The Indiana Pacers have been on a 7-2 run in the past nine games after starting the season 0-3. As Paul George has stepped up his game, so has the team.
The Indiana Pacers continue to climb up the standings and the power rankings as they currently sit in the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. We gather the 8 Points, 9 Seconds staff to discuss whether this current run of success in sustainable and if Paul George deserves to be an MVP candidate.
Next: Is this team better than the 7th or 8th seed in the Eastern Conference?
The Pacers are 7-2 through their past 9 games. Is this team better than the 7th or 8th seed in the Eastern Conference?
Whitney Medworth: It’s still really hard to tell. I would like to think they are in the 4-6 range but it’s so early and the Eastern conference is packed with mediocrity right now. Everyone is hovering around .500. Maybe it will still that way, maybe it won’t. I do think at the end of the day they fall around 5 or 6 in the East.
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Will Furr: Time will tell, but right now, they look like a 4-5 seed, and they haven’t had time to work out the wrinkles with the full roster yet. This team may get better with Stuckey and Turner back, but it may take time to integrate them back into the schemes. This start could be a flash in the pan, but the Pacers HAVE looked better than a 7 or 8 seed so far.
Scott Stewart: Maybe. They’ve shown their ability to comeback and their current form suggests they are far better than most preseason predictions (mine included). Not sure if they can/will keep up this pace but if Paul George keeps putting up 29 a night no reason to say they’re out of a playoff spot up to the 6-seed.
Tim Donahue: Still too early to say. Twelve of fifteen Eastern Conference teams are at .500 at this point of the season. Some will get better, some will get worse, and the Pacers could go either way. It’s a positive that they’re 6-3 vs. the East.
Jeremy Comstock: Ask me again in a month. The schedule gets real tough, real quick. 10 of the next 12 games are against teams with very legitimate playoff hopes. If the Pacers can go 7-5 in their next 12, I’ll be ready to push them higher in the seeding conversation. I will say that, from what I’ve seen so far, they’ve transformed from a borderline playoff team to a sure thing barring major injuries.
Next: How much of the Pacers record is on the resurgence of Paul George?
How much of the Pacers record is on the resurgence of Paul George?
Medworth: It sure helps. I think the entire team is starting to gel more. Vogel is finding lineups that work and players are getting more comfortable. In turn Paul is finding his spots as well. It’s a combination of things but Paul George nearly averaging 30 points a game is never bad.
Furr: It’s true that the Pacers are moving the ball better, rebounding better, and improving their turnover numbers, but it’s much easier to win games when you’ve got the best player on the court. The Pacers typically have that now, and it makes a huge difference.
Certainly others deserve some credit, but Paul is the one moving the needle, here. — Tim Donahue
Stewart: The majority of it. No one will say Paul George isn’t the MVP of this team, but Frank Vogel has put Indiana in this spot and is proving himself again as one of the NBA’s best coaches. George will be the determining factor as to whether Indiana can reach their full potential, but a lot of non-Paul George things have to fall in place as well, including health.
Donahue: It’s hard not to say, “All of it.” Over the last 8 games, the Pacers are +82 in the 289 minutes PG is on the floor, scoring 104.0 points per hundred possessions and allowing only 90.4. They’ve been outscored by 27 in the 93 minutes with him on the bench. Certainly others deserve some credit, but Paul is the one moving the needle, here.
Comstock: Almost all of it. He played poorly in the first 3 games and they went 0-3. This team needs George to be the best player on the court in order to win games.
Next: Does PG deserve to be back in the MVP discussion and will he remain in it?
Does PG deserve to be back in the MVP discussion and will he remain in it?
Medworth: Numbers alone, you have to. Minus the first couple of games, Paul has been outstanding. Will he win MVP? No. Does he get to be in the discussion? He absolutely should be. Although, to really be taken seriously in the MVP race he needs to get the Pacers to be one of the top teams in the East again.
Furr: Right now, he absolutely does, but the Pacers are not even 20% through the season yet. If PG continues to put up something like 28/9/5 (Points, Rebounds, Assists), and does his normal thing on defense, then he should absolutely be an MVP candidate. The question is whether or not he can continue this pace. He’s started seasons hot before and faded, so I’m withholding my judgement for a bit on this one.
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Stewart: No. Love Paul George, he’s been playing out of his mind, but he’s not Kevin Durant. He’s not Russell Westbrook, or Steph Curry. It’s not happening this year. He’s been fantastic and will continue to lead the Pacers offensively, but not at MVP-level.
