| What’s Going Wrong? Authored by Andrew Perna - November 18, 2006 - 1:34 pm
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Last Saturday night they crumbled against the division-rival Bulls in the fourth quarter, and Wednesday night they were drubbed by a Boston team that had only won one game all season.
The team’s struggles might be expected. Indiana is working with a new offense, and a cast of characters that need time in order to gel. However, when you consider their biggest problem as of late, rebounding, the team has no excuse for getting beaten on the boards nearly every night.
Indiana’s roster is full of talented rebounders including Jermaine O’Neal, Al Harrington, Jeff Foster, and even second-year swingman Danny Granger. So it’s hard to believe that a team with such athleticism would struggle on the boards on a nightly basis, and especially against a horrible Celtics’ squad.
At first I thought the problem could be solved by starting Foster, shifting O’Neal and Harrington over and bringing Granger off the bench. Then I realized it’s not who starts, but who gets minutes, and Foster is still getting his fair share of playing time. Foster is one of, if not the, best pure rebounder in the NBA. His rebounds per forty-eight minutes are always among the league leaders, and often times are good enough for first place.
The reason Foster can’t remain on the floor for an extended period of time is his limited offensive ability. Also, with the re-acquisition of Harrington there is less time to be divided among Indiana’s post players.
With Foster still grabbing boards at a respectable pace, what can be done in order to fix the Pacers’ rebounding problems?
The solution came to me while I was sitting in the stands at the TD Banknorth Garden watching Indiana allow Boston multiple shot attempts on nearly every offensive possession. With the new up-tempo offense in place it seems as though a majority of the team is too worried about getting back on offense, rather than crashing the defensive boards.
While guys like O’Neal and Foster are battling the entire opposing team for rebounds, the Pacers guards and swingmen are racing down the floor in the event that the ball could be passed down for a quick and easy score. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times I saw O’Neal battling Ryan Gomes, Kendrick Perkins, and the entire Celtics line-up for the basketball, while the rest of the team was racing down the other end for a quick outlet pass.
The emphasis on getting back quickly on the offensive end has also reduced O’Neal’s interior defensive presence. He rejected countless Boston shots Wednesday night, but most of the time the Celtics simply collected the loose ball and put it back up for a quick score while the rest of the Pacers stood around waiting for O’Neal to collect the rejection on his own.
Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reported Thursday morning that O’Neal had a meeting in the coaches’ office following the loss to Boston Wednesday night. It was reported that both coach Carlisle and Larry Bird were present for the meeting, and that a tremendous amount of shooting was audible from the inner-hallways of the TD Banknorth Garden.
While a meeting of this kind could be a cause for concern, and in this case I think it should be, it’s possible that O’Neal was simply venting his frustrations on the lack of help he’s getting in the interior. It will be very interesting to see if Carlisle makes a line-up change heading into Friday nights’ game against the New Jersey Nets.
The optimal line-up for Indiana may in fact be, placing Foster in the starting role. This would allow him to gobble up loose balls from the opening tip, while also allowing O’Neal to play at the position he’s most comfortable. The shift would also slide Harrington over to small forward, a position at which he’ll always give Indiana an exploitable mismatch against smaller forwards.
As for Granger, of whom I’m a huge fan, he’d still get significant minutes as the team’s sixth man. He’d lead the team’s second unit, and in my opinion wouldn’t be a drop-off in talent should he need to play the role of starter once again. This would give the second unit two above-average swingmen in Granger and Marquis Daniels, and would make things easier for back-up point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius because Daniels could spend more time handling the ball.
Ultimately, I think a lot of the team’s success will hinge on the development of Granger and the sustained health of guys like O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley. Following the loss in Boston, Bird singled out Granger, Jasikevicius, Tinsley, and Stephen Jackson as guys who need to step up their game in order for Indiana to start winning more.
When the Pacers’ new offense is flowing effectively, the results are amazing. A perfect example of this was the opening minutes Wednesday night in Boston when Indiana jumped out to such an early lead that stirs around the arena had begun to already hand the victory to the Pacers. It may be an exciting sign of what could be, but its unknown just how long Pacer fans will have to wait to see these results.
Andrew can be contacted at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
