This team has been hitting set back, after set back for years. The Pacers were legit contenders when the malice at the palace derailed their season. They rebuild and Roy Hibbert....IDK what the deal with Hibbert was but he wasn't the same and PG had his injury, then they move on from those guys and Oladipo gets injured. I feel bad for the organization because they are always trying to compete.
Why do Pacers stars keep getting injured over and over again though? Maybe they should be looking at their training staff and medical team before any further roster turnover.
How come your not even mentioning warren in that video? He’s been injured most of the season so far and is a very important part of their offense, a 20ppg player that is so underrated
They are struck in that vortex of above average all seasons. Neither tank to get high draft picks or make trades for superstars. Always have a bunch of borderline all stars and lock that 5th-7th seed in the East and get swept in the first round. Kinda remind me of the Pre Kawhi Raptors
Uhhhh... Pre-Kawhi Toronto Raptors made it to the ECF twice (I think) only to realize they became Lebronto Barney They were a hell of a good team team just that Derozan was undoubtedly not a good playoff player
Actually, when the trumpets sound at the beginning of the video and it's about your favorite team, it's time to nod grimly 'cause it's about to get S-A-D.
Low ceiling? We've been down 2 starters and our 6th man most of the year, and we still have a winning record. Brogdon, Turner, and Sabonis all improved, and we saw what Warren could do in the bubble. The team is young and constantly improving. And Levert could be amazing now that he'll have a bigger role after his already impressive season thus far. Id say the ceiling is pretty high bucko
Let's face it, this team will never win a championship due to lack of superstars. In this day and age, you need at least one top 5 player to be a serous title contender. 2004 Pistons is arguably the only NBA champion in NBA history that didn't have that and that was because the East was hilariously weak (they wouldn't even be top 4 in the West) and the Lakers self-destructed (Shaq-Kobe feud, Malone hit on Kobe's wife, Kobe's court case, Phil Jackson's perceived favoritism toward Shaq, etc).
@@jamesbartee6184 Oladipo likely wasn't going to resign with the Pacers. Even if he did, the Pacers would have to sign him to a max contract. Even though Oladipo is playing pretty well, he isn't worth that kind if money. LeVert was the best possible player the Pacers could get for Oladipo. LeVert is younger, on a fair contract and has the potential to become an All-Star caliber player. When he was on the Nets earlier this season, LeVert was averaging 18.5 PPG and 6 APG in under 28 min per game. With an expanded role and playing along with teammates who are really good, he certainly can be an All-Star, maybe even surpassing Oladipo.
Pacers are young. I think Sabonis could develop into a superstar eventually and they could win it all with levert and Warren developing even further. They look promising in my opinion.
Sabonis is not much of a rim protector (0.4 career blocks per game), so he can only develop into a superstar if he continues to improve his 3 pointer. He shot only 25% from 3's last season and it wasn't part of his game at all 2 seasons ago. He's shooting 37% from deep so far this year, but he also shot 32% from 3's his rookie year and then regressed. In this day and age, big men need to be either elite rim protector or stretch 4 (Anthony Davis is both). The traditional 20-10 low-post big men have become obsolete. Jahlil Okafor can't get off the bench. Al Jefferson's career ended prematurely. Brooke Lopez, Mark Gasol, and late career Zach Randolph had to reinvent themselves.
You can’t say the Pacers have no “superstars” when they have TJ Warren injured, Caris Levert injured, and Domatas Stabonis is a top 5 big man in the NBA nobody can argue this fact if they watch the sport
@@gregoryleggett9773 Oladipo isn't a superstar. He has never been a top 5 player or even top 10. You'll never win a championship with Oladipo as your franchise player. He can be a great 3rd star on a championship team, but he's nowhere close to LeBron/Kawhi/Steph-level even pre-injury and even being a 2nd star on a championship team might be pushing it. Even Jimmy Butler is better, but you won't win a championship with Butler as your top guy either.
@@deleqtronica8733 The superstar of bubble Warren lives within me. Also Caris LeVert has superstar breakout potential like Zach Lavine, and Sabonis is a superstar as a top 5 big man in the league right now
Over the last five years they're in a very similar position. Not bad enough for a good pick but not good enough to compete. Besides this season where the pistons are obviously going to get a good pick
@@michaelcoombs7711 that's true but in this era stars Demanding Trades is almost the Norm Bradley Beal is Probably the Next in Line and The Pacers have enough to trade for Him
Man thank you for unusual topics you making. I'm watching you for a long time and as a Pacers fan for almost 10 years I really enjoyed watching this video. No one making that kind of video but you for sure. Thanks a lot from Russia!)
An interesting vid. Didn’t mention TJ Warren who is one of their top scorers usually, kind of underrating Brogdan a bit who genuinely has a solid chance of being an all-star, and definitely underrating Sabonis who has one of the highest PERs in the league and an all-star lock. As of now Turner is a lock for DPOY too. I felt you gave a little too much credit to Oladipo who was really not great post injury.
its been practically 3 decades of this. if they were a more popular/favored city they probably would of gotten a championship or 2 by now. all things considered its a well run organization
I still firmly believe Larry Bird would've gotten them a championship if his health hadn't forced him to retire. Bird only coached for 3 seasons from 1997 to 2000 and had a .687 winning percentage, made Eastern Conference Finals all 3 years, and NBA finals in 2000. Their biggest mistake was hiring Isiah Thomas after Bird's retirement rather than Bird's top assistant Rick Carlisle. They did eventually bring back Carlisle as head coach in 2003 (when Bird took over as GM and fired Thomas), but Malice in the Palace ended their run.
I think they’re kinda hostages of a system that favors Big Markets and players that by and large are prima donna punks who act like kids in terms of where they want to play at, Giannis is the most stark contrast to this but I’d say he’s a minority of players.
Indy front office is one of the most underrated not just today, but generally during the history of the NBA and they always played like a team, not just around their superstar
The narration is either a robot doing the best ever human voice, or a human doing a pretty good robot imitation. PS: This is a really good analysis. Much enjoyed.
The thing is in Pro Sports are teams willing to spend the money for a Super Star to win now are just build which sometimes frustration the teams and fan base.. The Question should be are The Pacers willing to spend the big money to win now?
Thanks for talking about my Pacers. I'm always happy to see them being talked about and one way or another. They are always one or two key pieces away from making a big playoff run. Indiana is excellent at finding undervalued players and turning them into all stars.it's true that Indiana isn't exactly the most exciting place to be, but mark my words one day they will get that piece that will push them over the edge.
They might be the most consistent team of all time. Always making the playoffs in the 2010s and sometimes making deep runs. Sadly everyone forgets how dominant they were in the 1990s and early 2000s
They're kinda similar to Dame's Blazers. Just as you said, "too good to be a lottery team but not enough to championship contenders," because they're a small market team and their stars had always suffered severe injuries. Great vid, Andy. Love watching it.
Teams in a small market are headed for certain failure if they try to play the free agent game. They will lose every time. If you’re in a small market you need to win in the draft and build around foreign players like Giannis and Luka who don’t care about being in movies and commercials. The free agent sweepstakes is for birds anyway. Who wants to turn their franchise over for 2 years to a child tyrant only to have to rebuild for 5 yrs after they leave. That’s no way to run an organization.
