Tag Archives: Paul George

TYRONN LUE ON GAME 1’s FINAL DEFENSIVE PLAY vs PACERS

There was no way Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue was going to let the Pacers Paul George beat the Cavs on the game’s final play. Listen to what he told me postgame following the 109-108 win.

LeBRON JAMES ON GAME #1 WIN OVER PACERS

After leading the Cavaliers to a 109-108 win over the Pacers in the first game of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, LeBron James who scored 32 points, dished out 13 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds had these thoughts on beating Indiana.

RIPPLE EFFECT IN THE EAST FROM PAUL GEORGE INJURY

First of all, some good news on Pacers small forward Paul George who was seriously hurt in the Team USA scrimmage on Friday night in Las Vegas. George, who suffered a gruesome right tibia-fibula fracture in the 4th quarter of the scrimmage, had successful surgery and reportedly will remain in the hospital for up to three days. His recovery time is estimated between 9-12 months.

While George was a shoe-in to make Team USA, and as bad as his injury is for him, it doesn’t hurt the chances of Team USA too much. Yes he would have played and contributed to the team, but there’s enough depth on the roster to overcome his injury and Team USA will still be considered the favorites to win the FIBA World Cup in Spain that tips off August 30th.

However the same can’t be said for the Indiana Pacers. This is an insurmountable blow to the Frank Vogel’s squad in the Eastern Conference. Losing your best player, an ALL-NBA 3rd team performer, who impacts the game at both ends of the floor, is a devastating to blow. The Pacers have nowhere near the depth that Team USA has and thus scratch them off the list of teams who had a chance to play for an NBA Championship during the 2014-15 season.

Right now the back-up to Paul George on the Pacers depth chart is a 30 year old, 2 year NBA player by the name of Chris Copeland who averaged 3.7 points per game last year. Add to that the Pacers didn’t resign Lance Stephenson or Evan Turner and Paul George is no longer there, and you can forget about the Pacers as a viable contender to win the East, let alone an NBA Championship.

No true competitor likes to gain an edge this way in sports, but injuries are part of the game and because of this serious leg injury to George and the Pacers, it elevates a number of team’s chances in the Eastern Conference. The two teams who benefit the most are Chicago and Cleveland.

With the Bulls getting back what looks to be a healthy Derrick Rose from what we saw early in that Team USA scrimmage and adding Pau Gasol to a playoff squad  from a year ago, to me the Bulls are the favorites right now to win the East.

However, should G.M. David Griffin and the Cavs find a way to pull off a trade for double-double machine and All-Star Kevin Love to team up with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, I believe the Cavaliers become the favorites in the Eastern Conference.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Paul George. Here’s hoping for a complete and speedy recovery so he can be back on the floor playing for the Pacers during the 2015-16 season and for many years after that.

USA BASKETBALL SHOWCASE SCRIMMAGE THOUGHTS

Kyrie Irving started for “Team White” with Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, James Harden and DeMarcus Cousins.

Kyrie Irving USA 2

Kyrie Irving started opposite Derrick Rose at point guard and held his own in the first quarter with a bucket and a couple of assists.

Kyrie Irving with a sweet dribble- drive through a number of defenders in the 2nd quarter for a lay-up and he also played some defense tying up Steph Curry for a jump ball.

Love Tom Thibodeau screaming on the sideline, “Dead, dead, dead” and “Deny, deny, deny”  as he’s trying to get these guys to play defense.  Hopefully Kyrie Irving is listening.

Derrick Rose looks like he’s 100% healthy. He blew by a number of players for a lay-up early and then exploded for a serious two handed throw down off a nice pass from Kenneth Faried.

Kevin Durant is indeed the “Baddest” scorer on the planet with unmeasurable range and he the ability to throw down on Anthony Davis like he did in the scrimmage.

Hard to believe that Kevin Durant and James Harden were on the same team in the NBA and Oklahoma City broke that tandem up.  Harden, like KD, can score the ball from almost anywhere.

Team USA’s “Bigs” are the team’s biggest question mark after Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant. Finding a 3rd and a 4th big from Andre Drummond, DeMarcus Cousins, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee will be interesting. Remember this, even though Kevin Love isn’t with the team now doesn’t mean he still can’t make this team as one of the bigs.

Almost didn’t recognize Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward as he has hit the weights and go all swolled up.

Gotta love that Kyrie is getting more coaching from his old college coach Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Thibodeau as he gets ready to play for David Blatt and with LeBron James.

Irving looked like he was trying to be more of a facilitator for his team, which is a smart move since that’s the team is probably looking for as they decide on who their final point guard will be.

The scrimmage ended early because of a worst case scenario happening, as Indiana’s Paul George was seriously hurt attempting to block a shot and landing awkwardly on his right leg and it bent in a way that it shouldn’t. Thoughts and prayers go out to George as he recovers from this horrible injury.

MY 2014 NBA AWARDS

MVP  –  Kevin Durant                                                         Runner Up  –  LeBron James

 

Rookie of the Year  –   Michael Carter-Williams             Runner Up  –  Victor Oladipo

 

Defensive Player of the Year –   Roy Hibbert                  Runner Up  –  Joakim Noah

 

6th Man of the Year –   Jamal Crawford                           Runner Up  –  Taj Gibson

 

Most Improved Player –   Anthony Davis                        Runner Up  –  Goran Dragic

 

Coach of the Year –   Greg Popovich                               Runner Up  –  Jeff Hornacek

NBA Basketball Close Up

Most Surprising Team –   Toronto Raptors                     Runner Up  –  Phoenix Suns

Most Disappointing Team –   N.Y. Knicks                        Runner Up  –  Cleveland Cavaliers

Best Free Agent Move –   Al Jefferson                              Runner Up  –  Paul Milsap

Worst Free Agent Move –   Andrew Bynum                     Runner Up  –  Josh Smith

 

All NBA 1st Team –  Kevin Durant, LeBron James, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge,                                                           Steph Curry

All NBA 2nd Team –  Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Al Jefferson/Joakim Noah(Tie),                                                    Paul George

All NBA Rookie 1st Team – Michael Carter-Williams, Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke,                                                                             Ben McLemore, Gorgui Dieng

NBA Rookie Not Squad –  Anthony Bennett, OttoPorter , Alex Len, Shabazz Muhammed,                                                            Cody Zeller

 

NBA DRAFT IS THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014