Tyrese Haliburton gets extremely honest and vulnerable about the Indiana Pacers' early-season struggles.
After last year's (somewhat surprising) run to the Eastern Conference Finals, the argument could be made that hope was at an all-time high for the Indiana Pacers. However, you wouldn't be able to tell by how they've looked so far this season. A little more than a quarter into the season, the Pacers are 9-14 and are playing an extremely inconsistent brand of basketball at the moment. On top of the overall team struggles, there may not be one player on the team struggling more than Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton is off to one of the worst starts of his career. Even though he's begun to play better of late, he's still shooting just 41 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. He's still averaging 18 points per game but hasn't been as quite as effective as a playmaker as he's been in recent years for the team. He's still one of the most talented players in the league but is clearly struggling. After one of the team's most recent losses, Haliburton didn't hold back on the Pacers' struggles.
"I think the product we're putting on the floor right now as a group is embarrassing...We gotta put a better product on the floor.Tyrese Haliburton
I think there needs to be a reality check right now. Individually and collectively. Guys need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do better. "
Haliburton is right. Everyone on the Pacers needs to be better. It's hard to argue with the results of the team's overall product so far this season. However, despite their uninspiring record at the moment, I'm not sure if the Pacers are as far off from righting the ship as it seems.
The best and worst of the Indiana Pacers
The Pacers may be clinging to the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference standings but they do have some impressive wins despite their struggles. Indiana has logged some strong wins over the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, and the Dallas Mavericks. While the Pacers may also have some poor losses this year, they continue to show how good they can be when the team is playing at a high level.
Indiana may not be at the level they want to be consistently but the talent and high-end potential are still very much apparent. The big question for the Pacers is whether they'll be able to solve the team's inconsistency issues by the end of the season. If they can, they could position themselves to make another deep playoff run in the East. If not, they could be the victim of a lost season.
Not all is lost for the Pacers so far this season. Even though they may not be playing at the level that they'd like, this is still a team that has the capability to make a run up the East standings and emerge as a dangerous postseason team during the second half of the year. Sleep on the Pacers all you want but that could end up being a huge mistake.