A couple of days ago, a friend and I were talking about the Pacers, and he brought up the question Would you trade for Steve Nash? I had to think for a minute, but then realized that I had a hard answer for him, and said no way. There’s no way you give up the young guys you have on this Pacers team to go for a guard like Nash.
I do enjoy Nash’s game, and would be interested in what he would bring to the Indiana Pacers, but is it worth giving up the young talent brought in? The Pacers team doesn’t need that one piece at this moment because all the pieces work together as a whole.
The point guard position here at Indiana is a tricky situation, but it’s a good problem to have. You start Darren Collison, who is starting to come around and figure out how to run this offense. Last year, he struggled at times, but then again, it was only his second year in the league and with a new team. Now we’re in his third year, and he’s had the same players around him, and he’s got a new coach that lets him run the offense.
Collison has shown he can dish out the lovely passes or take matters into his own hands and score at will, like the game against Utah, where he put up twenty five points against Devin Harris. It was almost lay up drills at time, Darren was making it look so easy.
Collison is a young guy, and then you bring in George Hill as a back up. A guy who could probably start on some teams. He brings a good energy to the bench, and he can get scoring. He also had a good defensive game. Right now he’s hurt, so then the Pacers rely on two younger guys as well.
Lance Stephenson is the first guy I want to talk about as he’s the guy that I’m starting to change my tune on. At first, I thought he was very immature, and he did get into some issues last seasons with the Pacers.
But this season, things have begun to turn for him. Larry Bird, President of the Indiana Pacers, has said he could be the most talented guy on the roster. If you have Bird saying that high of praise for someone, then you should listen.
Bird should be the one who is keeping Stephenson on a leash as a person, so Lance can fully develop into this player that he can be. As they say, he has great potential. But if Lance doesn’t work to that potential, then it wasn’t worth the time and effort to keep him around.
But seeing him playing in person is what has brought me around. He works hard on defense, and on offense, he has some great passing skills. He’s even stepped up to score some points when needed and had a career high this season of twelve points in a game earlier this season. Given the right amount of time and maturation, this guy should be good.
Finally, the last point guard to talk about is AJ Price. I thought Price would get lost in the shuffle at the point guard position with the signing of George Hill and giving up minutes to Stephenson, but Price didn’t let it get to him. He will come in and do what he can with his minutes. Price is a guy that can be count on in offense and defense.
He’s also a guy who has stepped up with the injury to George Hill. He knew he would be getting more minutes, so he’s making the most of those minutes.
Overall, this point guard position is set in a good way with different guys who can come in and perform. In this league, the days of a true point guard are gone, and the guys the Pacers have should do the job that is needed.
