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New Year’s resolutions for the Indiana Pacers

By William Furr

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 31: Victor Oladipo #4 of the Indiana Pacers is seen before the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 31, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 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 Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 31: Victor Oladipo #4 of the Indiana Pacers is seen before the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 31, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 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 Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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With New Year’s day upon us, let’s make some New Year’s resolutions for the Indiana Pacers.

Many of us will start 2019 with resolutions for change, big or small. NBA teams are often no different, and while we’ll never know what the coaching staff seeks to change or improve, we can put our own spin on what we think the Indiana Pacers need to do. Below are 4 resolutions the Pacers should strive for during the second half of the 2018-19 season.

1) Shoot more threes

This roster and offense will never be the Houston Rockets – they’re not going to set any records for 3 point attempts. The Pacers offense works. They’ve been absolutely smashing teams in the paint lately with the bigs rotation of Myles Turner, Thaddeus Young, and Domantas Sabonis, and that shouldn’t change. Rather than getting rid of any paint attempts, the Pacers should endeavor to turn a few of those long 2’s into 3’s. Myles Turner is a serial offender (though he was far better in December), and the starting backcourt of Victor Oladipo and Darren Collison fall into the long 2 trap as well. The Pacers will never excise the midrange jumper from their arsenal the way some analytical teams do, but converting a few of those into 3’s could really juice the spacing of an offense that gets stagnant sometimes.

2) Find minutes for Aaron Holiday

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The Pacers have a +11.6 net rating with Aaron Holiday on the floor. Holiday shoots 3’s from everywhere (not very well yet, but the stroke looks good), attacks fearlessly, and plays much bigger than his size. Defensive backcourts of Holiday and Cory Joseph could cause massive headaches for all but the biggest guard pairings. It will be hard to find minutes for him; the rotation of Collison/Oladipo/CoJo/Tyreke is pretty set, and all will continue to need minutes barring a trade. Holiday should get some of Tyreke’s minutes at shooting guard though (with Holiday at the 1 and CoJo at the 2), and sliding Tyreke to the 3 and Doug McDermott to the 4 on occasion could be lightning in a bottle on offense if a little light on defense. Regardless, Holiday has earned his minutes, and it’s on Nate McMillan to figure out how to get them for him.

3) Take care of Victor Oladipo

Victor Oladipo’s knee injury was concerning, and he hasn’t found the degree of consistency that allowed him to be an All-Star last year. The Pacers have been excellent with and without Oladipo this year but will need him to be at his very best if they’re to make noise in the playoffs commiserate to their record. Whether this means resting him intermittently, lowering his minutes a bit, or scaling back his practice workload, it’s paramount that the Pacers get him healthy and comfortable fitting back into the offense.

4) Find out how to keep good Tyreke Evans present and accounted for

Tyreke Evans was shooting at a historically bad level until recently, and it got bad enough that he didn’t even deserve minutes on this Pacers roster. He’s been better of late (after missing some time for a knee treatment), and the Pacers need to do whatever is necessary to keep him feeling better. The difference between the 2nd unit featuring good Tyreke and the 2nd unit featuring historically bad Tyreke could turn a close playoff loss into a close playoff win.

dark. Next. The Indiana Pacers’ biggest moment from 2018? The Bojan Bogdanovic Game

The Indiana Pacers might not be able to accomplish all 4 of these over the last half of the season, but they should endeavor for all 4. Currently situated with the 3rd best record in the NBA, the blue and gold are already exceeding expectations and are in a position to make noise in the playoffs. These 4 things could propel them into a deep run reminiscent of those the Paul George led Pacers had, and with LeBron James toiling in the West, anything’s possible once the playoffs start.

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