I'll be honest, I have never spent much if any time watching Paul George play basketball. By way of spending a large amount of time following the NBA in various ways I know that he is a supremely talented player, but the Pacers and their games just don't make it on my radar. So when Ramona Shelburne announced to the world that Paul George would be the newest Thunder player, I was ecstatic like everyone else in OKC without any real perspective of what this was going to look like. We had a new all-star and that’s all that mattered. Now, a little over a month later I decided to sit down and take a look at Paul George the player.
I listen to quite a few NBA podcasts. All of them treated this trade like a fantastic move and mentioned what a good fit PG would be on the Thunder team. The reasons for this expected good fit typically boiled down to his ability to shoot the 3, defend well, create for himself when needed while also being a very good off ball player. The idea seems to be that he will play second fiddle to Westbrook expertly, but also create some semblance of offense when Russ is on the bench.
First, lets take a look at some stats and see if they back up these podcast takes. Can PG13 play second fiddle and stretch the floor effectively?
Now, let’s take a look at some of his 3 point shots from last season.
This play is the result of a trailing fast break or secondary break as I tend to call it. Monta Ellis has pushed the ball hard up court with Paul flanking him to the right. The entire Cavs team has gotten back within their 3 point line and Ellis gets too deep and is forced to jump kick it back out. This press while out of control puts the Cavs defense equally out of sorts. When the pass is received by Thad Young, PG has already made a cut to the right wing. Young hits him with a pass immediately. The impressive part of this play is George’s immediate recognition of the opportunity to flare for that open shot, and then secondarily his ability to side step the contest from JR Smith. He stays calm in a moment most players would rush a shot up.
The good news for Thunder fans is no player in the league has a more perfect skillset for creating secondary break opportunities than Russell Westbrook.
Here you can see the Pacers running a probable set play to free PG up. Baseline cuts such as this are staples of all NBA offenses, but they become really successful when the shooter is able to stay calm and in control of themselves and their actions. It takes tremendous body control to spring to a corner, receive a pass turn and make a smart play without travelling, stepping out of bounds or rushing a terrible shot. Here, you can see Paul immediately assess the potential actions of the defender and show a perfect pump fake that frees him up for a wide open 3.
I didn’t want you getting the impression that he is too prone to pump-faking. Here you can see George take a pass and immediately rise into the shot knowing that if he goes immediately the defender will not be able to properly contest. There are a few things you should notice in this play. First, George moves well off the ball and is able to lose Lebron in the mass of bodies in the paint. Second, Lebron is a really good defender immediately recognizes the situation and directs Kyrie to switch out. Kyrie is slow on the uptake and is just a bit too late to get out on the contest. Really, the reason Kyrie is late is the speed which George is able to receive the pass and square his body to the rim. You can see that George takes a little hop as the pass is delivered. He uses this moment to rotate his body so that his feet are square to the rim. The moment the ball touches his fingers his upper torso rotates to the rim and he begins his jump for the shot. This action comes inherently to most people playing basketball, the difference between you and I and an All Star in the NBA is the speed, precision and balance with which this action occurs.
The next aspect discussed about PG’s fit in OKC was his ability to create for himself when needed. George does his solo work predominately in the mid-range. His ability to operate in the mid-range unassisted is a function of his strength and quick first step. One of the things that stood out to me when watching tape of George was his tendency to bully the hell out a defender when he got into the paint. This is one of the things that made clear to me that he was not simply a shorter Kevin Durant. George punishes defenders in the paint frequently bodying a defender to the floor before rising for a <10ft shot.
Here George gets a mismatch and immediately takes Lillard to the paint. It takes seemingly no effort (2 bumps) for George to get to his spot and more importantly free up space. The second “bump” he gives sends Lillard back a good 3 feet. This gives a clear opportunity to rise up for an easy jumper. There is tremendous strength and balance involved in this move. To move a defender so far requires a ton of force. The problem with just ramming into a defender is what happens if they “pull the chair” so to speak. This is when George needs to have exceptional balance. You can see the balance in full use in this next clip.
George is clearly out of control and PJ Tucker has him in a bad way. I think it’s fair to call this shot lucky and frankly a bad shot, but what I want you to notice is the balance and strength of George. Tucker gets him retreating and forces him to the middle of the floor. PJ is squared up directly to George and they bump as Paul is taking a step, Tucker’s chest into George’s shoulder. George doesn’t lose any of his balance and is able to continue with enough control to get the shot up, obviously under enough control to make it. Meanwhile, Tucker bounces off of George. It’s almost hard to believe that that the bump didn’t send PG flying more less that Tucker would bounce off of him.
This play is the second part of what makes PG deadly in the midrange. The power he has and his ability to bully a player back is all well and good but if that was his only option he wouldn’t be nearly the player he is. If a defender is bracing for impact he can take advantage with a frighteningly quick first step. He blows by Kyrie in a blink and is above the rim before anyone can even react. It’s clear Paul George is a nasty athlete.
These abilities combine to give the Thunder a legitimate threat outside of Russell Westbrook. I cannot wait. The final selling point for PG’s fit was his defense. I haven’t done enough digging to get clips of his pure one on one abilities or his off ball defense, but I did grab a couple plays that at least show his ability to take advantage.
Take the above play for example. When Lebron James is running down hill at you on a fast break the only hope a defender has is to slow him down and give an opportunity for a teammate to help. George keeps himself in perfect position and resists temptation to foul. His efforts are rewarded when Myles Turner comes in and swats the layup attempt into the 5th row.
In the two previous videos you can see George making good decisions when attempting steals. He has strong and quick hands that allow him to actually create the turnover when he makes his attempts, but more importantly these are relatively harmless attempts at the steal. Going for a steal can easily collapse a defense, but on both of these swipes not only does he get the ball cleanly, but he allows for relatively little risk should he strike out on the opportunity?
At the end of all this, not a lot changes as far as my mood. I’m still extraordinarily excited to see what the Thunder will do this year. If nothing else, I guess I’m able to feel more confident in some of the Podcast quick takes that I listen to! Have a good one friends. I'll be back again sooner than in the recent past. NBA.com has finally made the videos more readily available so I'm back in business!
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