It has been a rough past 10 days for the Indiana Pacers. In the seven games during that span they went 2-5 with five consecutive losses sandwiched by two wins. That five-game losing streak was a dismal and somewhat bleak time for Pacers fans. The five losses were: 87-97 to the Atlanta Hawks, 92-98 to the Memphis Grizzlies, 109-113 to the Denver Nuggets, 90-105 to the Miami Heat, 87-98 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Indiana played awful in each of those games. It was ugly and sometimes hard to watch. They didn’t play with any energy on offense or defense. They made sloppy plays. It just seemed like none of the players actually wanted to play.
What made the lackadaisical play even more frustrating was that Paul George and Roy Hibbert, two players who will participate in All-Star festivities, were playing like anything but All-Stars. Hibbert averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds George averaged 10.2 points and shot 5-21 from behind the arc during the losing streak. Their poor play really contributed to the Pacers recent woes. Going on a tangent here but I’m sick of seeing George going for “look at me” slam dunks when he could be laying it up. When your team is losing, you need to get actual points not style points.
It also didn’t help that back-up guard, George Hill, has missed the last 10 games due to an ankle injury. Even though Hill isn’t a starter, he is an integral part of the team. He is the leader of the second team and without him on the floor; nobody is stepping up to take charge.
His absence also shows just how weak our bench is. Guards A.J. Price and Lance Stephenson are never going to be starter-quality players. Never. Neither is forward Lou Admundson. Those three on the floor really prohibit Indiana from competing against any other team’s backup players. Throw in the inconsistency of forward Tyler Hansbrough and center Jeff Foster and who knows how the second squad is going to perform on a nightly basis. Our front office needs to spend money we have just sitting around and get a guy that can produce immediately. Whether that player is a guard, forward, or center, we just need somebody who can score.
Through that five game streak though, I realized that this team may have been given some premature and lofty expectations. Just a few weeks ago they were third in the Eastern Conference and many believed they were one of the best teams in the NBA. After a sudden fall from grace, it’s important to remember that this Pacers team is young and still in a building process. The average age of our starters is 25.8. The average age of the entire team is 26.6. Compare that to these average ages of the top Eastern Conference teams:
Miami Heat - 28.4
Atlanta Hawks - 28.3
Chicago Bulls - 28.1
Philadelphia 76ers- 27.5
Orlando Magic - 25.4
Only the Orlando Magic are a younger team but don’t forget they have the best center in the NBA, Dwight Howard. Put Howard on the Pacers and you’d be looking at a league championship contender.
If you’re an optimist, you will view the recent losing skid as something the Pacers can use as a teaching tool. Hopefully they learned what went wrong and how they can prevent it from happening again. Fortunately they don’t play again until February 19th so they’ll have time to rest up and hit the practice court.
Here the remaining games in February:
Feb. 19- vs. Charlotte Bobcats
Feb. 21- vs. New Orleans Hornets
Feb. 22- at Charlotte Bobcats
Feb. 28- vs. Golden State
That is, by far, the easiest stint of games the Pacers have faced so far this season. Four games in ten days against three teams with a combined record of 20-66. If we can get through with a 4-0 record, that will build some confidence before a tough stretch of games in the first half of March. Nine of the first ten games in March are against teams with winning records.
No comments:
Post a Comment