Paul George summed up his offensive play of late on one first-half possession against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
The Indiana Pacers' second-year guard had a breakaway for what looked to be an easy two points.
At least it should have been.
George went up in the air and suddenly became indecisive: Would he just lay the ball up or put on a show with a dunk?
Neither happened. George lost control of the ball and missed the attempt. George avoided further embarrassment by gathering the rebound and getting fouled.
"He's just been a little casual with his finishes at the rim," coach Frank Vogel said. "He's just trying to do too much and try to be too fancy out there. He just has to get back to playing basic basketball and he'll be fine. I told him: 'The goal is to finish. If you want to put a little pizzazz to it, that's fine, but you have to finish.' "
Basic basketball is the reason George turned a lot of heads during the first part of the season: defending well, rebounding, attacking the basket with aggression and knocking down open jump shots.
George is still doing the first two things pretty well. The last two are a different story.
George has scored in double figures only three times in the past nine games. He's shooting 35 percent (25-of-70) from the field during that stretch.
He hopes to get back to creating scoring opportunities off his defensive play when the Pacers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"I still feel like I'm getting the same shots; it's just me focusing in and knocking them down now," George said. "It's not fatigue. I get worn down sometimes, but I don't think that's the reason why I'm missing the shots."
George, normally a mild-mannered player on the court, has become more animated -- vocally and with hand gestures -- about his displeasure with the officiating during recent games. He's letting unfavorable calls linger for several possessions instead of moving on.
"I'm letting the officiating get to me," George said. "I'm just tired of getting ticky-tack calls and then on the same end I'm getting hit pretty good and they're calling the plays clean. It's definitely frustrating."
George has picked up at least three fouls in four of the past six games.
He has consistently struggled this season at falling for pump fakes and getting called for reaching in while attempting to get steals.
George is at the point of his career that he still must earn the respect of the officials.
Vogel agrees with some of what George is saying about the officiating, but he has to watch his words "wisely" when talking about calls going against his second-year player.
"He's a young player," Vogel said. "He has to understand that young players don't typically get calls in the league. He just has to play through all that."
Call Star reporter Mike Wells at (317) 444-6053.
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