An honest look at the Indiana Pacers | The Athletic NBA Show
Welcome to the slam and jam here on the athletic MBA show you can go to theathletic.com NBA show and get the athletic for a discounted rate it’s a great time we are less than a month away from the NBA trade deadline go check out a piece that I help contribute to uh
With our our guy Eric Karen about Pascal SE yakum trades lots and lots of fake Pascal SE yakum trades on that piece and you get to hear both sides from you know the Raptor side from the Thunder side from the MAV side from the Pacer side
All of it it’s very good you should go check it out the athletics.com NBA show with me as always is my good friend Alex Spears Alex tell me what happened in the NBA this week well Andrew it all started last Friday night where the new look OG Nicks went to
Philly and continued their post-trade hot streak dominating the Sixers 128 to92 and outscoring Philly 35-6 in the fourth quarter it was the Knicks third straight win a streak that would reach five before the Knicks finally fell to the Mavericks on Thursday night since the New Year the Knicks are five- one
With the sixth ranked offense and second ranked defense per cleaning the glass on Saturday it’s another Sixers game and unfortunately for them another game where I will be talking about how good the other team is the Utah Jazz led by low marinin 33 points beat the Sixers in
Philly 120 to 109 the Jazz as I will discuss in a few minutes have been on a tear over the last month going 12- four and moving to within a half game of the plan as for the Sixers it’s been a rough patch they are one and four in their
Last five and Joel embiid has been out of the lineup for a couple games now with the knee thing as a reminder the MVP must play 65 games this season meaning that any MVP candidate can only miss 17 games games Max mbid through 36 games so far has already missed
Nine now do you remember Cavs week a few weeks ago where the wheel of fandom landing on the Cavs immediately resulted in the Cavs announcing two of their starters would be out for extended time things seemed Bleak these caves just keep chugging away on Sunday the Cavs
Led by Jared Allen 296 beat Victor wanyama and the Spurs 117 to 115 holding on after an 11 Spurs run to end the game since losing both Darius Garland and Evan Moy the Cavs are a very impressive nine and3 and because of the game in Paris this week which they also won they
Don’t play again until Monday the Cavs are 22 and 15 Fifth in the East with Darius Garland likely coming back very very soon on Monday the Clippers continued their winning ways beating the Suns 131 to 122 in Phoenix Paul George and Qui Leonard combined to score 63
While the suns were once again without one of their big threes this time Kevin Durant the Clippers are 16 and3 in their last 19 games and are now only a game back of the nuggets for third in the west and in other Clippers news this week it was announced that kawh Leonard
Agreed to a three-year $152 million extension which will keep Kawai in La through the 2627 season on Tuesday the new look Raptors starting Emanuel quickly and RJ Barrett and th by the way traveled to LA to face off against the Lakers the final margin in the game was
Only one a 132 to 131 victory for the Lakers but as we would learn in a postgame rant from raptor coach Darko rakovich perhaps the most important margin was that margin that happened at the free throw line where the Lakers shot 23 free throws to the Raptors two
In the fourth quarter rakovic was f 25 grand for his comments and the Raptors dropped to 15 and 23 currently out of the plan while coach dark and the wraps did not get the much needed win hopefully they can take solace in the fact that the Lakers are not good the
Lakers are 4- 10 in their last 14 games with a Saturday game coming up against the RedHot Jazz if the Jazz win that game which is in Utah the Jazz would move into the playin pushing the Lakers completely out of the playoff picture unreal unreal on Wednesday it was a
Matchup between the two best teams in the league the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves and similar to their first match up this season it was another overtime Thriller after missing an off-balance mid-range shot to win it in regulation Jason Tatum would score 12 of his 45 points in overtime helping the
Celtics get the 127 to 120 win the Celtics are now 18-0 at home and if you’re wondering no team in NBA history has ever gone undefeated at home the closest we’ve gotten was the 1516 Spurs and the 8586 Celtics who both went 40 and one now for the Timberwolves they
Were so close to breaking a really long losing streak in Boston which goes all the way back to 2007 which was the last time they won there a game in which Ricky Davis scored a team High 28 points for the wolves in the win now Celtics announcer Brian scalabrini also played
In that game listen to this line 37 minutes 0 of one from the field zero points five rebounds four assists five fouls oh of one of one in 37 minutes unbel uh finally on Thursday we had some blowouts the Thunder beat the Blazers 139 to 77 in OKC the 77 points for the
Blazers that’s the fewest points scored in the NBA this season and last season actually it was also the largest margin of victory in Thunder franchise history The game everyone was watching however was Celtics bucks a matchup of the two top teams in the East unfortunately that game was also not that dissimilar from
The Thunder game with the Bucks cruising the ENT entire time winning 135 to 102 in a game that was never really close now were the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back yes you know who else was the Timberwolves the night before when they had to play Boston and took
Them to overtime okay true and finally I didn’t talk about them yet but it’s worth mentioning that this past week was a particularly low point for the Golden State Warriors you had the Shams report about Jonathan kaminga losing faith in Steve Kerr after last night’s or after
Last Friday night’s loss you had two blow out losses one to Toronto and one to New Orleans you had Steph suggesting that keeping this team together the rest of the season would be the definition of insanity you had the host of the Draymond Green Show nearing his return
And releasing an episode of his podcast where he revealed that being a giant ass on the court over and over was getting too much for him and Adam Silver had to talk him out of retirement listen it’s been a bad week for the Warriors and if you have any
Warriors fans in your life friends or family please check in with them this weekend and let them know that you are enjoying every single second of this and that you can’t wait to see what the second of the two timelines looks like since this first one is so clearly over
Uh what a week it was Andrew what a week indeed Al uh scoring is up around the league and so I decided I’d come up with five scoring stats for this season stat number one the Thunder lead the league and drives at 61 .8 I’m sure you’ve
Heard that a ton but since the NBA started tracking drives per game in the 13 14 season the Thunder are the only franchise to have 60 or more drives done it three times in fact the first year they started tracking drives per game in 1314 the most drives for any team was
The Philadelphia 76ers at 42.6 per game the Thunder are 20 more drives per game than that team pretty wild and it’s you think you think they’re getting Loosey Goosey with their definition or you think they’re actually driving I think the league is changing and I have another stat that shows how much the
League has changed since that particular season but that’s for later stat number two Kevin Durant he’s been pretty good for the Suns but did you know he’s only shooting 42% in the mid-range this season last season he was a mid-range killer he shot 56% last season from the mid-range he’s
