The Indiana Pacers are slogging through a tough season without star swingman Paul George, who brutally broke his leg this summer during a televised scrimmage ahead of the FIBA World Cup. According to Pacers center Roy Hibbert though, George is preparing to return unchanged.
"You guys don't see it, but I see a lot of the stuff that he does in practice when there aren't cameras and it's amazing that he's able to do that stuff at this point after what he went through," Hibbert told The Indianapolis Star.
While George has not been able to participate in any contact practices, but he has joined his teammates in shooting drills and has proven he can jump well already.
You see the Human Highlight Reel, Dominique (Wilkins), (George's) over here..." Hibbert said. "I put that on my mama! You haven't seen some of the stuff he's doing," Hibbert continued. "He shoots with us. He doesn't do any contact stuff, but he does shooting drills and stuff like that."
The Pacers could use George; at 16-30 they are in the cellar of the Eastern Conference's Central division and rank 25th in the NBA in scoring. Last season George spent half the year as a legitimate MVP candidate, and finished the year averaging 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He also racked up nearly two steals a night.
So if he is already dunking and shooting, can he return before the season ends as he had hoped?
"I mean, he's looking good," Hibbert said, "but not necessarily (that) he's heading back (this season)." As Hibbert had admitted, George isn't participating in contact drills yet or scrimmages. With Indiana so far back in the standings already, it makes little sense to risk the health of a franchise cornerstone to reach for an eighth seed.
[Indy Star]
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