Preseason questions revisited: Did the Pacers find answers?

Looking ahead by reviewing the preview of the season

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper 

Six months ago, before the games started to count for what was a new-look Pacers team that seemed as though it would be geared more so around development opportunities than optimizing winning in the playoffs, Tony East invited me on for an episode of Locked on Pacers to discuss the biggest questions that we thought, at the time, would define the 2022-23 season.

Of course, after initially exceeding expectations and fully embodying an offensive identity befitting of their namesake, the Pacers eventually became who we thought they would be -- closing out the season, which never regained the same verve in the wake of the injuries sustained by Tyrese Haliburton at the beginning of January, with growth and discovery as the foremost priorities.

Still, even as the focus now shifts to the offseason, there can still be some value in reviewing what was, particularly from the standpoint of whether answers were found to those questions, in order to determine what should come next.

With that in mind, here is what was on my mind before the start of the season.

1. What is the mission on defense?

A year ago, in an effort to show different looks and mask for on-ball leaks while also trying to accommodate whichever of vastly different bigs was on the floor, the defense for the Pacers kept taking on more and more forms, morphing between drop, hedge, and various types of zone, without ever fully taking on a solidified shape. Then, following the trade deadline, for a team that was basically remade with scant opportunity to restructure a scheme that increasingly moved toward switching; they very much looked like a team that was basically remade at the trade deadline, likely with scant opportunity to restructure a scheme that increasingly move toward switching. In the end, their final form essentially became that of an overworked ball of clay, as they allowed 121.5 points per 100 possessions over the last 26 games, earning themselves the distinction of worst defense in the league.

As such, even with Myles Turner back in the fold and fully healthy, it didn't seem reasonable to expect a quantum leap on that end of the floor, especially while fielding a roaster loaded with youth. But, with clarity as to the direction of the team, it did seem fair to expect a clearer vision. And that much happened, for the most part. From the beginning of the season, they established a very heavy nail presence, communicating a needed preference for deterring dribble penetration against unfavorable switches, even at the risk of involving aggressively passive help.

This continued in the form of an emergency 911-call, appearing almost like a quasi-zone, anytime Haliburton got targeted by bigger wings.

Meanwhile, in order to maintain size around the basket, they routinely assigned Myles Turner to low-usage wings in order to keep him low and out of ball-screen coverages, as was the case late against Toronto, when Andrew Nembhard defended Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and Jakob Poeltl all on the same possession, before motioning for the veteran big man to scram him out of the mismatch.

Then, to compensate for what they lacked in length while capitalizing on their speed and the benefit of inertia, they also made a habit of peel switching from the corner on baseline drives, with the nearest help defender switching onto the ball while the beaten defender would peel back to the corner.

Or, at least that was the aim when executed with a hive mind. This, by comparison, is a whoopsie from Chris Duarte to find his spot after getting beat on the middle drive.

Every now and again, when the corner was empty, they would also peel from the post, as Nembhard demonstrates here in fronting LeBron before stepping up to take the ball with Oshae Brissett peeling and switching to get inside position.

If they couldn't prevent the post entry, then they would double on the catch against mismatches and bring help from the weak-side.

In summation, all of this was being done with the intention of fortifying the paint, first, and springing out to shooters, second; and yet, they allowed the fourth-highest percentage of shots at the rim and ranked 27th in opponent paint points. Over the course of the season, teams found counters for luring Turner outside the lane, and try as they might, no matter how many bodies the Pacers put in harm's way, their bodies were still smaller, at most positions, than those they were trying to contain, let alone keep off the glass.

"At the point of attack, a lot of times, I feel like I'm in the right spot," Haliburton said during exit interviews. "It's just a lot of times about getting overpowered. There's just guys who are stronger than me if I'm being honest."

As a result, that dynamic would oftentimes manifest with other bigger and/or stronger defenders attempting to pre-switch him out of actions. The only problem was, just because the defenders were more sizable, didn't mean they were any more sound at keeping the ball in front or avoiding other breakdowns than Haliburton.

Here, for example, with Nwora preparing to kick Haliburton out of the hand-off with a screen in the middle for Bogdanovic, the Hawks confused the switch by rejecting the action and effectively tucking Bogdanovic into the corner.

Plus, there's also the whole thing where the player who is supposed to be coming to Haliburton's rescue on one night, might also be the player who is hunted the next.

Just ask Immanuel Quickley, who repeatedly called for Nwora down the stretch of the penultimate game against the Knicks.

"I think it's just more about being solid on defense," Daniel Theis said of the struggles on that end of the floor, "This was a topic over the last couple of games because it's been like playoff basketball, where people pick on match-ups. If they want you in isolation, they're going to bring you up to the ball. Then, take pride in it to guard it, don't just let them score and say, 'Yeah, it's ok if it happens.'"

To be fair, it was rarely "ok" from the perspective of the coaching staff, but it still often happened. Think back to Game 14 of the season, when Eric Gordon had 19 points at halftime. Remember, Buddy Hield got immediately subbed out midway through the second quarter off the back of giving up this straight-line drive.

Notably, even after holding him accountable, the Pacers still ended up making an adjustment to blitz Gordon whenever he got a favorable switch.

Fourth months later, in the final game of the season, Mathurin likewise got pulled for making nearly the same mistake, only his was worse because he gave up middle, preventing Isaiah Jackson from being able to peel from the corner, despite being assigned to Obi Toppin for the purpose of roaming.

Again, twenty weeks and over 60 games separated those two contests, but the main issue at hand, as far as positioning and being ready to defend, more or less stayed unchanged, even with different players being involved.

"Individual defense is one thing that we have to grow," Myles Turner said of what needs to happen to improve at that end of the floor. "You can have a system defense all you want, but it's a team sport. If one person is lacking, then the other four are going to have to make up for it."

