8 points, 9 seconds
Fansided

Why Nate McMillan Can’t Fix the Inconsistent Indiana Pacers

By Ben Gibson

Nov 12, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan draws up a play during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Boston Celtics at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 105 to 99. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan draws up a play during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Boston Celtics at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 105 to 99. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
Larry Bird and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers
Nov 5, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird watches as Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) walks to the locker room after being ejected from the game for kicking a ball into the stands against the Chicago Bulls at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Chicago 111-94. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Assigning Blame and Credit

What McMillan is doing with the rotation is worth of praise, but it is unfortunate that we’re only 14 games from the playoff and the Pacers rotations are still a bit of a work in progress. Even though the situation is understandable, that hardly makes it more palatable.

More from Pacers News

On opening night few expected Glenn Robinson III and Rakeem Christmas to be important parts of Indiana’s bench. But through trial and error, the bench of Ellis, Stuckey, Robinson, Allen, and Christmas appears to be the best plan going forward.

The who, what, why, and how of the situation needed time to be answered, even if unfortunately the when took longer than hoped.

The blame mostly belongs on Bird and the front office, but that doesn’t mean they should be kicked out the door at season’s end. Let’s not forget Bird oversaw the picks of both Paul George and Myles Turner, as well Danny Granger, Lance Stephenson, and Roy Hibbert. There have been misses under his watch, especially in free agency (hello again, Al Jefferson), but this team nor the ones that went to the Eastern Conference finals would be as good as they are if it weren’t for Bird’s guidance.

Bird and the front office certainly need to do some soul-searching and reevaluate how they go about fixing these problems, but it is foolish to pretend they’ve done more harm than good.

Next: Important Decisions Ahead for the Indiana Pacers

If Bird can address these issues — the lack of both defense and shooting, redundancy of skill sets — then Indiana has hope. But if Bird goes into this upcoming offseason making the same mistakes, then the franchise might start changing for the worst in a hurry.

Home/Pacers News