Paul George: “I’m more of a Tracy McGrady or Joe Johnson type of player”
June 28, 2010 – 9:30 am by Chris Fedor
The first nine picks in the 2010 NBA Draft went pretty close to expected. However, the Pacers threw the first curveball I thought with their selection of Paul George with the tenth pick in the Draft. While there is no question that many draft experts think George has a ton of upside and the Pacers were swinging for the fences, I have some legitimate concerns about this pick. Number one, he never really dominated the competition despite not playing in a power conference. And number two, the Pacers don’t need a small forward. Do they need help? Absolutely. Were they one of the worst teams in the NBA last year? Yes they were. But not because they didn’t have a quality player at the small forward position that they needed to upgrade. Danny Granger was in the top ten in scoring this past year and averaged more points per game than guys like Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Joe Johnson. Unless the Pacers plan on trading either Paul George or Danny Granger, the pick just doesn’t make all that much sense to me.
Paul George joined 1070 the Fan in Indy with JMV to talk about how much of a whirlwind things have been since being drafted, what kind of player he is, and how much it helped him to play against some of the top guys in the Draft throughout the workout process.
On how difficult things have been throughout the process:
“Yeah, but this is what you really put all the work into, just to get to this position. I would go through this whole emotion over and over again. It’s just the greatest feeling in the world.”
On what kind of player he is like in the NBA:
“I think I’m more of a Tracy McGrady or Joe Johnson type of player. Just someone that can stretch the floor, playmake for others, really get out there and defend, and bring a lot of energy to this team.”
On how much it helped him to show teams he could play against some of the top guys in workouts:
“I just wanted it a lot to get a chance to play against the higher profile guys. I really wanted to show that I could compete with these guys. I took every day to work hard and just to work at it and it paid off.”
On what he needs to improve on at the next level:
“Just work on ball handling and decision making. Less turnovers, playmake for other players, and create for myself as well.”
Listen to Paul George on the Fan 1070 in Indianapolis here
Tags: 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis, 2010 NBA Draft, Indiana Pacers, NBA, Pacers select Paul George 10th overall, Paul George
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