Author Topic: Why is Indiana struggling?  (Read 2570 times)

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Why is Indiana struggling?
« on: December 08, 2016, 06:30:05 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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The pacers were a lot of people's sleeper pick for improvement after adding Teague, Young and Jefferson to an improving Myles Turner and of course Paul George. However, they are still struggling along with a similar record to last year at around .500. Why have they not stepped up?

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2016, 06:40:02 PM »

Offline bopna

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League has catched up. Jefferson is on the decline while Teague maybe good but he is no where near the Teague of 2014. PG hasnt gotten his mojo back from what we know he can do...maybe the Pacers figure it out in time but the most they can perhaps expect is a 5th to 8th seed..no where near the fight for the 2nd to 4th seed we all thought theyd be.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2016, 06:41:54 PM »

Offline GratefulCs

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I think it's because paul george sucks


They should probably send him our way on the cheap. We'll take him off their hands


Edit: imagine we DO trade for George and eventually win it all. Can you even fathom the backlash from other fans? 

"Ainge getting the hookup from old teammates AGAIN!"

Haha. It would be wonderful


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I trust Danny Ainge

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2016, 06:47:40 PM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Say to safe it is not the coach, the group of players as last year and new coach and yet same problem...

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2016, 06:59:45 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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The pacers were a lot of people's sleeper pick for improvement after adding Teague, Young and Jefferson to an improving Myles Turner and of course Paul George. However, they are still struggling along with a similar record to last year at around .500. Why have they not stepped up?

It's not surprising. Teague and Ellis, especially the latter, is a horrible defensive backcourt. Young isn't a player that does much other than score. So that's 3 players in the starting 5 that all excel with the ball in their hands. They also provide little spacing when the ball is out of their hands and in the hands of their best player. It's a mismatch of a roster. They also acquired Big Al, but they want to play fast.




Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2016, 07:11:34 PM »

Online Who

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#1 - Myles Turner isn't ready for the amount of responsibility he is being asked to carry. Being asked to carry the interior defense and protect the defensive boards while being the only big man on the floor is a big ask for such a young player. Like most young bigs, he is still adjusting and getting comfortable with the physicality of play in the paint. He is still learning team defense. He is still improving defensive rebounding fundamentals (vs relying on athleticism).

I thought they did M.Turner a disservice by not having a legit 2nd big man behind him who can play defense. A defensive liability like Big Al isn't right for that team. I also think they missed an opportunity to go big at times with a 2nd big man slotting alongside M.Turner to give them a more physical defensive lineup at times.

#2 - Monta Ellis has not been able to fit in and with such low offensive output, he is a liability in that starting SG role. Playing with one big man, Indy should be trying to get long athletic wing defenders who can be more active on team defense. Instead they have a pint sized SG who can't play defense.

Monta Ellis' inability to gel with the rest of his team on offense has also cost Indy their only other certified go-to scorer. This has put more pressure on Paul George and also on Teague & M.Turner who should be 3rd/4th/5th options.

#3 - Paul George is an overrated offensive threat. Firstly, he takes too many shots. His shot selection is poor. He regularly settles for low percentage shots off the dribble. He is not efficient enough to be taking 17-18 shots a game. He is an average passer. He doesn't create enough scoring opportunities for his teammates versus other top offensive wings in the NBA. And he turns the ball quite often. His overall efficiency offensively is quite average. Definitely a volume player offensively.

#4 - Lack of big man passing. Myles Turner is a non-passing center. This lower's Indiana's offensive versatility because they cannot run their offense through him in the high post or the low post. Makes them overly reliant on dribble drive action and PnRs. If Turner would develop his passing, he would make Indiana a much more difficult team to defend. Thaddeus Young is also a mediocre passer which further puts pressure on Indy's PGs, SGs, SFs to create ball movement for the team.

Edit ....

#5 - Three point shooting. Teague is only at 27.5%. Monta 31.9%. Stuckey 27.8%. Hard to play the way Indiana want to play without more sharpshooting from the backcourt.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2016, 07:16:39 PM »

Offline PickNRoll

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No identity.  How are they supposed to win games?  Ellis's best years are behind him -- doesn't get to the FT line like he used to and can't shoot the 3.  Young wants to run.  Teague is fast, but actually excels in the half court and also can't shoot the 3 reliably.  George is a grindy defender who provides mismatches in the half court.  Al is washed up / can't run.  Turner's talents aren't being utilized -- looks like Patrick Ewing coached by Mike D'Antoni, not pretty.  I'm not sure what the Legend is trying to do.  You can't just add a few quick players and call it a running team.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2016, 07:34:39 PM »

Offline Kaz

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Monta, Teague, Thad, and PG13 are all guys who require a lot of touches, and there's only one ball.  Monta and Thad in particular, since they don't bring much to the table outside of scoring.

Jefferson fell off a cliff last season, and Turner is still raw.  Teague and George are too good for them to miss the playoffs entirely, but they aren't gonna go far.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2016, 08:13:30 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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Not a great fit of players , philosophy, coach, 

Must be torture for Larry.

He should just trade us George ..... :D

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2016, 08:50:31 PM »

Offline MBunge

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They replaced the coach with the best winning percentage and 2nd most playoff wins in team history for no particular reason.

Mike

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2016, 08:58:58 PM »

Offline Hank Finkel

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They replaced the coach with the best winning percentage and 2nd most playoff wins in team history for no particular reason.

Mike
mbunge you are right on.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2016, 09:14:36 PM »

Offline moiso

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Lots of good points.  I don't think Bird has done a good job on this team.  Too many drastic changes from year to year and too many parts that seem thrown together.   I wonder how many more seasons they will keep throwing new players around George.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2016, 10:45:10 PM »

Offline GreenWarrior

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They replaced the coach with the best winning percentage and 2nd most playoff wins in team history for no particular reason.

Mike

dead on! larry stated he wanted to be a more run offense team. I can't believe larry's intelligence has gotten that bad... you need to play D in order to run.

Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2016, 10:48:03 PM »

Online Moranis

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They are 22 games in with a new coach and and of new faces. Sometimes it takes a bit to figure it out. Of course they might not figure it out but it hasn't been that long to write them off yet.
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Re: Why is Indiana struggling?
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2016, 12:28:26 AM »

Offline chambers

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Their defense is awful being the main reason.
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