16 Thoughts on the Pacers Through 16 Games w/ Tony East
Added 2023-11-30 13:50:52 +0000 UTCTalking into a microphone about the basketball played by the Indiana Pacers
By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper
With the Pacers 16 games into the 2023-24 season, Tony East from Locked on Pacers and I agreed to team up for a podcast, sharing 16 thoughts on all 16 players (15 players + Rick Carlisle) who have played for the Pacers this season. This is a lightning round, so our intention was to only spend 2.5 minutes on each segment, but that turned out to be a bit more challenging than expected. Whoops!
Enjoy the pod!
Comments
I don't think that has to be a bad thing if the side effects include Toppin in finishing positions more often and shooting wide-open 3s. He's shot pretty terribly from 3 and Turner has been good offensively so I can see why it would be tried but I wouldn't run from it if I were the Pacers.
Rafa
2023-11-30 17:56:10 +0000 UTCThey didn't do it for the entirety of the first quarter. The only minutes where it happened were when Toppin and Turner were on the floor at the same time -- and even then it was sporadic. When Smith was in, they defended Smith with the center. When Nesmith was in, they defended the center with the center. There was a number of possessions where Haliburton still managed to manufacture points out of broken plays but it hindered them from getting into their sets as intended that I'll share likely in advance of the game against Boston. Not so much about Obi, but limiting/marginalizing the Haliburton-Turner PnR.
Caitlin Cooper
2023-11-30 15:00:33 +0000 UTCHi Caitlin, great pod. I enjoyed the premise (maybe something to revisit). One thing I disagreed with was the Blazers cross-match hurting the Pacers offense. They scored 34 points in the 1st quarter. Maybe in Obi's short 3rd quarter minutes, I'm not sure. TJ came in and made it free for all which seemed to give some spark. individually Toppin at 9 points in 19 mins despite missing his 3s (wide open) and a dunk. I fault him for missing more then credit the Blazers with doing something that vexed the Pacer's offense. If the teams defend Obi like that, I hope he has the guts to shoot as often as needed when given good looks. So far he was successful twice against the cross-match and in my opinion, missed good shots versus the Blazers. If he can't make 3s I guess it's a failed experiment but you tried.
Rafa
2023-11-30 14:53:24 +0000 UTC