Only N2 and he’s also only 0. N2 points per possession in isolation like one of like the worst like heavy ISO guys in the league that’s like the worst points per possession among any ISO player taking three or more shots per game Kevin Durant so is there a decline is it
A fit issue what is it there’s something going on with Durant so just just I’m not saying this is definitive for Durant but I’m putting a pin in Kevin Durant right now because it’s not looking very good Al I’m going to give you the best and worst players in transition position
Four or more possessions per game so the best guys in transition starting with Donovan Mitchell who is in 5.5 transition possessions transition possessions that’s hard to say transition possessions every game 1.34 points per possession shooting a 67% effective field goal which is just outrageous second shers Alexander in six
Possessions per game 1 Point 3-2 points per possession 65% effective field goal in transition crushing it and then RJ Barrett 1.31 points per possession transition 65% effective field goal all those guys are just almost automatic in transition now three guys who aren’t so automatic in transition Tyler hero and
Four transition possessions .94 points per possession 46% effective field fi goal in transition number two Terry Rosier 4.5 possessions .98 points per possession only 51% effective field goal now both of those they’re Chuckers they’re probably taking a lot of Pull-Up Jumpers in transition those are understandable this one this one
Surprised me the most Scotty Barnes in four transition possessions every game N9 points per position possession he’s only shooting 56% effective field goal in the league it’s one of the worst players in transition taking four or more per game I thought that was kind of
Unusual to me that was not a name that I expected well maybe uh maybe RJ will rub off on him a little bit yeah I mean if you would have told me like who’s who’s a better transition player RJ barar to Scotty Barnes oh yeah yeah I would not
Be guessing RJ Barrett it is like by far RJ Barrett I thought that was very interesting uh pull-up Shooters how about some pull-up shooting some of the best pull-up Shooters in the league Shay Gillis Alexander not a shock in nine pull-up shots per game shooting 48% he’s he’s shooting better on pull-up
Shots than Tyler herro is in transition which wild CJ McCollum a classic classic pull-up game still amazing this season 48% as well on six Pull-Ups per game then Chris Middleton another classic five attempts per game 47% still really good CJ is I was gonna say real quick CJ is
Lowkey having like an awesome season yeah he’s shooting 45% from three this season on eight attempts per game like EV all of his efficiency is up he’s basically putting up the same counting stats as last season um but he’s playing slightly fewer minutes but way more efficient in his 32 Age season yeah
Shout out CJ and very efficient in the pull-ups three guys who are really bad in pull-ups this season that are taking a lot you have to take five or more a couple goobers in here that you kind of that you’re like kind of like okay these guys make sense Jordan Jord
33% on 5.8 pull-ups per game yeah Jaylen green 32% on 5.9 attempts like okay sure there’s a player that’s that’s worse though and this is the worst in pullup shot and he’s taking eight per game and he guesses as to who the worst is on like volume pullup
Shots uh I do have a name in my head but I don’t I don’t even want to say it I don’t I’m gonna write it down if I didn’t already say Jordan paol I think Jordan paol would be the one that people would be thinking about yeah okay I’ve
Written it down if you say the name I will show you the name okay what is the name it’s Tyrese Maxi okay well that was not what I was gonna say oh yeah you know what I knew that because I was just listening to the youo ball podcast and
Uh and tril bro dude was talking about this how he’s been so good everywhere else everywhere else game has been really bad it’s not only really bad it’s the worst in the NBA on high volume the worst 31 that’s the worst in League at high volume okay my
Last offensive scoring stat we all know the postgame is dead but how dead is it really this season Nika yic has the most post-ups per game at 6.8 post-ups embiid has five per game Anthony Davis has four everybody else in the league is three or less nba.com stats tracking data goes back to
The 13 14 season as I mentioned earlier the most That season and remember this season the most is 6.8 the most That season Al Jefferson at 19.8 post-ups per game this was only a decade ago and the league has changed this much in fact todge Gibson That season in 1314 had as
Many post-ups as niik jic does this season at 6.8 exactly the same the postup is officially dead it’s dead Al most like most guys you would think are like oh like Alper shenon dominant in the post he’s taking three three per game the postup is dead it’s gone
Eliminated I I did love Al Jefferson I I 20 post-ups per game which so awesome which which is Ina like it would just NE it probably will never happen again because people like oh yeah the big man’s back look at all these like great bigs winning MVPs all this they don’t
Post up they just don’t do it and be five per game five five the things the things I always remember about Al Jefferson were randomly that that random year he had in Charlotte when he was really really good yeah kind of I think he was around 30 by
That time and then also his giant bed do you remember his giant bed yeah it was so long two favorite things about alerson giant guy giant bed um okay were those all your stats Andrew that’s all I got all right um listen a lot can change in a month on
December 12th one month ago the Nets who are currently 16 22 we’re in above 500 team the Lakers who are are currently teetering at the 10th spot were the six seed with three more wins than the team in seventh wow the Pistons had one fewer win than they currently do and the Jazz
The Utah Jazz were seven and 16 at that time cleaning the glass had the Jazz as the 26th best offense and 27th best defense wow a negative 8.8 net rating wow and based on their play to that point cleaning glass expected them to win around 19 games over an 82 Game
Season one month later the Utah Jazz are 19 and 20 a half game behind well actually they’re actually kind of tied with the Lakers now I wrote this like two nights ago but now after the Lakers lost as I mentioned that game on Saturday is going to decide who’s in the 10th
Spot there are game up on the Warriors like what happened to this team well over the last month the Jazz have gone 12 and four they are 13th in offense 12th in defense over that time span four is wild man 12 and four is crazy so it
Is those 12 wins are tied with the Boston Celtics for most wins over the past month and if for some reason 12 and four doesn’t sound that impressive I looked at last season just for context only 11 of the 30 teams had a 16 game stretch as good as what the Jazz have
Done over the last month this Jazz team has gone from being a true seller dweller hanging out there you know down there with the likes of the zards and the Hornets and the Spurs and the Pistons to having one of the best months of basketball a team has had so far this
Season and if you’re wondering whether the schedule God showed them favor over the last month no they didn’t just in the last week they beat Philly on the road Milwaukee on the road and Denver at home there 16 wins or sorry there’s 12 wins also included wins against Dallas
