Are the 2018-19 Pacers Over Achievers?

[basketballwacko2]

As of today they are 40 wins and 20 loss's! This is in spite of the fact that the teams best player and leader, Victor Oladipo has only played in 36 of those 60 game and 2 of them only played part of the game due to injury. Twenty baby, two zero better than 500!!

So are the Pacers over achievers or are they really this good? I think it's a little bit of both. But either way we have a team that makes us proud. Look we're not winning the NBA title, but we could be watching a train wreck like Charlotte, or Miami or the Knicks! 40 and 20 is something to be happy about, our guys are young and getting better and next season we'll have Victor back, hopefully for 82 games.

[Wizop]

it's a team game. did Butler overachieve when it got to back to back championships? did IU overachieve when it beat a Syracuse team for the championship when Syracuse had more NBA talent? Dakich defending Jordan?

good players playing the right way can win.

Sent from my phone.

[BooomBaby]

I said as soon as Oladipo went down that we were going to be alright.

I was worried a little at the beginning as I feared they had given up on the season, but this is a well coached team that depends on no single player to win.

With a brutal schedule looming, we'll see where we really stand, but to me, this season is already a huge success and I'm very proud of them all.

[basketballwacko2]

it's a team game. did Butler overachieve when it got to back to back championships? did IU overachieve when it beat a Syracuse team for the championship when Syracuse had more NBA talent? Dakich defending Jordan?

good players playing the right way can win.

Sent from my phone.

If I remember correctly that Syracuse team had 3 #1 picks and the IU team had 1 or 2 2nd round selections.

[Pacers_Freak]

Absolutely they are over achievers. Which is a compliment to the team and coaches.

[DoubleEagle4]

Absolutely. The Pacers have 1 All-Star and he has only played 36/60 games for the 40-20 Pacers. This team continues to amaze me over and over.

[pacers33granger]

Yeah the team as a whole definitely has over achieved to date.

The bench, however, has underachieved relative to expectations. Take away Sabonis and the bench has been garbage yet again when it was supposed to be a strong point. Any time Domas starts or is just off, we might as well play the starters 40 minutes.

[Wizop]

Yeah the team as a whole definitely has over achieved to date.

The bench, however, has underachieved relative to expectations. Take away Sabonis and the bench has been garbage yet again when it was supposed to be a strong point. Any time Domas starts or is just off, we might as well play the starters 40 minutes.

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

[pacers33granger]

Yeah the team as a whole definitely has over achieved to date.

The bench, however, has underachieved relative to expectations. Take away Sabonis and the bench has been garbage yet again when it was supposed to be a strong point. Any time Domas starts or is just off, we might as well play the starters 40 minutes.

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

[Wizop]

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sabonis has certainly been the 2nd unit star but I wonder if you are comparing CoJo and Tyreke to starters rather than backups. the net rating is what it is. our 2nd unit is winning most nights.

Sent from my phone.

[pacers33granger]

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sabonis has certainly been the 2nd unit star but I wonder if you are comparing CoJo and Tyreke to starters rather than backups.

Sent from my phone.

The two of them have been the worst shooters of all consistent rotation players and both have been below league average there. Only Holiday, KOQ, and Sumner are in the same range. Same for ORtg, WS/48, PER, VORP, etc.

Tyreke has been sporadically able to create for others, but I don't trust him with the ball one bit. CoJo is poor at creating in every sense of the word. And both have been adequate, but not very good on defense.

You can find guys at the end of the 1st, early 2nd round every year of the draft who provide similar production. Both have been disappointing relative to their roles. Doug I can live with because we know he couldn't guard a chair, but these guys should and have been better.

[OnFire]

ON FEB. 1, the Indiana Pacers woke up in Miami with a four-game losing streak, their All-Star Victor Oladipo was recovering from season-ending surgery, they'd slipped to fifth place in the Eastern Conference and there were no firm plans for help to come at the trade deadline.

For every NBA team in every season, a little rain must fall. Sometimes it's a lot. Sometimes it's a deluge.

Handling adversity is a skill, especially in a league with a seven-month regular season. It's something that can be taught. It's something that can be learned. And the Pacers have put on a clinic recently.

Even with a disappointing loss Monday in Detroit where officiating upset them, the Pacers are 8-2 in February. They're back in third place in the East. They're second in defensive rating in the league for the month (speaking of teams you probably haven't been paying attention to, the Orlando Magic are first).

