(Preseason) Game Thread 10/06: Pacers vs. Grizzlies

[boomershadow]

Evans still questionable. I'm really excited to see him on the court, but it's somewhat worrying since his biggest question marks in recent years it has seemed is his ability to stay healthy. Hopefully this doesn't bode ill for the season in that regard.

One area where Pacers coach Nate McMillan would like to see improvement on Saturday is in the turnover column. Indiana had 21 giveaways against Houston, resulting in 30 points for the Rockets.

Injuries derailed the Grizzlies' season a year ago, as Memphis saw a seven-year playoff streak snapped and scuffled to a 22-60 record. But there is reason for optimism in Memphis, as star point guard (and Indianapolis native) Conley is back and healthy after playing in just 12 games a year ago.

Memphis also bolstered its attack to complement Conley and former All-Star center Marc Gasol. The Grizzlies drafted a young, athletic big man in Jaren Jackson Jr. with the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and signed versatile swingman Kyle Anderson away from San Antonio.

Marc Gasol

Injury Report
Pacers: Tyreke Evans - questionable (sprained left ankle), Thaddeus Young - out (bruised left foot), C.J. Wilcox - out (torn right Achilles)

Wheat Hotchkiss

https://www.nba.com/pacers/preview-pacers-grizzlies-181006

[Jake0890]

I guess we don't know the severity of the Tyreke injury, but I'm glad he's playing it slow and not rushing back to play in meaningless preseason games. He just needs to take his time and get healthy for the season. Same with Thad.

TJ Leaf started out strong with a nice showing against Houston, hopefully he keeps that up. Biggest surprise of the season could be Sumner, excited to see him again.

[Topofthekey]

Sumner and Leaf both were pleasant surprises in the previous game. I especially liked that Leaf had no qualms about hustling in the paint for those offensive rebounds. Hoping that both of them turn out to be better than expected this season

Problem is though, the roster is already a little crowded

There are already 4 guards who all need playing time: Vic, DC, CoJo, Tyreke. Even if Sumner does turn out to be better than expected, where will he find the playing time? Vic is Vic, no way he isn't playing. Same with Tyreke, Pacers signed him to a one year deal to see how he plays, sort of like an audition for next offseason, so there is little sense in not playing him. And DC and CoJo are both very solid players who deserve the playing time. So between the four of them, where are they going to find meaningful minutes for another guard? And that's not even talking about Aaron Holiday. I guess Pacers could try to go with some small ball line up, but that is just going to eat into the playing time of one of the Forwards/Centres

So it seems like even if Sumner plays well, it's going to be tough for him to get meaningful playing time, unless he plays SO WELL that he eats into the minutes of DC or CoJo or Tyreke (small chance). That was sort of the problem that Joe Young had last season, it wasn't that he wasn't capable of playing, he's a pretty decent player, but there just weren't any minutes for him. To me, having two solid PGs in DC and CoJo is both a boon and a bane. Good in the sense that PG position usually wasn't a position of weakness for the team, but bad in the sense that it wasn't exactly a strength either, and they stifle the chance of any of the younger guys breaking out. I guess we'll see how it goes this season, and which one of them, if any, gets re-signed in the offseason

The prognosis is a little brighter for Leaf though. Myles and Domas and Thad Young are going to get their minutes, but beyond that, he has a pretty good shot at earning steady minutes if he plays well. I'm genuinely hoping to see Leaf play well enough to be part of the regular rotation, to prove that drafting him over Anunoby was not a huge mistake

Anyway, 10 minutes to game time, let's GO!

[Wizop]

second 5 starting. nice to give them time together.

Sent from my phone.

[Topofthekey]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

[Wizop]

Holiday better with better players around him.

Dougie looks like a system player that hasn't learned the system. let's hope he's better with Vic. Alize continues to impress. could he pass Doug?

Sent from my phone.

[Topofthekey]

If the season started tomorrow, I wouldn't be sad to see a 2nd unit of Sabonis/Leaf/Alize/Sumner/Holiday

[Wizop]

If the season started tomorrow, I wouldn't be sad to see a 2nd unit of Sabonis/Leaf/Alize/Sumner/Holiday

Alize still challenged on offense plus Reke can play 3.

Sent from my phone.

[Topofthekey]

Alize still challenged on offense plus Reke can play 3.

