Don't count on TJ McConnell to get out of the collective. Even early in the season, when the addition of Bruce Brown and the development of Andrew Nembhard were Rick Carlisle's priority to back up Tyrese Haliburton, pushing the veteran out of the rotation, he hadn't made any waves.
Finally, the former Sixers quickly became a valuable 6th man again, and even if he suffered a little offensively at the start of the series against the Bucks, he revived during Game 6, and has continued his momentum ever since. .
During Game 2 against the Knicks, he achieved a nice double-double (10 points, 12 assists, +10 +/- in 23 minutes), his offensive vision and his defensive pressure having made Jalen Brunson suffer, already slowed down by his injury.
“Rick is a Hall of Famer coach. He's been doing this for a very long time, so we trust his rotations, and we think they're the right ones.”
On the Indiana side, we wondered why TJ McConnell did not come back into play in “money time”, Rick Carlisle having trusted his usual rotations…
“TJ had already played a bunch of minutes” replied the coach. ” I thought about it. But our starters have earned the right to finish matches. Nembhard is probably our best defender on the man and we were doing two-man catches (on Jalen Brunson). We tried to shut down Brunson in the fourth quarter but they still recovered the balls that were lying around, they got their hands on the offensive rebounds and made valuable shots. »
For his part, TJ McConnell had no intention of discussing his coach's choices anyway.
“It doesn’t matter when my number is called, I’m ready. If it means being on the bench to support my teammates, I'm going to do it as best as possible. Rick is a Hall of Famer coach. He's been doing this for a very long time, so we trust his rotations, and we think they're the right ones. I support him and everyone totally supports him in his rotations” thus concludes the 6th luxury man of the Pacers.
| TJ McConnell | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2015-16 | PHL | 81 | 20 | 47.0 | 34.8 | 63.4 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 6.1 |
| 2016-17 | PHL | 81 | 26 | 46.1 | 20.0 | 81.1 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| 2017-18 | PHL | 76 | 22 | 49.9 | 43.5 | 79.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 6.3 |
| 2018-19 | PHL | 76 | 19 | 52.5 | 33.3 | 78.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| 2019-20 | IND | 71 | 19 | 51.6 | 29.4 | 83.3 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 6.5 |
| 2020-21 | IND | 69 | 26 | 55.9 | 31.3 | 68.8 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 8.6 |
| 2021-22 | IND | 27 | 24 | 48.1 | 30.3 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 8.5 |
| 2022-23 | IND | 75 | 20 | 54.3 | 44.1 | 85.3 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 8.7 |
| 2023-24 | IND | 71 | 18 | 55.6 | 40.9 | 79.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 5.5 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 10.2 |
| Total | 627 | 22 | 51.6 | 35.0 | 78.4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 7.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
