Key Takeaways from the Indiana Pacers Win Over the Detroit Pistons

3. Defensive Struggles

Frank Vogel has made it clear that the team has spent the majority of the training camp working on offensive principles. That is clearly obvious from their defensive effort the last two games. It is all well and good that the Pacers are scoring over 100 points, but unfortunately so are their opponents. They gave up 112 points to a weak offensive team  in Detroit that was missing starting point guard Reggie Jackson.

The Pistons shot 49% from the field and 45% from 3-point range, and at times their offense looked stellar. There are obviously some kinks needing to be worked out defensively. It will take time with Paul George defending opposing 4s and both C.J. Miles and Monta Ellis having to hold their own defensively on the wing.

Jordan Hill also started in place of the injured Ian Mahinmi and struggled mightily defending Andre Drummond. Myles Turner looked good in stretches when protecting the rim and it is starting to become apparent the Pacers must have at least one rim protector on the floor. Especially when employing George at power forward.

The defensive strategy appears to employ a lot more traps in the half court then the Pacers have used in the past. They also doubled down on Drummond in the post, which they never did previously with Roy Hibbert lurking near the paint. The rotations were slightly late most times and the team as a whole did a poor job of contesting 3-pointers (allowing 45%shooting from deep). This will all come in time, but it is without a doubt that new defensive principles are becoming prevalent and being implemented.

Frank Vogel is a terrific defensive coach and there is no doubt some issues will be remedied by the time the season starts. The issue is the personnel is just not there to replicate the exact defensive success that the team has enjoyed the past few seasons.

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