I've been a Batum fanboy since his first pre-season game at the Rose Garden. He's giving us exactly what I'd always hoped. But, yeah, I'd 'rather' have George over Batum at their respective salaries. Since that was never an option, I'm glad we still have Batum. Hibbert is the one that got away.
He crapped the bed in Game 7 against Miami and basically disappeared. He still has a lot to prove in the playoffs, but his improvement so far this year from last year is simply amazing. Rarely does a player who looks to be a 16-18 PER guy explode up to a 25. I wonder if he'll regress to his mean as the season develops. His history would suggest that he's not a 25 PER player over the course of a season. He's only at a 16.8 career PER right now, and that's with his hot start to this season.
Seriously, chemistry will only get you so far. Would you take Nic over LeBron? When you combine his offense (4th in scoring) and defense (led the league in Defensive Win Shares at 22) and age, you'd be hard pressed to find 5 players in the world better than Paul George right now. It's a moot point, but you don't turn down that kind of talent because someone else is a good guy and liked by his teammates. The NBA is a start driven league and Paul George is a star who is just starting to shine. He will only get better. BNM
So did George Hill and David West. At least Paul George was still rebounding and handing out assists... But, it's not unusual for a young player to show significant improvement about 200 games into their NBA career. There are plenty of examples of "late" bloomers who saw significant improvement from PERs in the mid-teens to mid-twenties at similar stages in their careers (John Stockton, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitski, Jermaine O'Neal, Scottie Pippen, etc.), but given his young age and lack of significant college experience, I'd equate Paul George's development as similar to guys like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett that went straight from high school to the NBA. Even guys like Kevin Durant (PER = 15.8 as a rookie, 26.2 in his 3rd season) and Derrick Rose, who had a year of significant college experience, saw their PERs rise from mid-teens to mid-twenties from their 1st to 3rd season's in the league. And while his rise wasn't as meteoric s Paul George's, Brandon Roy saw his PER jump from 18.0 to 19.4 to 24.0 over the first three years of his NBA career. And, Roy had 4 years of major college experience, was much older than George and was thought to be NBA ready with little upside when he was drafted. Will George maintain his PER = 24.7 for the entire season? Perhaps not, but this kid has talent and a great work ethic. His improvement is not completely out of line with other players of similar age and talent. He's going to be a superstar for years to come. BNM
Nobody is saying that Hill or West are max contract/MVP-type players. We'll see. I have a hard time anointing a guy as a superstar after an 18-game hot streak that is at a level high above his previous 3 years in the league. By superstar, I mean LeBron James/Kevin Durant/Tim Duncan/Chris Paul level, and not a 'superstar' like Deron Williams or Paul Pierce. That said, his improvement over one summer has been a joy to watch, because after Game 7 last year, I didn't think much of him.
His ppg average has gone 7.8, 12.1, 17.4 and so far 24.9. It's not hard to tell he's improved drastically every year to date. This isn't just an 18-game hot streak. He was an NBA all-star, the NBA Most Improved Player, All-NBA Third Team and NBA All-Defensive Second team (meaning he's excellent at both ends of the floor). That was last year. He's 23. Everything points to him being a budding super-star, and nothing suggests otherwise.
Too bad you are basing so much of you're opinion on such a small sample size. LeBron had trouble closing out game 7s early in his career, too. What did you think of his performance in game 6? Without out him there wouldn't have even been a game 7. Did you watch the game last night? As I said in my first post, that wasn't just a shooter getting hot. His performance last night can be directly attributed to the work he put in over the summer. And, that's what impresses me the most. The kid was an all-star, 3rd team all-NBA and 2nd team all-defense at 22. A lot of guys would be happy with that and might let up a bit. In George's case, he seems more driven than ever to keep improving. BNM
Fuck, I must now hang my head in shame and lurk anonymously on the board. Or, maybe I'll just change my username and pretend I'm not me. Maybe something like BoobGrantFan or Booblito. BNM
I thought a guy with a 16.6 PER in the playoffs and a 16.8 PER in the regular season was being overhyped. I don't think that's a completely invalid opinion. I want to wait and see how this season goes for him before I crown him a superstar. Those shots he was pulling out of his ass last night were an anomaly. As I said, he's fun to watch, but he took 30 shots, with half of them being 3 pointers. I'd let him to shoot those guarded threes all game long.
So, the guy who was selected to the all-star game by the coaches, voted 3rd team all-NBA, Most Improved Player and 2nd team all-defense is overhyped? And those votes were cast by people more knowledgeable than you or I. Keep in mind, he led the entire NBA in defensive win shares last season. But that was last season, he vastly improved this year. Those shots he made last night weren't an anomaly. He's a very good shooter. His current FG% is .476, which is great considering how many 3-pointers he takes. He's 4th in the league in ppg and 7th in PER. He's 11th in the league in offensive win shares, once again leads the league in defensive win shares is second in the league, trailing only LeBron James in total win shares and 3rd in WS/48 (trailing only LeBron and CP3) and doing it while leading his team to the best record in the league. His advanced stats at 82games.com are equally impressive - more so actually. Thanks to his great defense, he has the 4th highest Net Production and the highest Simple Rating in the entire league. His own PER at small forward is 24.4 and he holds his opponents to PER = 9.7. That begs the question, what exactly is your definition of a superstar? BNM
Have you seen him play before last night? He DOES hit crazy, clutch fucking shots. Last night was incredible, but I've seen him hit several similar ridiculous 3 pters at the end of games just in the couple of playoff series I've seen of his. I was saying from the beginning of this thread (gotta get my poster cred since this shiet got bumped) that when you see George play you can just tell hes a star even if the numbers make him look Rudy Gay-esque. Put down the ESPN PER rankings and watch the games.
And the accolades just keep coming... Evidently, everyone but PapaG got the memo: Paul George is a superstar and one of the best players in the league. BNM
Its doesn't make sense that you say statements like this but project us to only have 46 wins even after our win streak.
What a stupid opinion. Kevin Durant/Duncan/Parker never won playoff series against the Heat either. Only one team wins a title. Were you one of the idiots who though LeBron was disappointing in Cleveland because he didn't carry a team by himself to a title?
PapaG I think I may be misunderstanding, but aren't you saying that through the first 18 games of this season where PG is playing at a 24+ PER too small of a sample size to judge whether he is a superstar or not? But you're counter argument for why he is not a superstar is merely a single game, IE game 7 of last years ECF? Isn't 1 game an even smaller sample size than 18? Shouldn't the 18 games where he is averaging a 24+ PER weigh higher than a single game?
