Nate McMillan announced that he’ll be going with a10-man rotation instead of nine, but the rotation has yet to play much with each other.
The Indiana Pacers will be performing a balancing act this upcoming season, with a concerning lack of outside shooting threatening to hold back the pace-and-space revolution overtaking the franchise.
C.J. Miles is a crucial element for the Pacers spacing this season, but McMillan has announced him as day-to-day today and shed a little light on his situation.
Coach McMillan said that C.J. Miles did not practice today and his status is day-to-day.
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 17, 2016
Miles hasn’t played or practiced with the team since at least October 6, when he didn’t feel right going through pregame warmups and was held out of the Pacers preaeason game that night. McMillan said little else outside of stating that Miles didn’t practice on October 17, and wasn’t expected to practice October 18 either.
Though C.J.’s range may be crucial for the success of the Pacers, throughout the preseason, Glenn Robinson III has performed admirably in his stead. He has played well enough enough, in fact, that he may be making a case to steal minutes away from Miles or others.
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While GRIII has looked great and might get some of Miles’ minutes early in the season, it seems likely that the veteran Miles will regain his spot in the rotation.
The Pacers need him to shoot well and often to stretch defenses, and C.J. showed last year — when healthy — that he can shoot the lights out with relative consistency.
It’s certainly concerning that Miles has missed so much time with a mystery knee ailment, but this could wind up being a blessing in disguise for both him and the Pacers. The best-case scenario would be that the injury is not something serious or season long. The Pacers get a chance to develop Glenn Robinson III early on and C.J. Miles gets fresher legs moving forward in the season.
As good as that sounds, the worst-case scenario is equally bad. If the worst comes to pass, we’ll be watching Miles struggle through nagging injuries for an extended stretch — just like last winter. And we saw how much it affected his output trying to play through a problem that never fully went away. Then, if GRIII’s hot preseason shooting from deep regresses to the mean, coach Nate McMillan has to juggle his lineups to work around the lack of shooting, causing a lack of continuity with lineups and players.
Next: 2016-17 Central Division Previews: Milwaukee Bucks
Say it with me, Pacers fans: Get well soon, C.J.