Due to recovering from a terrible leg break, Paul George played just six games in 2014-15. Now, Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel says he’s 100% healthy again.
The Indiana Pacers became a force in the Eastern conference during the 2013-14 season as they won 56 games and were the only team who could challenge LeBron James’ Miami Heat after they faced off in the conference finals. The story of the Pacers’ last season was entirely different, though. After losing their best player, Paul George, for almost the entire year due to a gruesome leg injury he suffered in August 2014, the Pacers struggled to 38 wins and failed to make the playoffs.
However, it’s time for Pacers fans to get excited for 2015-16: after another summer to practice and rehab, Paul George is coming back at full health.
Scott Agness has reported head coach Frank Vogel’s statement on George’s status:
#Pacers Frank Vogel on Paul George: “He’s 100 percent healthy."
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) September 28, 2015
In addition to George’s stellar perimeter defense, the Pacers need him more than ever in order to save their offense. On defense, they were able to remain resilient without him and ranked 8th in defensive efficiency. At the other end of the court, though, their success was far harder to come by.
The Pacers joined the lowly Los Angeles Lakers to rank joint 23rd in offensive efficiency, which simply can’t continue if they want to at least make it back into the Eastern conference playoff picture. Although, with a highly talented (yet underrated) offensive addition in the form of Monta Ellis, along with Paul George’s return, things may be able to pick up slightly for the Pacers — at least from their perimeter players.
Climbing up the conference rankings isn’t going to be easy by any means, though. The Pacers lost their starting frontcourt his summer after David West signed with the San Antonio Spurs while Roy Hibbert left for the Lakers. As a result, Frank Vogel and team president Larry Bird are going to get creative with Paul George’s role with a move to power forward.
It won’t be for the entirety of his playing time, but it’s going to be a considerate part of his role now. His immense athleticism (which hopefully won’t be far from his form before the injury) and his career 36.1 percent three point shooting will make George an instant mismatch on the perimeter for slower power forwards, and he’ll surely leave many behind with his speed when he gets the ball in his hands.
However, it’s the matter of defending stronger power forwards when he’s on the court that’s an issue, as George has expressed himself in an interview with Sam Amick of USA Today:
"“Yeah, I believe (that’s his main concern),” George said. “It’s just being outmatched strength-wise with guys at the four spot is really the only concern. It’s not really the concern for one game. It’s the concern just over the course of a season just how my body would take it, especially coming off the injury that I had and a whole year of rehabbing. Just not sure of how it’s going to take it. (We’ll) start camp, see how camp goes. Again, I’m not too thrilled on it, but it could change the more comfortable I get at the position. But we’ll see. But again, I could very much end up loving it, so it’s all up in the air. I’m open to the position.”"
The strength issue is at the forefront of this change for the slenderly built, 6’9″, 220 lbs Paul George, and his interior defense will certainly need the help of new additions such as center Jordan Hill and rookie big man Myles Turner.
So, even though the matter of George playing a lot at power forward may be an issue at first, at least in terms of his comfort at the position, the fact he’s 100 percent healthy again is extremely encouraging for the Pacers.
Whether he’s at shooting guard, small forward or power forward, he’s returning to be their best player on the court. That’s got to be good news for a team looking to improve.
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