In the post game press conference, Paul George blamed tonight's loss on the free throw discrepancy (Miami +17 on the game) and said that he felt Indiana out played Miami.
Anybody who watched that game knows that there is no way Indy out played Miami at all. The entire game I was texting friends about how lucky Indy was that the deficit was as low as it was. The only reason the final score was close is because Miami took their foot of the gas pedal in the middle of the 4th quarter when up by 20 points.
Turning the ball over 9 more times than Miami didn't have anything to do with the loss, Paul?
I didn't think George was the type to try to cop out of a loss blaming the refs like that and I was really disappointed. Shows that he is still a very immature person. That's the type of thing Lebron would have done a couple years ago.
Completely agree on why Indy lost last night.
We have learned or have been reminded of several things about this Pacers team over the past 2-3 months:
1) Roy Hibbert is still Charmin
2) George Hill is NOT a PG
3) Lance Stephenson is incredibly talented and also a loose cannon
4) The Evan Turner trade ended up being an abomination
5) Paul George, to paraphrase Dennis Green, "Is not who we thought he was"
George still has to grow, big time, as a leader...He has to find balance between being aggressive and too aggressive/forcing offense...George might have the most talent, but the guy that is put on the front line to handle issues and be a leader is David West...It was West who challenged Hibbert during the Washington series. George's post game comments last night is just the latest example on how he has plenty of room to grow in that department...
We can talk about talent, we can talk about experience...But, the main issue with Indiana is between the ears. They've been incredibly fragile in that area for awhile now.