@@MrRyan-wu4jx Almost all NBA players have commercial endorsements. That’s not the point. The point is that foreign born players typically don’t seek to maximize those opportunities by moving to larger markets. Not that they don’t have them at all. Name a foreign born player that has played professionally overseas and has demanded a trade or signed as a free agent to a larger market? I’ll wait... Now, name a small market team that has signed a superstar free agent? Your best bet would be to try and convince me that Miami is a small market. Miami is the nations 16th largest market and LeBron is a special case for many reasons that I won’t go into. In the context of how small market teams should go about building championship contenders, I stand by my statement. Foreign plays are much less likely to leave for larger markets than American players. For now we can pretend that endorsements and off-court opportunities have nothing to do with it. It’s probably the nightclubs. 😂
@@TheGbelcher And what’s your sample size of foreign born NBA superstars to back that up? Dirk, Duncan, Yao, Giannis, maybe Parker and Ginobili? All were on winning franchises and accommodated to. Luka? He’s likely leaving Dallas first chance he gets. Olajuwon demanded multiple trades when Houston was struggling. Mutombo, Divac, and Steve Nash signed as free agents who were frustrated with their former teams, Nash in the small market of Phoenix and Divac in Sacramento. Why did Durant and Westbrook sign extensions in OKC? Paul George in Indianapolis? Malone didn’t leave Utah till well after his prime, Stockton never did. Nash to Phoenix, McGrady to Orlando, Boozer to Utah, Jefferson or Hayward to Charlotte. How many players in NBA history do you know that even officially demanded a trade? I counted 11, and one of them was foreign born. There’s just not enough substantial evidence to definitively make that claim and plenty of history that goes against your narrative.
@@MrRyan-wu4jx You’re right it is a stereotype, but I think the stereotype is justified. Porzingis demanded at trade out of NY but I think you’ll agree that NY is an outlier. Generally speaking, there has been an acceleration in players demanding trades in “pre-agency” and generally speaking, foreign players have not participated in this trend.
@@TheGbelcher The Knicks have terrible management problems.. Who in the hell wanna play in that crap? And you right about the small market teams.. my theory is that some players look at it and see that them spinning their wheels in a small market without them getting the right amount of exposure will hurt their value cause of the fact they are not in a big market..
This is a really good video. Though I don't agree with using per game stats to say their defense is bad when you also say they play at a slower pace. Im glad that you actually did a video about the pacers since they are not covered much.
@@muhammadrajput3502 I feel you bro, at least you guys have been consistent As a Suns fan, we haven't been good until Booker came along but he still needs some help Glad CP3 is with us rn though
True, they are always an underdog team in the regular season, but can't get out of the first round, they also had some injuries. They lost to Lebron in 7 games, dipo was out against the Celtics, and their all-star Sabonis was out against the Heat. They are to good to fade for cade, but not good enough to make it far, its a weird future for the Pacers
@@dansheshe8039 Which has been part of the ongoing issue with the Pacers in the NBA. Not enough money to be able to pay their big names when they have them (noted exception for Reggie).
Im a jazz fan but i have a lot of respect for small market teams like the pacers, I remember watching them with danny granger back in the day and they went head to head with lebron 2 years in a row in ecf that was one of my Favorite teams to watch
Honestly i think Turner or Sabonis+ a couple picks is Good enough to trade for a Superstar if they have the Chance Also the Pacers for me are more like the Lamarcus Aldridge Blazers than the Memphis Grizzlies(when it comes to dynamic at Least not Playstyle)
Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis should still be in Orlando!!!!! Them two with Nikola Vucevic and fultz/Anthony would have been some fun basketball to watch....... but no this is Orlando and we like to watch shit basketball
The Pacers to me are a good team, not a great team though. You compared them to the early 2010s Grizz but I think Memphis, even though they were not a star driven team either, was a lot better overall. Deeper and more dangerous to actual contenders. I just don't see the Pacers knocking off any team that's actually in the mix for a title. Memphis iirc made it to the WCF once and had a few deep playoff runs. The Pacers (and I really like that franchise) are good but really not a team any true contender should be afraid of, imo.
I agree in The Pacers with pre Injury Paul George were like the Grizzlies but after 2015 they're definitely not The Grizzlies would Casually give Contenders trouble and occasionally beat them The Pacers have Only really Challenged 1 Contender so far
Saying Sabonis (all star), Brogdon (borderline all star), Turner (Candidate for DPOY), Warren (Dropped over 50 in the bubble and avg 20 ppg), Levert, Lamb, McDermott, J Holiday is an average roster is disrespectful and ignorant. This is currently a top 4 team in the East without 2 of their 5 starters. You cannot tell me that a healthy team cannot compete with the other top teams in the East.
@@underpressure07140 Yeah and I think you can debate all of those teams but Pacers are already ahead of 2 of those teams without 2 of their best players.... Again saying they are not relevant I think is understating their potential when they get Levert and Warren back. They are already competitive in the east without those two.
@@ryanbarnett3002 The Pacers are definitely not a bad team, just that they always seem to be lacking an additional piece to convincingly crown them as a title contender. Might be also because they don't have anyone whom you can call a legit superstar
Adding LeVert was a good move. They just need to get healthy and let their young players grow and gel together. 2-3 years down the line they will be a serious threat if they stay on track.
Ok, let’s remember a couple things. 1. The schedule horse fucked our players health. As did poor game time management (eat shit Bjorkgren). 2. We’re coming back with a healthier Myles, and Damontas. Levert never had a chance to develop. 3. Hopefully the locker room issues have been addressed. If we can get our team to gel, we could be very dangerous. We just need to learn how to play fucking defense.
@@TheStrongestManEver He has been far, far from amazing since his return. Uninterested, mostly unthreatening and uninspiring. He was scoring decently, but on poor efficiency and with a ton of turnovers. The only good things he's done since he came back was the winning shot against the Bulls on his return (where he was 0-7 from 3 before he hit it, so a. shouldn't have taken the shot, and b. wouldn't have needed to if he'd hit something or passed the ball prior), and the 3 vs the Pels when we came back from the dead to win in OT; and it was Turner and Brogdan who got us over the line. He's playing better in Houston, but that's because they don't have 5 guys who can all do something. They have catch and shoot Christian Wood, and drive all day John Wall. On the Pacers, he had to share the ball out with Myles, Domas, TJ and Brogdan. We're a team-first offence; that's why having 7-9 players averaging 10 ppg on good efficiency is the norm; because everyone can do it.
I totally disagree you forgot to mention the Pacers are three games away from being 1st in the East and we are doing this without Tj Warren (a three point shooter) and Caris Levert ( A shooter and perimeter defender) soooo... We will see how they do against the Bucks tonight on ESPN
ive been expecting turner to break out for 3 seasons now but it seems like this is as good as he gets. i honestly thought he could have an anthony davis type game
I feel like once we have all of our players healthy (levert, Warren) and gel together we will be really good and get better and hopefully that could be appealing to free agents that would make em want to come here. Also I wish stars would come to small market teams. You will have less pressure on you because there aren’t many fans and it’s a smaller city. Then secondly, the fans will ADORE them and honestly show you support. But sadly you gotta draft a star for your team to be appealing to another star.
