but I don't think they even used it. I'm guessing McMillan wants his players to play better man-to-man defense before attempting zone, if he even has interest in it.
I do agree it can be effective in limited doses, however, as a change of pace to keep the opposing off-balance if nothing else.
Regarding the Legacy video, here's the response from the Pacers' Vice-President of Game Operations, Dean Heaviland:
"With this being our 50th season, we wanted to expand our Legacy video to add more players so we did at the beginning of the season. We actually added around 10 new players (Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, Danny Granger, Jermaine O'Neal, Mark Jackson and a few others)."
Q. Could there be repercussions from Paul George not willing to sign his contract and the way the team plays with and without him? With PG, they play less than the sum of their parts and without PG they play better than the sum of their parts. Something ain't right. (I don't buy the excuse "it takes time to get to know one another."
PS: Trade A. Davis for M. Turner, Young and Stuckey rumor?
A. I believe George is simply waiting to see how things go this season, and doesn't want to think about his contract now. I wouldn't read into it too deeply. It used to be that players never thought about their contract until it had expired, but now, with extensions, they are forced to consider them earlier.
I have no idea what George wants to do long-term, and I doubt he does, either. But I don't pick up any vibe from him that he wants out. I think he's happy in Indy. Remember, he's like Reggie Miller in that he grew up an hour outside of Los Angeles, not in Los Angeles. He's not really a big city guy. Also remember, the Pacers have lost only one player to free agency they really wanted to keep in the last 30 years, Brad Miller – and that was because Sacramento made a much larger offer than the Pacers could match without paying the luxury tax. Larry Bird already has said a max offer is awaiting George whenever he's ready for it. No other team will be able to match the Pacers' offer.
As for trade rumors, I don't traffic in them. They are fun for fans, I guess, and a way for media sites to get clicks, but remember my motto: the trades that happen aren't rumored, and the trades that are rumored don't happen.
There's also no way to investigate them properly. I could call someone within the front office about a rumor. They obviously wouldn't tell me on the record, though, because no team wants a player to know he might be traded. Players know it's always a possibility, but no player wants to be subjected to rumors floating around cyberspace.
Q. I already wrote for you once, my name is Luciano, I'm from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. I know that it's a not good season beginning for us Indiana fans, but the Clippers game has shown that we still have hope.
I came to tell you a little history of an Indiana fan from other country. As you know, Brazil hosted the last Olympic game and Mr. Paul George came here, but the news is that I was a volunteer in this same event in the basketball as the athletes service team member, responsible to host the team and guide them inside the Carioca Arena 1 (where all the men's basketball games happened).
As a Indiana fan, I was near Mr. George, but could not speak with him, because of the Rio 2016 policy. But I found a way to give a little gift for Mr. George, I bought a shirt from my Brazilian soccer team (Botafogo) and even personalized the shirt with his number and name on it. But unfortunately I never had the opportunity to see if Mr. George got the shirt and probably I will never now.
And probably I think you will not even read this little history, but I really think that I should told you this. Thanks a lot for this opportunity to write you and hope this message gets to Mr. George.
-Luciano
A. Thanks for writing, Luciano. I will try to remember to check with Paul when the team returns from its road trip and find out if he received the jersey. If not, I'm sure he'll appreciate the effort you made.
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