What was learned by what could be overheard from the Pacers

Learning through listening: On why the sounds from Summer League might reveal as much as the sights with regard to the upcoming season for the Pacers

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper  

Well, here's a sentence you don't read everyday: there was a lot to be gleaned about the defense that was played in a summer league game. With rosters that are brimming with youth and fraught with unfamiliarity in an environment that tends to breed bucket-getting, Las Vegas isn't always a showcase for manufacturing stops. And yet, for the Pacers, in what was a 91-83 win over the Washington Wizards, the emphasis on that end of the floor was almost impossible to ignore -- both for the sights and, quite possibly, more so the sounds. 

There were plenty of memorable highlights. Jarace Walker was here, there, and everywhere with his cat-like reflexes and drew the attention of his teammates who were seated courtside with a ferocious block. Bennedict Mathurin tailed Johnny Davis around a series of picks, cutting off a drive. Andrew Nembhard was dipping his shoulder around screens to blow up plays, and Kendall Brown would appear as out of nowhere, swallowing up space from behind. Of course, the third quarter, in which the Pacers got outscored 31-13 also happened and ball security, with the Wizards tallying 25 points off turnovers, was certainly an issue, but there was a telling (or rather, yelling) constant through the lows, as well as the highs.

You see, there's another thing that distinguishes games in Las Vegas from those that are played in giant arenas with thousands of fans during the regular season. It's a more intimate setting. So, voices tend to carry, including that of newly appointed assistant coach Jim Boylen, who could be heard loud and clear from the sidelines, barking out instructions -- many of which represented a departure from last season.

For that reason, it seems possible that what happens in Vegas, as far as what the Summer League Pacers are attempting to execute, might not stay in Vegas, with regard to how the Actual Pacers go about trying to reconfigure what has been a bottom-five defense for two seasons running.  

As such, here's where changes could potentially be made, organized by verbal cue. 

"Square"

It's hip to be square, amirite? Based on how many times the word "square" was shouted from the bench (hint: a lot!), it certainly seems like the Pacers are putting an emphasis on the inverse of that idiom, squaring their hips to the ball. Granted, that isn't exactly revolutionary or even that revealing as to the specific nuances of scheme, but for a team that repeated the phrase "guard your yard" in ad nauseam to little avail last season, it's notable that the players were being reminded to turn at every turn. Just look at this possession from midway through the third quarter. With Isaiah Wong trotting parallel to the ball, the call from the bench acts like a warning bell. When the words "get square" are uttered, he responds by putting in the effort to actually put his body in front of the ball.  

Although it might seem like a small thing, that low bar wasn't regularly cleared last season. For example, here is Killian Hayes dribbling the full-length of the court with his strong hand. Based on how this looks, with Buddy Hield never "getting square" and Isaiah Jackson basically just getting out of the way without providing any resistance, it probably seems like this occurred during garbage-time of a blowout.

In reality, Hayes went coast-to-coast for that score with 9:02 to play in the first quarter. That can't happen, and it seems as though the Pacers are making it a point to put a stop to it -- even if the end result isn't always a stop.  

"Through the screen"

Last season, the bigs for the Pacers could oftentimes be heard shouting "blue" as the coverage call for the on-ball defender to force a screen rejection and push the action to the sideline. During Saturday's win over the Wizards, the bench was urging communication with the opposite directive, yelling for the on-ball defender to get "through the screen" on side pick-and-rolls. 

Unlike being "square," this is a fairly significant shift in strategy, as it communicates a change from cutting off the middle of the floor to purposefully influencing the ball into the ball-screen and toward the middle of the floor. Just as a reminder, most of what the Pacers did last season, from "icing" side pick-and-rolls to periodically assigning Myles Turner to low-usage wings in order to keep him low around the basket and out of ball-screen actions, was done with the intention of preventing lobs and deterring penetration. After all, anytime there was an unfavorable switch, they almost went into a quasi-zone, deploying an exaggerated presence at the nail. Meanwhile, they also did a lot of help switching, jumping onto the ball whenever a defender got beat with the beaten defender peeling off to the perimeter. And yet, in spite of all of those protections, they ranked 29th in opponent rim frequency and 27th in paint-points allowed. So yeah, that's why that word "square" is on repeat. In essence, with a roster that was quite literally "short" on on-ball stoppers, both functionally and with regard to length, the ball still got where it wanted to go.

As a result, this seems to signal a return back to basics, perhaps guiding the ball to Turner in his more natural role with Walker as the low-man, tapping into his off-ball instincts as a weak-side rim protector. If nothing else, the Pacers are teaching a mentality to chase over with the flexibility to be less dogmatic against certain match-ups. To that point, think back to the second meeting of the season against the New York Knicks, when Jalen Brunson scored 16 points in the first quarter. During that frame, the Pacers were attempting to trap him in the corners, including on the left side of the floor. In turn, when the on-ball defender would flip their body perpendicular to the ball with their back to the screener, Brunson was still able to maneuver through the tight space -- as he is known to do -- with his strong hand.