With a healthy team, the Pacers would have four players with the capability of scoring 20 points per game (LeVert, Sabonis, Brogdon and Warren). Not to mention Myles Turner who has been swatting almost 4 shots per game. The bench unit becomes really solid as well: PG: TJ McConnell (or Aaron Holiday) SG: Jeremy Lamb SF: Justin Holiday PF: Doug McDermott C: Goga Bitadze The Pacers
I personally believe the issue is injuries and not a deep enough bench to bring more firepower. Also, they need key players to step up (Myles Turner 🙄) and provide more than they’re currently giving.
Being a Hoosier and Pacers fan since birth, this has always been what the Pacers look like. The Franchise has never been able to get big time F/A's. Outside of drafting Danny Granger (highly underrated until his injuries) and Paul George they just haven't been good enough in the draft to get the talent level to the next step. They had 1 or 2 years with PG where they could have convinced a big F/A but didn't pull the trigger and it killed the chances of any rings. The only way they can take that step up is draft a star. Which, as you said, is hard when you only ever have late 1st round/2nd round picks. Outside of that you can only hope someone steps up out of no where like Sabonis and Dipo did when they got to the team. Maybe Levert has been waiting for a chance to show his stuff. The last thing that has always haunted the Pacers is injuries... Granger, PG, and Dipo have been the last 3 "franchise" players and they all ended up going down with injuries at the worst time possible...
In the first game of the 2020 playoffs victor was poked in the eye so he only played 5 mins but the 3 games after that he averaged 23.5pts/3.7asst/4rebs/ and 2.7 steals . I’d have to say he did pretty good
I still think this pacers team is still legit when healthy, they're already playing very well without 2 hypothetical starters (levert and warren) and under a new coaching system. Sabonis and Turner are still under 25 and no one in their lineup is hitting 30 until 2 seasons from now. Their problem currently is their depth once players get injured is really bad, also lacking a backup big man which kinda forces turner and sabonis to cycle in and out at center. I'm not sure if they'll ever be a championship favorite but they can definitely reach the ECF with this core.
Grew up pacers fan and have gone to many games since the rifleman chuck person days. Love them, but in NBA, were not seen as a"sexy" destination for players who want to win titles and get endorsement deals. Levert is my hope to turn this perception around, he can be a superstar soon with that sexy "it" factor to take over and put teams away, if happens, what a supporting cast, we're close, got to get healthy.
The problem with the Pacers is "MID MARKET TEAM" in a state with higher expectations out of them. They WERE the class of the league in their ABA days (3 championships, 4 Finals, nobody else made the Finals more than 3 times or won more than twice) - but they were competing against OTHER mid-market level teams in that league. They haven't had owners that were willing to step up with the BIG bucks to attract major free agents, and their drafted home-grown great talent (hi Reggie!) never had enough high level help on a consistent basis - but their management generally hasn't willing to even put out enough to KEEP most of that home-grown talent or greats picked through the draft (Hi Kahwi! Hi PG!). They've also had issues with not being able to hang on to their better coaches during their NBA days (Hi Larry Brown! Hi Rich Carlisle! Hi Larry Bird - though to be fair, Bird stated in advance he was only going to coach 3 years).
Oladipo is okay but not a star, they should be thankful he didn’t take that contract. Hopefully Caris becomes something good for them. They have a young good team. One superstar away.
The Pacers situation sounds a lot similar to the Raptors. Both teams are good teams who will most likely make the playoffs but they won't get very far, most likely 1st round exits.
I attribute a lot of the 1st round playoff issues to McMillan's super ancient offense and lack of adjustments. That matters more in the playoffs when the pace slows down and you play the same team every night. Bjorkgren has changed a lot - they're 11th in pace and are up to 20th in 3s attempted per game (30th last year). The positive changes are seen prominently with McDermott who is moving so much more off the ball and Turner being utilized better. LeVert will be a really really good fit with Brogdon. Brogdon will get more catch n shoot threes which is ideal. Missing TJ Warren has been a big blow because he is a walking bucket at times. Will be interested to see how they look when LeVert and Warren are healthy.
The stats back up the change, Nate M. was all about defense and New Nate is more about offense and that is showing in the early parts of the season. You didn't really touch on Sabonis and how much of a stud he is right now and his stepping back to take more 3pt shots. Maybe not Malcom on his own can lead the team, but Sabonis is a bonafide star and you have Turner leading the league in blocks to anchor the defense. I see this team as a 4-5 seed and making some noise in the playoffs. Especially when Warren comes back and adds that other offensive punch.
Two all star caliber players for a guy that leaked his trade request to the press so: “I don’t want to end up playing with no names.” Pretty damn good deal in that regard. I think the coaching change is going to be a huge upgrade, Rick Carlisle is a more inspiring coach.
As a pacer fan, I’d say to trade Aaron holiday for some big depth because if Sabonis or turner get in foul trouble, it’s over we get bullied and against other contenders we have no chance. A guy like richaun Holmes would be a good fit. Once levert comes back, him and brogdon will man the guards, McConnell is one of those guys that plays hard all the time, lamb will be good instant offense alongside McDermott on the bench once warren comes back (if) and Justin holiday is a solid piece. That’s the problem though, there’s too many mouths to feed. I’d trade a couple guys (potentially something like levert/warren lamb and some other guys for a big name guy like Beal. It would help out with winning in the long term. With brogdon and turner being good on defense (turner should be DPOY) and McConnell being McConnell, I think we could go for a guy to pair with Sabonis as a huge threat. I love brogdon, but I don’t believe that his 22-23 a game will last. I was at the Memphis game, and brooks faceguarded him and he had trouble. Taking the main perimeter guy off his shoulders and giving it to a guy like Beal would improve his game tremendously and would force the defense to help on him more, helping the rest of the team out, especially Sabonis, who can expect to see multiple double teams a game
So, having Brogdon scoring 20+ points a game with 46-40-90 efficiency and 7 assists per game, plus Sabonis averaging 20ppg-12rpg-5apg, plus Turner pushing seriously for DPOY (having better defensive advance metrics than Gobert, Embiid and Anthony Davis), recovering Jeremy Lamb (who is playing better every game, and averaging 14 pts while shooting 50-40-90 and having a 19.64 PER) until Caris LeVert gets back, and still having to get back T.J. Warren who is a great scoring option (was setting the league on fire during the bubble), you still think they are an 'average' team? My goodness. You're also understamating how much better many players have been with Bjorkgren (even though, there are defensive adjustments they have to make going forward, and he has to build a better bench unit, every Indiana fan will tell you that they are much more confident than with McMillan). I don't know if they are as good as the Sixers or the Nets, but Boston? Really? I'm sure you are wrong, I just hope that the Pacers get healthy enough to show you.
