Three games into the season, the Pacers are uncertain, unproven and unproductive on offense, and those issues have distracted them from their intended defensive mindset.
When neither your offense nor defense are operating well, that tends to be a problem. And the problem for them now is that they’re 0-3, with Saturday’s 97-76 loss to Utah being the most dispiriting yet. Nobody was anticipating a sprint out of the blocks with a new system and seven new faces, but nobody was expecting this sort of stumble, either.
Three games in, and they’re shooting just 41 percent from the field, have committed 57 turnovers, have taken 10 fewer foul shots than opponents, have been outrebounded by 16, and, most telling of all, have been outscored by 46 points in the paint.
The good news? They’re only three games in. Seventy-nine games remain.
“You have to learn how to lose before you learn how to win,” George Hill said following the loss to the Jazz. “I think it’s good for us to have this adversity early. Hopefully we can turn it around.”
The Pacers’ postgame locker room was appropriately somber. Several players cleared out quickly. Paul George talked quietly and chose his words carefully. Hill sat bent over with his chin in his hand and stared at nothing in particular, deep in thought.
George and Hill know what elite basketball looks like, and this is far from it. They started on teams that reached the conference finals and came within a game or two of playing for a championship in 2013 and ’14. Even last season’s team, when George was rehabbing a broken leg and Hill blossomed, maxed out its potential and made a spirited run to the brink of a playoff seed.
This is a difficult transition.
George, who entered Saturday’s game having hit just 9-of-32 shots, played a more controlled game against the Jazz. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, but had just one assist – partly because his teammates missed so many open shots. The three starters other than George and Hill, in fact, combined to hit just 9-of-30 shots.
The Pacers were fine early, scoring 29 points in the first quarter, taking a few 10-point leads in the second and leading by seven at halftime. But they collapsed in the second half, scoring just 27 points and getting to the line for just one foul shot – that coming as part of a three-point play by George.
George said he approached the regular season planning to get everyone involved in the offense, but that requires a communal effort.
“In order for that to work, everyone has to be in attack mode,” he said. “I don’t think we’re doing that right now. In order for us to be successful with this small ball idea, everyone has to be in attack mode. We’re not aggressive off the ball. That’s where we’ve got to improve offensively.”
Coach Frank Vogel says the improvement has to come from better movement and screening. His use of a smaller lineup means perimeter players more accustomed to coming off screens than setting them are having to make drastic adjustments, and so far it’s only succeeded in stretches. Such as in the first quarter on Saturday.
“We’re not getting anybody open on the offensive end,” Vogel said. “We’re not screening well and everybody’s trying to do it themselves. We have to work on our offensive execution.”
Not to mention their defensive execution. They’ve given up an average of 105 points over the first three games. For comparison’s sake, the team that reached the 2013 conference finals gave up an average of 90.7 points. The 2014 team gave up 92.3. Even last year’s injury-shattered team allowed 97 points.
The Pacers were prepared to give up a few more points this season in exchange of scoring several more, but allowing 105 was never the plan.
“We’ve been one of the best defensive teams ever since we’ve been here,” Hill said. “We’ve been giving up too many easy buckets. We’re not playing the Indiana Pacers’ basketball that I’ve been accustomed to since I’ve been here. I know we want to push the tempo … but the with the makeup we have in this room, the offense is going to take care of itself. We have to give ourselves up on the defensive end and play together.”
Unfamiliarity can partially explain the early issues, but not all of them. It doesn’t explain the layups permitted and the layups missed, nor the failure to execute the simplest of plays. Lavoy Allen, for example, fumbled passes on two consecutive possessions Saturday.
“We had a good preseason together and we’ve been playing together long enough,” George said. “It’s inexcusable to be losing these games.”
Hill says he knows where the turnaround has to begin.
“I know the guys in the locker room care about winning, so they’re taking it hard,” he said. “Me and Paul being the leaders here, we have to take it upon ourselves and change the identity of this team and put it on our shoulders to lead these guys. When they see us do it, they’ll follow.”
Have a question for Mark? Want it to be on Pacers.com? Email him at askmontieth@gmail.com and you could be featured in his next mailbag.
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.
