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Indiana Pacers Love/Hate Series: Thaddeus Young

By Aaron Eamer

CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 25: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers looks on during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs between the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers on April 25, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 25: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers looks on during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs between the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers on April 25, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Thaddeus Young Indiana Pacers
BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 9: Marcus Morris #13 of the Boston Celtics shoots the ball against Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers on February 9, 2018, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What we love about Thaddeus Young

Thad Young is reliable. He’s consistent and you know what you’re getting every night. You do not need to ask a lot of questions when it comes to the Pacers’ starting power forward, and that alone is worth having.

In his two years in a Pacers uniform his numbers, via Basketball-Reference, mirror each other so closely in percentages that it’s a bit crazy. Take a look at some of my favorites:

Thaddeus Young Advanced Stats for Indiana
Thaddeus Young Advanced Stats for Indiana /

When I say you know what you’re getting with Thaddeus Young, you really do.

To explain the percentages above, these estimate the percentage of, for example, rebounds the specific player grabbed whilst on the court. So, in the 2017 season Thad took in 11.2% of all available rebounds whilst on-court and in 2018 took in 11.1% of them. The difference is basically nothing and it’s the same for his percentage of available assists, steals, and blocks.

At the end there we can also see that whilst Thad’s usage rate went up last year, he began to be more reliable with the ball as his turnover percentage dropped by over an entire percentage point.

Don’t like advanced numbers? Ok, well the per game numbers feed into the consistency theme and once again show us a lot about his two years in Indy:

Thaddeus Young Stats for Indiana
Thaddeus Young Stats for Indiana /

He’s making more or less the same number of shots from every range, rebounding, passing and stealing the ball at a slightly better rate, and his blocks and turnovers per game match exactly.

Thaddeus Young is the embodiment of consistency. The Indiana Pacers have found him an effective role on the team and it works. He isn’t a big ego and isn’t high maintenance. Get him on the court and game-to-game you can expect to see the same numbers and effort from him. And that effort is high. It’s appreciated by Pacers fans and we’ve not been disappointed since his arrival in the Circle City.

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