Game Thread 03/18 Portland

[Wizop]

anyone staying up? a win locks up a playoff spot. we had good start but now Portland catching up.

Sent from my phone.

[Vorda]

We are lucky that Boston is bad to... we have 2 games against them and that games will decided who will be number 4 at the end...

[boomershadow]

Way too late for me lol

[DoubleEagle4]

Let's look at Cory Joseph's stats from the last 5 games:

111 minutes
10 points
3-21 FG 14.2%
12 assists

3 of those 10 points (and 1 of the 3 field goals) came from the half courter vs OKC. I just don't understand how you justify giving him 20+ minutes a night over Aaron Holiday when he is obvioulsy not producing while he's on the floor.

[Wizop]

Way too late for me lol

I watched a half on TV and then put Mark Boyle on sleep timer and listened to the 2nd half in bed. obviously didn't go well.

it's hard to beat good teams on their floor and we'll lock up a playoff spot with one loss by Orlando or Miami other than Miami losing to Orlando, but we need to figure out why we stop scoring and why other teams find their 3 point game against us. we lose when 3s start raining. is it just the other team getting hot, or is our defensive scheme flawed?

[Pacers_Freak]

Man when I was younger I used to love the West Coast trips. Now that I'm older not so much. I'm even on central time. But back in college I'd love to crack a beer at about 9:30 and watch the game. Good times.

[Pacers_Freak]

Way too late for me lol

I watched a half on TV and then put Mark Boyle on sleep timer and listened to the 2nd half in bed. obviously didn't go well.

it's hard to beat good teams on their floor and we'll lock up a playoff spot with one loss by Orlando or Miami other than Miami losing to Orlando, but we need to figure out why we stop scoring and why other teams find their 3 point game against us. we lose when 3s start raining. is it just the other team getting hot, or is our defensive scheme flawed?

It is hard to say the scheme is flawed. The Pacers are #1 in opp ppg. In the more important category of defensive efficiency they rank 3rd. Hard time saying that is flawed. The Pacers do rank 16th in defensive 3 pt percentage. So it is obviously what the team chooses to give up. But, flawed with those numbers is a bit extreme.

[DoubleEagle4]

I feel like the defense is right where it should be, honestly. Portland came in averaging 119.6ppg in their last 5. Only put up 106 against the Pacers. The Pacers were averaging 97.8ppg in their last 5, and stayed right with their average.

In the modern NBA, it's really freaking hard to win games while scoring under 100. Especially when you are playing on the road (and out West). I think it just comes down to the fact that the Pacers aren't putting enough points on the board.

[Wizop]

I think it just comes down to the fact that the Pacers aren't putting enough points on the board.

we aren't getting anything from Evans or CoJo, and even Bogies has slumped. perhaps teams have just figured out they need to guard Bogie and we haven't figured out the right countermove.

[pacers70]

Let's look at Cory Joseph's stats from the last 5 games:

111 minutes
10 points
3-21 FG 14.2%
12 assists

3 of those 10 points (and 1 of the 3 field goals) came from the half courter vs OKC. I just don't understand how you justify giving him 20+ minutes a night over Aaron Holiday when he is obvioulsy not producing while he's on the floor.

Cory's a proven veteran, he's just in a slump. He'll come out of it...I hope.

[Gooner]

I think it just comes down to the fact that the Pacers aren't putting enough points on the board.

we aren't getting anything from Evans or CoJo, and even Bogies has slumped. perhaps teams have just figured out they need to guard Bogie and we haven't figured out the right countermove.

That was inevitable, Bojan was never going to sustain averaging 23 ppg, like he did in last 20 games or so. Teams are definitely starting to guard him differently, and it's another adjustment for this team to make.

[Pacers_Freak]

Let's look at Cory Joseph's stats from the last 5 games:

111 minutes
10 points
3-21 FG 14.2%
12 assists

3 of those 10 points (and 1 of the 3 field goals) came from the half courter vs OKC. I just don't understand how you justify giving him 20+ minutes a night over Aaron Holiday when he is obvioulsy not producing while he's on the floor.

Damn.... and I thought I shot it bad at my pickup game last night...

[DoubleEagle4]

I just want to see what it looks like when the scorers on the team get some extended minutes. For example, McDermott was 4-5 from 3 last night, but only got 17 minutes of action. Why not play him more and see what happens when he shoots 5 more 3s??

