Nate McMillan must be the change he wants to see in the Pacers

If Nate McMillan wants the Indiana Pacers to shoot more 3-pointers, then he needs to make them shoot more 3-pointers.

Gandhi didn’t exactly say “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” but it’s a nice saying. If Nate McMillan wants to see the Indiana Pacers shoot more 3-pointers, it’s on him to make the Pacers shoot more 3-pointers.

While it’s not as simple as simply flinging more 3-pointers at the basket, he is the head coach of the team. He bears a large responsibility for why Indiana was 29th in 3-point field goals attempted.

We wouldn’t have suggested the Pacers look at former Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokoskov to juice up Indiana’s offense if they simply needed to shoot more 3-pointers. The Pacers must figure out a way to create more high-chance opportunities for their shooters.

According to Pacers.com‘s breakdown of the press conference, McMillan pointed to the personal and the style as a reason why the Pacers don’t shoot more.

"“I would like to see us get faster,” McMillan said. “3-point shooting is a major part of NBA basketball. I would like to see us get more attempts.”McMillan added that doing so will require both revised structure to the offense and different personnel.“The personnel allows you to play a style of basketball to create that,” he said. “We’re not going to run and gun. We’re not going to jack up contested threes just for the sake of getting more attempts. Ball movement and pace can create those opportunities for you. That tempo, that pace that we’re trying to be consistent at, we weren’t consistent this year. Victor was the guy who established that tempo and pace.”"

While a lot of the criticism of Nate McMillan is misguided, short-sided, or simply doesn’t seem to take the full picture into account, criticizing his offense is easy. It’s the team’s biggest weakness.

Indiana could have used more players that could create their own shot, but the lack of creativity on offense remains an issue even in the personnel isn’t a perfect fit.

In some ways, McMillan is right as the Pacers aren’t stocked full of high-volume 3-point shooters. However, with Indiana shooting the 5th best 3-point percentage in the NBA at  37.4%, there’s no excuse for why they aren’t taking more.

We’ve hit on Myles Turner as a candidate to shoot more as his hesitation to shoot more holds him and the Pacers back. But Myles isn’t the only player who needs to be taking more 3-pointers. It just looks as if McMillan’s offense doesn’t prioritize them within his schemes.

McMillan and his staff have a knack for player development, so I don’t want to talk down to a man and his staff who know more about basketball than 99.99% of people on the planet. But when the offense stagnates without Victor Oladipo, that’s on him. When the Pacers don’t shoot enough 3-pointers, that’s on him.

The Pacers have the cap space to bring in more shooters this offseason. If they do, then all the weight will be on him to get more 3-pointers out of the Pacers offense.