Pacers Notebook: Backup PG spot is in flux out of necessity
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Touted by the Pacers as much more than a quality backup, D.J. Augustin hasn’t even been that.
He’s been a major negative, and it’s easy to see why he’s relegated to Frank Vogel’s doghouse.
He can’t make any shots, his turnover rate is high, and his defense is a joke.
Good morning, good afternoon and good night.
In fact, the situation at backup point guard is so dire even A.J. Price sounds beneficial, and longtime followers know what little esteem I hold for Price’s services.
It makes one believe Indiana is paying the price — pardon the pun — for its decision to ditch Darren Collison. In the playoffs, Collison thrived as the second-string point guard, scoring 96 points in 11 games and even defending with gusto. But come July, those successes were forgotten.
At the time, losing Collison and replacing him with Augustin felt defensible. But now? That switch is arguably the greatest mistake of the offseason.
Vogel took action yesterday because he couldn’t continue to grant minutes to a player who contributes virtually nothing offensively, and that’s Augustin. For all his other faults, Augustin can’t even penetrate to draw fouls and earn freebies. His free-throw rate is low, having fallen like a wounded dove to a career-worst 5 percent. That’s a shame, because Augustin shoots 87 percent for his career from the foul line.
About the only positive to point to with Augustin in the first 21 games was his ability to get his hands on the ball defensively. Augustin leads the team in steals per minute and ranks 20th among qualified point guards. In that sense Augustin provided something the Pacers needed: Only one team averages fewer steals than Indiana does.
The grim reality is Augustin’s history screams that his early steals rate is a fluke, and even if it weren’t, it still wouldn’t be enough to save him.
Vogel’s entirely justifiable decision is made, and Ben Hansbrough is left to pick up the pieces.
Luckily Indiana isn’t expecting Hansbrough to become the next John Stockton. They just need him to be halfway decent.
Hansbrough was a scorer at Notre Dame. He’ll be playing a different game in the coming weeks. He needs to competently run the offense while still scoring a little.
A lot must be running through his mind. He went undrafted. He played in Germany and Slovenia. He’s charged with boosting Indiana’s second unit at the same time he’s trying to establish a career as at least a fringe rotation player.
The timing is opportune. Hansbrough is said to have a nonguaranteed contract. On Jan. 10, all player contracts become guaranteed for the remainder of the season. That gives Hansbrough about a month to make his case to still be on the roster by then.
It’s hard to argue against letting him show his chops.
Even if Hansbrough struggles to bring the ball up against pressure, as some have suggested, Indiana can skirt the issue by pairing Hansbrough with Lance Stephenson and having Stephenson dribble across the timeline.
As for the bench writ large, if this change doesn’t steady the horror show, Vogel could consider more radical options, including a seven-man rotation, in Danny Granger’s absence. In that setup, Ian Mahinmi and Gerald Green would absorb most reserve assignments, with Stephenson rekindling his old affair with the point guard position.
All that’s for another day. For now the stage belongs to mini Psycho T. He and Tyler are just the fourth set of brothers to play together on an NBA roster. Ben can make an impact with energy, perimeter shooting and smart, low-mistake basketball. If he does, this won’t be a short-term proposition – and Augustin’s career with the Pacers will be.
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