Rick Carlisle surely expects a lot from his Pacers’ training camp, in order to get answers and establish the hierarchy of his group. Because in Indiana, there are some fairly clear starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Bruce Brown. Then it’s more vague.
Buddy Hield seems the most obvious choice at full-back, but as he could leave, will he still be as involved and a starter? Obi Toppin could also establish himself as the strong winger to pair with Myles Turner, but that’s not set in stone either.
And on the bench, it’s even worse with many players who can claim to have playing time: Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, Jordan Nwora, Andrew Nembhard, Jalen Smith, Daniel Theis…
“It’s a fairly rare situation,” notes the coach. “We have a team full of young people and talent. There are a lot of decisions to be made in the coming months. I like the idea of competition. If you want to go far, you have to do the hard things. You have to be tenacious, you have to fight like hell for your teammate, even if you are in direct competition with him for playing time. And if he is in front of you, then you have to encourage him. »
“Nothing will be given to anyone. Everyone must earn their place. »
A player like Jordan Nwora symbolizes the many possibilities that lie ahead of Rick Carlisle. He provided services as a power forward to finish last season, after his transfer in February. Now, Obi Toppin and Jarace Walker appear ahead of him at this position. He could therefore move to the wing, his position in Milwaukee, behind Bruce Brown. But basically, if he shines, maybe he will be the starting position 4?
“Nothing will be given to anyone”, he announces. “It will be different from recent seasons. The players will have to earn their place. Leaving aside Haliburton, Turner and Hield, no one has proven anything here. Everyone must earn their place. »
Another sector where several players will have a card to play: the lead. Behind the team’s star Tyrese Haliburton, they will be two for a spot with TJ McConnell and Andrew Nembhard. Almost everywhere, there will be battles during this training camp and certainly during the first weeks of competition.
“We saw it all summer, the guys are aware that we’re going to have to fight for our playing time,” concludes the Team USA player. “It’s always better than knowing that nine or ten players are the favorites and that the others are behind during training camp. Players have to be competitive and fight for minutes. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Tyrese Haliburton | 56 | 33.6 | 49.0 | 40.0 | 87.1 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 10.4 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 20.7 |
| Myles Turner | 62 | 29.4 | 54.8 | 37.3 | 78.3 | 1.4 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 18.0 |
| Buddy Hield | 80 | 31.0 | 45.8 | 42.5 | 82.2 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 16.8 |
| Bennedict Mathurin | 78 | 28.5 | 43.4 | 32.3 | 82.8 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 16.7 |
| Jordan Nwora | 24 | 24.6 | 47.6 | 42.2 | 72.1 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 13.0 |
| Aaron Nesmith | 73 | 24.9 | 42.7 | 36.6 | 83.8 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 10.1 |
| Andrew Nembhard | 75 | 27.6 | 44.1 | 35.0 | 79.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 9.5 |
| Jalen Smith | 68 | 18.8 | 47.6 | 28.3 | 75.9 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Tj Mcconnell | 75 | 20.4 | 54.3 | 44.1 | 85.3 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 8.7 |
| Gabe York | 3 | 18.6 | 38.1 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| Chris Duarte | 46 | 19.5 | 36.9 | 31.6 | 84.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 7.9 |
| Isaiah Jackson | 63 | 16.5 | 56.3 | 14.3 | 65.1 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 7.2 |
| Daniel Theis | 7 | 15.5 | 47.7 | 18.2 | 41.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Oshae Brissett | 65 | 16.7 | 38.6 | 31.0 | 71.7 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 6.1 |
| George Hill | 11 | 15.1 | 55.9 | 52.4 | 88.9 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.2 |
| Goga Bitadze | 21 | 9.6 | 51.9 | 28.6 | 45.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Trevelin Queen | 7 | 10.0 | 24.1 | 13.3 | 100.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 3.0 |
| James Johnson | 18 | 9.0 | 44.9 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| Terry Taylor | 26 | 8.8 | 46.2 | 22.2 | 71.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.7 |
| Kendall Brown | 6 | 6.7 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
