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Can the Pacers win a championship with Nate McMillan at the helm?

By Jesse Smith

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Nate McMillan of the Indiana Pacers looks on against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Verizon Center on December 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Nate McMillan of the Indiana Pacers looks on against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Verizon Center on December 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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The Indiana Pacers are likely to extend Nate McMillan’s contract soon, but that doesn’t mean he is the right man for the job.

Can the Indiana Pacers win a championship with Nate McMillan?

I posted this question on my Twitter a little while back to see what Pacer Nation thought of the job head coach Nate McMillan was doing.  With exactly 100 votes, Pacers fans voted 57 percent no to 43 percent yes, which makes writing this article that much more difficult.

Regardless, I will have plenty of people disagree with my final decision.

I have been an outspoken critic of McMillan for much of the last two seasons, due in large part to his in-game decision-making.  I know that many other Pacers fans share that same sentiment with me.  That being said, there is a lot of appeal to his coaching style and players seem to enjoy having him.  He has also reached the playoffs each of the last two seasons as head coach of the Pacers.

On top of that, he is a former NBA player and previously coached for the Seattle Supersonics and Portland Trail Blazers.  But with a potential contract extension looming, can he take the Pacers to the promised land?

In my opinion, no.  Not a chance. Nope.

Lack of plan outside of Victor Oladipo

McMillan had a fairly large improvement last season from the 2017 season.  He consistently adjusted the rotation to fit the Pacers needs, unlike in 2017 where he refused to move Monta Ellis out of the picture.

Unfortunately, that was about it when it came to adjustments.  I said throughout the season that he did not have much of an offensive plan outside of Victor Oladipo.  This reared its ugly head during the Cleveland Cavaliers series.  When Oladipo was on the bench, the offense looked like they had never seen a basketball court before.

In the Cavs series, the Pacers offensive rating was +10.4 over Cleveland with Oladipo on the floor.  Without him? Their rating was -9.3 below the Cavs.  The Cavs ratings themselves were staggering, 101.4 with Oladipo on the floor and 117.5 with him on the pine.  McMillan’s lack of a coherent answer finally came to bite him when Vic hit a shooting slump.

Failure to stop the momentum and adjust

I remember vividly watching this game in February 2017 against the Cavs as the one where I finally believed that Paul George could leave the Pacers.  McMillan let the game get out of hand in the second and third quarters before calling timeouts and making adjustments.

The Cavs swallowed PG in a trap all night and he ended up chucking up a 4 of 19 night.  Why bring up a game from 2017?  Well…what has changed within his offensive game plan that helps account for the focal point getting trapped? I’ll wait…

McMillan also had a timeout to burn during Game Five of the Cavs series this year.  He also had a foul to give at the end of the game.  LeBron would go on to hit a pivotal game-winning three.  A series that the Pacers were one win away from advancing mind you.  Say what you want about Thad Young not getting to LeBron in time on the play, but the ball should have never gotten to LeBron.

We know his ceiling

This is about to be Nate McMillan’s 15th season as an NBA head coach.  He has only made it past the first round of the playoffs once in 2004.

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Beyond that, he has had six one-and-done teams in the playoffs and has missed the rest.  I don’t see him improving that much more if he hasn’t at this point.  I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I just don’t see it happening.

To be fair…

The guys on the team seem to love him.  I’ve never heard one bad thing about Coach McMillan and I think he is an A+ human being.  Coach seems to understand the locker room well and I credit him as much as anyone for helping build the current culture that the Pacers are priding themselves on this off-season.

But Indy fans will remember a very similar situation with the Indianapolis Colts and a former head coach of theirs named Jim Caldwell.  Caldwell was really close to a title but had a man named Payton Manning that might have blinded us for a bit.

Fantastic man, but wasn’t the one to take the Colts to another level.

McMillan is a fine coach and good person to have in the locker room, but he isn’t a game-changer.  He isn’t the guy that is going to out-smart other coaches in the Eastern Conference.  When you look at a guy like Brad Stevens you realize just how much of a disadvantage the Pacers are at compared to an East favorite.

Next: Pacers might be signing Alize Johnson in the near future

Nate McMillan will only take the Pacers so far.  If they want to close in on the prize, an extension for Coach is not the way to go.

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