Donahue: His individual numbers over the last 8 games are worthy, but it’s really going to depend on wins and losses for the Pacers. Indiana will probably have to finish as a 50+-win team for Paul George to be considered an MVP candidate. At the same time, PG will almost certainly have to deliver an MVP-caliber performance for the Pacers win 50 or more games.
Comstock: He definitely deserves to be in the conversation. He’s playing the best basketball of his career. The team would be awful without him. He’s brilliant in all the traditional statistical categories. He’ll remain in the conversation, but he has little to no chance to win.
Next: What player has had the biggest impact during this run?
Outside of Paul George, What player has had the biggest impact during this run?
Medworth: Mr. Ian Mahinmi. I say this because he’s taken on the role of filling Roy Hibbert’s shoes and honestly I think he’s doing a great job. I haven’t really missed Roy or David West yet and I think Ian gets a lot of credit for that. He’ll never be the defender Roy is/was but he’s giving the Pacers exactly what they need. He can defend well enough and HE CAN SCORE!
"Mr. Ian Mahinmi. I say this because he’s taken on the role of filling Roy Hibbert’s shoes and honestly I think he’s doing a great job. I haven’t really missed Roy or David West yet and I think Ian gets a lot of credit for that. — Whitney Medworth"
Furr: Had George Hill not missed the last 2 games, he probably would’ve been the answer here, but sans the Hometown Hero, I’ve got to go with Monta. Monta Ellis has not shot the ball particularly well, and his scoring output has been very uneven, but his ability to get to the rim, cause the defense to collapse, and distribute has been invaluable to this team. The fact that he looks like a decent defender hasn’t hurt anything either.
Stewart: C.J. Miles has been huge. Miles is steady knocking down 3s in transition with 18 on the shot clock, and it’s okay right now because the majority of them have been bang on. He has also helped in a big way defensively, often taking the bigger matchup at PF so George can conserve energy depending on the matchup. Miles remains a valuable cog in the machine if he can keep up with how he has played.
Donahue: I can’t really differentiate. Some games, it’s been George Hill. In others, it’s been Monta Ellis. The three bigs — Ian Mahinmi, Jordan Hill, and Lavoy Allen — have all made contributions at different times.
Comstock: My eyes tell me it’s Jordan Hill, but the numbers say it’s Lavoy Allen. The Pacers have outscored their opponents by 84 during the 188 minutes Lavoy has played in the past 8 games. This is the highest plus/minus margin on the team during that time.
Next: Which player has been the biggest surprise so far?
Which player has been the biggest surprise so far?
Medworth: A lot of guys are stepping up and surprising me. I like a little bit of what Glenn Robinon III is doing. He’s a scorer that we need. Chase Budinger plays better defense than I ever imagined. And Jordan Hill for better or worse, is almost averaging a double double. It’s hard to pick one this early, but I like how this team is coming together.
Furr: The combination of Jordan Hill and Ian Mahinmi. Hill looked awful during that 0 and 3 start, and there were tons of questions about Ian starting coming into the season. Mahinmi has shown that he’s not completely useless on offense, and Hill has looked more comfortable attacking rebounds and working on the block. Hill’s still got to work on his shot selection, but he has been “actively helpful” since those first 3 games.
Stewart: Monta Ellis, and not necessarily in a good way. He played very well against Chicago, but that seemed to be an outlier in an overall set of poor form and especially on the offensive end. Ellis is still useful for Indiana and is figuring out the best way to be a threat, but hasn’t found his stride just yet.
Donahue: Ian Mahinmi has been a contributor to the Pacers, but in different ways than expected. Though he’s been blocking some shots (2.4 per 36 minutes), his overall rim protection has been spotty, allowing almost 58% at the rim, as opposed to the 45% he posted the last two years. Still, his fouls (4.6) and turnovers (1.2) per 36 are career lows. He’s rebounding and finishing at the rim effectively, and he’s proven to be a complete defender. Now, if he could just hit his free throws.
Comstock: Monta Ellis. I’d read a lot about Monta before watching him play on a nightly basis, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by his play so far. I was expecting him to be a somewhat selfish mid-range chucker who alternated between slacking off and gambling on defense. I wasn’t expecting him to be a willing and creative passer who frequently passes up his own moderately good shots in order to get the ball to his open teammates. I also wasn’t expecting his steals to come within the flow of what has been a much better than expected defense. His chemistry and lack of competition for ball-handling opportunities with George Hill has also been very nice to see.