Pacers playing faster, better in half court is more important than big or small lineups

INDIANAPOLIS – The immediate impact of the NBA Draft continues to be overrated outside of a few game-changers at the top. Pacers president Kevin Pritchard is right on that front.

What may have caught many by surprise was his take on his team going into free agency that starts June 30.

“Everybody thinks it's all about going small,” Pritchard said after introducing No. 18 pick Goga Bitadze, a 19-year-old 6-11 center from the EuroLeague, recently. “I'm not so sure that's the way.”

Based on their future personnel, it might not be. 

The Pacers won 48 games and were bounced from the postseason in the first round for the second year in a row.

This year, however, was different than the seven-game loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James in 2018. The Pacers were swept in four games by the Boston Celtics, who were their polar opposite because of their interchangeable pieces.

Boston could put its 1 (Kyrie Irving) at the 2, use its 3/4 (Marcus Morris) to defend the 5 and have its 4/5 (Al Horford) defend in space vs. 2s and 3s.

The Celtics had a changeup to offset every adjustment made by Pacers coach Nate McMillan, and he made quite a few during and between games.

Unfortunately for the Pacers, Thad Young is a 4 and only a 4. Bojan Bogdanovic can play some at the 2 but he’s really a 3 who can be a major rebounding liability when used at the 4. Darren Collison is a 1 and only a 1. Cory Joseph didn't shoot well enough to be a pure 2 so he’s more of a 1. Domantas Sabonis is a 5 who posts-up with no-off hand which limits him vs. good teams in a series. Doug McDermott is a 3 and only a 3 and is limited to catch-and-shoot which means if he's not set up or screened for properly he can be invisible.

No, the Pacers weren't just as talented as Boston, Toronto, Milwaukee or Philadelphia. They made up for that deficit with effort and having the league's top scoring defense. 

With Bitadze, the Pacers still have major voids around their bigs. They're going to have to acquire players who are effective as perimeter players and able to get the bigs the ball.

What’s going to be more important than big or small lineups for the Pacers is pace. They were 25th in the league at 98.69 possessions per game. For context, the NBA champion Toronto Raptors were 15th at 100.88.

Not a major difference.

The quicker the Pacers play, the more possessions, the better likelihood for open shots, and more chances for layups and 3s.

If a team isn't elite with their pace, they'll have to execute in the half court, which was a major weakness for the Pacers. With slower play, poor execution compounds the problem.

The Pacers routinely played late in the shot clock because of delayed recognition of mismatches. It resulted in rushed and contested shots. 

Whether Bitadze becomes a big part of the rotation is secondary to this reality. 

"I go into every season with an idea of how we'll want to play but the players will determine that,” McMillan said. “We will create our identity. Of course you want to play faster. You want to shoot more 3s. You want to rebound the ball better. There's a lot of things you want to do. They will shape who they are by what they can do.”

That goes back to free agency where the Pacers have struggled. This year isn't expected to be a significant improvement as IndyStar has reported for months that they're not considered major players with free agents. 

Where Pritchard can change his team's trajectory is via trade. The Pacers have $30 million in salary cap space and acquired four second-round picks last week in dealing two of their three picks in this year's draft. They have the assets to put together packages that could bring a player this summer or before the deadline in February.

Everything is further complicated, of course, with Victor Oladipo's knee injury, that's expected to keep him off the court until December or January. 

"Pace is something we want to improve but I have to make sure Nate has to players to do that. Can we get players who fit into a faster style?" Pritchard said. "If you watch Goga, he can play in a faster style. He gets the ball at both ends. That's really the key."

When the Pacers couldn't get pace in the playoffs, McMillan leaned on Aaron Holiday. The point guard will be in his second year and could be in second-unit lineups with Bitadze.

"Our bigs won't slow Aaron down. Look at that frame," McMillan said while motioning toward Bitadze. "I think he can get up and down the floor, run, outlet and get the ball to a guard and try to play early. If you don't he has the skill to play late, coming down in a trail position, swinging to him."

It's doable. McMillan sees how the Denver Nuggets managed with three post players who were in the rotation -- Nikola Jokic, Mason Plumlee and Paul Millsap -- to get the second-best record in the West. 

Of course, Millsap has been an All-Star and Jokic currently is at that level. 

"We'll figure out how we can play," he said. "It may not be running up and down the floor, running and gunning, jacking up a lot of 3s. It may be you're posting up a little bit more but we'll try to play fast."

Too many other decisions remain before drawing conclusions, and the Pacers will have to get them right so a clearer picture forms around their three bigs in the middle.