Smith: It’s time to play the young bigs
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers were well represented at All-Star Weekend in Utah, and now it’s back to business for the blue and gold. This isn’t the “second half” of the season, but rather, the final stretch of 21 games. Does this team have a run left in them to have a shot at the play-in tournament? Or will they continue their slide and improve their draft position? They currently sit 3 1/2 games behind the No. 10-seed, and this is the how their remaining schedule looks:
The Boston Celtics, and their NBA-leading record were in town on Thursday night. And this final stretch of games got kicked off with a bang. The game had a little bit of everything: Myles Turner tying a career-high with 40 points, some chippy moments with Haliburton and Smart, questionable calls, rowdy fans from both sides, and a very entertaining second half. In the end, the Celtics prevailed with a 142-138 Overtime win.
“Essentially, that was a playoff game,” said Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle. “The atmosphere. The competition. It was a great experience for our guys, even though we didn’t win the game.”
Make no mistake about it: The players and coaches will be playing to win down the stretch. And this team is capable of competing every night, as we saw Thursday, and as we witnessed in the entire first half of the season. But at some point, this team needs to make a decision on development vs. the chance of winning. Many fans would argue that time should have already arrived. The Pacers front office and coaching staff were all about development, and long-term thinking before the season started. I’m sure that’s still largely the case. But especially now, as they continue to fall further out of the playoff race- shouldn’t it be time to play all or most of the young players and see what they can do?
If Indiana was trying to build trade value for Daniel Theis, I could see the argument for giving him playing time. But the trade deadline has come and gone. Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Smith need minutes. They need development. Neither one got off the bench on Thursday night, while Theis was a minus-13 on the floor. It’s very possible that Jackson and Smith give the Pacers a better chance of winning over Theis anyway, let alone the development part of the equation.
Jalen Smith has only played 7.3 minutes per game this month, not including his DNP’s. Carlisle praised his effort against Chicago in a short stint, but didn’t reward Smith with any action in the following game. A few games ago against the Jazz, Isaiah Jackson matched Theis with 11 points, on nine fewer shot attempts, and added four blocks in the process. Jackson is 23-for-33 (70%) from the field in his last seven games, and averages 1.5 blocks per game despite only playing 15.3 minutes. Both players have their flaws, and each have a lot of work to do. Here’s to hoping that work takes place on the court in the final 21 games of the season.
What do you hope to see down the stretch? In the last 21 games, let’s see what these young bigs can do. Let’s see more entertaining games like last few. And let’s see how high the Pacers can climb in the draft lottery, inching them one step closer to the next big piece they need for the future.