And therein lies the rub, as oftentimes the other four did have to make up for it, whether in the form of switch-to-blitz, as was the case against the Rockets, or with other more aggressive forms of trapping and help that required being automatically put into rotation, while also being left vulnerable on the glass.

In that regard, without changes to the roster, it doesn't seem likely they will be able to scheme themselves out of what the scheme is already engineered to protect against -- unless several players, including Haliburton and those who get thrust into the line of fire for Haliburton, make significant strides in mirroring their strides to whom they are supposed to be guarding.

Overall, the mission for the defense was more consistently coherent in concept and might still be the answer moving forward, but the execution as currently constructed all too often comes up short, both figuratively and literally.

2. Is Isaiah Jackson a small-ball five or is he a five who is small?

Although this distinction may seem like semantics, the difference is actually critical to understanding what role he should have with the team moving forward, if any. Generally speaking, a small-ball five is a player who can switch out to the perimeter on defense and play five-out on offense. Right now, Jackson's strengths, being his roll-gravity, as well as his lack of shooting and need to be fed, much more describe that of a five who is small.

Every so often, there are flashes where he'll turn the ball downhill out of hand-offs, particularly with his left, that suggest he might not have to be quite as tethered to playing only around the basket, but the defense remains a question mark. In some respects, his shot-blocking can be a bit of a double-edged sword. According to Cleaning the Glass, Jackson ranks in the 98th percentile among bigs in block percentage, but he can be overzealous in his desire to swat everything.

This possession is an effective summary of the war that occurs within himself when switching out to the ball. Laterally, he can keep guards in front. Where the struggle becomes real is with his backward mobility, as he can be too quick to open his stance and oftentimes has to rely on his recovery speed. Then, although the end result ends up being a travel, he also needs more discipline on the finish.

"With Coach Rick, we talked about my jumping ability," Jackson said of where he needs to improve next season. "Sometimes, I sort of lean on that more than just sitting down and playing defense."

Meanwhile, there are also moments where he seems confused as to what the coverage is supposed to be. Here, it appears as though Andrew Nembhard is under the impression that they are switching, whereas Jackson looks like he is preparing to be in drop.

Either way, he's too far back against Jayson Tatum as a pull-up threat. If this is meant to be a switch, then Jackson needs to be more watertight in receiving the ball rather than reacting after the fact. Conversely, if he intends to be in drop, then he needs to resist the urge to confront the ball, as that fateful misstep forward makes it more difficult for him to pivot into his backpedal, which nullifies the quickness of his feet.

All of that, in conjunction with how ferocious he can be as a weak-side shot-blocker, seems to suggest that he would be better served as a roaming big, who is kept out of ball-screen coverages. The Pacers, though, tried that role with him to varying degrees this season, and he still exhibited a complicated relationship with restraint.

For example, he was assigned to Obi Toppin instead of Mitchell Robinson during the second to last meeting with the Knicks, and he got caught building a wall at the nail, even though Nesmith was in proper guarding position.

To that point, reads don't only exist on offense -- they also occur on defense, where judgment calls have to be made as far as how far and when to help. In this case, one of the main benefits of switching ball screens is eliminating the need for taggers and help defenders. However, as was laid out in the prior section, the Pacers oftentimes require a heavy nail presence to deter penetration against unfavorable mismatches, such as when Haliburton gets hunted or a big is left on an island against a top drive. That shouldn't apply to Nembhard and Nesmith at least not when Nesmith's body is still planted between the ball and the basket.

It's possible that some of the imperfect angles he takes on closeouts would be less damaging in lineups with Myles Turner as the door stop instead of T.J. McConnell, but the Pacers only tried that combination for a total of 13 minutes this season.

Over a larger sample size, it seems all but guaranteed that opposing teams would defend Turner with fours in that scenario, just as was the case with Smith before the change was made to start Nesmith. At the five position, meanwhile, Theis is more polished, and Smith, despite not always being the most accurate shooter, is at least a more willing shooter. At present, the answer to what Jackson's role should be moving forward is that there doesn't seem to be an obvious answer -- other than waiting for him, as a 21-year-old who's still learning, to provide a more compelling answer than that which, to this point, has been revealed.

3. Would Tyrese Haliburton assert himself as a top scoring option during crunch-time?

This almost seems silly in retrospect. With the exception of a few games early in the season, when he passed up open looks to pass to his teammates, Haliburton led the team in shots attempts during the final five minutes of games decided by five points or less, after falling third in the pecking order last season, behind Malcolm Brogdon and Buddy Hield.

The process wasn't always perfect. His decision to isolate against Julius Randle in space didn't end well, nor were the results favorable when he took on Anthony Davis head-on, by choice. But, those were choices he learned from, as exemplified by the game-winners he drained against Miami and Chicago, and there's something to be said for the fact that he chose himself -- even to the point of overriding a play-call in a moment that can now be looked at as a touchstone for not only value of coaching by not coaching but also the trust that has grown to exist between he and Carlisle. Long gone are the days when the offense tilted to Brogdon in Detroit when Isaiah Stewart was switching out to the ball. Likewise, Lance Stephenson going 0-5 during the OT loss to Oklahoma City seems like a distant memory, and the idea of Haliburton being the inbound passer for Buddy Hield to run point, as was the case against the Kings last spring when he lost the ball off his leg, almost seems unthinkable. Or, at least, more unthinkable.

Haliburton isn't going to win the Clutch Player of the Year Award, but in matching the team's clutch win total from last season before the end of December, he became the answer to the question that has lingered longest for the Pacers, while also providing further reason to seek his input for answers to future questions.