I think you’re undervaluing Sabonis as a player, and Malcom as leader of the team. Sabonis is a walking double double with a high possibility of a triple double every night on the floor. Also fingers crossed that TJ and Caris get back by the playoffs and then the team could make a solid run and we could see some upsets
As of today, March 25, the Pacers' record is less than ideal (20-23), but they're now top 5 in APG (26.8), top 5 in SPG (8.5), top 2 in BPG (6.0), top 10 in season total TOV, and LeVert has healed well and is playing good ball. Unfortunately, they're middling scorers and the absolute bottom of the league in rebounds. This is probably partly due to their current style of play, but they've got some things to figure out to put it all together.
sabonis is the best player on their team it aint led by brogdon. But sabonis does need improvment on the defense side. his offense is getting better with every year but he needs to be getting more blocks. i know stats arent everything but as a big man he needs to be averaging at least 1 a game.
As a pacers fan I can say that they will never win a ship. They refuse to tank to they’ll never draft anyone good and they’ll never sign any super stats
I think basketball fans in general are too worried about winning titles. It's just impossible for every team to compete at that level. Some teams have to be mediocre. Small market teams are usually perfect for that. The pacers and a few other teams have been average for the last several years for a while but they're still fun to watch. It's just not realistic for them to have championship aspirations without a super star and it's so hard to get one without being in the lottery. Small market teams should never be tanking. It would ruin the NBA product imo.
Yeah. Pacers were not hesitant on offering Oladipo an extension. They offered him a max they could offer it was just Oladipo didnt want to stay in Indiana. You would need much more money to convince Oladipo to stay in a small market team. So yeah Pacers had no other choice but trade Victor away and not get anything for him right now as Lavert is sidelined for who knows how long.
A team needs to hit lightening in a bottle sometimes -- a draft pick that becomes a star. Like Giannis, or Donovan Mitchell, or Jimmy Butler. Someone drafted later, but produces like a top pick. Then a team can be like Oklahoma, or Milwaukee, or even Toronto, and become a real contender, not just a spoiler. Pacers just haven't been that lucky. And, they are a good destination for free agents.
Pacers didn't have any leverage when dealing George, they did better than most expected with the deal.
Because no one thought Sabonis or Oladipo would be all-stars
@@blakethomas3001 I did
facts!!
@@blakethomas3001 Which is exactly what makes it a Steal
yea and the thunder got more out of it because pg was lurking like a superstar in 2019 so his draft stock was high.
This team has been hitting set back, after set back for years. The Pacers were legit contenders when the malice at the palace derailed their season. They rebuild and Roy Hibbert....IDK what the deal with Hibbert was but he wasn't the same and PG had his injury, then they move on from those guys and Oladipo gets injured. I feel bad for the organization because they are always trying to compete.
Yeah feels bad man
Why do Pacers stars keep getting injured over and over again though? Maybe they should be looking at their training staff and medical team before any further roster turnover.
@@shamsnoor7043
The Trailblazers of the East
@@shamsnoor7043
The Trailblazers of the East
Yeah, I still wonder how Hibbert lost his talent overnight
How come your not even mentioning warren in that video? He’s been injured most of the season so far and is a very important part of their offense, a 20ppg player that is so underrated
Underrated,underrated, and underrated After every win the best player is “underrated” if everyone call him underrated he isnt
We haven't had Warren and Lamb for most of the season. THAT's why the three point shooting is low. But they dont get mentioned....
@@markcrandley8061 lamb is back right?
@@dansheshe8039 Yes, but not for long enough to affect the team stats.
@@dansheshe8039 Yeah and he plays his best game now
Still hurts to see that oladipo injury. Every time pacers seems to be on the rise, injury occurs
Granger- George- Oladipo- Sabonis- Warren- Lavert
Jeremy lamb too
@@dansheshe8039 let’s be real , Jeremy lamb isn’t gonna change much on this team
@@dansheshe8039 Jeremy lamb???😂
@@akrifsemakula8915 lol I mean he was their 6th man last year😅
@@Scamp2x 😂
They are struck in that vortex of above average all seasons. Neither tank to get high draft picks or make trades for superstars. Always have a bunch of borderline all stars and lock that 5th-7th seed in the East and get swept in the first round.
Kinda remind me of the Pre Kawhi Raptors
Pretty much tbh. The fact that they took LeBron’s Cavs to 7 games means they’re a genuinely good team, but how great can they be
Then again the raps were great in the reg season. They just collapsed in the playoffs
Yah we agree with everything but those Raps team were more talented just choked because Derozan wasn’t a good playoff star.
Uhhhh... Pre-Kawhi Toronto Raptors made it to the ECF twice (I think) only to realize they became Lebronto Barney
They were a hell of a good team team just that Derozan was undoubtedly not a good playoff player
The Raps were much better than these Pacers.
When you hear the trumpets you know the video about to be fire
Yess sir
andy’s trumpets
Lets hope he doesn’t get copyrighted like Jimmy
Absolutely. 100% facts
Actually, when the trumpets sound at the beginning of the video and it's about your favorite team, it's time to nod grimly 'cause it's about to get S-A-D.
Never mentioned TJ Warren getting hurt
You made me realize that I should go to the Pacers on 2k. I can finally average 20 assists on easier wins.
Nah it won’t happen still2k is 2k
@@dr.dragonballz4865 damn. Back to statpadding on mediocre teams. 😂
@@9ra307 the only team that can get you dimes is sadly the lakers cause P&R with lbj and AD and even 4oK Trez
@@dr.dragonballz4865 Wayt wym 4ok Trez lmao
@@LoganJuicyJ trez Call himself,self 4K trez but I wanted to.Called him 4oK trez who is Montrezl Harrell
Low ceiling? We've been down 2 starters and our 6th man most of the year, and we still have a winning record. Brogdon, Turner, and Sabonis all improved, and we saw what Warren could do in the bubble. The team is young and constantly improving. And Levert could be amazing now that he'll have a bigger role after his already impressive season thus far. Id say the ceiling is pretty high bucko
Yeah he was kinda whylin fr lol. We arent that ass, I can't say anything because well 2 of our starters are out. We'll just have to see.
Let's face it, this team will never win a championship due to lack of superstars. In this day and age, you need at least one top 5 player to be a serous title contender. 2004 Pistons is arguably the only NBA champion in NBA history that didn't have that and that was because the East was hilariously weak (they wouldn't even be top 4 in the West) and the Lakers self-destructed (Shaq-Kobe feud, Malone hit on Kobe's wife, Kobe's court case, Phil Jackson's perceived favoritism toward Shaq, etc).
You are right mate
@@realniggashit3 That’s not a realistic idea for most teams. Teams have to do with what they have and constantly tanking won’t get you anywhere
This aged well LMAO
Good thing is they have Levert secured for the next three years.
I believe they can be a good team with him, Brogdon, Miles Turner and Sabonis.
Why would they trade Oladipo?
@@jamesbartee6184 He did say it in the video..
@@jamesbartee6184 Oladipo likely wasn't going to resign with the Pacers. Even if he did, the Pacers would have to sign him to a max contract. Even though Oladipo is playing pretty well, he isn't worth that kind if money.
LeVert was the best possible player the Pacers could get for Oladipo. LeVert is younger, on a fair contract and has the potential to become an All-Star caliber player. When he was on the Nets earlier this season, LeVert was averaging 18.5 PPG and 6 APG in under 28 min per game. With an expanded role and playing along with teammates who are really good, he certainly can be an All-Star, maybe even surpassing Oladipo.