Miami and New York their four losses were at Sacramento at Cleveland at New Orleans and at Boston that’s it four Road losses to playoff teams wow and if you’re still trying to poke holes in this wondering well maybe they got some shooting luck no it was the opposite
Over the last month Jazz opponent shot 37.9% from three which was the 11th highest percentage in the league and they shot 45.3% from the corners which was the sixth highest percentage in the league if anything the Jaz were a little unlucky shooting the ball they only hit
35.9% of their own Corner threes which was the fifth worst percentage over that month time span this team has just been really good now why have they been good well there’s a couple reasons the obvious one is Health in the first those first 26 games marinan and Kesler missed
A combined 15 games and importantly they missed those games during different stretches which means the Jazz weren’t really able to settle into any kind of normal rotation now with everyone healthy the Jazz have finally been able to get into a rhythm with their rotations and interestingly what they
Found works is much different than what they thought would work uring the season the starting lineup on opening night was Talon Horton Tucker Walker Kessler Jordan Clarkson John Collins and Lowry marinin that lineup ended up playing 174 possessions together they were a minus 21.4 net rating in those possessions oh
No oh no is right fast forward to today the Jazz are rolling out Chris Dunn Colin ston Lowry marinan Simon fonio I always have to pause I really am trying to get that right I I even wrote it out phonetically for myself it’s a great name it’s a
Great name it is and John Collins in 182 possessions that new starting lineup has a plus 2.1 net rating per cleaning the glass now that isn’t some overwhelming number but when your previous starters who were a minus 21.4 it’s pretty good and lineup has been putting up those improved numbers over this recent
Stretch which again included games against Boston Milwaukee and Denver Andy lson wrote a great article in the St L Salt Lake Tribune detailing why this starting lineup which by the way is the 16th different one for the Jazz this season has finally LED them to a place
That makes sense Chris Dunn in the role of the distributor seon as the off ball scorer who has more space because of fonio and Collins being there and then marinin of course as as the lead guy who in addition to his always efficient scoring is currently at career-high levels with offensive rebound percentage
And block percentage that new starting lineup has allowed the all bench unit to make more sense as well rookie keonte George Jordan Clarkson oai baji Kelly olick and Walker Kessler are a plus 22 net rating in 90 possessions only 90 possessions so far per cleaning the
Glass and one thing Andy brought up in his article was how coach Will Hardy has talked about using differently in terms of spacing starting him closer to the three-point line instead of near the paint and Jackson Frank on Twitter clipped a play from that Nuggets game
Showing how this works it was a play where Kesler starts just inside the three-point line in the corner and while the movement of all the other four jazz players keeps the Nuggets occupied Kesler eventually cuts to the rim where he catches an easy lob from Markin in
For the dunk I know one thing I have been guilty of is thinking that good spacing is just too difficult with a non-shooting big in the C NBA which is just wrong it can be difficult but it’s also not impossible either and will hardy deserves a lot of credit for
Constructing this offense in a way where all these random pieces are being optimized because I can’t really say that I just love this Jazz roster Andrew you know I’m not I’m not blown away when I read this list of names to myself and so part of me does Wonder as good as
This month has been how much further of the standings can they really go but that’s where it starts to get interesting because while everyone has been focused on the Jazz as sellers at this deadline talking about marinan or John Collins or Kelly olenick why wouldn’t they be buyers this is the same
Team that engaged with the Blazers about Damen Lillard the same team that was trying to get involved in the Drew holiday sweep Stakes the team that made the John Collins trade and the team who if the Thunder didn’t exist we’d be talking about how much trade ammo they
Have at least 15 total first round picks including their own five that are completely unprotected they got lightly protected ones they got SW swaps they have movable contracts why wouldn’t the Jazz be buyers and that should terrify these old ass teams at the bottom of the playing range because a month ago the
Warriors Lakers and Suns thought they’d really only need to fend off one other team to at least make the play in when it looked like all of San Antonio Portland Memphis and Utah wouldn’t be competitive well now Utah even without some big deadline deal is going to be a
Huge problem this team assuming decent health is going to make the play in official slam and jam prediction Andrew whoa I don’t think they’re World beaters by any means and I’d love to see them make some kind of upgrade at the deadline but after a turbulent start to
The season they have now been in a solid Groove for a month which is so much more that you can say about these other goofy old teams around them so yeah i’ I’ve kind of been waiting but we are now at the month Point like they’ve been doing
This for a month now 12 and four so I I I feel like have to start to change my priors which granted I think it was deserved after you start off the season seven and 19 but they follow that up with this 12 and four month beating some
Really good teams now with everyone healthy I think I’m starting to buy the Jazz I’m buying in so official slaming Jam prediction who’s out then if the Jazz are in who’s out you’re asking me to make a second prediction Andrew I only do one prediction per show it’s
Attached to the the first one Andrew is none of my business okay whoever wants to drop out that’s their call okay I mean it could be two of Phoenix Houston Lakers Jazz Warriors are gonna miss correct two yes two of them because I think like Dallas is good enough
Pelicans have been good enough everybody else is good enough like two of those teams two of Dallas or not Dallas Phoenix Houston La Utah Golden State that’s that’s pretty wild like those are I mean obviously Utah didn’t make it they they I don’t think their fan base would be
Like outrageously disappointed if any of those other missed it would be like such a big disappointment for any of those fan bases well and I know what some people will say is well if if if they’re around the playin by the end of the season as a reminder their pick is going
To OKC but it’s top 10 protected so wouldn’t they kind of do a you know Dallas Mavs move from last year where they try to make sure they’re in the 10 spot but you and I have talked about like if you’re the Jazz wouldn’t you rather that pick convey this year in
What everyone is seeing as a down draft and then getting your own pick next year in the 25 draft now they expect to be better than the 10th pick next year but it kind of it makes it easier like you don’t have to worry as much like you you
Can have it either way you know you’re gonna having your first round pick in a much better draft so yeah I don’t really buy that as much I I did at the beginning of the season but now I’m at the point where I think the Jazz are
Just going to continue to play well and might even be buyers as they kind of suggested in the summer yeah yeah they could go get one of those net swings to for Fortify their team they’re really good uh another team that might look to maybe upgrade a little bit at
