8p9s Roundtable: Concerns for the Indiana Pacers at the Halfway Point
By Ben Gibson
Outside of Paul George, who is your midseason MVP?
Wade: Monta Ellis. The scoring is below what I expected and he has definitely had some awful shooting nights. But his approach and general contributions, in terms of regularly doing what he does, have been consistent on a team that has not been able to find that trait elsewhere very often. George Hill has drifted back towards passivity of late and C.J. Miles fell of a cliff with his shooting. Ian Mahinmi has been the other rock, but, yeah, he aint quite there on Monta or the other guys’ level, even if he is doing his job really, really well.
Furr: Monta Ellis. He’s been fantastic for this team, more so than I expected, and in more ways than I expected. He’s distributing the ball at a level I didn’t know he was capable of, and he’s taking a leadership role on a team that needs all the leadership it can get. The most consistently reliable Pacer has been Ian Mahinmi. He has been greatly improved over past seasons – a positive contributor at both ends of the floor.
Monta Ellis. He’s been fantastic for this team, more so than I expected, and in more ways than I expected. — Will Furr
Donahue: The most consistently reliable Pacer has been Ian Mahinmi. He has been greatly improved over past seasons – a positive contributor at both ends of the floor.Ian Mahinmi. He never takes a night off and has even improved his interior defense and horrid free throw shooting. A steady backup rarely cracks the starting lineup this late in his career, but Ian has embraced the role and thrived.
Barth: Ian Mahinmi. He never takes a night off and has even improved his interior defense and horrid free throw shooting. A steady backup rarely cracks the starting lineup this late in his career, but Ian has embraced the role and thrived.Ian
Washburn: Ian Mahimni has been better than anyone could have expected. He may not protect the rim as well as Roy Hibbert did (although he’s close), but on the whole, I think he’s a better defensive player. He’s much better suited to coral guys on the perimeter in pick and roll situations, and his general “bounciness” has been very disruptive. While he may not have the same specific skill set offensively, his offensive game is a better match for Indiana as well. He doesn’t need four or five fruitless post ups just to stay happy, and after his early season free throw adventures, he’s been a reliable option for the Pacers on his dives to the basket.
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