Tom White wrote:Pacers Forever wrote:In my opinion it was well worth giving them up for a stud starter in Siakam who instantly became our best player.
This is not a knock on Siakam. He is a very talented player. But if he is your best player, you are not going to win anything. He will most likely play well in most games, but his presence doesn't help make your other players better.
I'm gonna agree,.. and disagree. =}
I agree with you, that if the current,.. now 29 Pascal Siakam is your sole 'best player',.. and not 'one of your best players' with equally talented, complimentary pieces around him,.... you aren't going to go very far. In the first game,.. he showed up, (mostly) the other primary pieces around him, not as much. Which only proves your point,.. if he alone is your best player,... you aren't winning a first round match up. He isn't a guy that is going to be able to put the team on his back, alone, in the playoffs, and will your team to a victory, Ala Jimmy Butler from a few years back.
IMO, the way he fits with this team, he does make the other players better. He provides a post presence, a post threat, that should keep opponents from stacking the perimeter & shutting off the shooters. I think he has also worked pretty hard to see what the Pacers as a team need from him, then try to do it.
This year, at 29, he has had the best per minute (or per 36 minute) rebounding season of his career. He's never really been known for rebounding,... but the last time he recorded the same RPG he has this year,.. he played 37 minutes a night to do it,... now he is doing it in 31.
He has been running to the corner, as a stand in the corner 3 guy on plays where that opened the floor for Ty to attack, or for Myles to make his mid-range cut to the basket. He has fit in with his passing (usual numbers for him), and with his ball handling to help when teams double or blitz Ty, then gotten the ball back into the hands of guards to create, instead of playing ISO ball on his own, as a first option. (he does play iso-ball in the post when the other options have been shut down.)
At least to my eye,.. which I freely admit, could be wrong. He looks like a guy playing a very team-centric game, from his position on the floor, & trying to help everyone capitalize. I think he does make the Pacers better, as a team. He just isn't one of those guys that can level-up, and take over a game.