The deadline is the Indiana Pacers and we’ll talk about them right after this break all right Andrew it is time for the wheel of fandom our weekly segment where we spin a wheel it lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the
Next week last week the wheel landed on the Indiana Pacers the Pacers were on a five-game winning streak at the time and continued their good play this week going three and one with wins over Atlanta Boston and Washington the only downside to the week which was a pretty
Big one is that Pacer star Tyrese halberton had to leave in the first half of the win against Boston after doing an awkward splits halberton would be diagnosed with a grade one hamstring strain and is expected to be out at least the next two weeks Pacers are 22
And 15 fourth in the East with the number one offense and 27th rank defense per cleaning the glass Andrew if the Pacers are our favorite team who is our guest oh I’m so excited for this we get to learn from Caitlyn Cooper today she writes about the Pacers on the
Basketball she wrote blog that’s available on patreon.com Caitlyn thanks for coming on the show hey thanks for having me back guys it’s been a while but I’m excited to talk about Pacers with you again yeah so the big story is obviously Indiana losing tyes halberton this week
Halberton creates so much for the Pacers offense both as a scorer and as a passer despite losing him however the Pacers were able to quickly regroup and beat Boston and then they won their most recent game against Washington H how are the Pacers able to successfully adjust
So quickly after losing a player who’s so essential to everything they do yeah I mean it’s pretty interesting because time’s a flat circle right because at this time last December the Pacers made a starting lineup change and they ended up rattling off eight wins out of out of
10 and then Tyrese got hurt and then after that they went one of n over the next 10 with him being injured and they just never regained that same magic even after he came back so now they make a starting lineup change they go eight and one he gets injured and this time
They’re doing a lot better at regrouping on it just like you said some the second half coming out against Boston I think a big key to it is they’re very deep at the point guard position despite how good and fantastic Tes has been as literally almost an MVP candidate so T.J
McConnell was a big part of what they did in that second half particularly because Boston likes to try a lot of weird things on defense and it’s fascinating like particular this week everything that they do differently with Drew holiday whether that’s morphing in and out of man in zone whether that was
Being really aggressive weaking tyres hbert and their pick and roll coverages were very good against TJ they actually tried to put kristo porzingis and Luke cornet as his primary matchup and just sag off and play clear into the paint despite the fact that he was the only
Ball handler on the floor and he really took advantage of that and their transition defense struggled so that’s where the PTI are really going to thrive and if we’re being honest it also helped that Jason Tatum wasn’t playing he he he played pretty well against them in the
Prior matchup so that was a help and it also helped that they were playing the Washington Wizards in the next game so we’ll see how they Faire here coming out going on this extended road trip without Tyrese but I do think that they’re a little bit better equipped than they
Were last year to handle it and they’ve talked about the fact that you know it’s gonna have to look differently without Tyrese as well I mean you could tell right off the bat against Washington that R carlle has really relaxed how much play calling he does when Tyrese is
At the helm he was calling a lot of plays without tyes at the helm they’re having to focus a little bit more on defense so their play style I don’t think is going to be quite the same so one of the stories this season with the Pacers has been their defense or
Lack thereof however in their last nine games where Indiana has gone 8-1 the Pacers have held teams to 114 14.8 points per 100 possessions which is 10th in the league during that span per cleaning the glass and if any listener out there thinks oh they must have
Played an easy schedule six of those nine games were against Milwaukee Boston Atlanta and New York all teams with a top eight offense how much of this recent defensive Improvement is real versus a mirage I think it’s a combination of both when they made the change to the starting
Lineup the day after Christmas and ended up going back to what they went away from last year which is putting Jaylen Smith back at the four and part I think that was motivated for a number of reasons and that they had given up like 150 points to the Clippers and James
Harden was doing snow angels on the sideline and they knew that they needed to put an emphasis on defense so by doing that allows Aaron neith to play at the three which is his more natural defensive position he’s not giving up as much size also like individual defensive
Rating is you know it’s not an individual stat but the only starter for the Pacers who had a negative swing net rating was Obie toppen so they made an adjustment there and then also all three centers have been playing pretty well for them so it allows them to keep
Playing all three of them to an extent but it was also they just they wanted to make clear that look like the guys are going to play who are making a commitment on defense so I think that on the one hand you can tell from an execution standpoint that some of it is
Better like just for an example the Pacers start of the year they did not double team mismatches at all like that’s why they limit so many three-point attempts they stay home they do not have very many Closeouts like if you look at second Spectrum they’re one of the lowest teams in terms of
Closeouts because they’re staying and trying to limit three-point attempts then they kind of found out like look we have no size we can’t do that so they play a game against the Raptors they’re very proactive doubling Pascal cakam but their rotations out of those double teams were abhorent like really really
Bad knowing that they want to be in shift position rotating from the next nearest Defender and then keeping those rotations in front you could tell they were a team that didn’t do it and now when you watch them do it they’re they’re more connected you could tell
That they’re more on a string and know where rotations need to be that being said when you say how much of it is real overall opponents haven’t shot terribly against them from three on the whole but they’ve caught a lot of opponents in this stretch on very bad nights so
You’ll see that like Houston shot like made five threes like so that’s not something that you’re really controlling you can control the location and the volume of three-point attempts you can’t really control the percentage and then I would also say that there’s just like yes this is a tougher schedule but the
Opponents they were losing to during the one and seven stretch were very uniquely positioned to give the Pacers problems a team like Orlando a team like Minnesota they don’t have guys who can guard Carl Anthony towns and Anthony Edwards and and handle poo banero so um those
Matchups are something that I I think that that aspect is going to continue to linger the fact that they don’t have players who can guard big wings is is a lingering issue and probably why the Pacers are getting mentioned with basically every big Wing that’s out on the market right yeah
So back to the offense Alberton has become one of the most dominant offensive players in the NBA thinking ahead to the playoffs what kind of defensive strategies have been most successful against Tyrese so far this season and are there any teams Personnel or schemes that are particularly suited
