Wednesday, April 23rd, 2013
Reaction to Paul George Winning Most Improved Player
Pacers.com Staff | April 23, 2013
Pacers forward Paul George has been named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2012-13 season. Here's a look at some of the reaction to George's honor from around the internet.
ESPN: "In less than three full seasons, George has gone from a promising rookie who occasionally found himself on the inactive list, to a second-year starter whose coach called him 'an afterthought' offensively in the postseason, to an All-Star and the Most Improved Player of the Year who's quickly becoming the most critical piece for his Pacers in these playoffs." Read More
SI.com: "A long, athletic wing who still has plenty of room to grow, George fits the classic 'Most Improved Player' archetype, as he made the leap from 'good' to 'very, very good' for a winning team." Read More
CBS Sports: "When news broke early on in the 2012-13 season that Danny Granger was going to miss at least three months with a knee injury, the Indiana Pacers needed someone to step up and assume the responsibility Granger had with scoring...George was immediately saddled with the pressure of being the top scoring option on a team with title aspirations. He handled the responsibility about as well as anybody could have hoped for, and was rewarded with the 2012-13 NBA Most Improved Player award." Read More
Yahoo Sports:" What is surprising is the near unanimity in which George was chosen. The man received a shocking (to me, at least) 52 first place votes, exactly as many as the second through fifth-place MIP contenders (in order: Greivis Vasquez, Larry Sanders, Nikola Vucevic, Jrue Holiday) received." Read More
Indy Star: "Indiana Pacers swingman Paul George knew he was having the best season of his three-year career. But George thought he would have a better chance at winning Defensive Player of the Year than the NBA’s Most Improved Player award because there 'wasn’t a night off' for him while having to defend the opposing team’s best perimeter player." Read More
Grantland: "George is growing into the kind of star who can thrive in a league of smarter defenses that clog the lane and make it difficult for any player, even a superstar, to hold the ball up top and go one-on-one to the rim — or even to get there via a slow-developing pick-and-roll." Read More
Indy Cornrows: "Simply a great honor for the 22-year-old with enough room for his game to grow that he could win the MIP again." Read More
Always Miller Time: "Larry Bird deserves a lot of credit for drafting Paul George, a guy that I didn’t even know. I don’t think most fans knew who he was, but now everyone is falling in love with him." Read More