@@chadcj1 oladipo wanted to leave.. he said his extension is a joke and they wanted to underpay him
@@jamesbartee6184 because he turned down the max so they either trade him for something or let him walk for nothing
Pacers are young. I think Sabonis could develop into a superstar eventually and they could win it all with levert and Warren developing even further. They look promising in my opinion.
I feel like Sabonis is slept on. He's already an amazing player. Give him a few more years and he'll be a dominant stretch big
I sure do hope
Sabonis is not much of a rim protector (0.4 career blocks per game), so he can only develop into a superstar if he continues to improve his 3 pointer. He shot only 25% from 3's last season and it wasn't part of his game at all 2 seasons ago. He's shooting 37% from deep so far this year, but he also shot 32% from 3's his rookie year and then regressed. In this day and age, big men need to be either elite rim protector or stretch 4 (Anthony Davis is both). The traditional 20-10 low-post big men have become obsolete. Jahlil Okafor can't get off the bench. Al Jefferson's career ended prematurely. Brooke Lopez, Mark Gasol, and late career Zach Randolph had to reinvent themselves.
Tatum and Brown are younger
@@jimmyjay689 didn’t ask
You can’t say the Pacers have no “superstars” when they have TJ Warren injured, Caris Levert injured, and Domatas Stabonis is a top 5 big man in the NBA nobody can argue this fact if they watch the sport
TJ Warren, Caris Levert and Sabonis are not superstars..... what have you been smoking?
The Pacers had a superstar in Oladipo but they traded him.
@@gregoryleggett9773 Oladipo isn't a superstar. He has never been a top 5 player or even top 10. You'll never win a championship with Oladipo as your franchise player. He can be a great 3rd star on a championship team, but he's nowhere close to LeBron/Kawhi/Steph-level even pre-injury and even being a 2nd star on a championship team might be pushing it. Even Jimmy Butler is better, but you won't win a championship with Butler as your top guy either.
@@deleqtronica8733 The superstar of bubble Warren lives within me. Also Caris LeVert has superstar breakout potential like Zach Lavine, and Sabonis is a superstar as a top 5 big man in the league right now
why is he talking about the pacers like they are the pistons lol
First round exit every year isn’t good
@@basketballaddict2885 yeah but at least entertaining
As a Pacers fan it feel like we are the Pistons at times with our luck.
Over the last five years they're in a very similar position. Not bad enough for a good pick but not good enough to compete. Besides this season where the pistons are obviously going to get a good pick
@@afk_ez It's basketball purgatory
Pacers after you make this video:
And I took that personally...
Change your PFP to sabonis🤨
😐
Gotta switch up that profile pic homie
@@JawaPenguin16 nah fam I’m to lazy lol
Hilarious 😐
Eh injuries and bad luck are a huge factor too. Probably the main reason they haven’t gone far yet
perhaps the raptors route? Become good enough to trade for a Kawhi and get a chip
Discontented Kawhis don't just fall out of the sky tho lol, i'm not sure that's really a strategy
Who knows, Brooklyn is looking pretty bad rn
A Kawhi type of player is pretty hard to get by
They drafted Kawhi and traded him
@@michaelcoombs7711 that's true but in this era stars Demanding Trades is almost the Norm
Bradley Beal is Probably the Next in Line and The Pacers have enough to trade for Him
@@jake-in_yt80 San Antonio instructed Indiana to pick Kawhi for them to make the draft day trade of 17th pick for George Hill work.
Man thank you for unusual topics you making. I'm watching you for a long time and as a Pacers fan for almost 10 years I really enjoyed watching this video. No one making that kind of video but you for sure. Thanks a lot from Russia!)
Sabonis father was star for old USSR, CCCP
An interesting vid. Didn’t mention TJ Warren who is one of their top scorers usually, kind of underrating Brogdan a bit who genuinely has a solid chance of being an all-star, and definitely underrating Sabonis who has one of the highest PERs in the league and an all-star lock. As of now Turner is a lock for DPOY too. I felt you gave a little too much credit to Oladipo who was really not great post injury.
This whole video was about Oladipo... Sabonis has been playing like an animal for the past two years
If Levert wasn't injured and with the way that Sabonis is playing they could be one of the top 4 teams in the east also I make videos as well
Top 4 in the East and guaranteed 2nd round exit at best. Still not a title contender
its been practically 3 decades of this. if they were a more popular/favored city they probably would of gotten a championship or 2 by now. all things considered its a well run organization
I still firmly believe Larry Bird would've gotten them a championship if his health hadn't forced him to retire. Bird only coached for 3 seasons from 1997 to 2000 and had a .687 winning percentage, made Eastern Conference Finals all 3 years, and NBA finals in 2000. Their biggest mistake was hiring Isiah Thomas after Bird's retirement rather than Bird's top assistant Rick Carlisle. They did eventually bring back Carlisle as head coach in 2003 (when Bird took over as GM and fired Thomas), but Malice in the Palace ended their run.
I think they’re kinda hostages of a system that favors Big Markets and players that by and large are prima donna punks who act like kids in terms of where they want to play at, Giannis is the most stark contrast to this but I’d say he’s a minority of players.
I think Caris Levert will be a great fit whenever he finally comes back. I feel like that was a great trade for them acquiring him.
Indy front office is one of the most underrated not just today, but generally during the history of the NBA and they always played like a team, not just around their superstar
fax
They need Larry Bird back as the head coach, but I doubt Bird is capable of handling the travel grind physically.
The narration is either a robot doing the best ever human voice, or a human doing a pretty good robot imitation. PS: This is a really good analysis. Much enjoyed.
They don’t have a superstar, you pretty much need a top 10 player to have any hope in the NBA.
The thing is in Pro Sports are teams willing to spend the money for a Super Star to win now are just build which sometimes frustration the teams and fan base.. The Question should be are The Pacers willing to spend the big money to win now?
Thanks for talking about my Pacers. I'm always happy to see them being talked about and one way or another. They are always one or two key pieces away from making a big playoff run. Indiana is excellent at finding undervalued players and turning them into all stars.it's true that Indiana isn't exactly the most exciting place to be, but mark my words one day they will get that piece that will push them over the edge.
Missing two key pieces in LeVert and Warren right now.
The Pacers are a hopeless, cursed franchise
They might be the most consistent team of all time. Always making the playoffs in the 2010s and sometimes making deep runs. Sadly everyone forgets how dominant they were in the 1990s and early 2000s
reggie miller
@@keldonjohnson1 jermaine O’Neil and Ron artest aswell
Them or the spurs
@@Applezz. ?
@@ak_buckets7962 they are very consistent teams
They're kinda similar to Dame's Blazers. Just as you said, "too good to be a lottery team but not enough to championship contenders," because they're a small market team and their stars had always suffered severe injuries. Great vid, Andy. Love watching it.
Teams in a small market are headed for certain failure if they try to play the free agent game. They will lose every time.
If you’re in a small market you need to win in the draft and build around foreign players like Giannis and Luka who don’t care about being in movies and commercials.