Coach Nate McMillan has sold his team on role definition, which is hard enough with your average NBA squad. Considering McMillan has six key players who will be free agents this summer and another, Domantas Sabonis, playing for an extension, that's a stacked deck that he has been able to manage.

McMillan, president Kevin Pritchard and GM Chad Buchanan have an open-door policy when discussing free agency internally. If a player wants to talk about it, management is unafraid. They run a business, and in Indiana it's not a bottomless money business, but they've tried to be transparent when the topic arises.

Whether that's a secret to success or not, the Pacers don't play like a team full of guys worried about their next paycheck. They happily play an egalitarian offense that spreads it around with seemingly minimal ego or agenda issues. They've had at least five double-figure scorers 52 times in 61 games, the highest number in the league. They've had seven players in double figures 12 times; they're 11-1 in those games.

They have veterans who are leaders, Thaddeus Young especially according to those around the team, and players who seem to be agreeable to platooning -- particularly their point guards and big men -- depending on matchups. And if they aren't, it hasn't become public.

Their March schedule is brutal and they might not hang on to the No. 3 seed until the wire. But their professionalism during some challenges has been exemplary. And frankly, it could be an example to some of their peers out there.

Getting some love from ESPN, i.e. Brian Windhorst. Context was that the struggling storied franchises of the NBA (LAL, BOS) should take a page from what IND is doing.

That being said. I think we're really playing to our potential rather than being overachievers.

Team culture plays a huge part in it and something tells me that it won't be lost on free agents come the offseason.

[granger05]

I thought the season was pretty much a wash when Dipo went down, but they've certainly surprised me. I assumed we'd drop down to the 5 spot and lose in the first round. Now, they've roped me back in. The schedule gets really hard, but I think they can fight for home court advantage in the first round and knock off one of Philly or Boston. The team seems to just play solid ball all the time.

[Tomhomes33]

Yeah the team as a whole definitely has over achieved to date.

The bench, however, has underachieved relative to expectations. Take away Sabonis and the bench has been garbage yet again when it was supposed to be a strong point. Any time Domas starts or is just off, we might as well play the starters 40 minutes.

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sorry but you are wrong man..exclusively due to Bogadanovic first..he caried the team dirst time when Dipo was ou, he is carrying the team now. Only after Bogie credits go to Sabonis as the second best during these stretches.

[pacers33granger]

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sorry but you are wrong man..exclusively due to Bogadanovic first..he caried the team dirst time when Dipo was ou, he is carrying the team now. Only after Bogie credits go to Sabonis as the second best during these stretches.

during the Detroit game they said our 2nd unit had a net rating of plus 3.7 which was the best in the league.

Sent from my phone.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sorry but you are wrong man..exclusively due to Bogadanovic first..he caried the team dirst time when Dipo was ou, he is carrying the team now. Only after Bogie credits go to Sabonis as the second best during these stretches.

Just talking about the bench.

[Tomhomes33]

And its safe to say that lookign at teams schedules 1.Bucks 2.Raptors 3.Sixers is preety much sure thing.
Indy and Boston will be neck to neck and likely 1-2 final games will decide homecourt advantage

[Tomhomes33]

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sorry but you are wrong man..exclusively due to Bogadanovic first..he caried the team dirst time when Dipo was ou, he is carrying the team now. Only after Bogie credits go to Sabonis as the second best during these stretches.

That's been almost exclusively due to Sabonis. Tyreke has been horrendous outside of maybe 5 games, CoJo has been mediocre at best and terrible at worst, and Doug has shot it well but simply cannot play defense. KOQ is the only other bench guy whose played up to expectations but he barely plays.

Sorry but you are wrong man..exclusively due to Bogadanovic first..he caried the team dirst time when Dipo was ou, he is carrying the team now. Only after Bogie credits go to Sabonis as the second best during these stretches.

Just talking about the bench.

Uos..sorry..well you are right Sabonis is legit 6th man of the year this season

[Nuntius]

We are and we're proud of it. The team has achieved so much despite all of the injuries we've faced.

[Wizop]

And its safe to say that lookign at teams schedules 1.Bucks 2.Raptors 3.Sixers is preety much sure thing.
Indy and Boston will be neck to neck and likely 1-2 final games will decide homecourt advantage

safe? at this point Pacers and Sixers are the two that are neck to neck with the Celtics several games back. not saying they won't catch up, but it is hardly a lock that they will.

Sent from my phone.

[Heat4lyf]

can someone tell me what the pacers record is without oladipo this season?