To slow him down Chicago in the fourth quarter earlier this season had quite a bit of success just having Alex Caruso face guard him and be physical so that they were having to run offense more so through Bruce Brown similarly Orlando in the first game when the Pacers had the
Really lopsided loss and had their worst half court offensive rating in the first half of that game Jaylen Suggs was very physical with him because one of the things they’ll do when it’s you know TJ Andrew neard Bruce Brown running offense is they’ll use Tyrese as like the stack
Screener have him get loose out to the wing and then make plays from there and they were preventing him from even being able to set those screens and then it was forcing the Pacers to have to get into next actions but I would say that Boston honestly this week as a whole was
Probably the best that I’ve seen he was five of 17 the book on tyres is to weak him to his left and some teams aren’t as successful with that because he is still very good at stopping and popping and automatically shooting going to his left
But if you’re able to stay on his hip and funnel him into the mid-range he takes floaters with his right so it’s going to be an automatic you know contest right to his right hand Derek white was very good at that and then just mixing up however many different
Coverages that they were using I mean it was very telling of the Pacers and some of the holes that they still have in terms of what they need to be to be a contender and that Drew holiday in the second half was guarding Tyrese Halbert on the logo and face guarding him and
Not even looking at the fact that Ben was having a screen set from Isaiah Jackson like clear out on the logo just standing there staring at him so yeah so I would say that Boston is as a group was the best that I’ve seen somebody do so far kind of related that
I was reading your post about um the different ways they’re trying to hide Tyrese halberton on defense specifically against Boston who came out in that first quarter of the first game and were just targeting halberton almost every play and I think you said that Indiana scored 20 points in that quarter
Halberton was 0 for four do you think that might be a viable way of just like slowing him down by putting him in so many actions defensively that you just try to wear him out yeah and that was the flip side of the coin I mean Jaylen
Brown even touched on that and admitted like that was our strategy was to put him in his many actions early so that you know what he doesn’t transition maybe he doesn’t have the same energy stores to be able to do that so the Pacers did try to make a number of
Adjustments one thing that they did is they’ve had him use show and recover a lot more this year than you would have seen last year so they’re not giving up that switch the problem though there is is like Aaron neith fights tooth and nail like that guy would run through a
Brick roll through his teammates but if he’s still staying on Jason Tatum like Jason Tatum can still shoot over the top of him so um and then then Boston was like well if you’re going to show and recover then we’re just going to slip the guard screens at which point the
Pacers have been more active where like the guy guarding the corner will then do a kickout switch they will take that guy slipping and then Tyrese will peel off and go to the corner which is pretty effective for him because he really does play Passing Lanes quite well he has a
You know good size for position he’s pretty good at anticipating that so that was helpful but we’ll see if they continue to do that how teams adjust and counter for it because that the only team I’ve seen them do that against so far is Boston really because they
Haven’t they’ve eliminated some of the peel switching from their defense that they did last year so your most recent post on on basketball she wrote was about the go-ahead shot Benedict Maan took at the end of the second Celtics game which led to free throws and the
Win a shot that no Pacer had taken out of that action before that moment now mathine he exploded onto the scene as a rookie he posted some huge lines but he struggled with efficiency as the season went on especially from three this season he’s playing slightly less minutes but has improved his efficiency
Across the board though he’s not getting to the line nearly at the rate he was last season where have you seen the biggest improvements in his game and what do you see as the most important next step for him going forward yeah I mean I’ve said early on from the
Beginning of the year that I don’t think it’s completely been reflected in the numbers but I compare him to like if you have imagine a trap EAS artist letting go of the swing that they’re currently on but yet they haven’t quite reached for the second one I think overall he is
A better player than last year but he’s kind of in Lial space and I don’t know when exactly it’s going to be that he’s going to fully latch on to the next step of where he needs to go he’s kind of in that in between but like when they were
At Summer League it was very much like his processing of the game and ability to find kickout Avenues was limiting him because he really wants to play at a triple threat and that’s something that like it’s a good thing he’s very good at it he’s very good at making reads and
Using like a shimmy jab and knowing how much he needs to do to create separation and get to the rim and that’s why Rick Carl kind of mentioned like that shot that he got against Boston he’s the only guy in a roster who could have even gotten that shot off but there’s times
Where he’ll be open and he doesn’t realize like it’s a short close out and he doesn’t just naturally shoot the inflow shots that are coming to him so the threes are following at a better clip but I think he could even be taking a few more attempts in some of those
Situations just so that he’s drawing longer Closeouts because he is so good at driving downhill and drawing contact and the free throw attempts gone up for him I think a big part of it for him in terms of inflection points is that they just need him to be able to compete on
Defense more consistently and there have been some solid performances for him like what he’s he’s played terrifically against Milwaukee in pretty much most of those matchups and had some really big plays against Giannis down the stretch in the first win they got over him but then there will also be moments where
Like yeah they scored 150 points on the Hawks but there’s three possessions in a row where he’s given up a screen rejecting to dejonte Murray and then Deonte Murray’s getting to the rim where they they need more from him there and I think that he is capable doing it he has
The tools physically to do it it’s just that everything with Ben typically is about feel and processing and that’s where like you can see that his visual awareness is starting to get broader that he’s seeing more passing angles especially on drives than what he would have seen last year and they need that
Same thing to start opening up for him on defense as well um because if he’s gonna play out there with Tyrese Albert and the numbers with Tyrese and Ben are not good I think that’s in part why they went ahead and moved him back to the
Bench I think some of that was you know second year slump and having to figure out the different ways that teams were guarding him but also so like the numbers between Tyrese and Buddy are better the numbers between Tyrese and Andrew are better because Andrew is probably the most complete defender on
