Game 64 : Indiana Pacers (30-33) @ Washington Wizards (29-35) - 7:00 PM

[ducler]

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[Pacers Forever]

Amazing how some teams can do what Washington is tonight. They're consistently swinging the ball to an open 3 point shooter and the Pacers can't rotate in time ??

[Pacers Forever]

I tuned in late so didn't get to see how Washington pulled away ? I saw enough poor defense in the end of the 3rd and 4th to understand why they couldn't catch up. Granted Washington has 2 legit studs in Beal and Westrbrook so I understand them winning and I expected it. Just surprised that the game wasn't closer. Looking at the box I see Domas, Doug, and Caris all didn't have great shooting nights. Washington shot 60%

[Scoot McGroot]

And with that loss, we now have lost the tiebreak with Washington.

I’m not sure we hold a tiebreaker over any of the teams around us.

[Topofthekey]

Didn't Domas shoot 14-22?

[Pacers Forever]

Didn't Domas shoot 14-22?

Absolutely ! I took it as a 4-22 which actually didn't make sense because I watched him play well when he was in at the last and I recall the announcers talking about his points and many rebounds. My bad.

The only playoff team we have a tie breaker over is the Miami Heat to answer question above.

[8305]

I watched the better part of this one and come away wondering if there is a worse defensive center in the league than Sabonis? After that wondering if anyone coaches defense at all? Looked like Washington would make two maybe three passes and someone would be staring at a line up the seams three or be in position for an uncontested dunk.

[Topofthekey]

I watched the better part of this one and come away wondering if there is a worse defensive center in the league than Sabonis? After that wondering if anyone coaches defense at all? Looked like Washington would make two maybe three passes and someone would be staring at a line up the seams three or be in position for an uncontested dunk.

Pacers defense has been putrid without Oladipo and Myles

I don't even think Domas is the problem

Guys like Lamb, LeVert, TJ, and Brogdon are way more problematic, to me

Lamb and LeVert in particular seem to fall asleep quite often, and TJ and Brogdon frequently don't seem to recognize the need to rotate

I think the team is just badly coached on defense

[Wizop]

Domas did cause some defensive problems but it was by turning the ball over on offense leading to fast breaks. once they were in a set defense, he wasn't the biggest problem although certainly he's not blame free. Myles and Dan Burke would have helped. We used to play one defense and do it well. Now we play multiple defenses and do them all poorly.

[Tom White]

I think the team is just badly coached on defense

I think your statement would be even more accurate if you left out the words "on defense".

[Scoot McGroot]

A small bright spot in this otherwise dismal ending to the season:

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[Wizop]

A small bright spot in this otherwise dismal ending to the season:

Brissett is also a bright spot. Now I'm not saying he is next year's starting 4. I'm still for bringing back Myles and Damos. But Brissett can play with either of them and will give us a much better rotation than we've had with Doug or Justin or Lamb playing out of position at 4. Equally importantly he allows us to be much more flexible in the draft as we no longer need to force a pick of the best available 4.

[Scoot McGroot]

A small bright spot in this otherwise dismal ending to the season:

Brissett is also a bright spot. Now I'm not saying he is next year's starting 4. I'm still for bringing back Myles and Damos. But Brissett can play with either of them and will give us a much better rotation than we've had with Doug or Justin or Lamb playing out of position at 4. Equally importantly he allows us to be much more flexible in the draft as we no longer need to force a pick of the best available 4.

I agree. Even if he's not a starter, he looks to be a rotation bench 4, which is a huge step up from what we've run out there for awhile. That alone is a huge upgrade.

[Scoot McGroot]

I gotta tell ya, the thing that really bugs me is that we're nearly through the regular season, and even when going into the 4th down 20 points, with Sumner out with a bruise, we still couldn't get Cassius Stanley, Kelan Martin, or even Amida Brimah ANY playing time? I'm not saying they're going to change the result, but Nate talked a BIG game before the season that lineups would change often, everybody would have to be prepared every night as they never know when their number might be called, etc, and I'm just not seeing that happen. Goga and Sumner started to earn the trust of the coach and get minutes, but mostly only because the guys higher up were injured. Levert should not have played 38 minutes. Sabonis should not have played 43 minutes. Justin should not have played 35 minutes. TJ should not have played 31 minutes. There's plenty of minutes to get the end of the bench guys some run when you're down 20 going into the 4th. Just crazy is all.

[Tom White]

I gotta tell ya, the thing that really bugs me is that we're nearly through the regular season, and even when going into the 4th down 20 points, with Sumner out with a bruise, we still couldn't get Cassius Stanley, Kelan Martin, or even Amida Brimah ANY playing time? I'm not saying they're going to change the result, but Nate talked a BIG game before the season that lineups would change often, everybody would have to be prepared every night as they never know when their number might be called, etc, and I'm just not seeing that happen. Goga and Sumner started to earn the trust of the coach and get minutes, but mostly only because the guys higher up were injured. Levert should not have played 38 minutes. Sabonis should not have played 43 minutes. Justin should not have played 35 minutes. TJ should not have played 31 minutes. There's plenty of minutes to get the end of the bench guys some run when you're down 20 going into the 4th. Just crazy is all.

