Why Nate McMillan Can’t Fix the Inconsistent Indiana Pacers

Criticism of Nate McMillan is warranted in some cases, but ultimately he and the Indiana Pacers are limited by the roster Larry Bird assembled.

To call the Indiana Pacers frustrating this season is an understatement. Nate McMillan has seen his team sweep the Houston Rockets while nearly getting swept by the New York Knicks. They can’t handle the Charlotte Hornets on the road but beat them down at home.

So should we be blaming the coach for these troubles?

Not if you ask me or Ball Don’t Lie’s Kelly Dwyer.

Dwyer, like me and most people watching the Indiana Pacers this season, noticed that despite the best efforts of the coach, it is next to impossible for this roster to do anything consistently.

"Here’s the issue. We’re just a month removed from the end of the 2016-17 regular season, and even after 67 games (34 of them wins, good for No. 6 in the East) we still don’t know who the Pacers are. We don’t know what “that” is, and if what we saw on Tuesday (for a team that struggles on the road, ranked 18th offensively) is closer to what we should expect from “that” than what coach McMillan and president Larry Bird expects."

He then linked to my tweetstorm from Tuesday night, but I’d like to expand on those thoughts.

Let’s start with the fact that the worst part about this is we saw this coming once Larry Bird began building a roster of talented players, but not a team with an identity.

Taking Apart the Indiana Pacers Defense

The defense had been the hallmark of the Pacers since 2010 and it was something they could fall back on when things weren’t working. But this last offseason through one means or another, Indiana lost a lanky defensive guard in George Hill, a physical stopper in Solomon Hill, and a rim-defending Ian Mahinmi.

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That’s not to say those three were perfect — though George Hill is criminally underrated — but they played major roles in Indiana’s third-ranked defense last season. And if you go back one more season, you throw in the exits of David West, Roy Hibbert, and Lance Stephenson into the mix and see that almost every part of those top of the NBA defenses are gone, save PG.

In their place, Indiana added guards who were scorers, but not shooters. The Pacers added big men that either can’t play defense (and are generally slow-footed) or are defenders that can’t score on their own.

Of course, those moves had a purpose — to make Indiana faster and a better offense — but in the end, they did neither, while taking away from a top 5 defense.

But the offense never came. Indiana is only a few points better than they were just a season ago, but the defense is now painfully average, if not below.

Finding What Works for the Starters

McMillan’s teams may have been slow in the past, but more often than not, he coached teams that were safely above the .500 mark. McMillan’s career record is 513-485. He would need to lose nearly a half-season worth of games to get a losing record.

That’s part of the reason why I believe man building the roster should shoulder more of the blame, and not the coach.

If the variables had stayed the same, McMillan would deserve more blame. But this roster has seen a near-complete turnover in the past two seasons. McMillan was given the parts to build something, but that wasn’t a fast-paced scoring offense.

But worse than not giving Indiana the ability to run-and-gun, McMillan has plenty of parts, but not enough that go together. Or at least anything beyond the current starting five.

The starters are pretty good with their average offense and strong defense. That comes mostly thanks to Paul George and Myles Turner, but Thaddeus Young, C.J. Miles and Jeff Teague are carrying their weight as well defensive. Paul George slows down the best player, Myles guards the rim, Thad can cover stretch fours and C.J. Miles and Jeff Teague handle the rest.

Offensively, they’ve struggled to mesh at times, but there was a revolving door at shooting guard this season. In general, things have been chaotic and broken down at times, but there are five guys on the floor that know how to score, which makes up for their struggles as a whole.

It took awhile to get the right starting five together, but now they are a solid five-man unit.

The bench, however, is a puzzle, but not a fun one to watch.

Nate McMillan’s Bench Puzzle

Caitlin Cooper of Indy Cornrows pointed out earlier this month that McMillan’s biggest issue with getting the bench to function is finding a combination that works. There is talent on the bench, but it doesn’t mesh well together.

In the Pacers’ situation, I don’t know who is the fox, the hen or the grain, but there are several players that don’t play well together.

This situation is akin to a river-crossing puzzle. If you don’t remember one from school, the basic idea is you have three things you need to get across a river, but certain pairs can’t exist together. One example is a fox, a hen, and some grain. Fox will eat the hen, the hen will eat the grain.

In the Pacers’ situation, I don’t know who is the fox, the hen or the grain, but there are several players that don’t play well together.

Al Jefferson needs the ball to be effective, but so do Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey. McMillan likely was ready to make a move of some sort, but divine providence took the form of a dental issue for Jefferson, opening the door for Rakeem Christmas.

While Christmas is still learning the ropes — he spent most of the past two seasons with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA Development League — he is making the Pacers a better rebounding team while not taking up the shots Jefferson took. It also allows Lavoy Allen to rip down more rebounds as well.

That allows the ball dominant guards, Ellis and Stuckey — to drive to the basket and score. It doesn’t hurt that coming out of the All-Star break Ellis is shooting 39.1% from range. That helps space the floor for both he and Stuckey.

While this works at times, but it isn’t perfect. It is working better than with Jefferson because his defense was so bad that he couldn’t score enough to overcome his own faults. This current bench rotation at least has its moments. It also helps it appears more than ever McMillan is using blended lineups to play to players strengths and weaknesses when the starters need rest.

But even with these moves, it is hard to expect Indiana’s problems to be fixed. They may work better as a team, but until proven otherwise, inconsistency is the only thing the Pacers have done consistently this season.

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.

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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.