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Seems like throughout much of the season Nate McMillan has favoured a tight 8 man rotation. Which helps win games, which isn't a bad thing.

However, the effects are beginning to show, with Vic missing games due to injury, and the starters sometimes seem to struggle to keep up with the other team for an entire game.

I understand winning is good, and everyone's happy when the team wins more than they are expected to, but looking at this Pacers roster, it just seem counter intuitive to run such a tight rotation this early on in the season.

First of all, the Pacers actually have a bunch of young players, who all seem to hold some promise. There's TJ Leaf, who we all know can score. And then there's Poythress, Anigbogu, and Joe Young, who all look like they could become valuable rotational players. And finally there's GR3 & Sumner when they return from injury, they are going to need playing time to see what they are capable off as well.

And that's not even mentioning Myles Turner and Sabonis, who both definitely need consistent playing time in order to improve.

With this many young players all needing playing time in order for the Pacers to figure out what to do with them, I find Nate's 8 man rotation surprising, to put it mildly.

As I see it, one of the problems that the Pacers have right now is they have a lot of young but unproven (outside of Turner & Sabonis) talent, and nobody knows what to do with them. The only way is really to just let these young players play more, and once everyone can get a former grasp on how good (or bad) these young players actually are, it'll make the path forward for the Pacers a lot clearer, be it in making trades or awarding more playing time.

As of right now, Nate should really give Leaf, Poythress, and Joe Young a lot more second unit playing time to be on the court together with Sabonis, Lance, and Cojo. Sure, it may lead to a few more loses, but that's the only way to gauge their future on the team. And of course, once GR3 and Sumner returns from injury, play them as well

I agree with expanding the rotation, looking more at a few players who aren't getting significant minutes and trial a few different combinations.

During this losing stretch, some of our deeper rotation players have been the most impressive in spurts - thought Joe Young was great for our energy after we were down 17-0 last week.

TJ Leaf and Joe Young both played a bit tonight. I"m liking what I'm seeing. Hope they earn some more minutes.

Joe is playing much better. will earn minutes particularly against point guards he can defend.

don't rush Sumner. he needs to play in Fort Wayne first.

Vic seems to be on a pitch count.

Sent from my phone.

Love seeing Leaf hit the rotation. Hopefully Poythress soon.

GRIII coming back will probably make it a 10-man rotation:

DC/CoJo
Oladipo/Lance
Bojan/GRIII
Thad/Leaf
Myles/Domas

Maybe Leaf gets bumped, but I think he's shown us something and Thad honestly could use a little bit more rest.

Miller4ever wrote:GRIII coming back will probably make it a 10-man rotation:

DC/CoJo
Oladipo/Lance
Bojan/GRIII
Thad/Leaf
Myles/Domas

Maybe Leaf gets bumped, but I think he's shown us something and Thad honestly could use a little bit more rest.

I know GRIII is going to have to shake off rust when he gets in the lineup, and it's not like he's some Durant-level star, but man I'm excited to see what happens with this team (that has already overachieved relative to expectations) when we get a mid-season addition of a high-quality, high-flying, hard-working guy in GRIII. I think his presence in the lineup is going to be a really nice boost, and I think he fits perfectly with the way we've been playing this year. I'm looking forward to seeing how good this squad can really be once they're fully healthy.

To an extent, the Pacers have a problem (if you can even call it a problem) of having too many talented but unproven young players.

Obviously, there's TJ leaf, who we know can score, but the long term trajectory of his career is still very much up in the air. Joe Young has been overlooked, until Vic's recent injury, when he finally got some meaningful playing time. I like the intensity he showed on defense and he has some scoring ability, but again, it's still hard to tell whether he has long term viability as a rotational player. Same goes with GR3, who has shown flashes of potential but remain mostly an unknown entity. The only way the Pacers can get a good grasp on what to do with these young players is to simply give them playing time and see how they develope.

And that's not counting players like Poythress, Sumner, and Anigbogu, who are all quite raw but could turn out to be decent contributors.

Throw Myles Turner and Sabonis into the mix, who both deserve a lot of playing time, you can see how the Pacers have a crowded roster and could potentially have talented players just wasting away on the bench. Luckily, Anigbogu is still too raw, and Sumner and GR3 are still rehabbing their injuries, so the team really should take the opportunity to give more playing time to Leaf, Joe Young, and Poythress, to see what they are capable off.

Imo, Nate should cut down a little of the minutes of veterans Thad Young and DC, so that Leaf and Joe Young can play about 12-15 minutes a game. At the same time, give Poythress some meaningful minutes here and there as and when the game dictates, maybe 8-10 minutes a game, to see whether he can earn more playing time.

If anything, even if it turns out that these young players don't really fit in with the team in the long run, giving them playing time and having them show what they can do will at least give them some trade value if the Pacers are looking to trade by the deadline

Topofthekey wrote:To an extent, the Pacers have a problem (if you can even call it a problem) of having too many talented but unproven young players.

This thread dances around the recurring question of whether it is better to finish 8th or 9th. 8th gives playoff experience and the money from extra home games. 9th gives a few more ping pong balls. of course we could climb as high as 4th and fall easily as low as 11th, but the concept is the same. I tend to come down on the side of winning because I think losing brings more losing. once you start expecting to lose the feeling is self-fulfilling.