And THAT is a definition of bad coaching. This guy just doesn't get it.

[Scoot McGroot]

I gotta tell ya, the thing that really bugs me is that we're nearly through the regular season, and even when going into the 4th down 20 points, with Sumner out with a bruise, we still couldn't get Cassius Stanley, Kelan Martin, or even Amida Brimah ANY playing time? I'm not saying they're going to change the result, but Nate talked a BIG game before the season that lineups would change often, everybody would have to be prepared every night as they never know when their number might be called, etc, and I'm just not seeing that happen. Goga and Sumner started to earn the trust of the coach and get minutes, but mostly only because the guys higher up were injured. Levert should not have played 38 minutes. Sabonis should not have played 43 minutes. Justin should not have played 35 minutes. TJ should not have played 31 minutes. There's plenty of minutes to get the end of the bench guys some run when you're down 20 going into the 4th. Just crazy is all.

And THAT is a definition of bad coaching. This guy just doesn't get it.

I think it's entirely too early to write him off completely. I'm more than willing to give him a full offseason, training camp, and reflection to get himself straight and develop the confidence to pull guys, be firm with minutes, etc. But I definitely want to see growth from him for next year in that regards.

[Wizop]

And THAT is a definition of bad coaching. This guy just doesn't get it.

I'm not ready to write him out although I'm not happy with the season. he certainly could have played a deeper rotation given all of the injuries but none of us watch practice. I'm okay not handing game minutes to guys who don't practice well. I'm not okay with not sitting players who screw up in games. last night wasn't just about a longer garbage time. a player who doesn't hustle back should go to the bench no matter who you have to put it.

that said, this crazy season hasn't allowed for normal amounts of practice. it certainly takes time for players to learn a new coach and a coach to learn new players. Bjorkgren needs to do a lot of introspection in the off season.

[Scoot McGroot]

Just saw this from J Michael.

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[Topofthekey]

And THAT is a definition of bad coaching. This guy just doesn't get it.

I'm not ready to write him out although I'm not happy with the season. he certainly could have played a deeper rotation given all of the injuries but none of us watch practice. I'm okay not handing game minutes to guys who don't practice well. I'm not okay with not sitting players who screw up in games. last night wasn't just about a longer garbage time. a player who doesn't hustle back should go to the bench no matter who you have to put it.

that said, this crazy season hasn't allowed for normal amounts of practice. it certainly takes time for players to learn a new coach and a coach to learn new players. Bjorkgren needs to do a lot of introspection in the off season.

I agree with both of you and also Scoot

The thing that really perplexes me about Bjorkgren so far is his unwillingness to find minutes for 3rd string guys like Kelan Martin and Cassius Stanley, even in meaningless games or in games where the outcome has already been decided. As pointed out, even Goga and Sumner would have been victims too were it not for injuries to other players in front of them

Bjorkgren's modus operandi so far seems to be to squeeze as much mileage as he can out of the "top 8", and only make adjustments if his hand is forced

To be fair to him, I'm not sure this is completely his fault. It kind of was how old Nate operated as well. Perhaps the ownership is partially to blame, perhaps the coaches have been told to singularly focus on winning every single game possible

Still, Bjorkgren is at least partially at fault, because no matter what there really is no reason why he cannot find 4 or 5 minutes each game for the 3rd string guys, considering all the injuries the team has had

The second thing that I find really concerning about Bjorkgren is the team's defense

To me, it's pretty evident that he either doesn't put enough focus on defense, or the players just aren't buying in to whatever he's selling them

Lamb and LeVert appearing oblivious sometimes on defense is a sign that Bjorkgren either is a terrible coach on defense, or he just has no control over his players

You can see the frustration on Myles and Domas sometimes. They stopped short of venting their frustrations or blaming their teammates, but you can see that they are sometimes not happy with their teammates' play on the defensive end

It's most noticeable with Lamb and LeVert, but TJ and Brogdon are part of the problem as well. Brogdon sometimes just look like he's too tired to keep up with the opposing guard. TJ gambles way too much and has tunnel vision on defense, he pays too much attention to the ball and not enough to the opposing players

I also notice that even Justin, who is usually solid on defense, is starting to have some lapses

I think players just aren't buying in to Bjorkgren's defense and are starting to feel indifferent to whatever he's telling them, so it's really on him to right the ship

At the same time, I kind of understand that it's a bit of a catch 22 situation for Bjorkgren. He's a first year head coach, so he doesn't have the clout like Gregg Popovich to dictate what his players should do. But at the same time, deferring too much to his players, especially on the defensive end, has resulted in this current mess

Maybe they should have retained Dan Burke, but he doesn't coach the type of defense that Bjorkgren likes

Maybe he needs a new, more established assistant to help him right the ship

But if that's the case, doesn't that make him a bit of a lame duck coach

Just seems to be a tough situation overall

[Wizop]

No one likes to lose. We'd all be very unhappy if the players were happy with the way this season has gone. But today you'll find a trouble story in wiretap based on a Woj tweet.

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