Okay why is Rick mad here??? What defensive scheme says to leave your man wide open for a 3?
Bennedict Mathurin not playing to the team’s defensive rules and Rick Carlisle is not happy about it, so he called timeout. pic.twitter.com/XklCvhagfR
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) November 28, 2023
by Protothea
4 Comments
He was supposed to double and then the next man slides over. He didn’t until too late.
I think this Pacer team might be the only team where this mismatch on the block with space doesn’t always result in a hard dig or straight double every time. I would give Ben the benefit of the doubt if I couldn’t see Rick yelling at him to double during the play at the top of the screen. I think the fact that Ben didn’t realize Rick was yelling instructions to double set Rick off
I’m not sure how this outburst furthers the goal of developing our 2nd year.
Mathurin puts a lot more effort into defense than some guys on our team but he has a way shorter leash
And fact is he was one of the only ones besides Tyrese making shots.
doubling a mismatch in the post is like basketball 101. Mathurin needs to be able to step down and make Grant worry about his dribbling hand/make a decision to pass. If he positions well, it forces a lob back out to the perimeter so Mathurin can recover to his man.
It’s absolutely abysmal defense by Mathurin, giving up a nearly free two points. The fact that he was just standing straight up in no man’s land is even worse. If Grant does kick it out, Mathurin wouldn’t recover in time to contest the 3 anyways because he’s not ready for it.