AMA Mailbag #6: Is Paul George Slumping, or Returning to the Mean?

Welcome back to the 6th edition of the 8 Points 9 Seconds mailbag, where we take your questions and make you feel internet famous because we answered them!

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You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers.

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imkunu (@imkunu)

Is Paul George’s current stretch just a slump? Or is this what we should come to expect over his career: hot and cold from month to month?

Empirical evidence suggests that this streaky guy is what Paul George is. His high usage years (specifically 2013-2014 and this year so far) have gone this way, hot and cold, on and off. Both years PG started off like fire, then cooled off to a still great, but less effective player. It’s easy to say that yeah, this is who he is, this is what he’s done in his career, but I don’t think so. That may be what he is this year, but Paul George has come back as a better player each and every year with the Indiana Pacers. He can’t do that forever – no one defeats father time, after all — but I don’t think he’s anywhere near done growing. I obviously don’t what plays into PG’s issues with streakiness, whether it’s mental or physical, what it is, but I would almost guarantee that he’s aware of the issue and working a solution. So far this year, it seems like hard double teams are bothering him. He’s become a better passer, but he has to keep growing there and make teams pay for overplaying and double teaming him. The more counters he develops, the less streaky he’ll wind up being.

Paul George 2015-16 Stat Breakdown | PointAfter

Matt H: (@itsmattacular)

PGs performance lately has been subpar to how he started off the season. Add that to the recent battle with the refs, do you think we’re just seeing a slump in his performance and personality? Do you think it’s something he can climb out of before the All-Star break?

Very similar question here, with a few key differences. I touched on the fact that I think he will outgrow these hot and cold stretches. This has been the player he is thus far in his career as a go-to guy, but I’d expect him to continue to grow. I do want to touch on his “battles” with the officials, though. PG has let the refs almost control him at times, and it affects his play. While some players can use that as fuel to go out and take that frustration out on the opposition, PG hasn’t done that so far. When calls don’t go his way, he can sometimes sulk, or bicker with the refs in lieu of doing other things (like getting back on defense, for example). The Pacers staff and fans have just got to hope that he outgrows that, rather than continue it throughout his career a-la, Dwyane Wade. I have no doubts that PG will improve his game physically speaking, he will continue to work on the troubles that plague him, but he need to grow at the same rate emotionally and learn how to deal when things don’t go his way.

AgentFelix (@AgentFelix)

How happy will you be to get Myles Turner back? Do you think he can give the Pacers defense a boost?

First of all, I personally am incredibly excited to see Turner back in action. The Pacers have so many guys who you know exactly what they’re bringing to the table. That’s not a bad thing, especially for a coach and a team, to know what they’re getting. As fans, though, new is exciting. We know what we’re going to see out of Ian Mahinmi/Lavoy Allen/Jordan Hill on most nights, without too much variation. Myles Turner (for me, at least) brings a “what will he do tonight?” component to watching. As a fan, I never know if Turner is going to bang home 3 or 4 straight turnaround jumpers, if he’s going to spring for a followup dunk, block a shot out of the building, etc.

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It’s much harder to say if he’ll help the defense. Having a (potentially) prolific weakside shot blocker is by no means a bad thing, and should be a net plus on defense. However, rookies have a very steep learning curve on defense in the NBA, and Turner is only 19 to boot. He’s going to struggle with a lot of aspects on defense, and he needs to improve his lower body strength significantly before he can guard any real centers effectively. He will help against some teams, but against scoring big men, he’s going to need help. It helps the Pacers defense long term to play him, though. He’s the presumed future of the position, and will need minutes to improve.

Pacers Opponent Stats With Myles Turner On/Off Court in 2015 | PointAfter

Pacers31Colts18 (@Pacers31Colts18)

Do you see the Pacers putting Turner in the D-League for a couple of games to work the rust off of him?

I feel like you need a degree in theoretical mathematics in order to figure out how the Pacers are using the D-League right now. I would kind of doubt it, though, Vogel wants to watch Turner personally from the sounds of it. I would expect Turner to go hard in practice, and to get some minutes sooner rather than later. The bigger curiosity for me is how much he has to do to earn minutes back, whether he gets them because he’s a first round pick or he has to work his way past 3 big men who are all playing well in different ways. The big man rotation was solidified a bit while he was out, and now he’s got to figure out where he belongs and work his way back in.

Next: Indiana Pacers Road Woes Continue in December

And that’s this week’s mailbag. Don’t forget: If you’d like to take part send an e-mail to 8p9sAMA@gmail.com. You can feel free to shoot questions over to that email or reply on Twitter to @8pts9secs using hashtag #8p9sAMA or visit our Facebook page to leave comments.