Indiana Pacers: The sudden importance of Goga Bitazde

In the last two games for the Indiana Pacers, Nate Bjorkgren decided to let Goga Bitadze have his shot to show that he belongs in the rotation for this team, and he showed some great flashes. When you average out the two games against Charlotte and Toronto it comes out to him putting up six points, three rebounds, one assist, and two blocks per game.

These aren’t the star numbers people were expecting from him out of the draft but he has time to get there, and we don’t need his star numbers right now. Stats can’t always speak for how a player actually plays, the eye test also shows that Goga is looking very improved. Whether from last year or even earlier this season during his game against the Clippers where he played in garbage minutes, Goga has improved.

I don’t know how there was such a sudden turnaround but he doesn’t look lost anymore on the court besides a few defensive lapses that any NBA player has, let alone a second-year player. That being said, where does his ultimate importance come from?

Goga Bitadze could be an important piece for the Indiana Pacers

As we all know the Pacers are constantly plagued by injury and where that comes into play is with Myles and Domantas already dealing with some injuries. If Goga is playing at a serviceable level I think it is a ceiling-raiser for the Pacers this season. One big criticism of Nate Bjorkgren is his overuse of some players’ minutes, with Sabonis and Brogdon averaging close to 38 mpg throughout this young season.

Inserting Goga into the lineup should take some of the load off of Sabonis so he doesn’t get worn out by the end of the season or worn to point of injury. Goga has a role to fill for the bench unit and I think he can do it pretty well, he just needs to be in his spots to get some occasional points at the rim, get some rebounds, block/alter shots, and ultimately use his big body to set hard screens allowing guards to get to the rim.

Many Pacers fans seemed to turn on Goga Bitazde in his early career which is seeming to be the wrong move with his recent play. I don’t want to overrate his last two games but I believe they could be a great sign for things to come.