Pacers Identity
Lost in the commotion about the Pacers' November funk and the global search for its reasons has been a point rather simple and close to home: they're still very much in the process of trying to become a team.
Though the faces in the locker room are familiar, their places on the court, in the rotations and within the team structure have changed substantially. The questions about this team that applied in October to a large extent still apply. The preseason was largely a wash because of a succession of injuries that gave the exhibition games a summer-league look and thinned the practices.
With their preparation time diminished both in amount and quality, the Pacers have essentially been learning about themselves, and each other, on the fly. When Jamaal Tinsley, Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal took the floor for the opener, it marked the first time in more than a year they played together as a unit in a regular-season game.
Croshere
"I think it's a combination of this team needing to kind of find an identity without Reggie," said Austin Croshere. "Jermaine is the leader of this team and he's doing a great job with the team but we still kind of need to find ourselves and handle adversity and get through things. We've had some issues early on in the season but guys have been mature and we've handled things. That's part of creating an identity.
"The attitude the last game-and-a-half has been completely different. In practices and shootarounds guys are talking and asking questions. When you hear everybody tell you you're supposed to be in the Finals or win a championship, you've got to remind yourself that you've got to go out there and make it happen. Because San Antonio won the championship doesn't mean they're going to be in the Finals the next year. They have to go through that whole process again. For us, we have more to prove."
Perhaps caught up in the hype of their high expectations, possibly believing the headlines, the Pacers hit a major flat spot with consecutive losses in Milwaukee and Charlotte. The former was staggering in its swiftness; after controlling most of the game, the Pacers blew an eight-point lead in the final minute. The latter was mind-numbing in its thoroughness; the Pacers were blown out by 32 points by a Bobcats team missing three key players including leading scorer Gerald Wallace.
Since then, the team has gone back to basics. The first step toward recovery has been to re-establish the commitment to defense. The second was to regain lost offensive efficiency. The last two games, while offering little in the way of dominance, have given evidence the players now understand their priorities.
The Pacers pulled played strong second halves in beating both Charlotte and Houston at home. The victories came despite an offense that averaged just 89.0 points and 41.7 percent shooting.
Carlisle
"The last two games, we've gotten better," said Coach Rick Carlisle. "The important thing is to keep improving. When you have a situation like the game in Charlotte when you really take a step back, it's disappointing. But you reflect and what it comes down to for us is when we defend at a high level, we put ourselves in a strong position to win. … Those two areas (defense and turnovers) really tell the story for us."
The adage that defense and rebounding win championships is amended slightly. When it comes to the Pacers, defense and turnovers are the indicators. In their six victories, they've averaged 86.5 points allowed and 15.0 turnovers committed. In their three losses, they've allowed 111.7 points and 21.3 turnovers.
The need to hone those particular sharp edges is pressing. After their final two home games this week, Thursday against Cleveland and Friday against Atlanta, the Pacers play 10 of 15 and 14 of 21 on the road.
O'Neal
"It ain't going to happen all at once," said O'Neal after the Pacers dealt with Houston, 85-74, Sunday in Conseco Fieldhouse. "Everybody has to get better. Everybody that does what they do at their occupation doesn't get to be the best without putting in the work and putting in the time. That's really where our team is. We're not the best overall team right now, collectively, but we feel like we're getting better."
Since the beginning of camp, Carlisle has stressed that the evolution of this team was going to be a potentially lengthy process, not a snap of the fingers. It now appears his players fully understand that and are willing to focus on taking the small steps necessary to get their long journey headed in the right direction.
"Defensively, it's been a matter of effort and energy," said Croshere. "When we play with high effort and high energy, we do things better, defensively. We've got a lot of talented guys defensively, we've got good schemes, we know what we're supposed to do. But when you're a step slow out there it's hard to play good team defense and other teams will exploit that.
"There are things we're going to have to continue to improve on but, for the most part, the last six quarters have been a step in the right direction."
By Conrad Brunner Nov. 21, 2005 Source NBA.com
posted by Pacers News @ 12:01 PM
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