The Indiana Pacers Are A Bad Team Right Now, And It Could Get Worse
By Ben Gibson
There is no other way to describe the 2-3 Indiana Pacers. They are simply a bad team right now with a number of problems to fix.
The Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last night and continue to define what rock bottom is for them in this young season.
Sure, Indiana shot 46.9% from the field and 10 of 23 (43.5%) 3-point range. Sure, Paul George had 23 points (9 of 20 from the field, 4 of 8 from beyond the arc), followed by C.J. Miles with 19, Jeff Teague with 16, and Myles Turner with 15, but when you allow your opponent to shoot 58% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range (12 of 27), then your offense is mostly useless.
When it comes down to it, the Indiana Pacers are in the bottom of the NBA right now thanks to the fact they can’t play defense and their offense isn’t clicking as hoped.
They have the net rating of -6.7, which means they are getting outscored by about 7 points per 100 possessions. That’s mostly thanks to an 110.3 defensive rating, or another way of looking at it is Indiana is allowing 115 points a game.
The Pacers got hammered when the starters were on the floor, not just when the bench was in. Hardly anyone was fighting around screen — with the notable exception of Aaron Brooks — but there wasn’t a lot of fight in the Pacers.
Indiana’s players said as much to the Indianapolis Star’s Nate Taylor after the game on Thursday.
"“I know how good we can be; I know how good we were,” Paul George said. “We’re nowhere close to it. It’s embarrassing, the way we’re playing and how we look on the floor.”No longer can the Pacers say it’s just a rough start.“It’s five games,” C.J. Miles said. “But it’s five games.”Yes, through five games, the Pacers know exactly who they are: a horrible team on defense."
Miles went on to add one more point.
"“We drill defense every day,” he said. “It’s not transferring over into the games. We’re not figuring it out. We’re clueless on defense. It’s pathetic at this point.”"
Go read the whole article from Taylor for more quotes from the team as they soul-search. They know they are bad — and that they can be better — but that they are getting embarrassed on a nightly basis.
The offense is playing well enough and as of Friday morning, they are the 5th best 3-point shooting team in the NBA. But if they start missing shots then things are about to get even worse for Indiana. The Pacers better hope Thaddeus Young, Aaron Brooks, PG, and Miles continue to make over 45% of their long-range attempts.
Time to panic? Maybe.
Next: The 7 Biggest Questions for the Indiana Pacers
They host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at 7 p.m. with another chance to get things right.