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Beginning with Thursday night's game at the Bucks, owners of the NBA's best record (48-16), and running through their game at Boston on March 29, 10 of the Pacers' next 11 contests come against teams with a winning record. Eight of those 10 games are on the road. Nine of those 10 games are against teams that currently own a .600 win percentage or better and are in fifth place or higher in their respective conferences.

Wheat Hotchkiss
https://www.nba.com/pacers/preview-pacers-bucks-190307

Great thread title. The excitement is overwhelming.

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Joseph is a total waste.

Hope we don't bring this scrub back next year.

BooomBaby wrote:Joseph is a total waste.

Hope we don't bring this scrub back next year.

coaches must like his defense. I'm a little surprised we haven't seen more of Holiday or Sumner.

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Interesting stats:

O'Quinn played 13 mins and had 11 points, 5 rebounds
Thad played 33 mins and had 10 points, 2 rebounds.

Obviously I am in no way saying that O'Quinn should play over Thad, but I feel like Nate doesn't mix it up enough. He has a rotation put together before the game and doesn't seem to go against that very much. I also know that O'quinn got 4 of those points in garbage time, but it seems like his production has been worthy of giving him extra playing time.

I also don't understand why they don't run more sets for McDermott. The guy can flat out shoot and they just aren't taking advantage of that. They are fine with Matthews jacking up some 3s, but won't find a way to get McDermott open.

And I 100% agree with the "Joseph is a total waste" assessment. Man I just don't see how he brings more to table than Sumner or Holiday can.

Regardless, the Bucks are just a match-up nightmare for every team in the league. They are literally taller and longer at every single position. I will root for them if the Pacers get knocked out of the playoffs.

DoubleEagle4 wrote:Interesting stats:

O'Quinn played 13 mins and had 11 points, 5 rebounds
Thad played 33 mins and had 10 points, 2 rebounds.

Obviously I am in no way saying that O'Quinn should play over Thad, but I feel like Nate doesn't mix it up enough. He has a rotation put together before the game and doesn't seem to go against that very much. I also know that O'quinn got 4 of those points in garbage time, but it seems like his production has been worthy of giving him extra playing time.

I also don't understand why they don't run more sets for McDermott. The guy can flat out shoot and they just aren't taking advantage of that. They are fine with Matthews jacking up some 3s, but won't find a way to get McDermott open.

And I 100% agree with the "Joseph is a total waste" assessment. Man I just don't see how he brings more to table than Sumner or Holiday can.

Regardless, the Bucks are just a match-up nightmare for every team in the league. They are literally taller and longer at every single position. I will root for them if the Pacers get knocked out of the playoffs.

I understand your point on Thad. But, against Milwaukee he has always been assigned Giannis. When Giannis checks out Thad checks out, when Giannis checks in Thad checks in. Guess who also played 33 minutes last night, Giannis. Now he had 29 last night and a big game before but historically he has played poorly (for Giannis) against the Pacers. In fact after the last game the media kept asking Giannis if it was personal because Thad had "shut him down" in the past.

Thad has been hitting that three ball better lately, up to 36% on the year after a pretty bad start.

[/quote]

I understand your point on Thad. But, against Milwaukee he has always been assigned Giannis. When Giannis checks out Thad checks out, when Giannis checks in Thad checks in. Guess who also played 33 minutes last night, Giannis. Now he had 29 last night and a big game before but historically he has played poorly (for Giannis) against the Pacers. In fact after the last game the media kept asking Giannis if it was personal because Thad had "shut him down" in the past.[/quote]

I guess my point wasnt to knock on Thad, but just try to prove that O'Quinn needs more minutes.

I will not agree that Thad has shut down Giannis however.

Thad possibly outplayed him in the December game, but Giannis still ended up with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.

In the other 3 game he has had:

29 pts, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
33 points, 19 rebounds, 11 assists
26 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists

Even with his "off" game in December included, he averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Pacers this year. That is 2 points below his average, but above his rebounding and assist averages. In other words, he was slightly better than normal overall against the Pacers.

To be fair for Thad, there isn't much you can do with someone that is bigger and more athletic than you (and possibly stronger).

DoubleEagle4 wrote:

I understand your point on Thad. But, against Milwaukee he has always been assigned Giannis. When Giannis checks out Thad checks out, when Giannis checks in Thad checks in. Guess who also played 33 minutes last night, Giannis. Now he had 29 last night and a big game before but historically he has played poorly (for Giannis) against the Pacers. In fact after the last game the media kept asking Giannis if it was personal because Thad had "shut him down" in the past.

I guess my point wasnt to knock on Thad, but just try to prove that O'Quinn needs more minutes.

I will not agree that Thad has shut down Giannis however.

Thad possibly outplayed him in the December game, but Giannis still ended up with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.

In the other 3 game he has had:

29 pts, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
33 points, 19 rebounds, 11 assists
26 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists

Even with his "off" game in December included, he averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Pacers this year. That is 2 points below his average, but above his rebounding and assist averages. In other words, he was slightly better than normal overall against the Pacers.

To be fair for Thad, there isn't much you can do with someone that is bigger and more athletic than you (and possibly stronger).

Thad provided the best defense overall we could provide on Giannis this year, thus far.

And, yes, O'Quinn deserves more minutes, in theory, but that's what he signed up for. He knew he was taking a "below his stature" spot, but he wanted to play for a winner. He's not deserving of taking minutes from Myles or Dom (when all are healthy), and he's not really a PF more than a few spot minutes, so he's not really competing with Thad/Leaf for minutes. It's more just that we have maybe the best trio of center's in the league?

DoubleEagle4 wrote:

I understand your point on Thad. But, against Milwaukee he has always been assigned Giannis. When Giannis checks out Thad checks out, when Giannis checks in Thad checks in. Guess who also played 33 minutes last night, Giannis. Now he had 29 last night and a big game before but historically he has played poorly (for Giannis) against the Pacers. In fact after the last game the media kept asking Giannis if it was personal because Thad had "shut him down" in the past.[/quote]

I guess my point wasnt to knock on Thad, but just try to prove that O'Quinn needs more minutes.

I will not agree that Thad has shut down Giannis however.

Thad possibly outplayed him in the December game, but Giannis still ended up with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.

In the other 3 game he has had:

29 pts, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
33 points, 19 rebounds, 11 assists
26 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists

Even with his "off" game in December included, he averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Pacers this year. That is 2 points below his average, but above his rebounding and assist averages. In other words, he was slightly better than normal overall against the Pacers.

To be fair for Thad, there isn't much you can do with someone that is bigger and more athletic than you (and possibly stronger).[/quote]

I totally am with you. Honestly don't know if there is a shutting down Giannis. But, he is really the only one on our roster that has a chance of guarding him. He is our "Giannis stopper" for a lack of a better word.