True, but as far as 2nd unit players are, I'm quite happy with the hustle shown by Alize so far, getting in there scrapping for those offensive rebounds, and he's very energetic on defense as well. I also remember watching him hit a few tough floaters, so there's potential there

I think it's got more to do with my disappoint at McDermott and Tyreke so far. Granted, they are both new players, and it's really a very minuscule sample size, but I was expecting to see a little bit more out of them both. Tyreke was supposed to give the Pacers their 2nd creator to alleviate Vic's burden, but he seemed to struggle to create his own shot even though playing against the opposing team's 2nd unit. McDermott, wow, I don't know if my eyes were lying to me or what, but he seemed to have tunnel vision on defense, stubbornly trying to chase down his man in vain instead of relying on switches. Or maybe I'm just a layman who couldn't recognize the defensive schemes being run, but whatever it was it just didn't look good, and we know Dan Burke certainly isn't the problem. And the turnovers, oh God

I thought they would have given Sumner more playing time though, as he showed a knack for scoring, but he ended up playing only 13 minutes. Maybe they didn't want to risk him re-injuring himself or something

Oh, and I got to say this about Aaron Holiday: I didn't count, but it seemed like he has this weird habit of driving to his right towards the basket, but because his teammates were so crap, the defense just collapsed on him, and when confronted by a wall of defenders, he gets stalled and trapped, resulting in a turnover. I think it happened at least 2 or 3 times in the game. It seemed like he was trying to create, but wasn't fast enough to beat the defense, and got stuck multiple times with no one to bail him out. Still, I think he looked decent overall, and I definitely look forward to seeing him crack the rotation

[Wizop]

I think it's got more to do with my disappoint at McDermott and Tyreke so far. ... we know Dan Burke certainly isn't the problem.

Sumner tweaked an ankle.

Reke isn't in shape.

JMichael tweeted Alize has to go right. teams will figure that out quickly.

neither coach wanted to give away anything knowing they'd meet in season opener.

Sent from my phone.

[Scoot McGroot]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

[Wizop]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

have to wonder if that's the plan, or they just didn't want Memphis to see how we want to use him. it's possible that standing in the corner will be enough to keep teams from doubling Vic, but I hope we'll pull out Reggie tapes. Korver tapes would work too. he doesn't need to be the first option. if he allows Bogie to rest more without us losing our floor balance, we'll be happy to have him.

Sent from my phone.

[Scoot McGroot]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

have to wonder if that's the plan, or they just didn't want Memphis to see how we want to use him. it's possible that standing in the corner will be enough to keep teams from doubling Vic, but I hope we'll pull out Reggie tapes. Korver tapes would work too. he doesn't need to be the first option. if he allows Bogie to rest more without us losing our floor balance, we'll be happy to have him.

Sent from my phone.

Oh exactly. He should be the 4th or 5th option, but should be run around so he can get quick shots and have an open angle. He should be forgotten and thought about at the same time, much like Korver. 20-25 mpg would be perfect so as to let him run his butt off screens and stay an energy spark plug to bother the other team.

[Pacers_Freak]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

Could be possible to not get tape out there since it is just pre-season. Victor is such a good P&R player. When the Pacers signed him I envisioned McDermott running off a double stagger screen to one side and Vic in the P&R to the other. Forces the help away from the P&R. Cleveland did this to the Pacers with Korver off the screens and Bron obviously in the P&R. Very difficult cover.

[Scoot McGroot]

It's only been one and a half games, but Pacers' big, midnight FA acquisition has so far been quite horrible

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

Could be possible to not get tape out there since it is just pre-season. Victor is such a good P&R player. When the Pacers signed him I envisioned McDermott running off a double stagger screen to one side and Vic in the P&R to the other. Forces the help away from the P&R. Cleveland did this to the Pacers with Korver off the screens and Bron obviously in the P&R. Very difficult cover.

I wouldn’t worry about tape. If that’s the worry, we shouldn’t run the play until the one time we need it in the playoffs. Otherwise, if we practice it now, and perfect it as early as possible, it’s one of those moves that you can always execute if you run it perfect, and if you keep tweaking it hroughout the year to keep defenses on their toes.

This isn’t like the nfl. Teams aren’t hiding their offense now so that there won’t be tape out there. That’s the difference between an 82 game regular season and a 16 game NFL season. If you don’t perfect it in training camp, you may lose 3-5 games because you’re not ready to run it.

[Pacers_Freak]

We’ve asked him to just stand in the corner and spot up. No flares, curls, effective picks, and barely let him run the baseline. So far, we haven’t let him play as a shooter should. We’ll learn, or we’ll just waste his talent.

Could be possible to not get tape out there since it is just pre-season. Victor is such a good P&R player. When the Pacers signed him I envisioned McDermott running off a double stagger screen to one side and Vic in the P&R to the other. Forces the help away from the P&R. Cleveland did this to the Pacers with Korver off the screens and Bron obviously in the P&R. Very difficult cover.

I wouldn’t worry about tape. If that’s the worry, we shouldn’t run the play until the one time we need it in the playoffs. Otherwise, if we practice it now, and perfect it as early as possible, it’s one of those moves that you can always execute if you run it perfect, and if you keep tweaking it hroughout the year to keep defenses on their toes.

This isn’t like the nfl. Teams aren’t hiding their offense now so that there won’t be tape out there. That’s the difference between an 82 game regular season and a 16 game NFL season. If you don’t perfect it in training camp, you may lose 3-5 games because you’re not ready to run it.

Valid points. But with a new acquisition no one knows how they will use him. I agree with your 16 and 82 game analysis. But, also another difference is in hoops you can go live in training camp and obviously you can't in football. Where I agree people aren't hiding stuff I still think it is quite vanilla as far as offense and defense throughout the league when these games don't matter.