On the Pacers and finding meaning in mistakes

Some good stuff happened against the Spurs (REALLY!). It was a turnover! And a wide open three! And yet, those happy accidents might yield future potential.

By Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

If you are a supporter or champion of the basketball arts, you get exclusive access to monthly popsicle content. This is not that content (other plans are already in the works for March!), but someway, somehow, popsicles actually apply to the basketball played by the Pacers. Hear me out. According to NPR, popsicles were accidentally invented back during the winter of 1905 when a San Francisco Bay area kid by the name of Frank Epperson (some might also go so far as to call him a hero, but I digress) left a glass with fruit-flavored powdered soda mixed with water out on his porch overnight with a stirring stick in it. The next morning, the world was forever made a better place (emphasis mine), when the result was a frozen drink on a stick -- which, later, would come to be known as a popsicle.

So, who cares right? Well, in-between doing stuff like (literally) standing and watching as the opposition saved the ball under their own basket for second-chance points despite being vastly outnumbered, it seems as though the Pacers may have also found a stroke of luck, stumbling onto a possible innovation of their own offense during what was arguably their most disjointed possession from an overall disjointed and listless loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

Here's what happened. Actually, here's what was supposed to happen. Oftentimes, the Pacers close quarters in this alignment, with four players lined up flat along the baseline. What develops next, typically, is the player on the right block will set a ghost screen, creating a gap for the ball-handler to drive into with their strong hand.

In other instances, however, they run "stack" out of that alignment, with that same player on the right block acting as the back-screener for the player on the left block, who screens for the ball. In fact, that's what variation they were running on the possession shown above against the Memphis. This is what it looks like in real-time.

Turns out, that's also what the call was supposed to be prior to halftime against the Spurs. See how Rick Carlisle is holding up a single finger with one hand along with four fingers on other before closing both of his fists and knocking one on top of the other? That's the the signal for "1-4 flat stack."

There's just one problem. In contrast to the prior example against Memphis, look at where Bennedict Mathurin is standing. Rather than dotting the opposite corner, he is jaunting casually toward the wing, which means the left side of the floor is going to be overloaded. Carlisle, in turn, shoos Chris Duarte along the baseline to restore the spacing as intended. The only difference is, the Spurs neutralized the action by  switching the guards. Without need of help from the corner, as was the case against Memphis, the end result is an errant pass.

But, what if Duarte had stayed where he was, providing metaphorical comparison to my bestie Epperson's glass of fruit-flavored powder mixed with water that got left outside by accident? In that event, if Hield had held on the screen against the big, when the guards switch, with Devin Vassell jumping out toward the ball and Doug McDermott recovering back to Hield, then no one would be there to impede Jackson's roll -- as all the help would be strong-side.

At a micro-level, although nothing more came from the possession than a turnover, there's arguably still potential meaning to be found in the mistake, just as the same can also be said for the roster, even amid losing.

Defensively, meanwhile, there was another potentially fortuitous happenstance. With Isaiah Jackson getting the nod at back-up five for the night, look at how he switches out to the ball on the hand-off against Jeremy Sochan, who finished the night with 22 points for the Spurs.

That much isn't particularly abnormal, nor is the fact that he flipped his hips too soon, prematurely opening his stance, as is his tendency. Even so, notice how Duarte covers for the bad angle by helping off the five-man and peeling on the penetration.

Yes, there ends up being a shooter wide open at the top of the key, when Jordan Nwora sinks into the big's legs with McConnell filling behind; however, if the coverage was known to be switch-to-peel, with Duarte and Jackson solving the mismatch, then everyone else would be drilled not to commit to the help.

Granted, that type of coverage probably wouldn't be viable against bigs who pop as well as roll, but there might be a means for defending the pick-and-roll 2-on-2 while leaning into Jackson's bent for being proactive as opposed to reactive, without suffering the consequences of him playing closer to the ball.

All of which is to say that, while it certainly isn't ideal that the "what-ifs" from this game were largely more interesting than what actually happened, perhaps something happy can still come from the accidents.

Who knows, with 18 games left to play, maybe empty-side stack pick-and-roll or switch-to-peel, will be their popsicle?