The free agent sweepstakes is for birds anyway. Who wants to turn their franchise over for 2 years to a child tyrant only to have to rebuild for 5 yrs after they leave. That’s no way to run an organization.
You’re stereotyping, Giannis and Luka both have commercial endorsements.
@@MrRyan-wu4jx Almost all NBA players have commercial endorsements. That’s not the point. The point is that foreign born players typically don’t seek to maximize those opportunities by moving to larger markets. Not that they don’t have them at all.
Name a foreign born player that has played professionally overseas and has demanded a trade or signed as a free agent to a larger market? I’ll wait...
Now, name a small market team that has signed a superstar free agent? Your best bet would be to try and convince me that Miami is a small market. Miami is the nations 16th largest market and LeBron is a special case for many reasons that I won’t go into.
In the context of how small market teams should go about building championship contenders, I stand by my statement. Foreign plays are much less likely to leave for larger markets than American players. For now we can pretend that endorsements and off-court opportunities have nothing to do with it. It’s probably the nightclubs. 😂
@@TheGbelcher And what’s your sample size of foreign born NBA superstars to back that up? Dirk, Duncan, Yao, Giannis, maybe Parker and Ginobili? All were on winning franchises and accommodated to. Luka? He’s likely leaving Dallas first chance he gets. Olajuwon demanded multiple trades when Houston was struggling. Mutombo, Divac, and Steve Nash signed as free agents who were frustrated with their former teams, Nash in the small market of Phoenix and Divac in Sacramento. Why did Durant and Westbrook sign extensions in OKC? Paul George in Indianapolis? Malone didn’t leave Utah till well after his prime, Stockton never did. Nash to Phoenix, McGrady to Orlando, Boozer to Utah, Jefferson or Hayward to Charlotte. How many players in NBA history do you know that even officially demanded a trade? I counted 11, and one of them was foreign born. There’s just not enough substantial evidence to definitively make that claim and plenty of history that goes against your narrative.
@@MrRyan-wu4jx You’re right it is a stereotype, but I think the stereotype is justified. Porzingis demanded at trade out of NY but I think you’ll agree that NY is an outlier.
Generally speaking, there has been an acceleration in players demanding trades in “pre-agency” and generally speaking, foreign players have not participated in this trend.
@@TheGbelcher The Knicks have terrible management problems.. Who in the hell wanna play in that crap? And you right about the small market teams.. my theory is that some players look at it and see that them spinning their wheels in a small market without them getting the right amount of exposure will hurt their value cause of the fact they are not in a big market..
1:07 Andy: But they don’t have that *gets hit in the stomach*
Alot of injuries through the years... Tough to be a Pacers fan
I'm a pacers and Falcons fan 😭
This is a really good video. Though I don't agree with using per game stats to say their defense is bad when you also say they play at a slower pace. Im glad that you actually did a video about the pacers since they are not covered much.
Nevermind about the pace thing I just realized they are not playing slowly this year
Pacers aren’t bad on defense. Myles missed two games against amazing offensive teams, and the per game numbers are screwy this early in the season.
The background music in his videos is so relaxing
Mad respect for Andy who is creating good videos like this.
Now waiting video about Memphis Grizzlies.
Its pretty impressive that the Pacers have made the playoffs 25 times since 1990 considering they've rebuilt/retooled 3 or 4 times in that span.
The Malice at the Palace blew up a genuine contender as well. Took awhile to recover from it but they’ve bounced back.
This why we love you Andy. You talk about all teams. Thanks for talking about my pacers
Pacers have what I call the "Mid-level Curse"
Too weak to be a legitimate contender but too strong to land a good draft pick
It kinda sucks for them considering how the last year in which they were contenders ended because a fan threw a beer at Ron Artest's face
@@janseanhernane3191 and Ron artest beat up a Different Fan
@@muhammadrajput3502
I feel you bro, at least you guys have been consistent
As a Suns fan, we haven't been good until Booker came along but he still needs some help
Glad CP3 is with us rn though
Paul George was a second round pick. They develop players but...
Actually he was a top 10 pick. Thought he was a second rounder. Mm
8:32 this is a reminder why the NBA media needs to credit coaches, stop only focusing on the players.
True, they are always an underdog team in the regular season, but can't get out of the first round, they also had some injuries. They lost to Lebron in 7 games, dipo was out against the Celtics, and their all-star Sabonis was out against the Heat. They are to good to fade for cade, but not good enough to make it far, its a weird future for the Pacers
Oladpoi
@@Skybound. lol, I was rushing, I changed it
I honestly think in the next 3-4 years Sabonis will be a top 15-20 player in the league he gets better every year
Oladipo got traded twice for an unhappy star.
No, he WAS the unhappy star the second time around.
Or am I missing a trade he was in before he came to the Pacers for PG?
Oladipo probably wanted to leave anyway. He was offered 25 million season but he declined
@@dansheshe8039 Which has been part of the ongoing issue with the Pacers in the NBA.
Not enough money to be able to pay their big names when they have them (noted exception for Reggie).
@@bricefleckenstein9666 yea that's what happens to small market teams
Im a jazz fan but i have a lot of respect for small market teams like the pacers, I remember watching them with danny granger back in the day and they went head to head with lebron 2 years in a row in ecf that was one of my Favorite teams to watch
Pacers aren’t a small market. Their a mid market
I think you forgot tj warren.
It's all fun and games until Malcom Brogdon and Sabonis start putting 30 a game out of nowhere and they sweep every team in the playoffs.
Lol
Honestly i think Turner or Sabonis+ a couple picks is Good enough to trade for a Superstar if they have the Chance
Also the Pacers for me are more like the Lamarcus Aldridge Blazers than the Memphis Grizzlies(when it comes to dynamic at Least not Playstyle)
As a Thunder fan I totally can relate to this
They’re my favorite team it bugs me that they get out in the 1st round ever time 😭😭
Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis should still be in Orlando!!!!! Them two with Nikola Vucevic and fultz/Anthony would have been some fun basketball to watch....... but no this is Orlando and we like to watch shit basketball
But we have a dragon that looks like he did cocaine in Disney’s store room, so it’s all ok
I could see Caris Lavert breaking out like Oladipo did for sure.
The Pacers to me are a good team, not a great team though. You compared them to the early 2010s Grizz but I think Memphis, even though they were not a star driven team either, was a lot better overall. Deeper and more dangerous to actual contenders. I just don't see the Pacers knocking off any team that's actually in the mix for a title. Memphis iirc made it to the WCF once and had a few deep playoff runs. The Pacers (and I really like that franchise) are good but really not a team any true contender should be afraid of, imo.
I agree in
The Pacers with pre Injury Paul George were like the Grizzlies but after 2015 they're definitely not
The Grizzlies would Casually give Contenders trouble and occasionally beat them
The Pacers have Only really Challenged 1 Contender so far
Saying Sabonis (all star), Brogdon (borderline all star), Turner (Candidate for DPOY), Warren (Dropped over 50 in the bubble and avg 20 ppg), Levert, Lamb, McDermott, J Holiday is an average roster is disrespectful and ignorant. This is currently a top 4 team in the East without 2 of their 5 starters. You cannot tell me that a healthy team cannot compete with the other top teams in the East.
