Pacers vs 76ers: Bad Luck vs Intentional Failure
By Ben Gibson
Indiana Pacers (0-0) vs Phillidelphia 76ers (0-0)
When the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers take the floor tonight, Roy Hibbert will be the only returning starter for the Pacers while the 76ers are still fielding a D-League team.
The real difference in the two team’s is Indiana had bad luck with Paul George, bad negotiations with Lance Stephenson, and well, bad luck again with the rest of the injuries. Philadelphia on the other hand, deliberately tanked hard last season, and have chosen to do the same again this season. The reasons why they have gotten into the bottom tiers of the NBA is mostly irrelevant, as it won’t be the highest quality game from either side when they hit the floor at 7 p.m.
The 76ers will field a young squad that is too inexperienced to be a playoff threat, but has hope for the future. There won’t be 2013-14 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, but we can expect Tony Woten at the point guard, Alexy Shved at shooting guard, Hollis Thompson at small forward, Nerlens Noel at power forward and Henry Sims at center. Sims is the oldest at 24. It is hard to know what to expect from this squad other than they will have plenty of energy much like they did last year, coming out of the game with a respectful record, but declining down the stretch. That’s the same thing I expect in this game: The 76ers’ youth will give them an early edge, but the Pacers veterans will find a way to get the win late.
Who to watch on the Pacers: Chris Copeland, let’s see if he’s ready for extended minutes. He scored 18 points and scored the game-winner when he played 17 minutes against the Bucks late last season, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see him play well offensively tonight. His defense is still a question though.
Who to watch on the 76ers: Nerlans Noel makes his NBA debut tonight. While technically a second-year player, Noel sat out last season while his knee healed. He epitomizes the 76ers to a certain degree: raw talent that still needs shaped.
The Big Question
How disjointed will the Pacers be in their season debut?
The Pacers will field Donald Sloan, C.J. Miles, Chris Copeland, Luis Scola and Roy Hibbert tonight. This is nothing close to the line up we expected in July, not even close to the one we expected a month ago, and still not what we really expected a week ago now that George Hill and C.J. Watson are injured. Indiana may have gotten some time in during practice recently, but I doubt that prepares them well enough for an NBA game, even against the 76ers. This isn’t exactly how you’d go about designing an NBA line-up if you had the choice, but Indiana has to make due with the players they have available. There is reason to be hopeful that the veteran players are able find chemistry quickly, but that should be something you expect.
On the positive side, the Pacers should have decent spacing on the floor as Hibbert plays in the paint, Scola likes his mid-range shots, and Sloan will shot from about anywhere. Both C.J. Miles and Copeland like chucking 3-pointers, but with Miles playing the corners and Copeland shooting off the wings, they should be able to comfortably find their normal shooting area. Of course this group of guys hasn’t played with each other much, so we’ll have to see how it plays out in real time.
I’d only be slightly worried about how Rodney Stuckey will fit in as he also is an active mid-range shooter and near the rim, but they’ll need him to drive to the basket and create movement for the offense if they want to be effective together. Having that movement will be important no matter who is on the floor because as poor as the Indiana offense was in the second half of the season, things could get worse if everyone it trying to be a spot up shooter and not forcing their defenders to play help defense. With anything, the stats say one thing, but let’s see if the eyeballs confirm it. Maybe the spacing is terrible and this all turns into a giant charlie foxtrot.