Have the Pacers finally found the right balance? After finishing the last two seasons with a negative record, Rick Carlisle hope that this season will be the one that will once again tip Indiana to the right side of the hierarchy in the East. For this, he can count on the constant progression of an All-Star with Tyrese Haliburton, the immense potential of Bennedict Mathurin, but also the arrivals of Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin.
“We like the direction we are taking. There have been a lot of changes to the roster over the last four years. But the arrival of Haliburton changed everything for us. He is not only an amazing player, but someone others want to play with,” said the Pacers strategist. “Without him, we don’t get Bruce Brown back in free agency.”
Indiana holds its leader
Alongside NBA champion Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin will also have a chance to express his qualities in the fast-paced game that Rick Carlisle wishes to continue to develop. The technician thus recalls that his team was the best in the NBA in this register with 18.1 points scored on average per game on the counterattack. In any case, there is a starting power forward position to be taken, and the former New Yorker seems to be the favorite for the moment.
“The acquisition of Obi Toppin will give him an opportunity and allows us to have one of the best transition players in the world, within a team that was the best in points scored on the counterattack,” he added. “Since TJ Warren’s injury three years ago, the Pacers have been looking for a position 4, a starter and a legitimate backup. With Toppin, the Draft of Jarace Walker and the return of Aaron Nesmith, we have three players who have played this position effectively, not forgetting Jordan Nwora, who filled this role very well at the end of last season. So we suddenly have a lot of possibilities in this position.”
Beware of the Haliburton addiction
Finally, one of the points that excites Rick Carlisle the most is the prospect of getting Tyrese Haliburton back in great shape after a season where he established himself as a leader and a first international campaign with Team USA which will necessarily have gained experience.
For him, the tipping point last season came when the leader injured his left knee.
“If he hadn’t been injured for 12 or 13 games in January…”he continued. “We were at 23v-18d when he got injured. He then missed a significant part of this month, and we went on to nine defeats in ten matches when he was affected. That says a lot about the importance he has in our team (…). He allows those around him to express themselves more. This is one of the definitions of greatness as an NBA player. So he’s very special.”
| 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 |
