Paul George is back, even if it is preseason

And even in his reaction to that, Stan Van Gundy found further evidence of Johnson’s rare mettle for a 19-year-old. He said Van Gundy has preached to him in practice to be all over the floor defensively. I thought his will was so strong that at times he was forcing plays. The move also takes George, one of the NBA’s best perimeter stoppers, away from where he’s done his best defensive work to date. “When you got that confidence that you’re going to get a shot, you’re going to make those shots. And he’s only been in here a week”.

George and the Pacers will get a more moderate test in Detroit (7:30 p.m., Tuesday) againstErsan Ilyasova (who was 12-of-14 for 34 points in a game against Indiana last season). George would cool down and settle for 10 of 17 shooting, good for 32 points.

However after one preseason game – in fact, a loss in which Davis produced 18 points and eight rebounds without playing through the second half – George felt the matchup did not go well. “So he’s sort of a find-a-way-to-get-it-done type of guy”.

Van Gundy said deciding on a base defense and keeping the principles easy to understand should help. “He’s good. In his first week because of injuries we used him in four positions”.

“I could see his frustration growing on Saturday (in the open scrimmage)”.

Helping out: Van Gundy said shooting coach Dave Hopla has already paid dividends.

Along with George’s offensive explosion, Vogel received serviceable performances from his top two rookies in Myles Turner and Joe Young.

Then, George said he would seek input from coach Frank Vogel and team president of basketball operations Larry Bird into how he performed at the position.

In order to take a step forward, Van Gundy is backing up.

Van Gundy cobbled “our best defensive unit” together to start the quarter, and Bullock was able to provide a few quality minutes in the backcourt, especially with Reggie Jackson ailing and Spencer Dinwiddie in foul trouble. I think that showed through.”. If Mahinmi isn’t good to go tonight, Jordan Hill will probably get the starting opportunity as he did in the team’s second preseason game.

“Spence has been okay in camp, he just didnt have a good game (Tuesday),” Van Gundy said. “But we’ve changed up with our power forwards so many times that you could see everybody hesitating (against Indiana), trying to think, ‘What am I supposed to do now on this one?’ We were just way behind the play”.

“He knows the big picture, we’re all on the same page”, Vogel said, per Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. It is simple, just simply go out there and execute what has been done in practice in regards to team offensive and defensive concepts, as well as the basic fundamental aspects of individual basketball. We’re not anxious (about the) game plan for Brooklyn or Milwaukee or anybody else. “We’re going to continue to evaluate and get his feedback and what he’s comfortable with and what he’s not comfortable with”.