While the Pacers are off to a good start to the season, and have topped their NBA tournament pool, Rick Carlisle is not happy! There is reason since his players lost last night at home against the “back-to-back” Blazers and still diminished. A narrow defeat, certainly, but for the Indiana coach, this setback is symptomatic.
His players see themselves as too good, and above all some do not defend. After 16 games, the Pacers are in 29th place in the NBAdefensive effectiveness with 119.3 conceded on 100 possessions. With 124.8 points per game, Indiana is the team that concedes the most points in the entire NBA.
“It’s possible I start dating guys and it gets ugly, maybe that’s what needs to happen,” explained Rick Carlisle even before the defeat. “We have guys on the bench who would be more than willing to do that sort of thing. We’re trying to develop an identity where people want to do the dirty work. »
Take an example from Magic
And Rick Carlisle takes an example from the Magic where his former assistant Jamahl Mosley officiates. He would like his players to be inspired by the state of mind of Paolo Banchero’s teammates.
“Our system is no different than Orlando’s and Orlando has the best defense in the league”he emphasizes. “There’s a lot of toughness on this team and they have a lot of guys who are defensive-first mentality guys. This is the reason why they are first in the league in defense. We must choose to do things the hard way: it’s the right way, the best way and the only way.”
The surprising setback against the Blazers, unfortunately, did not calm him down… even if he believes that he has his share of responsibility.
“It was a really poor performance, uninspired in many ways,” sums up Rick Carlisle. “To anticipate NBA tournament games and think we can beat other teams is ignorant. I have to do a better job convincing our players of this and so it’s very disappointing. We are all responsible for it. I am responsible for it just as much as anyone else.”
