Basketball, She Wrote

Pacers Mailbag: Basketball, They Spoke w/ James Boyd

Added 2024-02-06 12:30:01 +0000 UTC

Answering questions about the basketball played by the Indiana Pacers

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

As promised, for this month's edition of the patron-only mailbag, I was joined by a guest: James Boyd of The Athletic, who for my money (yes, I happily subscribe to his work!), is a staple of the Indianapolis professional sports scene, reporting on and keeping a watchful eye on both the Pacers and Fever while also covering the Colts as his main gig. Before diving into the Pacers and sprinkling in a bunch of wonderful anecdotes and insights from his work around the team, James also agreed to join me for my traditional (ahem) ice breaker.

In case you just want to listen to your specific question or jump ahead to his thoughts on the upcoming trade deadline, here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

1:01 - Ice Breaker

6:06 - Should the basketball community change how it communicates about defense?

13:09 - Jarace Walker at the three

18:18 - Are Buddy Hield's cold streaks as severe as they seem and does he make enough of an impact to justify his playing time when he's not shooting well?

28:26 - Our favorite developmental strides from this season

36:40 - Brief aside on how cool the locker room is and noticing details

38:46 - Myles Turner flashing skills as a post-entry passer

45:23 - Is "tall ball" what works in the playoffs? If so, can Toppin, Walker, or Siakam realistically play at the three?

53:35 - After adding Pascal Siakam (and possibly trading Buddy Hield), will the offense be able to maintain its pace and space identity next year and beyond? Is that a priority?

1:03:37 - What's Andrew Nembhard's ceiling? Is he still the logical successor at backup PG?

1:10:50 - Do we read sports books? Is "Love it or List it" stacked against David on HGTV?

1:14:23 - Who is the president of the Indiana Pacers "we've told you you're a four (PF), but you're not really a four (PF)" club?

1:21:56 - What do the Pacers need to do at the trade deadline?

1:30:02 - Another aside about a memorable interaction James had with Goga Bitadze

1:30:58 - Thank you and Goodbye

If you aren't already, go follow James. He's the best, and his upcoming coverage during All-Star weekend is going to be tremendous!