And the Award Goes To … The Indiana Pacers Midseason Awards

William Furr

Feb 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) brings the ball up court against the Detroit Pistons at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Detroit 114-109. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Sixth Man of the Year: C.J. Miles

It feels like there should be hundreds of Pacers candidates for this award, given the incredible amount of turmoil and injuries the team has been through.

But I’m giving the award to C.J. Miles.

Miles has been a sometimes starter, and was truly terrible to start the year, but he has come on strong in various games.

Miles has multiple 30-point games off the bench this year, and has probably affected more games off the bench than any player not named George Hill (who will be starting the rest of the season, injury gods willing).

Miles has been the most accurate shooter in the NBA when the clock is running down, and has carried the Pacers during various stretches of games, pouring in 3-pointers and even busting out his pet one-handed dunk off of a curl play every now and again.

Miles may not qualify for this award by the end of the year, as he’s currently been in a starting platoon. It looks like he will get the starting nod going forward alongside Solomon Hill as Rodney Stuckey comes off the bench. And with back-to-back 30-point games for Stuckey in the sixth man role, this award may be his by season’s end.

But since Miles only started in 14 of the team’s first 43 games, he holds the crown right now.

Next: Get Mine

Most Likely to Forget Passing Is Allowed: A.J. Price

We can’t forget about Juice!

For 20 days, A.J. Price unapologetically tried to finish games with more shots than passes. He wanted to break the Space-Time Continuum by finishing with with more shot attempts than total touches, and nearly did so with a usage rate of 25.0% during his 193 minutes with the team.

He appeared to be attempting to work in an entire season’s worth of field goal attempts in 20 days.

That being said, Price did have a memorable game, and did provide a warm, able body to take care of the ball for a few games.

Thanks for the memories (again), Juice!

Next: Move Improved

Most Improved Player: Solomon Sloan

O.K, O.K, I can’t combine Solomon Hill and Donald Sloan to have them split the award. It was a tough call, but I’m going give Solomon Hill the edge based on games and minutes played.

Kudos to Donald Sloan for keeping the team competitive when both George Hill and C.J. Watson missed extensive time, but Solo has played in more games than any other Pacers player this year. In fact, he is the only Pacer to play in every game this season (and just one of four who have missed less than 10 games).

He’s also tied for most games started, with 51.

Of course, we couldn’t base the award completely on someone’s ability to stay healthy and show up to work. Wile that’s important, that doesn’t necessarily show improvement.

Last year, Solo showed little inkling of an actual NBA future. He seemed very much like a poor man’s Sam Young, which is saying a lot. Hill hasn’t exactly looked like a star this year, and averaging 9.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game isn’t a ticket to the Hall of Fame. But it’s solid, and the team has desperately needed his defense from both the shooting guard and small forward slots.

His game still has a long way to develop: He’s only shooting 39.4% overall, and 31.6% from behind the arc. But there have been positive signs. He has looked confident from behind the arc in recent games, and has flashed a surprising off the dribble game all season.

Good for you, Solomon Hill. Here’s hoping his development continues and he can become a solid role player for years to come.

Next: Hulk Award

Most Likely to Argue Any Borderline Call: Frank Vogel

Let me start by saying this: Frank Vogel is an excellent NBA Coach.

The Pacers have performed admirably (for the most part) under him, and his sunshine and rainbows and love and trust persona and style seem to have been just what many of these guys actually needed.

However, I am fairly certain that a Pacers player could eject an opposing player out of the arena, Wiley-E Coyote Acme style, and Vogel would argue that the ejected player had been doing this all night, and the refs needed to start calling it both ways.

This was a problem that infested the team last season, though the technicals that felt like whining last year have admittedly seemed a bit more inspirational this year.

Nonetheless, Frank Vogel leads the NBA coaches in technical fouls this season, and seems (so far) to be completely incapable of believing that his guys could screw up.

I expect this award to be argued until a T is assessed, and Vogel has to be walked back to the bench by Dan Burke.

Next: MVP

Most Valuable Player: George Hill

I am sure this one could be argued.

George Hill has only played 16 games this year, but the Pacers are 10-6 in games he plays, and 7-2 in games he starts.

Numbers aren’t everything, but what more do you need to know?

This team was unsuccessful all year long with Hill out then he got healthy and they have won five of their last six, including huge wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors — not to mention a near upset of the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs.

Hill has completely changed this team in his minutes, and has truly invigorated the offense. If he plays the remainder of the year, the Pacers could be more dangerous than previously expected.

He has the highest offensive rating of any rotation player on the team, and is putting up an All-Star level PER of 21.2.

Stay healthy and aggressive, Hometown Hero!

Next: The Future

The Indiana Pacers Week Ahead

In this Monday column, I usually give you a review at what we learned in the past week and a quick look at the week ahead. Though we wanted to dig back deeper in the review with the awards today, we still have your look ahead.

Enjoy!

Games: vs Golden State (Sunday, W), at Oklahoma City (Wednesday), vs Cleveland (Friday)

Prediction: The Pacers surprise a lot of folks and go 2-1, defending their home court but falling to OKC in their regular “remind the fans how the West can manhandle the Pacers” game

Last Week’s Prediction Results: 1-0

Season Long Prediction Results: 30-22

What to Watch For: GODNEY STUCKEY, playing through a sprained ankle and looking to continue his recent hot streak … Luis Scola, looking better than at any point during his Pacers tenure … George Hill, looking like a completely different player than years past … Roy Hibbert, about due for a game to suck us all back in to believing he’s a 15 mil a year guy … The Pacers with probably their toughest week of the year, playing 3 top teams in a row … The Pacers bigs at full strength with their entire 5 man rotation … C.J. Watson and George Hill, both shooting nearly 40% from behind the arc …David West, looking more and more like himself now that George Hill has returned …

Next: No Lance Stephenson? No Problem for Pacers

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William Furr