Like all players who arrived in the NBA at the beginning of the last decade or just before, Paul George saw basketball shift into a new era with the dominance of the Warriors and Stephen Curry in the mid-2010s.
It is now a well-recognized and clearly visible truth: the 3-point shooter has taken a prominent place in the league. Almost everyone is doing it and it’s impossible to do without it.
“The game has changed, it’s different”observes Paul George for his podcast. “My first seasons in the league, we had fewer possessions in attack. And the attack went through the best players. There were two interiors too. So it was going slower, it was playing on half-court. Today, there are six or seven players on each team who can shoot and make five or six 3-pointers, where, at the time, there were only three. There weren’t as many shots or possessions. »
The Clippers winger also explains that the “players have become very clever to cause fouls and go for free throws”. According to him, “free throws are at a level never seen”, which is not statistically true. Precisely (in part) because the players are moving more and more apart and the battles inside are less present.
If we take a look averages per game, season after seasonwe even notice that it is the opposite of the feeling expressed by “PG13” since we have never spent so little time on free throws in the history of the league as for ten years…
Nevertheless, the freedoms offered by the referees, who punish the defenders more harshly than in the 1990s and 2000s, do not seem to completely please the former Indiana.
“It kinda killed the game,” he believes. “We can no longer defend as hard as before. It is immediately fault. You could be physical and aggressive before, but not anymore. The attackers have the advantage now. »
Fortunately, there are still the playoffs for the game to balance out, and for the defenses to regain the upper hand. Provided you qualify, of course.
| Paul George | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2010-11 | IND | 61 | 21 | 45.3 | 29.7 | 76.2 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 7.8 |
| 2011-12 | IND | 66 | 30 | 44.0 | 38.5 | 80.2 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 12.1 |
| 2012-13 | IND | 79 | 38 | 41.9 | 36.2 | 80.7 | 1.1 | 6.5 | 7.6 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 17.4 |
| 2013-14 | IND | 80 | 36 | 42.4 | 36.4 | 86.4 | 0.8 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 21.7 |
| 2014-15 | IND | 6 | 15 | 36.7 | 40.9 | 72.7 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 8.8 |
| 2015-16 | IND | 81 | 35 | 41.8 | 37.2 | 86.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 23.1 |
| 2016-17 | IND | 75 | 36 | 46.2 | 39.4 | 89.8 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 23.7 |
| 2017-18 | OKAY | 79 | 37 | 43.0 | 40.1 | 82.2 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 22.0 |
| 2018-19 | OKAY | 77 | 37 | 43.8 | 38.6 | 83.9 | 1.4 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 28.0 |
| 2019-20 | LAKE | 48 | 30 | 43.9 | 41.2 | 87.6 | 0.5 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 21.5 |
| 2020-21 | LAKE | 54 | 34 | 46.7 | 41.1 | 86.8 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 23.3 |
| 2021-22 | LAKE | 31 | 35 | 42.1 | 35.4 | 85.8 | 0.4 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 24.3 |
| 2022-23 | LAKE | 51 | 34 | 45.9 | 37.6 | 88.1 | 0.8 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 5.2 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 23.7 |
| Total | 788 | 34 | 43.7 | 38.2 | 85.0 | 0.9 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 20.6 | |
