Keyonte George is definitely turning heads to start this season. When many questioned what the future held for him after last season, George made it clear that he had licked his wounds, worked on his game, and was ready to prove it was all firmly in the past. Among those who have heaped praise on the Utah Jazz third-year guard is Zach Lowe, who gave George his due for his all-around improvement that no Jazz fan saw coming.
On the Halloween episode of "The Zach Lowe Show," Lowe explained George's extraordinary individual evolution by comparing how he has started this season to how disastrously everything went for him last season.
"Keyonte George looks like a totally different player... Decision making, the amount of control he has of his dribble, of the offense. He's always had these passes where you'd be like, 'Wow, he saw that pass and he could make it lefty across the court on the money?!' But he's slowing down, getting guys in his hip pocket like Chris Paul, reading the defense, and bam, lob, bam, corner pass. Just looks like a totally different player.
"Defensively, he was so out of sorts in his first two years. He didn't know where to be, when to be. He was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, to use a cliche. They played the Suns the other night. They're like, 'You're going to guard Devin Booker. Get around screens, use your length, be alert off the ball' and he was totally up to it."
This praise is actually more special than Jazz fans think, as Lowe was the one who called out George's defensive shortcomings at the end of last season. To see such a highly-respected NBA analyst like Lowe come around on George within the same year he critiqued George's problems demonstrates the magnitude of George's obvious improvement.
But George has to strike while the iron is hot
George has put the league on notice. The inefficiency is there and it's problem neither he nor the Jazz can ignore, but that shouldn't get in the way of how much better of a player he is. The defense, playmaking, and the rebounding (?!) cannot be ignored either.
However, it's only been five games, and the Jazz just came off their worst performance of the season. It's not George's fault the Phoenix Suns handled their business against the Jazz, but this is onle the first step in what could be a triumph for George.
He should know that the season is a marathon, not a sprint. He has developed adequately and has said all the right things. As long as he keeps this up, the Jazz should have every reason to keep him around, but where we are now can be a lot different in April.