The Indiana Pacers are officially in trouble.
It may sound like a silly thing to say about a team with a 52-23 record. They have the most wins in the Eastern Conference, and are by far the best defensive team in the league. The problem, however, lies in their inability to score effectively. In fact, the offense of this supposed-juggernaut team has become downright comical in recent weeks.
The Pacers have lost five of their last six games, including an embarrassing 103-77 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. During that miserable stretch, Indiana scored more than 80 points just once – an 84-83 victory against the Heat. Most teams break 80 points by the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter, so it’s hard to win any game when you are that anemic on the offensive end. Every good team struggles here and there, but to score under 80 points in five of six games this late into the season is simply inexplicable, especially for a team with championship aspirations.
Roy Hibbert called out some of his teammates on this particular matter without naming anyone specifically, from David Aldridge of NBA.com:
“Some selfish dudes in here,” Roy Hibbert muttered Friday night, after getting eight shots in the Pacers’ loss to the Wizards. “Some selfish dudes. I’m tired of talking about it. We’ve been talking about it for a month.”
[…]
“When I first got here, it was a perimeter team with [Mike] Dunleavy, Granger — Danny, and Troy Murphy,” Hibbert said. “Then, we got D-West. We were gonna be a power post team, wear guys out. But that’s how things are in the NBA. Things change. It is what it is.”
[…]
“We play hard, but we’ve got to move the ball,” Hibbert said. “Is it obvious, or what? I don’t know whatever our assist ratio, or whatever it is, is in the league, but it probably isn’t up there. I’m really trying hard not to spaz out right now, but I don’t know. We’ve been talking about it for a month. I’m not handling the rock. I don’t know. I’ve made suggestions before and we do it for, like, one game, and then we revert back to what we are. I don’t know. I’m not the one to answer that question. It directly affects me and the bigs. We’re just out there and it makes us look bad.”
“I was letting the lack of touches on offense really affect my defense,” he said. “So I came to the conclusion, I said, if I [only] get one or two shots a game, I’m just going to get back on track for Defensive Player of the Year … and not worry about offense, let Paul and Lance and David take over the helm in terms of scoring.”
Hibbert is right. Indiana is the third worst team in total assists and are ranked the ninth worst team on offense. Lance Stephenson leads the team with 4.6 assists per game. Simply put, they don’t really have anything going on the offensive end. Players seem to go to this team to die as an offensive player. Case in point: the production of former Pacers players in recent years like D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and even Danny Granger to an extent have gone up drastically since leaving Indiana. Hibbert may be unhappy with some of the guards on his team, but maybe he should start pointing the finger at the guy who is in charge of all of this: Frank Vogel. The Pacers have plenty of offensive talent on the team. It’s just a matter of utilizing them in the best way possible, something Vogel has clearly failed to do with more than a few players during his tenure.
It should also be noted that Hibbert says he has been talking to his team about the offense since about a month ago, around the same time they acquired Evan Turner. Not to say that Turner is to blame for all of this, but the Pacers are just 10-10 since acquiring him. In other words, they were 42-13 without him. They had a great thing going prior to the trade deadline. Now, you have to wonder if anyone really believes this group has what it takes to go beyond the conference finals.
PATRICK BEVERLEY AVOIDS SURGERY:
About a week ago, it was reported that Patrick Beverley would likely require surgery and miss the remainder of the season due to a torn meniscus. He’s about as tough as they come, though, and appears to have avoided the need to have surgery, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
After suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee, Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley will not undergo surgery and is expected to return this season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Beverley will be considered “week to week” on his return to the Rockets lineup, a source said on Monday afternoon. Beverly met with Dr. James Andrews on Monday.
For Houston, the return of Beverley could be telltale for the team’s chances to advance in the Western Conference playoffs. The Rockets are 49-23 and holding onto the fourth seed in the West.
It’s tough to say whether this is the right move: does he really expect to be able to play at a high level in the playoffs with a torn meniscus? It’s certainly not going to heal itself in the span of time he’s hoping and there is the distinct possibility that he could suffer a worse injury from trying to play through it. As important as he is to the Rockets, he may want to consider the bigger picture here: he is making under $1 million this year. Should he suffer further injury from trying to play through this one, his career in the league might not last much longer.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
The Miami Heat have been trailing the Indiana Pacers all season long in the standings, but the defending champions finally caught up on Monday with a one -game advantage in the loss column. After their 93-83 victory against the Raptors, Chris Bosh had some words for the Pacers, from Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report:
Bosh: “When the Pacers were talking, No. 1 seed… We were like, it’s August. Calm down.”
Bosh on being atop conference: “We just know we have to stick with it…. Our work is just now beginning.”
Bosh said he was aware of Pacers score at halftime. “It was more incentive for us to take care of business tonight.”
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
The thing about the Pacers is that they are a healthy team other than Bynum, who apparently is finished. Jason Kidd won Coach of the Month for March. Vogel deserves Worst coach of month.
The Nets however are probably pleased that they may face the Heat instead of the Pacers if they make it to the 2nd round. I can just see the Pacers getting back to their old self if they had to play the Nets, without Brook Lopez again. Nets, if healthy give the Heat fits, with Kirilenko, Livingston, Pierce, Teletovic and now the added Thornton and Gutierrez, and not have to worry about being too small.
Regarding Kevin Love, he just can’t handle THE TRUTH. Nets are 13-4 vs. West in 2014, so he shouldn’t point fingers at the Eastern Conference.
The Lakers may think they are playing the role of a spoiler, but they are only spoiling their own chances of getting a top draft pick. Currently they might be favored to get the #6 pick, but could drop to #7 if they continue to spoil. They should pay attention to how Phila / Milw does it (Bucks just sat Ilyasova with an ankle (“Tank-le”) sprain for rest of season.