A Reason to Frown and a Reason to Smile Over the Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers have an up and down season so far, but while they’ve given us reasons to frown, there are reasons to smile too.

There are two distinct versions of the Indiana Pacers this season.

One is the fast paced, high scoring, and generally fun to watch version we saw on opening night and in their win over the Bulls on Saturday.

The other is a team that can’t play defense at all and struggles to get into a rhythm offensively. That team often finds themselves on the wrong end of a blowout.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the good and the bad so far this season.

A Reason to Frown

That was legitimately hard to watch. We’ll start with Al Jefferson’s closeout defense against the Chicago Bulls.

Big Al is like a passenger on the Titanic watching helplessly as the ship crashes into an iceberg. He bites on Gibson’s pump-fake, recognizes his mistake immediately, but is completely incapable of stopping his momentum or changing directions. You can actually see the look of frustration on his face when he realizes he’s beaten:

Making matters worse, Thaddeus Young matadors his way out of an under-the-basket collision. With his man in the weakside corner, Young was in charge of help at the rim, and in more than the adequate position to make a play. You’re not going to stop many people playing backline defense like that.

Turning that Frown Upside Down

Sweet-shooting big men are Big Al’s nightmare. He can’t come out to the perimeter to hard hedge or trap without being a thru-street for guards, and he clearly can’t drop back and still hope to give a good contest. The only solution is sparing Jefferson from these situations by keeping him away from pop men.

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Of course: This is out of the defense’s control to some degree. You can put Jefferson on a non-shooter like DeAndre “3-feet-and-in” Jordan, but Jordan can still choose to pop. There are nights even subpar jump shooters listen to just the right “Dave Matthews Band” playlist (deep tracks only) before the game and enter an unconscious rhythm. On these nights, sending Jefferson’s counterpart in the two-man game (Jeff Teague in the play above) to contest the jumper will prevent Jefferson from overextending himself.

When Jefferson and Teague fail to close the gaps, the Pacers will need to rely on their help defenders. Thaddeus Young is many things, but a fear-inducing backline defender isn’t one of them. Young knows he was responsible for stopping Gibson’s drive; he either couldn’t get there in time (concerning, since there’s never been a good rim protector that couldn’t close that distance), or he didn’t want to get there in time (concerning for many reasons).

Changing Young’s habits probably isn’t realistic; you can’t teach an old dog sound team defense. More realistic: Swap rim defenders. This requires either sending help from another area on the floor or moving Young somewhere he won’t be asked to protect the paint.

Sending rim help from places other than the corners is difficult, but it’s been done before. You typically need a Tony Allen/Andre Roberson-type on the floor to whom you can give some serious sag to shorten the rotation to the rim. These non-threats aren’t always on the floor, but when they are, abandoning them to spare Young the rim duties is probably the best option.

When they’re not, moving Young around is likely the move. Swap Young and George’s assignments on this play, and George would be called to defend the rim instead.

What is reasonable: Jefferson and Young should not take the floor together, and when they do, it shouldn’t be against the most potent opposing lineups.

Granted: The defense controls who guards who, but the offense controls where everyone lines up; if the offense wants Young in the weakside corner, he’ll be in the weakside corner. The only surefire way to curb defensive breakdowns by Young is by keeping him off the floor — unreasonable given the offensive firepower the Pacers think they’re getting from him.

What is reasonable: Jefferson and Young should not take the floor together, and when they do, it shouldn’t be against the most potent opposing lineups. The Bulls aren’t the most offensively-gifted team, but a lineup featuring Rajon Rondo and three capable shooters is going to do some damage— not an ideal matchup for Jefferson and Young.

The Pacers are a mish-mash of square pegs and round holes. That doesn’t mean they can’t make their misfit toys gel, but they’ll have to work hard to put their players in situations that accentuate their strengths and mute their weaknesses.

A Reason to Smile

Now that’s pretty. Simple, and pretty.

Turner’s stroke is pure. He sets up for his shot with his feet angled towards 10 o’clock, lining up his shooting hip and elbow with the basket. When he leaves the ground, his feet dangle, and his body turns slightly sideways with the movement of his right shoulder— indications of muscle relaxation. With his body relaxed, Turner can shoot in rhythm and maximize the power generated by his legs, minimizing the necessary force exerted by his arms and decreasing his margin for error as he guides the ball towards the rim.

Pure-shooting colossuses exist to torture old-school centers like Robin Lopez. If Lopez drops back to comfortably corral the ball-handler (like he does here), he has no hope of closing out on Turner’s jumper, but if he sojourns to the perimeter to trap Teague — shortening the distance of his closeout— he risks an easy blow-by.

This is why people get as excited when they talk Turner as LeBron does when he hears his favorite line from The Godfather. Turner has the rare ability to turn away all comers at the rim and shoot opposing bigs off the court on the other end. Capitalizing on this ability requires Turner extending his range to the Great Beyond; 40% from two won’t force a lineup change from anyone.

Next: The 7 Biggest Questions for the Indiana Pacers

All signs indicate Larry Legend and Co. are willing to let Turner go bombs away. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.