To a lesser degree, that same dynamic also came into play against Killian Hayes, with the Pacers defaulting to "blue" coverage on the left side of the floor, even against a left-handed player, who tied a season-high of 13 assists to go with 17 points while attacking repeatedly with his strong hand. 

That isn't to say that the Pacers should return to going overboard with overs, as was the case under (no pun intended) Nate Bjorkgren, but there were spots where, even if they don't always pressure the ball toward the screen, they would gain from exercising more discretion -- at least for the sake of pressuring the ball-handler away from their respective strengths.

"Veer"

Of course, the Pacers aren't always going to "get through the screen," and when they don't, there's another buzzword that follows shortly thereafter: veer. The same was the case last season, but the trigger point appears to be a bit different. Take a look at this possession from the final match-up of the season against the Hornets. When Mathurin gets jailed behind the ball, notice how he aborts the mission and just expects Turner to switch. Normally, the decision for the on-ball defender to "veer" into the legs of the screener, is a read made and communicated by the big so this, where the late-switch is way too late, doesn't happen.  

On Saturday, however, those decisions seemed to be determined not by the judgment of the defense on either side of the pick-and-roll, but rather the position of the ball. If the ball-handler was able to break the free throw line with the on-ball defender still chasing, then the bench would call out "veer," signaling for the late-switch, as is demonstrated here by Jackson and Wong.

That said, even with the trigger being more cut and dried in conjunction with the instructions from the sidelines, Mathurin still needs to master his conditioned response. For example, the ball breaks the free throw line twice on this possession, and even though Boylen is shouting for him to "veer," he doesn't run the seam either time, which eventually results in an open wrap-around pass to the screener. 

To his credit, he acknowledged his mistake after committing the foul, but the same thing happened again less than a minute later. This time, though, when he doesn't veer-back to the screener on the pop, Walker demonstrates the way in which his feel extends beyond that of how quickly he can make the next pass, as he stunts toward the shooter to stall long enough for his teammate to find his place. 

In terms of knowing where to be, that's an effective summary of the way in which Indiana's last two lottery selections stand in contrast to each other, with Mathurin perhaps growing to benefit from the presence of more clearly defined rules, as well as what Walker brings in reads. 

"Pressure"

Speaking of rules and which players are responsible for what ... the Pacers seem to have made some alterations with regard to who is charged with applying pressure when opposing bigs have the ball on the perimeter. Last season, when Myles Turner wasn't assigned to low-usage wings, the Pacers would have him brazenly ignore the five-man in order to keep him in drop around the basket. The most exaggerated example of this was against Scottie Barnes, who rarely looked at the rim but had magnet eyes for finding Gary Trent Jr., whether screening or navigating the middle of the floor as a conduit of offense. 

That's because, in daring him to make shots from the outside, he was also free to make passes, set up screening angles, and dribble down into hand-offs, which is why the disruption is on the other four players on the floor to prevent the offense from playing downhill and walking into shots, as Trent can be seen doing above.

In order to provide help at the rim, this is also what strategy the Pacers deployed against the Lakers, with Myles Turner playing off from Anthony Davis and serving as a source of passive size to act as a backstop for the lack of size everywhere else. 

Again, this requires a tremendous amount of energy and effort from the other four players on the floor in order to sustain the necessary ball pressure to avoid giving up shots off the dribble. Revealingly, the Pacers did the exact opposite of this on Saturday, calling instead for the big to "get up" and "pressure" the opposing big, as Walker was late to do here, when Ben Sheppard overcommitted to ball. 

In real-time, this elicited echoes of "pressure him, J" and "J, you've got to pressure him," with the "J" being in reference to Jarace. Even with the error, however, note how the mistake is papered over by Isaiah Jackson as a secondary rim protector. If Myles Turner had been up against Anthony Davis in that same scenario, Buddy Hield would've been responsible for rotating to the basket. It wasn't feasible, but neither was staying in front of the ball. Consequently, the Pacers found themselves in a spot where they could neither execute the scheme, nor exactly scheme a way out of it. 

But, look at what happened in the second quarter and imagine the possibilities. With Walker defending the corner, Jackson is immediately up on the big as a departure to what was enacted with Turner. Then, watch Andrew Nembhard, who steps out to deny the hand-off and still gets back in front to wall up with his chest. Just as a quick side note, Nembhard got on the floor because of his defense last season, and he should continue to be on the floor because of his defense next season. This is excellent, and to no surprise, earned praises of "good" from the sidelines. 

Moving forward, it's possible the Pacers may still choose to sag off from some non-shooting hubs if the guards coming to the ball as receivers aren't threats to rise up and score, but "choose" is the operative word. As can be seen throughout all of these moderate changes, as well as overheard from the sidelines, the Pacers have options from which, even if not always executed as instructed, they can choose.