This season with the Pacers? A more solid balance sheet than announced, and above all superb promises thanks to a young and exciting group. Tyrese Haliburton obviously, but also Bennedict Mathurin, Chris Duarte, Jalen Smith, Andrew Nembhard… the roster is young and talented, and it’s been seen since last October. Do we take stock of the last six months in the outback?
Also find:
What TrashTalk had announced
First of all, we were already wondering who of Myles Turner or Buddy Hield would leave Indiana and when. Whoops. The two Gérard d’or of our two olibrius? Tyrese Haliburton for Bastien, pay your huge risk, and Jalen Smith for Alex, he who had already known him a little at the Suns. Balance sheet level? It started with… 23 wins and overall the last place in the East, yeah, optimism was not de rigueur in our studios.
What really happened
35 wins and 47 losses, eleventh place in the East.
A brisk start to the season, as expected. Tyrese Haliburton is unplayable individually, Bennedict Mathurin is THE nice surprise among the rookies, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield are there… and the Pacers are at 1-5, all is well in the best of worlds. In mid-November, however… first alert with 8 wins in 10 games, these young Pacers are not only stylish, they also play basketball very well and have apparently never heard of tanking. Chris Duarte breaks his ankle after a bad start to the season… not terrible, but Indiana is not weakening, thanks to rookie Andrew Nembhard, finds another way of smiling, yet another.
On January 19, the peasants are at 23-23, forecasts of victories at the start of the season… reached, xptdr. Tyrese Haliburton Becomes All-Star, Buddy Hield Strings Parking Lot Beads in 15 Necklaces but logic takes over and Rick Carlisle’s team begins to lose match wagons, especially when Tyrese Haliburton has to be absent for a few weeks to treat elbows and knees.
Two wins in eighteen games between January 12 and the All-Star Weekend, we put the church back in the center of the town, and the Pacers can finally play on their two favorite tables: develop their kids and take beatings dreaming of associating Victor Wembanyama with Tyrese Haliburton. At the end of February Myles Turner thanks with masterpieces the Pacers for having re-signed him, Benny Mathurin continues to be both one of the best rookies in the League AND one of its best sixth menChris Duarte returns but continues to struggle for his sophomore season, while Tyrese Haliburton returned not to win games but to drop around 15 assists per game.
In the end, we almost believed in a run from Indiana towards the play-in, as what this team didn’t lack much to be really competitive. A year of know-how-to-play-together, one or two adjustments this summer and the turn may be played, in any case in this 2022-23 season the Pacers have clearly been one of the most loved teams to see play. The promise of matches with 140 pawns, of the show, we play without asking questions. It’s not going to look for a title in two years, but it’s already so much more than about a third of NBA franchises. So don’t change anything, well almost.
The Pacers season in a few articles
picture of the season
He was one of those expected at this level… and he has evolved to the level at which we expected him. Best passer in the League (10.4 average) although squeezed from the rankings due to too few games played, Tyrese took his magician’s wand and never let go, to the point of becoming in February All-Star for the first time in his career and this without the shadow of a challenge, except perhaps among members of the Trae Young fan club. 33 double-doubles, always this young person halfway between purity and show, some incredible carnage (39/16 against the Sixers, 43 points in Miami, 35 against Brooklyn…) and above all a rather crazy consistency in the quasi- perfection that should give some peace of mind to Pacers fans today. Because yes, as long as TH is in place, the Pacers are sure not to be too ridiculous.
He was a hit: Bennedict Mathurin
We could have put the package on Tyrese Haliburton, again, but how can we talk about the positives of the Pacers season without talking about Bennedict Mathurin. The Canadian rear, pick 6 of the 2022 Draft, thus put the fans in his pocket from his… first match under the colors of Indiana. 19, then 26, then 27, the kid is boiling out of the bench and each of his entries at the end of the first quarter is the subject of an awakening for us, flabbergasted in front of the PC. 32 points in Brooklyn, more than 20 average pawns in October, 30 in Denver and another 18 points per game in November, spoiler it’s not just a heat stroke but indeed the true level of Mathuthu. The kid shoots and attacks the circle as if his life depended on it, the role of Chris Duarte is taken over with even more style, and we wonder if the little kid can repeat the feat of Ben Gordon, once voted best sixth man in the League when he was still… a rookie. A little slack in December but a huge month of January (19.5 points), and in the end a season ended with almost 17 points on average off the bench? Hmm, okay, so this team won’t just be Tyrese Haliburton’s. See you at the start of the school year, with a good starting place.
We were waiting for it and we are still waiting for it: Chris Duarte
At the risk of shocking some inhabitants of Marseilles, the blond dye has not been in my fashion for about fifteen years. After this shamefully gratuitous punchline, let’s move on to the Chris Duarte case, incandescent last season and much less in sight for his sophomore exercise. The reason ? The injuries already (ankle in the fall, a month off), the emergence of other young snipers too (Benny Mathurin), and apart from the exception of a heat stroke at the start of the season against Brooklyn… CD will never have seemed in rhythm in this team which however did not miss it. Nothing maddening however, the little one remains a related shooter elite and moreover possessing a really interesting athletic side, but let’s say that we will be watching very closely on recovery this young man who has gone from 13 to 8 points on average between his years 1 and 2. Especially since in the event of difficulties, others will be happy to scratch his place.
Individual statistics
…and what’s next?
Most of the roster is under contract for next season, summer 2024 will be hot but we’re not there yet. Before that ? A pick 7 to use, we’ll see on June 22, that’s analysis. Young people to develop, young people on whom we would clearly put a small coin, and there are a good half-dozen of them. Are the Pacers “close” to becoming a franchise that matters? We can say that yeah, after all… have you ever seen Kawhi Leonard’s fingers?
A season during which the victories will have been more numerous than expected, and during which the surprises will have been beautiful. Tyrese Haliburton at the helm, Bennedict Mathurin, Chris Duarte, Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, so many young shooters who seem to enjoy progressing under the leadership of veterans Turner, Hield or McConnell. Obviously not everyone will stay in the boat next season, but the base is good, isn’t it?
Source : ESPN
2023-05-29 13:44:00
#balance #sheet #Indiana #Pacers #great #promises #big #loves
