Indiana Pacers Player Reviews: Veteran Guards
Added 2023-05-02 11:04:50 +0000 UTCTalking into a microphone about the basketball played by the Indiana Pacers
By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper
Alright, so, it doesn't exactly feel accurate to refer to Chris Duarte as a veteran guard when he only has two years of experience, but coming up with a way to categorize this particular group of players was challenging to pindown -- not unlike Duarte's season as a whole. At any rate, Tony East and I are back with another set of reviews, breaking down the seasons of Duarte, Buddy Hield, and T.J. McConnell via the usual method of selecting one play, one number, and one over/under. There also is some discussion at the end about the other two veteran "guards," George Hill and Point James Johnson.
As always, to make it easier to follow along, the clips, stats, and lines are included below, albeit with limited context to avoid spoilers.
Chris Duarte
One Play: advantage perception
One Number: 264 - where Chris Duarte's true shooting percentage ranked among the 270 players who attempted at least 300 shots
One Over/Under: 5.0 - number of games in which the Pacers win the minutes with Chris Duarte on the floor without him making a three
Buddy Hield
One Play: stack-screening technique
One Number: 2.5 -- early 3PA per game
One Over/Under: 4.5 -- number of players for the Pacers who average more minutes than Buddy Hield next season
T.J. McConnell
One Play: Shooting when open
One Number: 1st -- rank in drives per game among players who averaged 29 minutes and under
One Over/Under: 10 -- percentage of shots as catch-and-shoots
