Here’s Washington Wizards shooting guard Jordan Poole on the recent productive play of rookie Kyshawn George after Wednesday’s 134-130 overtime home loss vs. the Indiana Pacers (14 points/9 rebounds/1 assist/1 steal/5-10 FG/3-4 3-PT/1-1 FT).
*set a career-high in rebounds*
*averaging 10.0 PPG/4.2 RPG/2.1 APG/1.1 SPG/0.5 BPG/43.5% FG/43.8% 3-PT/75.0% FT over his last fifteen games*
(via Washington Wizards):
“Kyshawn’s been playing extremely good. Offensively, he’s aggressive and he’s knocking shots down. I think we all saw how capable and the potential he had earlier in the season when it came to the shots he was shooting. He’s shooting the same shots and he’s knocking ‘em down, and it’s open up the floor for him. But I think a lot of things that people don’t realize is how good of a playmaker, passer he is, how he gets off the ball, how he gets other guys involved. He’s using his size and he’s really competing on defense. He’s a really good defender and I’ve just gotta tell him sometimes that he’s a rookie, so the calls won’t always go his way. But he’s establishing himself as a physical defender in year one, so when the playoffs come or year two comes or year three comes, similar to like a Gary Payton [II] or Davion Mitchell or Keegan Murray or guys that are long and athletic who are really good defenders but they’re able to get away with a lot of fouls because that’s their style of defense.
“And it’s frustrating a little bit for him right now, just because he’s not getting the calls that’s going his way. But he’s doing everything right. He’s playing physical. He’s making it tough on the other team’s better players and better opponents, like he was going up against Pascal [Siakam] tonight who was an All-Star, which is a tough matchup, but he did a great job and he just has to continue playing that way. Over the course of the year, over the course of his career, he’ll be labeled as a physical defender and you can’t call those fouls on him. So, I think he’s been doing a really good job.”
