Why is Paul George getting so overrated?

[Inferno]

He averaged 17/7.6/4 on 42/36/81 shooting in the regular season and 19/7.4/5 on 43/33/73 shooting in the playoffs...

I mean those are solid numbers but not top 10-15 level...hell, rookie Damian Lillard put up almost identical numbers Where's the justification for putting PG so high?

[Johnny Jones]

He's an elite defender. That's why.

[Inferno]

He's an elite defender. That's why.

Elite enough to be ranked as high as people are ranking him?

[Legends66NBA7]

Because like many have mentioned, ESPN's rankings are based of predictions, so there's a lot of high ranking for him due to his potential. George has a lot of upside to develop in the offense department. He's already an elite level defender and I've see some consider him comparable to a Tracy McGrady-lite player.

If he can become a consistent 20-25ppg scorer, then I'd think it's safe to say this prediction will be bang on. I think he can become 20+ppg scorer on decent efficiency this coming season.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Elite enough to be ranked as high as people are ranking him?

Better than melo and kobe for sure.

[Inferno]

Because like many have mentioned, ESPN's rankings are based of predictions, so there's a lot of high ranking for him due to his potential. George has a lot of upside to develop in the offense department. He's already an elite level defender and I've see some consider him comparable to a Tracy McGrady-lite player.

If he can become a consistent 20-25ppg scorer, then I'd think it's safe to say this prediction will be bang on. I think he can become 20+ppg scorer on decent efficiency this coming season.

Yeah, I he can definitely become a 20/7/6 kind of guy on good efficiency if he keeps improving, but I don't see any justification for putting him over Melo right now

[Dro]

I told people the PG hate was getting strong and this was months ago. People tried to tell me I was seeing things. No, I wasn't. I constantly see more and more threads and comments asking the same questions and downing the dudes game. Only talking about FG% and ignoring his defense and rebounding. Also, Vogel has a horrible offensive system, that is part of the reason he shot such a low percentage. The guy is a good but not great shooter and has the ability to get the basket and finish. He's not your average 42% shooter. I promise you that if people didn't constantly harp on his fg% and ignore everything else he does, people would never know his shooting percentage was that low because he does a very good offensive game. But the guy is very young and made a huge leap from his 2nd to 3rd year and was also thrown into the role of go-to guy, at least on the perimeter and had to adjust on the fly. I think he played damn good considering the circumstances and Vogel's ball stopping offense.

[Dro]

Yeah, I he can definitely become a 20/7/6 kind of guy on good efficiency if he keeps improving, but I don't see any justification for putting him over Melo right now

No, I would not put him over Melo as a scorer. As an overall player? Thats highly debatable. He does everything else better than Melo except scoring. Unless I am missing something.

[Johnny Jones]

I told people the PG hate was getting strong and this was months ago. People tried to tell me I was seeing things. No, I wasn't. I constantly see more and more threads and comments asking the same questions and downing the dudes game. Only talking about FG% and ignoring his defense and rebounding. Also, Vogel has a horrible offensive system, that is part of the reason he shot such a low percentage. The guy is a good but not great shooter and has the ability to get the basket and finish. He's not your average 42% shooter. I promise you that if people didn't constantly harp on his fg% and ignore everything else he does, people would never know his shooting percentage was that low because he does a very good offensive game. But the guy is very young and made a huge leap from his 2nd to 3rd year and was also thrown into the role of go-to guy, at least on the perimeter and had to adjust on the fly. I think he played damn good considering the circumstances and Vogel's ball stopping offense.

Excellent post.

[Legends66NBA7]

Yeah, I he can definitely become a 20/7/6 kind of guy on good efficiency if he keeps improving, but I don't see any justification for putting him over Melo right now

No, he's not over Melo, so far in his young career. Could he be this season ? I doubt it, he would have to make major strides and the Pacers are pretty deep team for me to see George really become a guy who's going to get his individual numbers and for the team to be successful at the same time.

[OldSkoolball#52]

No, he's not over Melo, so far in his young career. Could he be this season ? I doubt it, he would have to make major strides and the Pacers are pretty deep team for me to see George really become a guy who's going to get his individual numbers and for the team to be successful at the same time.

All Melo does is shot jack. Hes not a valuable player. The Nuggets were as good with him as without and the Knicks were as good without him as with him.


His impact is a myth perpetuated by the dumb average fan who thinks higher ppg = better player

[tmacattack33]

I really don't see why ESPN now does "projections".

That's pretty ridiculous...once i found out that that is what their list is based on, i stopped following it.

I mean i guess projections could help for fantasy bball players, but what other meaning does it hold? It's a fictitious list based on random hunches and guesses.

[Dro]

Excellent post.

Thanks. I also wanted to add that his 41% is not like Iverson or Arenas or Brandon Jennings shooting a very low percentage because he does not take as many shots as those guys. The Pacers have a lot of players that can score and they don't rely on his scoring like most teams would. He ends up taking a lot of shots just because he may go an entire quarter without shooting and he just takes a shot to remind the defense that he's still there. Sometimes he'll just decide to go 1 on 1 and shoot a tough shot but his shot selection is generally good, unlike most guys who shoot that low of a percentage and take a ton of tough shots and gun their teammates out of the game. You'd never get the impression that PG ever messes up the offensive continuity or anything when watching him on the court. He kind've just fills in when needed and hits some big shots occasionally. He definitely needs to work on his offensive awareness when he tries to be aggressive though. He puts his head down and doesn't recognize when the help is coming. But he has plenty of time to work on that. Great offensive awareness comes with time and experience.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

At least PG does other things to impact the game.

All Melo does is shot jack. Hes not a valuable player. The Nuggets were as good with him as without and the Knicks were as good without him as with him.


His impact is a myth perpetuated by the dumb average fan who thinks higher ppg = better player

The media coverage of his game is insane. Guy gets a pass for hero ball (no playmaking and selfish play), and is frequently called “the best scorer in the game” for what he CAN do but not what he CONSISTENTLY does.

Dude is a versatile scorer, but doesn't score from the floor consistently (evident by his 55 games shooting 40% or less as a Knick. )

[OldSkoolball#52]

[QUOTE=kuniva_dAMiGhTy]At least PG does other things to impact the game.



The media coverage of his game is insane. Guy gets a pass for hero ball (no playmaking and selfish play), and is frequently called