76ers, Bucks, Celtics and Nets are supposedly better than the Pacers. Heat with Butler back should be better as well
@@underpressure07140 Yeah and I think you can debate all of those teams but Pacers are already ahead of 2 of those teams without 2 of their best players.... Again saying they are not relevant I think is understating their potential when they get Levert and Warren back. They are already competitive in the east without those two.
@@ryanbarnett3002 The Pacers are definitely not a bad team, just that they always seem to be lacking an additional piece to convincingly crown them as a title contender. Might be also because they don't have anyone whom you can call a legit superstar
Adding LeVert was a good move. They just need to get healthy and let their young players grow and gel together. 2-3 years down the line they will be a serious threat if they stay on track.
Maybe Brogdon has taken a leap and actually gotten better? Andy is hating on him man
He'll fit well with LeVert too. Brogdon can take more catch n shoot threes and have less ball handling responsibilities.
Agreed. He’s a great team player too
Ok, let’s remember a couple things.
1. The schedule horse fucked our players health. As did poor game time management (eat shit Bjorkgren).
2. We’re coming back with a healthier Myles, and Damontas. Levert never had a chance to develop.
3. Hopefully the locker room issues have been addressed. If we can get our team to gel, we could be very dangerous. We just need to learn how to play fucking defense.
You put Oladipo on to big of a pedestal and you kindve disrespected Brogdon, most people don’t watch them enough or pay attention to them.
oladipo was doing amazing tho, and he’s playing great now
@@TheStrongestManEver He has been far, far from amazing since his return. Uninterested, mostly unthreatening and uninspiring. He was scoring decently, but on poor efficiency and with a ton of turnovers. The only good things he's done since he came back was the winning shot against the Bulls on his return (where he was 0-7 from 3 before he hit it, so a. shouldn't have taken the shot, and b. wouldn't have needed to if he'd hit something or passed the ball prior), and the 3 vs the Pels when we came back from the dead to win in OT; and it was Turner and Brogdan who got us over the line. He's playing better in Houston, but that's because they don't have 5 guys who can all do something. They have catch and shoot Christian Wood, and drive all day John Wall. On the Pacers, he had to share the ball out with Myles, Domas, TJ and Brogdan. We're a team-first offence; that's why having 7-9 players averaging 10 ppg on good efficiency is the norm; because everyone can do it.
I totally disagree you forgot to mention the Pacers are three games away from being 1st in the East and we are doing this without Tj Warren (a three point shooter) and Caris Levert ( A shooter and perimeter defender) soooo... We will see how they do against the Bucks tonight on ESPN
I really love watching pacers games because of well balanced their offense is and their defense is good aswell
Fly the W I totally agree
ive been expecting turner to break out for 3 seasons now but it seems like this is as good as he gets. i honestly thought he could have an anthony davis type game
I dont think thats ever gonna happen.
Brodgon is the perfect Robin/2nd optipn. He'd play well with the likes of LeBron and Magic.
I feel like once we have all of our players healthy (levert, Warren) and gel together we will be really good and get better and hopefully that could be appealing to free agents that would make em want to come here.
Also I wish stars would come to small market teams. You will have less pressure on you because there aren’t many fans and it’s a smaller city. Then secondly, the fans will ADORE them and honestly show you support. But sadly you gotta draft a star for your team to be appealing to another star.
brogdon is a great complementary guy to a superstar. like when he was with the bucks. and yes i still miss him.
Once TJ comes back, they’ll be lit!!!
No worries, I’m currently in the finals with them against I’m not sure how but it’s Clippers. We about to sweep them tho
Why the clippers tho
I think levert is their only hope to go back to title contenders right now
With a healthy team, the Pacers would have four players with the capability of scoring 20 points per game (LeVert, Sabonis, Brogdon and Warren). Not to mention Myles Turner who has been swatting almost 4 shots per game.
The bench unit becomes really solid as well:
PG: TJ McConnell (or Aaron Holiday)
SG: Jeremy Lamb
SF: Justin Holiday
PF: Doug McDermott
C: Goga Bitadze
The Pacers
If levert is our only hope then we’re fucked
Facts if he breaks out into a star, then they could actually do something in the post season. The current roster rn has no true star
@@chadcj1 if Caris can average 21-26 ppg for them they would be one of the top teams in the east
@@Applezz. Yeah, I agree.
I personally believe the issue is injuries and not a deep enough bench to bring more firepower. Also, they need key players to step up (Myles Turner 🙄) and provide more than they’re currently giving.
Love your Channel Andy
Being a Hoosier and Pacers fan since birth, this has always been what the Pacers look like. The Franchise has never been able to get big time F/A's. Outside of drafting Danny Granger (highly underrated until his injuries) and Paul George they just haven't been good enough in the draft to get the talent level to the next step. They had 1 or 2 years with PG where they could have convinced a big F/A but didn't pull the trigger and it killed the chances of any rings. The only way they can take that step up is draft a star. Which, as you said, is hard when you only ever have late 1st round/2nd round picks. Outside of that you can only hope someone steps up out of no where like Sabonis and Dipo did when they got to the team. Maybe Levert has been waiting for a chance to show his stuff. The last thing that has always haunted the Pacers is injuries... Granger, PG, and Dipo have been the last 3 "franchise" players and they all ended up going down with injuries at the worst time possible...
In the first game of the 2020 playoffs victor was poked in the eye so he only played 5 mins but the 3 games after that he averaged 23.5pts/3.7asst/4rebs/ and 2.7 steals . I’d have to say he did pretty good
I still think this pacers team is still legit when healthy, they're already playing very well without 2 hypothetical starters (levert and warren) and under a new coaching system. Sabonis and Turner are still under 25 and no one in their lineup is hitting 30 until 2 seasons from now. Their problem currently is their depth once players get injured is really bad, also lacking a backup big man which kinda forces turner and sabonis to cycle in and out at center. I'm not sure if they'll ever be a championship favorite but they can definitely reach the ECF with this core.
Need Goga Bitazde to take some pressure off Turner and Sabonis. He’s shown flashes of high potential but is still raw.
The pacers front office already said they just wanna be competitive. They told it to Paul George
💯 They don't want to spend a lot of money to win a championship.
Been a pacers fan since 2014... it’s been rough. Just when things look up, another injury or trade happens 🤦♂️
I think everyone is fine with what the Pacers got from PG. They haven't been healthy the past 2 years and this year!
Grew up pacers fan and have gone to many games since the rifleman chuck person days. Love them, but in NBA, were not seen as a"sexy" destination for players who want to win titles and get endorsement deals. Levert is my hope to turn this perception around, he can be a superstar soon with that sexy "it" factor to take over and put teams away, if happens, what a supporting cast, we're close, got to get healthy.
The problem with the Pacers is "MID MARKET TEAM" in a state with higher expectations out of them.
They WERE the class of the league in their ABA days (3 championships, 4 Finals, nobody else made the Finals more than 3 times or won more than twice) - but they were competing against OTHER mid-market level teams in that league.
They haven't had owners that were willing to step up with the BIG bucks to attract major free agents, and their drafted home-grown great talent (hi Reggie!) never had enough high level help on a consistent basis - but their management generally hasn't willing to even put out enough to KEEP most of that home-grown talent or greats picked through the draft (Hi Kahwi! Hi PG!).
