Fine ball handler. Did tend to lose the ball a bit more than I'd like, but it doesn't really put me off of from his dribbling ability all that much.
Has great length and ok size. Him being 6'7 as a guard is super appealing. As for his weight, he's around the average for a SG/PG. I do worry as to how much of his body is muscle or fat, seems to be more fat than muscle, but that doesn't seem to be a huge issue right now, more something to keep in mind.
Had a good shooting efficiency.
+
Worries:
I'm torn on whether I like George's shooting ability or not. He was great from three in college, being 40% from beyond the arc. His shot most likely won't translate as well into the NBA considering he's also 77% from the line, noticeably below the average for a SG (which is what I think he plays more as), but he should still be expected to hit threes at the next level. He had a good shooting efficiency at Miami (like I mentioned shortly before)... so... what is there not to like...? A lot, you just have to watch him play a little to find out. His shot selection was really bad at times, he would chuck up deep threes which he bricked, airballed, or got blocked. He has super high confidence, really believes in his shot, but it's to a fault. It's not like he was making those deep threes consistently to keep shooting them, he could get hot at times, but he wasn't knocking them down often. He made attempts at self-creation on the perimeter, but those efforts didn't work out most of the time. I saw him miss more shots than make them, so it was a little surprising to me when I found out he was 40% from three. His film and stats really differentiate, which makes it hard to grasp how good he actually is... which is why this a worry. He could be a nice shooter, but he could also be a guy who just throws things up trying to do too much.
His passing ability isn't bad but it's not good. Doesn't pass enough, and when he does pass, his looks and throws are real basic and don't really move any chains. Likes to kick the ball out a lot, which seems to work and led to scoring, but at the same time, I'm not really impressed because it's just a kick out. Needs to work on how he throws his passes too, he can have the right idea, but he doesn't have the execution down. His passes can be bad and thrown poorly to where George's teammates have to be in an uncomfortable position, or he just creates a turnover. His passes looked a lot nicer than they actually were. He has some potential, but I don't know how much he really has. Averaged 2.2 assists and had a 1.4 assist/turnover ratio, which is mediocre... could've been worse though.
George seems like an ok rebounder, he just doesn't rebound anywhere near enough. Most of his rebounds weren't really fought for, but he's shown he can handle pressure when getting boards and keep a firm grasp to prevent turnovers from double teams (which happens to him a lot). His lack of boxing out and his lack of really caring (mostly stands in the distance to see what his teammates do, if the ball starts to come his direction though, he's snatching it and running with it) to get a board puts me off a bit, but he has some upside, I don't think he cares enough though to max out what he could be in terms of cleaning the glass. Only averaged 3.0 rebounds per game (0.5 offensive, 2.5 defensive), not impressive.
George is 20. Somewhat young, but he's going to be 21 this year (early December). For a freshman, that's really old. It makes me hesitant to say he's still "young and full of potential", because he's not really young. And it puts more into perspective how unpolished George as a player is. He still has the IQ and feel for the game of a high schooler, while almost being 21. When I was watching his film, I really believed he was like in his early-19s. For whatever team takes him, he's going to be a project, and it's much more likely he becomes a bust than other prospects available, at least in my opinion. If you really believe in his upside and think his age isn't bad, then that's kind of understandable... I have just have too many questions personally to like his potential.
Averaged 1.5 turnovers per game.
+
Dislikes:
Probably should've mentioned this earlier, but there's not enough film on George as I would've liked. Might be off completely in some parts of this report because of that, so I would recommend doing your own research and see if you agree with my prior and following points on him.
George isn't totally bad defensively, he shows some promise, but he's still way too flawed in this aspect of his game. He's shown he can apply pressure well, specifically in the post. He uses his frame well to contest shots / prevent them. Even though he plays as a guard, I think he could maybe guard forwards as well, since he has the body to do so. His close outs are just kind of ehh, not bad but definitely not great... really on and off in terms of effort. His lack of communication on defense is a huge issue, often leaving a man open and just making a rotation / read which he doesn't inform his teammates about, which then leads to confusion, which then mixes up defenders, which then ruins defensive spacing, which then, most often, leads to the other team scoring. His body language on defense is also an issue, at times he can just look very lazy and look like he's not trying, or he can get visibly mad when something doesn't go his way (one of the few prospects I've seen argue with a ref multiple times over calls he definitely should've got). His lack of awareness on defense often leads to scoring opportunities for the other team. It's not uncommon for him to get blown by, but it's also not uncommon for him to recover just enough to contest a shot. He fouls a bit more than hoped, got 1.8 fouls per game. Showed he might have pesky hands, but he didn't utilize them enough to really buy into that. Stats don't help him in this case, since he only averaged 0.9 steals. And as for blocks, he only got 0.4. He really needs to be smarter defensively and give some more effort, because as I said, there's some potential, but he's too rough right now to even buy fully into that potential.
Although a completely different topic from his defense, is does correlate to his defensive potential so it's better to mention it now... George doesn't seem to be very athletic. Never did anything impressive or noticeable on film, his agility performance in the combine wasn't good, and his vertical tests were arguably worse. His weight can be mentioned here, because remember, he seems to be more fat than muscle... but at the same time, that argument could be a reach and not the reason why he doesn't look athletic (he just might not be athletic).
Although George has good shooting efficiency, he's far from an efficient scorer. This aligns more with the film I watched, which kind of makes me buy into my previous thoughts more. He was 42% from the field, which isn't that good and below the average for a SG.
This might be my biggest concern about George, and it's that he can't really finish at the rim. In the small sample size I had to go off of, George didn't look to get to the basket at all most matches (he would drive to attract the defense and kick the ball out to a teammate, but he wasn't looking to score for his team). And when he did get to the paint and try to score, he would throw up a bad attempt, or get blocked, or just miss bad. Often, he would only finish once around the rim. It's not like he shows a lot of promise either, but I guess he has some anyways with his length and maybe his age... you can hope he develops into a better finisher, but right now he's just not good.
Doesn't do much off the ball.
+
I heard a lot of hype surrounding George, and I really don't see it. I disliked him a lot more than I thought I would, and that might be why I didn't like him, maybe I had way too high expectations. He's just a potential guy, and I can't even buy into his potential as well as others might. His basketball IQ is just so poor at times, and he's so unpolished for a near 21 guy. I'd be lying if I said I saw the appeal, because I really don't. Again, not enough film on him as I would've liked, which may have tainted my perspective on him, but this is how I feel about him right now.
