Basketball, She Wrote
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Pacers learn the (Nemb)hard way, trail 0-3 in series
🕑 Added 2024-05-26 20:51:17 +0000 UTCBy: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper
After leading by as many as 18 points, it was deja vu all over again for the Pacers, as the loud minority of mistakes that were made at the end of what became a narrow, 114-111 loss are now overshadowing the silenced majority of how they positioned themselves to potentially win - despite being without Tyrese Haliburton. In that regard, the depth at the point guard position certainly shined bright for the Pacers, providing optimism for the long-term future of the team, regardless of the likely shortened long-term future of this series.
As such, in looking forward as well as backward, Samson Folk is here to discuss the standout play of Andrew Nembhard, especially in combination with and without both Pascal Siakam and T.J. McConnell, as well as the latest late-game miscues and whether the positives outweigh the negatives. Enjoy!
Here are the relevant timestamps:
0:00 - Introductions
1:52 - Call-back to last summer when Samson's friend predicted the future
6:00 - Andrew Nembhard's strides as a starting point guard
16:35 - Problem-solving with Nembhard-Siakam two-man game
18:52 - McConnell as the only player who can navigate McConnell's off-ball spacing
25:25 - Having your cake and eating it too while defending Al Horford in the pick-and-pop
32:04 - Overhelping versus under-helping
34:48 - Should the Pacers have called a timeout or played out of flow?
45:26 - Contrast between Myles Turner's start and finish to the game
50:57 - The value of movement shooters who can defend at the POA + two-guards who can run offense and play through physicality
55:53 - Actually making use of shot-fakes, rather than just using shot-fakes
56:59 - Scouting report on Samson's post-up game
1:00:24- Being a lefty who plays right handed and a righty who plays left handed
1:04:51 - Wrapping up with friendly banter
1:07:48 - Thank you and Goodbye
Comments
Thomas
Love the call back to the popsicles and your cryptic hot take. I remember immediately jumping to the comments to speculate it was Samson's take about Andrew being the best prospect on the Pacers (or maybe I just had him as best perimeter one because I was a Jarace true believer). Was great to hear both the absolutely deserved praise for Drew and others while capturing where the team just isn't there yet.
Caitlin Cooper
Here, here!
Tyler Bishop
Not that it matters, but I am team flow. Allowing a great defensive team to set the defense off of a timeout with the players knowing what late game actions the Pacers prefer sounds like a recipe for disaster. Fans are obviously going to think the decision was bad because it didn't work but many of those folks would rather blame the coaching staff than the guys on the court. Jrue made a great play. It sucks as Pacers fan. That doesn't mean Rick made the wrong decision.
