NBA News: Doc Rivers Feels Paul George Should Man Up To Get Better

KEY POINTS

Doc Rivers feels Paul George should continue to yearn for improvement
Rivers says George should move on from last season's debacle
George's adjustments will be monitored under his new coach

Doc Rivers has moved on from a forgettable last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but the blame game continues.

One player who recently threw shade at performing poorly is Paul George. The 59-year-old mentor responded to the six-time All-Star’s jab, saying things are not going to be much different moving forward.

The one-time NBA champion coach believes that this will continue under the term of new head coach Tyronn Lue and feels that players, including George, can get better when he spoke to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I enjoyed coaching him,” Rivers said. “Ty Lue was sitting right next to me, so [George] hope it’s not adjustments. It ain’t going to be much different. We lost the game and I think everybody needs to take ownership. Obviously, we can always do better. Players can get better…I’ll leave it there.”

Previously, the 2013 NBA Most Improved claimed that Rivers compelled him to take a role where he should emulate the likes of Ray Allen or J.J. Reddick.

George believes that being relegated to an uncomfortable position was one of the reasons why his performance last season was sub-par.

Paul George on his struggles in Doc Rivers' system:

"Doc was trying to play me as a Ray Allen or a JJ Redick, all pin-downs. I can do it, but that ain't my game. I need some flow, I need some mixes of some pick-and-roll, and post ups...That last season was hard."@SHOsports pic.twitter.com/ECcN1NaEvd
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) December 2, 2020

“I can do it, but that ain’t my game. I need some flow, I need some mixes of pick-and-rolls, I need some post-ups, just different touches. Last season was hard overall,” George said when he appeared on the “All The Smoke” podcast.

The gist here is the botched 3-1 series leverage by the Clippers during the Western Conference semi-finals against the Denver Nuggets. Rivers had a history of blowing out huge leads in the playoffs, and this was seen as the reason behind his firing.

As for George, adjustments are part of the game and Rivers may have a point by saying players can get better.

Under Lue, it will be interesting if the 30-year-old can make the necessary adjustments. Though he did mention in a previous post that he wanted to retire with the Clippers, not all see it happening unless he comes up with an impressive showing this 2020-21 season.