Pacers Preseason Roundtable: Expectations, hopes, and fears
By William Furr
The Indiana Pacers season kicks off in just a few days. The 8 Points, 9 Seconds crew got together to talk about the big storylines.
After an interminable wait, the time has finally arrived. NBA – and more importantly, Pacers – basketball is back! Heading into game one, the 8 Points, 9 Seconds squad and I put our heads together and came up with some predictions, guesswork, hopes, and fears for the 2018-19 Indiana Pacers.
Together, we’ve focused on answering 6 questions. Let’s get right to it.
What do you expect to be the biggest strength of the 2018-19 Indiana Pacers?
Aaron Eamer: Familiarity. Every player in the starting five will play solid minutes and use the same formula as last season. If the new additions can fill in the gaps as well as planned and better than the guys that have exited then we’re in for an entertaining year.
Ethan Krieger: I think the biggest strength of this team is going to be their chemistry. All five starters are the exact same from last season, and there are several role players on the bench that returned as well. It was no secret that last season’s squad meshed extremely well extremely quickly, so there’s no reason to expect any changes on that front this year.
The three new dudes that will have prominent roles (Tyreke Evans, Doug McDermott, and Kyle O’Quinn) all look to understand their roles and should have no problem fitting in just fine with the other guys. There’s an argument that a team with solid players and awesome chemistry is better than a team with superstars and no chemistry, and the Pacers will do their best to show that again this year.
Ben Pfeifer: The biggest strength of this Pacers squad is its depth. There aren’t many teams in the NBA that can go eight deep and sustain quality. There aren’t many teams who can go nine deep and sustain that quality. With the emergence of Edmond Sumner as a legitimate role player, Indiana can go 10 or 11 deep on any given night.
In the long, 82 game season, depth is invaluable as injuries are inevitable. Depth and star power is key for playoff success and Indiana has both.
Will Furr: Shooting. All but 1 of the Indiana Pacers top 9 players shot 35% or better from deep. 4 members (Tyreke Evans, Bojan Bogdanovic, Doug McDermott, and Darren Collison) eclipsed 40% from deep. Thad Young finished at only 32% but shoots enough that defenses will typically at least close out hard on him.
If TJ Leaf winds up with the 10th rotation spot, that adds another 40% 3-point shooter in the mix. This team could be absolutely potent if they’re willing to adjust their shot profile a bit.