I've never been huge on TJ Leaf (especially his defense), but he can put some points up in a hurry. Holiday has proven he can score when given the opportunity. But hey, let's keep giving Tyreke and CoJo 20+ minutes a night...

In my opinion, the Pacers are just becoming way too predictable.

[pacers33granger]

Let's look at Cory Joseph's stats from the last 5 games:

111 minutes
10 points
3-21 FG 14.2%
12 assists

3 of those 10 points (and 1 of the 3 field goals) came from the half courter vs OKC. I just don't understand how you justify giving him 20+ minutes a night over Aaron Holiday when he is obvioulsy not producing while he's on the floor.

Cory's a proven veteran, he's just in a slump. He'll come out of it...I hope.

Take away his time in SA and he's never shot better than .518 TS%. His time in SA wasn't very "good" either. He's a poor shooter who takes bad shots.

The fact that his defense has been mediocre and effort has been poor is what's alarming about this year. You can expect him to not score based on history, but he's less than useless when he's trying too hard. Guy has been making rookie mistakes all year for no reason. Maybe he's hanging out with Tyreke too much.

[Wizop]

turns out Collison was hurt in 3rd. He is out against Clips.

Sent from my phone.

[Pacers_Freak]

Let's look at Cory Joseph's stats from the last 5 games:

111 minutes
10 points
3-21 FG 14.2%
12 assists

3 of those 10 points (and 1 of the 3 field goals) came from the half courter vs OKC. I just don't understand how you justify giving him 20+ minutes a night over Aaron Holiday when he is obvioulsy not producing while he's on the floor.

Cory's a proven veteran, he's just in a slump. He'll come out of it...I hope.

Take away his time in SA and he's never shot better than .518 TS%. His time in SA wasn't very "good" either. He's a poor shooter who takes bad shots.

The fact that his defense has been mediocre and effort has been poor is what's alarming about this year. You can expect him to not score based on history, but he's less than useless when he's trying too hard. Guy has been making rookie mistakes all year for no reason. Maybe he's hanging out with Tyreke too much.

Rookie mistakes like throwing the ball into the backcourt twice last night? I've always liked Cojo but he has been really bad. I liked him because he played good D and played through the offense. Always thought he was a team first guy. Seems to me that this year he is worried about his numbers since he is going to be a FA. And for some reason he went from being a really solid defender to a guy that can't guard a chair.

[DoubleEagle4]

Cory's a proven veteran, he's just in a slump. He'll come out of it...I hope.

Take away his time in SA and he's never shot better than .518 TS%. His time in SA wasn't very "good" either. He's a poor shooter who takes bad shots.

The fact that his defense has been mediocre and effort has been poor is what's alarming about this year. You can expect him to not score based on history, but he's less than useless when he's trying too hard. Guy has been making rookie mistakes all year for no reason. Maybe he's hanging out with Tyreke too much.

Rookie mistakes like throwing the ball into the backcourt twice last night? I've always liked Cojo but he has been really bad. I liked him because he played good D and played through the offense. Always thought he was a team first guy. Seems to me that this year he is worried about his numbers since he is going to be a FA. And for some reason he went from being a really solid defender to a guy that can't guard a chair.

I agree 100% on this. I was hoping that he would prove me wrong with extended minutes last night, but he looked really really bad.

[pacers33granger]

Rookie mistakes like throwing the ball into the backcourt twice last night? I've always liked Cojo but he has been really bad. I liked him because he played good D and played through the offense. Always thought he was a team first guy. Seems to me that this year he is worried about his numbers since he is going to be a FA. And for some reason he went from being a really solid defender to a guy that can't guard a chair.

Exactly. Pretty sure he did it three times but the refs mercifully let it go the final time.

I've never seen someone go from being generally solid to overplaying on defense constantly. Maybe he's lost a step and is overcompensating? I don't know but it renders him largely useless.

And I can't imagine it has anything to do with his lackluster play and selfishness on offense, but it's kind of interesting that his agent is Rich Paul. Maybe he's trying to prove he's worth a starting spot. He could have had it if we just took that 2nd from Phoenix, but oh well. I won't be shocked if he ends up there in free agency.

[Jake0890]

Taking some lumps recently...

We just don't have the talent to compete with the top level of teams right now. Very inconsistent. This is a very different team without Oladipo.

As it stands, I don't see us standing much of a change to win a 7 game series against the Celtics. I could see it going to 7, but we can't seem to win big games against good teams. (with the OKC win recently being the exception)