The team and buddy just has a degree of gravity that no one else on the roster has so um it’s gonna have to be Ben knocking down inflow shots that come to him and continue to be making strides as a Defender so Kaylin I was a big jerus
Walker guy going into this past draft I know you did a lot of pre-draft work on Walker and the Pacers drafted him eighth overall but the 37 games he’s only played 100 minutes total across 12 games how did you envision Walker fit on the Pacers going into the draft and with
Reports that the Pacers are quote very determined not to trade Walker how important do you think it is that he could potentially be how important could he be in this next era of the Pacers I mean in theory his skill set represents pretty much everything that they’re missing like if Tyrese is getting
Trapped they could definitely use a big that can make plays out of the middle of the floor be a canny short roll passer that that would be a boon for them having somebody at with that much size for a position at the four spot very helpful going into the pre-draft process
I was most impressed by him guarding the corners and what his off ball defensive instincts were and I think in part I might have missed the mark slightly there just because of what Houston’s defensive scheme was they were a very aggressive trapping scheme that called
For him to have to be more proactive so while he does make good reads that’s very different than what the Pacers do when I was talking about them staying home on three-point Shooters what they do with the low man is a lot more restraint so um I think that that’s had
To be an adjustment and I I know the fan base gets very frustrated with the fact that jarus isn’t playing but a lot of what he does defensively is about his hands for reasons both good and bad he has very deaf quick hands he he catlike reflexes good hand eye cordination but
It’s more so that than it is about necessarily his Mobility on switches on the perimeter as well so when you watch him in the G League I know Rick was asked like why isn’t he playing and he was basically like I need him to cut out the willy-nilly gambles so even in in
The fourth quarter when he was playing against Minnesota like he’ll shoot a passing lane or sometimes somebody might be bringing the ball up the floor and instead of getting back he like wants to Hound the ball and he might lunge for it and then it compromises the defense so
He breaks from scheme on that end of the floor quite a bit and there’s just you know he’s he’s a rookie he’s 20 years old the Pacers want to win games Tyrese has been very vocal about you know what did you learn from Team USA and he was
Like my big takeaway is I’m tired of losing so it’s just a little bit you know of a a difference in timeline in terms of where they are and what they’re waiting to see but I I do think that when you watch his League minutes that you can see improvements from him like
Going into summer league in the beginning of the Season he was definitely drifting like he was getting hit by a gust of wind to his left when he’s shooting and now he’s shooting the heck out of the ball in the G League which the Closeouts will be different at
The NBA level but you can see he’s he’s a lot more straight up and down so I think that he can be a big part of it his archetype represents what you see at the fourth spot being necessary in the playoffs I think a lot of the time but
How long that’s going to take before he gets there because he’s not there yet so um very interesting that they got reported this week that you know very very determined not to trade him in deals for seak who if you did trade for seak would be you know starting in front
Of jerus for four years so that’s a little bit curious for me well Kaylin thank you for answering all of our questions about the Pacers but is now time to play Andrew versus the beat our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head-to-head with an NBA beat raiter or in this case Caitlyn
Cooper from the basketball she wrote blog on patreon where you can read all about the Pacers for only $3 a month uh now Caitlyn and how this works come up with eight questions about the Pacers some are easy some are hard you’ll give me a number between one and eight and uh
Correspond to a question if you get it right you’ll get at least two points if you get it wrong Andrew have a chance to steal for one and we’ll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered so what number between one and eight would you like to
Start with let’s go with number seven question number seven there are four active NBA players who are in the top 10 for three-pointers made in Pacers franchise history two of them are currently on the team Miles Turner and Buddy hee who are the other two and you get one point per correct
Answer that are top 10 in Pacers franchise history in made threes and they are active players and I told you two are currently on the team suggesting that the other two are not but they are still on the top 10 list for the Pacers wow so I’m trying to
Think of guys who would have been recently made a lot lot of Threes but would have had to play for the Pacers long enough my gut inclination is Doug McDermot but is it Doug McDermot Caitlyn that is incorrect oh wow Andrew you have a chance to steal that does sound right though how
Long did Doug mcder play for the well that’s what I was just thinking I’m like I’m trying to get in my head how many seasons he played but he he shot the ball really well for them so I thought it was going to be he played he played
Three seasons yeah for the Pacers Andrew Paul George that is correct for one point well G going with a an All-Star caliber player probably would have been a lot better play any guesses on the other one Andrew golly I just have no clue well now I’m questioning is it Buon
Bogdanovich no the reason this no the reason I asked this question is because I figured Paul George would be like you’d eventually get that but then number 10 franchise history three-pointers made Justin holiday Justin I love Justin I should have thought Justin holiday I I would have sat here all day
There would have been no way gotten Justin holiday I’m like shocked that Justin holiday made more threes for the Pacers than buan bogdanovich did but I guess he was on the team longer yeah that’s bizarre must have been on there uh Andrew bard of Shores number one question number
One uh let’s see what we got here okay two weeks ago Tyrese halberton had two consecutive 2020 games 20 points 20 assists he is now one of eight active players who have scored at least 20 points and at least 20 assists in a game and we’re going to name the other seven
Active players who have a 2020 game in their career so how this will work Andrew will give me a name then Caitlyn will give me a name we’ll go back and forth to one of you stumbles so Andrew a player active who has had a 2020 game in their
Career Russell Westbrook that is correct Caitlyn that was gonna be my first guess but I’ll go with James Harden James Harden is correct back to Andrew say like he paused a little bit too long on I know I was getting nervous hard Didn’t Do It
Um boy those are like the two easy ones I feel like I’m sure that they’re I mean LeBron James LeBron James Andrew that is incorrect LeBron has not done it LeBron hasn’t done it seriously he hasn’t done it Andrew whoow uh now the other names Caitlin you want
To throw out a name just for fun any other names you were thinking of oh I have several guesses like do I get a point for every one that I can get right here uh you don’t but it would be very impressive if you got all the rest of
The list I think it’s Luca I think it’s Chris PA I think it’s young I think it’s yes it’s Chris did I say Chris Paul yeah you said Chris Paul luuka and Trey all correct there two names left and they are the hardest names I will say I know
