Georges Niang happy to be back in state

AMES — Returning to Iowa provides Georges Niang some reprieve from the rigors of an NBA lifestyle.

The challenging side of the business reared its head when the Indiana Pacers waived the former Iowa State standout last week, and an already planned trip to Iowa couldn't have been better.

Seeing Naz Mitrou-Long in town added to the normalcy of returning 'home.'

'(Mitrou-Long) was like, 'Man it's great to be out here. Simple living,'' Niang told The Gazette this week. 'It just feels so great being around here, so I love coming back here.'

Niang played in 23 games last season for the Pacers and averaged 4.0 minutes and 0.9 points per game. The 6-foot-8 forward, who ended his Cyclones career as the all-time wins leader, also spent time with Indiana's D-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and averaged 19 points and 7.2 rebounds in six games.

Maintaining a routine amid all the travel and practice obligations, Niang said, is the biggest thing he learned in his first professional basketball season.

'I know what to expect at the next level and I've just got to keep pushing and control what I can control,' Niang said. 'I'll make the best of my next situation and make it happen to stay in the NBA.'

Injury and front office change didn't help Niang, who was drafted No. 50 overall last year. Niang, who was in Iowa this week for a charity golf outing and the Georges Niang Basketball Camp, is owed $100,000 by the Pacers, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Less than two minutes into the Pacers summer league opener in Orlando, Niang was sidelined with knee hyperextension and a bone bruise that forced him to miss the remainder of the event. He said he is '70 or 80 percent right now' health-wise.

Where Niang plays next is up in the air, although he said conversations with his agent should produce results within the next week or so. Even while doing charity and community outreach work in Ames, Niang also turned his attention inward.

'I'm just trying to work out and get back to being 100 percent,' Niang said. 'I'm really focused on me. I feel like I haven't done that in awhile. I'm excited to be back here and work with these kids, do good stuff for this community and get healthy.'

While Niang's time in summer league got cut short, Mitrou-Long double dipped in Orlando and Las Vegas, playing with the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings, respectively.

Mitrou-Long averaged 9.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in eight games. He averaged 22.8 minutes per game and said playing in two summer leagues on opposite coasts gave him a little taste of what professional basketball entails. His immediate assignment is to take time away from the court.

'It was a little tiring, it felt like the AAU days, but you have to get used to that if you want to play an 82-game season plus postseason,' Mitrou-Long said. 'That's the goal.'

Mitrou-Long and his agent, much like Niang, expect clarity on his next stop soon. Playing well in summer league gives numerous NBA scouts and executives a sample of his usefulness, but Mitrou-Long said even with offers in hand, there are no guarantees.

'For guys like myself who fly under the radar and has to grind for everything I get, teams might not be as lenient with time with me (on taking time to decide where to go),' Mitrou-Long said. 'So now that the summer league is done I'd say a week-and-a-half would kind of seal the deal.'

The feedback Mitrou-Long got through the workout and summer league process foreshadowed a position change. The Mississauga, Ontario, native played off the ball in college and averaged a career-high 15 points while shooting 38.4 percent from beyond the arc.

At the professional level, the 6-foot-4 guard projects as a point guard, which Mitrou-Long played in high school and AAU. He averaged a career-high 2.7 assists at Iowa State as a senior.

'Having not played that in four years, for great reasons — having Monte (Morris) and doing what I had to do to make us successful at Iowa State — I was taken off the ball,' he said. 'Now I'm having the ball in my hands, I'm getting more and more comfortable with it as the time goes on.

'I heard some pretty good things.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com