8p9s Roundtable: Concerns for the Indiana Pacers at the Halfway Point
By Ben Gibson
Who has been the biggest surprise for you?
Wade: Jordan Hill. He isn’t the best — but he isn’t the worst. That’s enough considering what I thought he would contribute and he has been a big factor in a lot of wins. I don’t think he’s a long-term roster solution, but particularly with Myles Turner missing so much time, he has been a nice one-year rental to bridge the gap between the Smashmouth transition to … whatever this will eventually be.
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Furr: Ian Mahinmi, by a landslide. Ian has been better than anyone could’ve reasonably hoped he would be. He’s rediscovered how to be a mediocre free throw shooter, become an effective finisher on the pick and roll, showed a reasonable acumen in the post, and defended well enough. Ian has been a great surprise for this team.
Donahue: Ian Mahinmi’s improvement – at the age of 29 – has been a pleasant and welcome surprise. He’s been versatile defensively and good on the boards – which were somewhat expected. However, he’s been effective offensively, improving his hands, scoring, and free throw shooting.
Barth: Jordan Hill. There was very little excitement in Indiana when he was signed in the off-season , but he’s been an incredibly useful big for this team. His 9 points and 7 rebounds per game averages are a lot more than I expected coming into this season. Losing David West and Roy Hibbert obviously decimated the front-line, but Jordan has managed to fill that void nicely.
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Washburn: I’m going to cheat and just say “the young guys.” I thought Myles Turner had a chance to turn himself into an NBA starter one day, and I was on record for liking the pick as soon as it happened, but I never dreamed he would already have this complete of an offensive repertoire. He really could be a special player down the line. I was completely wrong about Joe Young. I saw him play one half of one Summer League game and famously e-mailed the rest of the 8points9seconds staff proclaiming him a bust. He’s shown great scoring instincts and definitely has a place in today’s NBA. Add in Glenn Robinson III’s potential, and the Pacers really have some bright young pieces for the future.