That there’s a really random one I don’t know if he would have had 20 points but I do remember that Fred Van vet had 20 assists yes Fred Van vet is one of them do you remember the last one which is also a very random one another player that would have had
20 assists in a game no I can’t think of another guy who else 20 assist in game Reggie Jackson Reggie Reggie Jackson had a 2020 game apparently that’s what stad said I did not double check but wow right it is tied one to one SPG man I feel like an idiot Now
By that makes up for Doug McDermot for me and fact that I didn’t name Paul George uh all right all right Kaitlin what number would you like next well let’s do number five question number five okay what is Daniel Ty’s career high in points for a game now you get to
Choose who answers first so you can make Andrew answer first and then you can go higher lower or you can answer first and then Andrew will go higher and lower but if you make Andrew answer first and he gets it exactly correct he would get a bonus point so something to think about
So Daniel Ty’s career high in points for a single game I think the likelihood of either of us knowing that on the button is next to nothing so I’ll make him guess all right Andrew you’re a big Tice head I’m a tyan uh 23 I don’t know 23
Okay Andrew sets the bar at 23 Caitlyn would you like to go higher or lower than 23 trying to think if he would have ever had like a big game where maybe other people were out I don’t I’ll go higher because I feel like you’re asking this
For a reason like there’s going to be some outlier game that he like exploded for he had a 50o game that we all forgot uh well Andrew you were within two of the correct answer the correct answer was 25 points which means Caitlyn wins the two points who was he playing for
When he got it God uh points who was it nice would it have been um was against the Timberwolves and he was playing for team Germany now it was in 20 yeah it was 2020 so who who was he on in 2020 oh Boston okay Andrew board is
Yours ah it’s not good uh number two number two here we go Andrew which of the following is not a basketball reference official nickname for one of the Indiana Pacers I’m going to read you five nicknames four of them appear on basketball reference one does not okay
And they are Samurai miles Cowboy Bruce eggs logs and M clutch once again that is Samurai miles Cowboy Bruce eggs logs and M clutch and to be clear eggs and logs two separate nicknames there I know I said them close together it’s not eggs logs it’s eggs and logs two separate
Nicknames and mutel which of those is fake Andrew I I lean toward eggs and logs but I don’t know which one to go to eggs and logs I’m jealous of this question because I actually know it God I gotta get it now I have to figure out which one I want to lean
Toward on eggs and logs oh boy who would be eggs and who would be law I’m gonna go I’m gonna go eggs Andrew that is correct that is not a real nickname for Benedict mathine though I was reading I was looking for fake nicknames for him and a
Lot of people had egg themed nicknames so that’s why I included yeah that would make sense that would make sense trying to throw you off um okay the score is tied four questions left Caitlyn you have control of the board let’s do number four four question number four miles Turner
Is averaging 1.4 threes per game and two blocks per game if he averages at least one and a half threes and one and a half blocks per game for the season it would be the fourth time he’s done that in his career there are three NBA players in
History who have already had at least four seasons averaging one and a half threes and one and a half blocks per game who are they and you get one point per correct answer so these are players uh they could be active they could be not but they had to have had at least
Four seasons where they averaged at least one and a half threes and at least one and a half blocks per game oh I have two guesses of two active players that might have done it okay I’m gonna say Al Horford Al Horford is incorrect Andrew it is your turn you could
Potentially steal three points Here Andrew the minut B do it man bow no no Bowl did not do it why was that guess I don’t know can I guess my other person yes my other person was gonna be Brook Lopez Brook Lopez has done it and the other two are active players
The two are is that yeah is done it embiid has not okay one plays for the Celtics and it was it Al Horford no it’s porzingis Christ porzingis has done it and then uh Triple J Triple J Trip J okay it feels like he hasn’t been in the
League long enough to do it four times I wouldn’t have gotten to him yeah that four that’s the thing that threw me off is four four times is a lot it is a lot um Andrew do you want to know how many career threes man Bowl had no
43 why I think that why did I think that maybe I’m mix him up with somebody else in my brain bbo perhaps no he shoots threes okay Andrew scores tied three questions left God if that feels really wrong for the score to be tied to be honest um number three number three
Tyres Halbert is the Pacer’s leading score while attempting only 16.9 shots per game H there are only six teams whose leading score attempts fewer than 16.9 shots per game you have to name four to get all two points but you get a half point for each correct
Guess boy okay so you can get some half points here 16.9 shots yeah so you’re looking for teams whose leading score takes fewer than 16.9 shots I need to like think of these in my head and then unleash them all at once uh no you can just do you
Can just do one at a time because you’re gonna get a half Point per guess oh I do get a half Point okay uh Chicago that is correct for a half Point can you make it a full point oh it’s trying to make it a full point here um I’m trying to think
Of teams that don’t rely on one player very much um strategy 16.9 what about Houston that is correct you now have a full point Andrew can you get the other two there’s actually four more you just have to get two of them what about Utah Utah is correct
Andrew another half Point can you get one of the final three to get all two points um what about the terrible team I saw last night the the uh Portland Trailblazers oh you missed that one Andrew so you currently have 4.5 Point Simons yeah it is Simons uh Kaitlin you
Can steal a half point if you can name one of the other three teams I’m trying to think of teams that have multiple guys who score in double figures because I think the Pacers might have the most players that score in double figures Miami has pretty balanced scoring
Charlotte I think has several people Charlotte was another one I thought I’m gonna guess Charlotte that is incorrect uh it must be lamelo I’m assuming lamelo yeah I guess many yeah um let’s see how many he’s taking he is taking 19.9 yeah the other teams are Toronto ah San Antonio
Spurs okay and this one surpris me but it’s true New Orleans I kind of forgot that Zion’s only taking like 14.7 shots yeah yeah that throws you off a little bit and Ingram too yeah bi is below it as well yeah that’s that’s wild that bi is below
That huh okay so now the score is an annoying 4.5 to3 uh so it definitely won’t end in a tie so Caitlyn you either can pick six or eight let’s do number eight all right if Obi toppen continues on his current Pace he will record more than a hundred dunks this season which
Is the first time a Pacer has done that in over a decade wow who was the last Pacer to have at least 100 dunks in a season yeah this is a wild stat because a few years ago when they had Isaiah Jackson Isaiah Jackson played 500
Minutes and he had more dunks in those 500 minutes than the prior two Pacer teams combined like they don’t have they don’t have a lot of um highflying dunkers so when I went through those alley oops I mean that was just alyuk dunks so I’m trying to think of who
