After building momentum, Pacers suffer 0-3 road trip
By ALEX GOLDEN
ISL Contributor
INDIANAPOLIS — After going 2-2 on the West Coast Road Trip, Indiana came home and took care of business against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Pacers were 6-8 and momentum indicated that this team might be turning things around. Indiana had three winnable road games ahead of them against New York, Detroit and Charlotte. Unfortunately for the Pacers, the worst possible outcome happened. The team went winless on this three game road trip, and looked lifeless far too often.
Every ounce of momentum this team had went completely down the drain. Pacers fans on all platforms of social media have been vocalizing their disappointment with this group of guys and the effort they’ve been playing with. Is it still early enough in the season to turn this thing around? Of course. However, there is no substantial evidence that proves this team will do that.
Here are the Things I Liked, and the Things I Didn’t Like about this week: (Games Against the Knicks, Pistons, Hornets)
Things I Liked
-Rick Carlisle benching his starters in the 3rd Quarter: During the Pacers-Hornets game, Rick Carlisle had seen enough from the Pacers starting five. With close to seven minutes left in the third quarter, and a 23-point deficit, he set the entire starting unit on the bench and played second and third string players. Former Pacers beat writer for the Indy Star, J Michael, tweeted out this in regards to the benching of the starters: “How many times did the previous coach have the stones to bench the underperforming starters? Zero. Huge part of why he wasn’t respected. Afraid of vets. Not saying they’ll get it together just because this happened but it’s something they haven’t been used to.” If the players don’t respect coach Carlisle after that move, I think it says more about the players than the coach. This group needs some type of wake up call, so let’s hope this does the trick.
Goga Bitadze: During this week of play, while I didn’t always understand why Goga was playing with Sabonis, I thought he played well in his few minutes. He looked his best against the Hornets, once he was the only center in the game, but he had some nice flashes against New York as well. Finding opportunities for Goga with two centers in the starting lineup isn’t easy. Goga never knows when he will be called upon, so he has to stay ready. So far, Goga is proving that he can at least be a competent backup center. He just needs the reps to grow, and get comfortable with a bigger role.
Isaiah Jackson: Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson is back from his injury and is rehabbing with the G-League affiliate, The Mad Ants. Isaiah Jackson looked really good in his return, putting up 24 points on 11-13 shooting with 8 rebounds. This is the type of player the Pacers could use on their bench. An athletic player who has great feel, has improved his jump shot and is a shot blocker. There is zero reason to rush him back to the Pacers 15-man roster, but the 19-year old forward, is someone all Pacers fans are eager to see.
Home Sweet Home: Lastly, the road games are over for awhile. The Pacers just played 8-games in eight different arenas over the last two weeks. That is a lot of traveling and tough on any team. They will get the opportunity to play ten of their next twelve games at home. This will be the ultimate test to see who this team really is.
Things I Didn’t Like
Not Playing Hard: It’s so bad that I have to write about this, but here we are. Rick Carlisle referred to the Pacers play after a loss to Detroit as a “hard play issue”. For a team that was 6-9 heading into that game, the last thing they should be discussing is playing hard. There are other reasons why I think Indiana has been struggling, but not playing hard tops them all.
Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis are the only two players remaining on this roster from the Pacers 7-game series against the Cavaliers in 2017-2018. This group has won ZERO playoff games together, yet they seem to play as if they have. This team came out so flat against Charlotte in the second half, that Carlisle benched them after five minutes of play for the remainder of the game. I hope we this is the last time we hear Coach Carlisle talk about the Pacers effort again this season.
LeVert’s Play: Since returning from his injury, LeVert has felt out of place in this offense. There are stretches where he never touches the ball, then stretches where he is forcing and taking shots that he shouldn’t be taking. When LeVert is at his best, it’s when he has the ball in his hands, looking to not only score, but setup his teammates. We haven’t seen that version of LeVert this year. He’s shown flashes of good play, but more recently, he’s been an inefficient shooter. Over the last three games, LeVert is 15-40 from the field (37.5%) with just 4-assists.
No Identity: The Pacers have become a team with no identity. The team is mediocre across the board and they never consistently play well in one area. The defense has come and gone all season long. The offense has done the same. When the games are close down the stretch, Indiana has no individual person to take over those games.
Teams who have success, know the identity of their team. If the Pacers can find that identity, they need to lean into it. Carlisle has preached defense since he got here, but we have yet to see that become the identity of this team. When Nate McMillan was here, defense was the identity of the team. Victor Oladipo led the league in steals, you had Myles still as your rim protector and Thad Young was the glue to hold it all together. Nobody has replaced Thad Young’s role since he left the Pacers, but if the front office can find someone who can do that, it will help this team find its’ identity.
