Assessing Paul George's Sixers Preseason Debut: Pick-and-roll, Pull-up Shooting and Defense

After "technical difficulties" on League Pass threatened to take away any and all footage of Paul George's first minutes in a Sixers uniform, viewers got a feel for what life with the new star might look like.

It did not disappoint.

Here are a few different facets of his game that stood out in Philadelphia's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday.

Pick-and-roll reads

George had ample opportunity to govern the offense in this game. That will be the case when Joel Embiid misses games, leaving him and Tyrese Maxey in charge of leading the crusade.

There was a lot of pick-and-roll and DHO, Andre Drummond catching and pivoting toward George to come retrieve the rock and initiate the offense.

When George wasn't running up from the corners in DHOs with Drummond, he was in control of the ball from the start, calling up his screener to get the likes of Anthony Edwards off his back.

The thing about a real, good screen is that it gets the ball defender in trail position on the ball, leaving the screen defender to make a decision in a two-on-one situation. At least until the ball defender recovers, that is.

There were possessions in which the ball defender - in some cases, Edwards - conceded that George was already gone and switched onto the screener, leaving the screen defender to account for George.

But, if the screen defender engages the ball and the former ball defender is lazy to get to the screener on the roll, someone on the back side of the floor has to make the low-man rotation to tag the roller. George, while not quite a playmaking savant on the wings, read the situation well, catalyzing plays like this by simply waiting out the rotation and making the right pass:

Paul George waits for the low man to drop and tag roller before rifling pass to Tyrese Maxey, who attacks closeout and makes dump-off pass to Andre Drummond pic.twitter.com/ApWm9I49vh

— Austin Krell’s Sixers Film Room (@AKFilmRoom76) October 11, 2024

You credit George for making the right pass. The guy he's replacing did not often provide that level of vision. But, the impressive part isn't that he made an accurate cross-court pass.

It's what he saw to trigger that decision.

George waited for the exact moment that Jaden McDaniels was stretched away from Maxey to account for Drummond to make that pass. The timing is perfect because Edwards is also in the picture. McDaniels thinks he has to go from low man to home, while Edwards is just trying to recover and make a play.

George's timing sends two defenders at Maxey in a broken rotation, leaving Drummond alone at the rim. All Maxey has to do is attack and make the dump-off pass.

The brilliance isn't in George's pass. It's in timing the decision so that Maxey's speed could be weaponized against a defensive breakdown.

George called his own number in the pick-and-roll, too.

Pull-up shooting

Remember how we said a solid screen puts the ball defender in trail position on the ball?

Well, if the trailing defender doesn't call for a switch immediately, the screen defender is in trouble. Even if you're a step or two below the level of the screen, you're still in drop coverage. This is a moment where George's size is really valuable on offense.

He can attack the space that the screen defender gives him, he can pull-up off the dribble or he can snake back to the three-point line:

Paul George snakes Drummond ball screen and, because Anthony Edwards is trailing through the screen, is able to string out Naz Reid before knocking down step back 3 pic.twitter.com/fiQ4EIHJ3s

— Austin Krell’s Sixers Film Room (@AKFilmRoom76) October 12, 2024

George elects to snake back to the three-point line, stringing Naz Reid out into a one-on-one. To Reid's credit, he makes a decent contest. But, George is too good of a shooter at his size for it to matter.

Unlike some previous Embiid co-stars, George wasn't just engaged in the offense when the ball was in his hands.

There were moments in which he got to spots by playing off the ball, roaming around the floor and participating in the action to set up the shot he wanted. This ghost screen on Philadelphia's final possession of the second quarter was a good example of that:

George ghost screen for Maxey, isolates on Conley, crossover to his left for step back 3 pic.twitter.com/L9tW9p0A9g

— Austin Krell’s Sixers Film Room (@AKFilmRoom76) October 12, 2024

It's a challenging move in that he's shedding a defender with a crossover back to his left. But, again, George's size matters. He can shoot over defenders like Mike Conley with ease. His height manufactures self-created shots on its own sometimes. But, it doesn't really matter who the defender is, the handle and footwork are tight.

Defense

George wasn't fooling anyone. He did not take the top assignment every time the Timberwolves came down the floor. He was often relegated to off-ball duties, tasked with keeping McDaniels at bay while someone else took on Edwards.

But, George had a few notable moments on defense. There was an excellent closeout to the corner that stymied dribble penetration in the second half. I was particularly impressed by this moment in the second quarter:

This was good team defense by George to slide over in help, aid McCain in pursuing the ball, and then recovering quickly to his man on the kick-out after helping thwart the dribble penetration. Probably shut down a catch-and-shoot corner 3 here. pic.twitter.com/REFrXdPXej

— Austin Krell’s Sixers Film Room (@AKFilmRoom76) October 12, 2024

George will have some wind in his sails because of his replacement level over Tobias Harris. The former Sixer was often maligned for heavy closeouts, which led to dribble penetration and defensive breakdowns. But, he also struggled in other contexts of team defense. Over-committing as a helper and leaving his man alone was one. George's ability to shut down the drive and then recover back to home position to thwart an open three was a welcomed change.

It's only a preseason game. But, George left quite a mark in his debut.