The dead horse that keeps getting beaten

HurricaneDij25 · Post #1 » by **HurricaneDij25** » Wed Jan 3, 2018 7:23 pm

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/paul-george-has-no-regrets-at-all-about-telling-pacers-he-would-love-to-join-lakers/

The more Mr. George opens his mouth, the dumber he sounds and the more ego-driven he comes off. Dude, if you know what's good for you, you need to dodge that question in any way possible.

Just about everyone in their right mind knows that the "hometown" card is bogus in this instance. Guy has always spoken highly of Kobe throughout his NBA career and loves Kobe like a girlfriend...One can honestly tell me that it never crossed Mr. George's mind that living in Kobe's shadow would somehow lead to an easier path to success.

8305 · Post #2 » by **8305** » Fri Jan 5, 2018 11:57 am

It sounded awful while it was happening but, when it was all said and done he did us a favor. We got a solid return for him (maybe our two best players). Instead of near ground zero level where we would have been two or three drafts away from accumulating talent, we got the benefit of adding two guys who are very good players now. Moving him timely probably saved us two or three years of what would have been bad basketball.

Paul was a good player who gave us a lot of great basketball. The last years he was here from a coaching and overall management perspective the picture was pretty bleak. I’m not sure any star player could have been expected to stay.

HurricaneDij25 · Post #3 » by **HurricaneDij25** » Sun Jan 7, 2018 5:56 am

8305 wrote:It sounded awful while it was happening but, when it was all said and done he did us a favor. We got a solid return for him (maybe our two best players). Instead of near ground zero level where we would have been two or three drafts away from accumulating talent, we got the benefit of adding two guys who are very good players now. Moving him timely probably saved us two or three years of what would have been bad basketball.

Paul was a good player who gave us a lot of great basketball. The last years he was here from a coaching and overall management perspective the picture was pretty bleak. I’m not sure any star player could have been expected to stay.

I'd hate to bash my own people, but Pacers fans are naive as hell if they think the Pacers organization was at fault for George becoming disgruntled his final couple of seasons here.

It might not be what folks want to hear, but his loyalty to Kobe was stronger than his loyalty to the team that drafted him, and it always has been throughout his time here.

He made fools out of all of us.

And for that reason I'd rather give Pritchard all the credit as opposed to George for the return we got.

8305 · Post #4 » by **8305** » Sun Jan 7, 2018 2:16 pm

I don’t think it’s naive to have concluded that the team assembled by Bird last year was a mess. We had one legitimate big (Turner) who was a weak rebounder. To cover for that weakness we utilized an undersized power forward and an ultra small backcourt. We had about 28 million tied up in Rodney Stuckey, Monta Ellis and Al Jefferson. Two of those guys aren’t in the League anymore and Jefferson shouldn’t be. Generally high level UFA’s stay when their teams are positioned to contend. When your personnel people are being snookered by agents for guys like Ellis and Jefferson it’s near impossible to build a contender.

basketballwacko2 · Post #5 » by **basketballwacko2** » Mon Jan 8, 2018 8:01 pm

The only good thing I can say about the Monta Ellis signing is that his contract had that voidable final year.

HurricaneDij25 · Post #6 » by **HurricaneDij25** » Wed Jan 10, 2018 6:48 pm

8305 wrote:I don’t think it’s naive to have concluded that the team assembled by Bird last year was a mess. We had one legitimate big (Turner) who was a weak rebounder. To cover for that weakness we utilized an undersized power forward and an ultra small backcourt. We had about 28 million tied up in Rodney Stuckey, Monta Ellis and Al Jefferson. Two of those guys aren’t in the League anymore and Jefferson shouldn’t be. Generally high level UFA’s stay when their teams are positioned to contend. When your personnel people are being snookered by agents for guys like Ellis and Jefferson it’s near impossible to build a contender.

I could see some of this, but I don't buy it as the reason George wanted out. It's not a coincidence that he didn't start practicing his exit line from the Pacers as soon as the Lakers underwent a regime change right around the trade deadline last year.

It was a classic example of a player that bought into the hype. During the years we competed with Miami for conference titles, the hype around George went into effect as the guy that was going to possibly succeed LeBron James as the NBA's next great small forward. As soon as wins didn't come as easily as he expected, he started searching for shortcuts. And to him, that shortcut was to be by living in Kobe's shadow with the Lakers.