They've also had issues with not being able to hang on to their better coaches during their NBA days (Hi Larry Brown! Hi Rich Carlisle! Hi Larry Bird - though to be fair, Bird stated in advance he was only going to coach 3 years).
Oladipo is okay but not a star, they should be thankful he didn’t take that contract. Hopefully Caris becomes something good for them. They have a young good team. One superstar away.
Caris a fuckin god
The Pacers situation sounds a lot similar to the Raptors. Both teams are good teams who will most likely make the playoffs but they won't get very far, most likely 1st round exits.
I attribute a lot of the 1st round playoff issues to McMillan's super ancient offense and lack of adjustments. That matters more in the playoffs when the pace slows down and you play the same team every night. Bjorkgren has changed a lot - they're 11th in pace and are up to 20th in 3s attempted per game (30th last year). The positive changes are seen prominently with McDermott who is moving so much more off the ball and Turner being utilized better.
LeVert will be a really really good fit with Brogdon. Brogdon will get more catch n shoot threes which is ideal. Missing TJ Warren has been a big blow because he is a walking bucket at times. Will be interested to see how they look when LeVert and Warren are healthy.
I love these kinds of videos!
The stats back up the change, Nate M. was all about defense and New Nate is more about offense and that is showing in the early parts of the season. You didn't really touch on Sabonis and how much of a stud he is right now and his stepping back to take more 3pt shots. Maybe not Malcom on his own can lead the team, but Sabonis is a bonafide star and you have Turner leading the league in blocks to anchor the defense. I see this team as a 4-5 seed and making some noise in the playoffs. Especially when Warren comes back and adds that other offensive punch.
The sound is off when listening on your mobile, apart from that keep up good work
Two all star caliber players for a guy that leaked his trade request to the press so: “I don’t want to end up playing with no names.”
Pretty damn good deal in that regard.
I think the coaching change is going to be a huge upgrade, Rick Carlisle is a more inspiring coach.
Hot take: Pacers have the best development ever.... PG, Oladipo, Sabonis, Warner, Turner
As a pacer fan, I’d say to trade Aaron holiday for some big depth because if Sabonis or turner get in foul trouble, it’s over we get bullied and against other contenders we have no chance. A guy like richaun Holmes would be a good fit. Once levert comes back, him and brogdon will man the guards, McConnell is one of those guys that plays hard all the time, lamb will be good instant offense alongside McDermott on the bench once warren comes back (if) and Justin holiday is a solid piece. That’s the problem though, there’s too many mouths to feed. I’d trade a couple guys (potentially something like levert/warren lamb and some other guys for a big name guy like Beal. It would help out with winning in the long term. With brogdon and turner being good on defense (turner should be DPOY) and McConnell being McConnell, I think we could go for a guy to pair with Sabonis as a huge threat. I love brogdon, but I don’t believe that his 22-23 a game will last. I was at the Memphis game, and brooks faceguarded him and he had trouble. Taking the main perimeter guy off his shoulders and giving it to a guy like Beal would improve his game tremendously and would force the defense to help on him more, helping the rest of the team out, especially Sabonis, who can expect to see multiple double teams a game
So, having Brogdon scoring 20+ points a game with 46-40-90 efficiency and 7 assists per game, plus Sabonis averaging 20ppg-12rpg-5apg, plus Turner pushing seriously for DPOY (having better defensive advance metrics than Gobert, Embiid and Anthony Davis), recovering Jeremy Lamb (who is playing better every game, and averaging 14 pts while shooting 50-40-90 and having a 19.64 PER) until Caris LeVert gets back, and still having to get back T.J. Warren who is a great scoring option (was setting the league on fire during the bubble), you still think they are an 'average' team? My goodness. You're also understamating how much better many players have been with Bjorkgren (even though, there are defensive adjustments they have to make going forward, and he has to build a better bench unit, every Indiana fan will tell you that they are much more confident than with McMillan). I don't know if they are as good as the Sixers or the Nets, but Boston? Really? I'm sure you are wrong, I just hope that the Pacers get healthy enough to show you.
Watch when Levert plays and averages 25
we'll see if hes able to take that roll, not every player fits that roll, siakam showed that.
@@vickhj6333 I think he fits in with the system perfectly
@@Leansthetics yea, hope he succeeds!
On about 40% shooting
@@o.m.c756 45
Hey i live in Indianapolis... And you are right
How is going from 19th to 10th is a "slightly" improvement? Lmao.
“They’re just an average team with average players” that hurt
I think you’re undervaluing Sabonis as a player, and Malcom as leader of the team. Sabonis is a walking double double with a high possibility of a triple double every night on the floor. Also fingers crossed that TJ and Caris get back by the playoffs and then the team could make a solid run and we could see some upsets
As of today, March 25, the Pacers' record is less than ideal (20-23), but they're now top 5 in APG (26.8), top 5 in SPG (8.5), top 2 in BPG (6.0), top 10 in season total TOV, and LeVert has healed well and is playing good ball. Unfortunately, they're middling scorers and the absolute bottom of the league in rebounds. This is probably partly due to their current style of play, but they've got some things to figure out to put it all together.
Remember how dominant the pacers were in the 1990s and early 2000s
And Black Jesus and Metra World War screw them. 🤣
sabonis is the best player on their team it aint led by brogdon. But sabonis does need improvment on the defense side. his offense is getting better with every year but he needs to be getting more blocks. i know stats arent everything but as a big man he needs to be averaging at least 1 a game.
Look at that Bojan's face at 4:16. 😂😂😂
They have a solid team. Oladipo, Sabonis, and Turner are the 3 main guys. It just seems they’re stuck in the mud and can’t get out.
The background music sounds like my cellphone vibrating.
As a pacers fan I can say that they will never win a ship. They refuse to tank to they’ll never draft anyone good and they’ll never sign any super stats
I think basketball fans in general are too worried about winning titles. It's just impossible for every team to compete at that level. Some teams have to be mediocre. Small market teams are usually perfect for that. The pacers and a few other teams have been average for the last several years for a while but they're still fun to watch. It's just not realistic for them to have championship aspirations without a super star and it's so hard to get one without being in the lottery. Small market teams should never be tanking. It would ruin the NBA product imo.
It's either someone was injured or they're up against LeBron.
Ya the pacers are missing nearly 40 points of production this season with Warren being out and oladipo not being replaced yet
Yeah. Pacers were not hesitant on offering Oladipo an extension. They offered him a max they could offer it was just Oladipo didnt want to stay in Indiana. You would need much more money to convince Oladipo to stay in a small market team. So yeah Pacers had no other choice but trade Victor away and not get anything for him right now as Lavert is sidelined for who knows how long.
A team needs to hit lightening in a bottle sometimes -- a draft pick that becomes a star.
Like Giannis, or Donovan Mitchell, or Jimmy Butler. Someone drafted later, but produces like a top pick.
Then a team can be like Oklahoma, or Milwaukee, or even Toronto, and become a real contender, not just a spoiler.
Pacers just haven't been that lucky. And, they are a good destination for free agents.