The Pacer Offense: Borderline Watchable?

The Indiana Pacers struggled to beat a team that actively tried (and succeeded at) being bad last season. This small fact cannot, and should not be overlooked.

The 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers were one of the worst teams in the history of the league. They were last in the league in points allowed per game, near the bottom in defensive rating, and downright awful in nearly every way. While the addition of Nerlens Noel will most likely help their overall defensive output, their most destructive perimeter defender, Michael Carter-Williams, was unavailable to play last night due to an injury that will keep him out for months.

All that to say, the Pacers shouldn’t get too high on themselves for scoring 103 points last night — a mark that would have fallen six points short of the average 76ers opponent last season.

Still, the Pacers were more than a little handicapped themselves.

For those currently residing underneath rock-like structures, Paul George is hurt and Lance Stephenson are gone. Mr. David West, George Hill, and C.J. Watson are also out with smaller injuries. All things considered, for an offense built around Roy Hibbert, Donald Sloan, and 15 minutes of Rodney Stuckey, 103 points may just have been the pinnacle of John Wooden’s pyramid of success — right there beside “Competitive Greatness.”

It’s only one game. The Sixers are bad. This wasn’t even close to resembling the team Indiana hopes to eventually trot out on the floor every night. But there were several encouraging signs that Indiana fans should take away from game one, as evidenced by the following plays, completely taken out of context to gloss over the fact that the Pacers still went nearly five whole minutes in the 4th quarter last night without a field goal.

Early Offense and Ball Movement

The first play of note came smoothly in the flow of the game. Donald Sloan moved the ball briskly up the floor out of a defensive stop, not to get a fast break layup, but rather to get into the offense quicker. All five players hustled up the floor and Sloan was actually inside the 3-point line, setting up the offense with 19 seconds still on the shot clock.

Notice how quickly the ball moves from side to side in order to stretch the defense. Indiana swings it from the right elbow to C.J. Miles in the left corner in less than two seconds. Luis Scola appears to flash too soon from the weak side, cramping the spacing for Roy Hibbert’s post up, but Miles quickly sees the problem and dribbles into the middle before releasing the ball back up to Solomon Hill. Scola sets a soft screen for Hill before immediately flashing to the foul line where he receives an entry pass from Hill and quickly redirects it to the big fella for an easy layup.

In just nine seconds, six Pacers touched the ball.

Of additional importance is the fact that Scola had options at the foul line. Because of the quick ball movement (and to be fair, poor defensive effort from Philly), both Sloan and Miles were both open on the weak side for 3-pointers. One can easily envision the exact same play resulting in a kick out to Sloan, who rotates it quickly to Miles for a wide-open corner 3. These are the kinds of plays that the Pacers rarely made last season, especially in the flow of play.

Frank Vogel’s Out-of-Bounds Set

This next play came courtesy of one of Frank Vogel’s famous out-of-bounds plays to open the 4th quarter. As is often the case with Vogel’s bag of tricks, this one was simple, creative, and brutally effective. The Pacers go through a few motions before actually starting the play with 12 seconds on the shot clock.

Stuckey runs a pick-and-roll at the top of the key with Lavoy Allen. Allen’s defender, Nerlens Noel, decides to switch onto Stuckey, and Stuckey appears to hesitate at the elbow area — typically a result that one wants to avoid in a pick-and-roll situation.

In this case, though, the entire play was designed for that very action as Chris Copeland, who was on the left wing, runs off of a back screen to the far corner for a wide-open 3-point attempt. Copeland missed the trey, but the play design worked to perfection as the Pacers got an open look for one of their best long-rang bombers.

 Lavoy Allen Makes a Play

This play, another out-of-bounds look, was more indicative of a sterling individual play by Lavoy Allen than a great overall play design, but still resulted in an easy layup for the Pacers.

In fact, the spacing early on was poor, with both Allen and Ian Mahimni hesitating while each waited for the other to set an on-ball screen for Rodney Stuckey. As the play progressed, though, things got better.

First of all, notice the specific positioning of both Chris Copeland and Damjen Rudez. They aren’t just near the corner — they are in the corner. This small detail is important because so many times last season, Lance Stephenson and other wings would creep in too far, aiming for backdoor cuts or offensive rebounding opportunities. Both Copeland and Rudez understand the difference that two feet makes, and they are planted all the way next to the out-of-bounds line.

Stuckey swings the ball to Allen who, like Scola in the play above, has options. Copeland and his quick release are open in the short corner, but Allen hesitates long enough for Mahimni to roll to the basket and find him for the layup.

The video doesn’t accurately portray just how difficult of a pass Allen made. Two long defenders were in between an eight-foot pass, and help was quickly coming over the top. It’s probably fair to say that David West is the only other Pacer that is capable of making that pass. It was plays like this among others that indicate Allen’s presence in the lineup may be a safer bet than one might have previously assumed.

Feeding the Big Fella

Unfortunately, that Allen dime was the last Pacers field goal for almost five minutes. The offense ground to a halt and the Pacers’ comfortable 12-point lead was whittled down to 5. When Roy Hibbert subbed into the game with less than five minutes on the clock, the situation indeed looked dire for the Pacers.

Fortunately, the Pacers dialed up one of their best plays of the night for what resulted in the game-clinching possession. After three too many seconds of Travis Best-esque pounding of the rock, Donald Sloan eventually accepts a weak Luis Scola screen at the top of the key. After a quick dish to Scola who quickly touched it back to the young point guard, Sloan penetrated into the lane where he looked back to Scola at the 17-foot elbow.

Notice, again, the exact positioning of C.J. Miles and Chris Copeland. Both are all the way in the corner, accentuating the Pacers’ spacing as much as possible. Scola receives the pass and instead of pump faking awkwardly and hesitating, he makes an immediate decision and drives to his right. Again, he has options as Miles’ defender sags off of him too far in the short corner. Instead, he hits Hibbert who held his spot on the opposite block just long enough to receive the pass and convert the easy and-1 layup.

In the NBA, the little things matter. A difference of two feet in the corner can be separate a bad pass and an open jumper. If the Pacers continue to do the little things right once David West, George Hill, and C.J. Watson come back, they just might be able to trot out a watchable offense. And if they can continue their defensive dominance from the recent past (a much more difficult challenge), they just might be able to eek into the playoffs.