Indiana Pacers Rookie Tracker: December Update

Every month, we at 8 points, 9 seconds like to take a moment to reflect on how the rookies are progressing, what they need to work on, and how they fit into the big picture for the team.
In 2022-23 the Indiana Pacers have three rookies on the roster, each having varying levels of prominence and influence within the rotation. Thus, the expectations for the three have largely been very different.

The three rookies this year are Bennedict Mathurin out of Arizona, Andrew Nembhard out of Gonzaga, and Kendall Brown out of Baylor. Whereas Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard have been heavily featured within the rotation, while Kendall Brown has played relatively few minutes.

As such, the rookie tracker will continue to compare each rookie not to each other but to themselves. The hope is to highlight growth in each of the rookies over the course of a season. The highs and lows, the streaks and slumps.

The month of Novembers was a crazy month. With Duarte out of the rotation for the time being on injury, the rookies got to have a few more minutes on the court. The Pacers went 9-3 in the month of November, so the rookies got to experience winning basketball this month. Additionally, the Pacers went on their first long road trip, so there was some growing pains that were expected.
First, let’s take a look at Kendall Brown’s November.