Indiana Pacers
Goal: Contend In The East
"[Via Yahoo] “I think with the moves that they made, it’s on me now, to get us back to being contenders,” he (Paul George) told Michael Lee of The Vertical. “I think, with what I’m going to bring, the talent I have around me now, I’ve got a chance to challenge Cleveland.”"
That was the expectation for the team in the summer. But now, as they sit 7-8 in the Eastern Conference standings, the team isn’t looking like the contenders people expected them to be. Part of that is due to the fact that they have essentially a new roster.
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With the additions of Jeff Teague, Thaddeus Young and Al Jefferson the team is still getting accustomed to playing with each other. So that has had a lot to do with the teams’ inconsistencies as a unit. But some of it also has to do with the teams lack of depth.
The Indiana Pacers have one of the worst second units in the NBA. Their plus/minus differential of -14.8 is the third worst in the league (before their game against the Warriors); only Minnesota and Washington have a worse bench. That’s not going to get this team into title contention, because all the elite teams in the NBA have strong second units. So that means Indiana’s reserves have got to step it up.
C.J. Miles is the leading scorer for that group averaging 13.0 points per game, while Al Jefferson is a close second averaging 6.6 points per game. C.J. Miles has been a nice option off the pine, but with injuries he’s been forced to start some games. That’s left Al Jefferson and Aaron Brooks (shooting just 39.3 percent from the field) as the leaders of the second unit. And so far that hasn’t worked out well for the team.
They’re going to need to find either other scoring options off the bench, or hope Aaron Brooks and Al Jefferson break out of their slumps, because this team has got enough firepower in their starting unit to beat some of the elite teams in the East. But it’s going to be hard keeping their starters fresh, when the reserves keep blowing leads.
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Indiana has got to figure out a way to get their bench players going. Aaron Brooks went 4-6 from the field a couple nights ago, so maybe that can help get him out off that slump. If he can’t, the Indiana Pacers are going to be in some real trouble come April.