8p9s Roundtable: The Paul George at Power Forward Experiment

How troubling are Paul George’s comments about not wanting to play the 4?

Ochoa: I wouldn’t say that the comments are troubling. In a way, Paul George’s comments are encouraging. A lot of times, pros who are unhappy in their situation – no matter the sport or level of play – do not speak up. They keep it bottled up and later explode, or even worse, they speak up in a completely unprofessional manner. I think Paul is handling it well. This shows his strong relationship with the Pacers staff and media, in my opinion. I don’t think anyone is offended, or surprised, by PG’s expressions of dissatisfaction. I can’t blame the guy. Although he played in a limited capacity last season, he’s still very fresh off of a gruesome leg injury. He’s probably never going to feel 100% comfortable pushing his right leg to the limits. On top of that stress, he’s also being forced to learn a new position that he has no interest in. I think everything will cool off, Paul will be happy in whatever role he plays and the Pacers will have a great bounce back year.

Donahue: Hard to tell. The comments themselves are fair. The things that are troubling about them are the surrounding conditions. It’s worrisome that they came after only 4 days of training camp and 1 preseason game. It’s worrisome that they imply some very basic communication issues among the three most important men in the organization – PG, Bird, and Vogel. Some of this is just change management being played out in public, but they do indicate that the Pacers aren’t where they need to be in approaching this change.

Medworth: I don’t always understand how PG’s thought process works. Part of me thinks he was literally just talking to the media like he’d talk to his closest friend. Part of me thinks he was throwing it all under the bus. I know one thing though, I don’t want potentially the greatest Pacer of all time upset about playing basketball. That is not good. The fact that he came out on fire last night is promising and that maybe his comments weren’t deep seeded and long lasting.

Will Furr: They’re more troubling as a long term thing than they are for this season. My hope is that they’re coming from a guy who’s a bit nervous coming off a terrible injury and missing the long term picture, but they come off a bit combative and immature. Here’s hoping I’m reading too much into them.

Jon Washburn: Not troubling at all. Fans always want different things out of their star players. Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan would probably be praised for making these same comments, what with their “stubborn, warrior-like approach to winning” and all those cliches. Players are humans. Would it maybe be more desirable for George to toe the company line in public a little better? Perhaps. But look at his comments again. He hasn’t put anybody “on blast.” He sounds like a thoughtful player that is somewhat resistant to a career-altering change. Seems completely rational to me.

Next: Is Frank Vogel committed to small ball?