Would have popped in the last since 2013 and would have had a 100 dunks and and to be clear I said this is the first time Pacer has done that in over a decade oh so before 2013 yeah so whoever it is has to be before
2013 oh I was thinking of somebody but I don’t I guess trying to think of the trft huh they have a lot of people who have competed in dunk contests as well yeah um I’m just gonna go with an outlier I mean I don’t know if you would have played
Enough minutes though like Gerald Green is in my head um was he was he on the Pacers when he was in the dunk contest no he was um Celtics when he won yeah um you’re you’re questioning me about whether he was on the dunk contest with
The faers leads me to think that that is the wrong answer um who would this be I mean I have another guest but it seems too obvious I mean it seems like it’s going to have to be a big who played regular minutes that’s before this time so um I don’t
Know like I I feel like I should just be answering an Allstar because of the silliness of not saying Paul George instead of DG MC dur ear so I’m just gonna say Rick Smiths Rick Smiths did he ever have 100 dunks he may have I mean his nickname’s the Duncan Dutchman if
This isn’t right then come on it’s true well it may be right but somebody has done it since Rick Smiths so Andrew you have a chance to steal here who thinking of I was thinking of Jermain O’Neal but I just don’t I feel it’s too obvious O’Neal Andrew that is correct it was
Germaine O’Neal All Right final question Andrew you get first stab at it according to cleaning the glass when this Pacer is on the court Indiana’s defense holds opponents to 7.6 fewer points per 100 possessions than when he is off the court which is best on the team who is
That Pacer TJ McConnell no Caitlyn it’s Andrew n hard also no yes it is it’s not I’m on clean the glass let me double check like a week ago it was Andrew Nar well things have changed Caitlyn in a week let me see here uh what did I say
Oh yeah on and off you haven’t said yet um oh you know what what no uh where did I get this answer from now I’m looking and I can’t even find it I had Aaron nemith but uh I actually can’t find that anywhere on cleaning the glass so you
Know what Caitlyn was so confident that I’m just going to give her uh the point um unfortunately uh Andrew you still won with six and a half points to four a thrilling conclusion congratulations on your half Point Caitlyn thank you for playing and thanks for losing again I
Think this is my second loss so this is looking real good for me I’m jealous that you got the eggs question I didn’t get the eggs question could have gone either way could have gone with logs who knows hey go read Caitlin’s blog uh basketball she wrote on patreon.com Kaitlin is there anything
Else that you’d like to share before we go no I think that pretty much covers it people can head on over there I’d be happy to have them there’s free options there’s a$ three option and if you’re really generous there’s a$ five option as well yeah uh can can I just give a
Quick update I did find my mistake Caitlyn was absolutely correct it is Andrew nard wow I did my eye tracking across the row incorrectly because aaroni right below him ah I was nervous about that too because I gave it away like when we were answering questions I said’s the most complete
Defender I should have said I don’t know why I thought TJ McConnell he just a hard you said it so confidently too but what I loved is that Caitlyn so confidently said no it’s not no it’s not wrong that was awesome uh go check out Caitlyn thanks so much for coming on the
Show thanks again then thanks again guys all right Andrew that was Pacers week and that means we’re going to spin the wheel again for the wheel of fandom who star are we gonna injure this week yeah seriously it’s been a bad rough couple weeks for so weird it’s been really
Bizarre the past couple weeks um so there’s 21 teams left uh including all of the teams that currently have a minus 10 or Worse net rating wow Washington Charlotte San Antonio and uh Detroit obvious yeah we talked we talked a few weeks ago how three was unusual now we’re we’re to
Four and like close to five we’re close to five because Portland’s at minus 9.5 very exciting it’s a great year for for just terrible basketball teams great year uh okay so let’s spin the wheel see who we get can we avoid one of those Team all right OHA jeez so
Close but it is going to be the Milwaukee Bucks the Milwaukee Bucks milwauke wow wrap Yannis up and bubble wrap everybody because the wheel has chosen the buck seriously uh let’s see who are the Bucks going to playy just smashed the Celtics who were they did cowardly on a second night of a
Back to back yeah I felt bad for Bucks fans when they just went away from the game that was the only way I don’t I don’t I don’t love that move because if you’re a Bucs Fan you’re like yeah I want to watch them just Pummel this
Other team I get it but yeah TNT did that earlier this season we were you and I were actually at the game together uh which is a rare occurrence but it was Thunder Spurs you know they just oh they went away from that game yeah they went
Away from that game I I don’t like that move like just just just play the blowout for the for the fans of the other team come on now uh we got some good games okay on Saturday at home NBA TV playing Golden State oh crisis mode right now maybe draymond’s back let’s
See then backto back at home the next night to play the Kings our we Phantom team from two weeks ago and then Wednesday night ESPN game will they go away from this one at Cleveland will Darius Garland be back perhaps I don’t know may Cleveland’s been good that’s
That’s a good one I like that one and we’re just missing their next two games after that next Saturday and Monday both at Detroit two in a row so we’re missing that lucky for us SK our teeth hey go leave us a five star review
On Apple podcast and we will read it on the show just like this one H this is I I guess this is reoccurring Al that this is left by coers rafting hey guys I’m back spring is coming near in Wisconsin and with that come raging trips down the
Mighty peso River look your spring Adventure with coer rapid rafts and use the promo code slam a jam s l m a jam don’t get fired Andrew you can come here you can come for free I I I read this to my to my kids my kids really
Want to go to the Raging Rapids in WIS you think that’s a real uh promo Cod look it up it’s a real thing yeah really so it’s an unofficial sponsor it’s an unofficial sponsor of Slam and jam if you want to go wow uh river rafting how nice
15 hour drive for me to Northern Wisconsin now they said recurring they they’ve left that same comment previously yeah yeah I’ve seen it before are they having to use different accounts just to do this I multiple reviews for a single pod right I don’t know I don’t know but uh go rafting in
Wisconsin with maybe May hey may we do a live pod out there live pod a live pod from the Rapids from the Rapids electronics and water go together so well I would love to do it that’d be great uh and then uh Malik monk one I
Wonder if this is Malik monk you think Malik monk that’ be really cool pick him up on my fantasy team that’d be very cool he said great podcast love listening to it can’t wait for each episode every week so thank you so much for that
Review Al it’s G to be GNA be an interesting week we got the trade deadline approaching we’ve got to watch the Milwaukee Bucks is going to be great hope you all enjoy your weekend stay safe and we’ll talk to you guys again next week
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