MtnWasp
Ramblin' Wreck
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- 992
Not to knock Josh Heath or anything, but I have been a little shocked by some posts that suggest that either I am lost in the ethers on George or many fans are woefully under-valuing this player.IMO, George reminds me a lot of Josh Heath (with a higher scoring upside)...someone who looks to facilitate more than score. When George is feeling it, he can put up 10+ points a game as well.
George scored at least 15 points in 8 ACC games as a true Freshman (with a high of 24 points in our ACCT loss to ND).
But scoring aside, George's floor vision is truly exceptional. He makes plays that most guards, regardless of level, don't even see. He made a pass against WG where he dribbled right, got into the paint and made a "hook shot" lob pass to a well guarded Baye Ndongo for an easy lay-up that hardly any players would try. He not only sees the play in real time, not only tries that pass, but he does this with a low turnover rate.
And while George is not the quickest guard, he doesn't seem to have any difficulty getting to where he wants to go, and he plays with pace. He's got this stuttered high dribble thing like Chris Mullins that is flat hard to guard. Between his dribbling style, floor vision, quick decision making and efficient passing, George consistently moves defenses and makes our offense flow.
Not to mention that he has demonstrated, even as a Freshman, that he is clutch in tight situations, maybe the rarest of qualities in sport.
This guy is a special player and it saddens me that some GT fans don't even see it even when it is right in front of their noses.
As a fan of high I.Q. players, George became a favorite of mine as soon as I started watching him play. There's nothing machine-like or formulaic about him. He is creative. Against WG it looked to me like he picked-up right where he left off so, I will go to the mattresses for him. I love watching him play.
Enthusiastic thumbs-up for McCollum's first game. He's both high energy and productive. With George and Lance off the bench, that is a seriously promising backcourt.