Please be aware, this article is not reactionary.
Since early this season, anyone watching the Indiana Pacers for more than half a quarter of NBA action would have realised that they are really good.
During the offseason, the Pacers traded away their soon-to-be free agent star Paul George for what was thought to be peanuts.
As a Pacers fan myself, I was reasonably angry that the scoring hub of a small market franchise was tossed aside for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Both of which, on face value, had been disappointing throughout their prior season in Oklahoma City.
Young and promising in Orlando, Oladipo’s role as the second option to Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma’s rotation amounted to dull cleaning duties.
OKC was a poor situation for a budding star and with other inefficiencies in training regimen, Oladipo’s once-promising play dwindled to only 15.9 points per game and the fewest steals per game in his entire NBA career.
Now with opportunity, Oladipo has broken records for steals in consecutive games, while bumping his scoring average to 23.1 ppg, making his first All-Star team in the process.
It is easy to see why he is marvelled at by simply watching him go to work on offence.
A typical Oladipo-oriented Pacers possession would see the two-guard drive on a spaced-out pick and roll, snaking his way to the rim with herky-jerky drives, with a more than apt between the legs stepback move to vary his attacks for a knockdown J.
The former Orlando and Oklahoma City guard makes this iteration of the Pacers so fun and relatable, even just through his fluent between the legs crossover, which is the move 87 per cent of pick-up players perform to make it appear they have a good handle. However, in the case of Victor Oladipo, I can confirm that he can dribble quite well.
Given the tribulations of the Paul George-led dumpster fire just a year ago, in which many were left disheartened by the impassioned play of a team expected of more, Oladipo’s enthusiasm for every minute of NBA play has made this version of the Pacers the most fun since the Reggie Miller days.
Oladipo may not quite be as good as George if they were both to play at their current best, but the refreshment given to a franchise whose top player now actually wants to be there has given rise to some of the best chemistry in the league.
Domantas Sabonis also had similar OKC struggles.
Standing at 211 centimetres tall and 108 kilograms, the Thunder forced his limited minutes to be spent in vain, spotting up on the three point for a Westbrook kickout.
According to Basketball-Reference, Sabonis played 1,632 minutes last season and took 159 three-point attempts, shooting a mediocre 32%.
As the modern age of sports would have it, everyone got off the Sabonis bandwagon and immediately dubbed him a failure. People didn’t think that maybe, just maybe a 6’10, 225-pound legitimate big man plays his best basketball closer to the rim?
In 2017-18, the son of legendary Arvydas only attempted 37 three pointers in over 1,800 minutes, playing an estimated 81% of his minutes at centre. His production increased from a measly 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game to a valuable 11.6 buckets and 7.7 boards.
The Pacers were not incredibly smart to win 18 more games than betting agencies predicted, they simply looked at what opportunities they could offer talented players within imperfect situations.
While Oladipo is the star of the franchise, the supporting cast of mismatched flawed journeymen has been just as surprising.
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
It is hard to characterise this unit within the traditional stereotypes of being a ‘Grit and Grind’ or ‘Pace and Space’ team. It just sort of… works, with the mysterious intangibility that sport occasionally provides us with, endearing the club to fans while frustrating analytical experts.
The Pacers have the league’s fourth-best field goal percentage, an area of strength made possible by the depth and diversity of a team that plays to each individual’s strengths in a harmonic melody.
All involved know their limits and control the game brilliantly to stay within themselves, turning over the ball the fifth-least in the competition.
Thaddeus Young, for one, can have success against the opposition as an undersized rebounder and occasional post player with a crafty left-hand hook.
At the same time, Bojan Bogdanovic can play his decent defence, while spotting up for threes and creating decent shots with excellent footwork.
If this doesn’t work, Darren Collison can run a pick and roll with Myles Turner, snaking his way towards the bucket or confidently stepping back from deep as the league leader in three point field goal percentage.
Turner himself can utilise his elite touch at just under seven feet tall to shoot over anybody to devastating effect, while blocking the best at the other end.
Waiting on the bench, this line of journeymen ready to help out continues. Even after playing on three teams this season, Trevor Booker already seems to have found a home among misfits and Lance Stephenson turns into Vernon Maxwell when he plays at home.
Yet still, no one cares.
I get it, there is nothing remotely attractive or romantic about an organisation devoid of any major success, based in the corn farming communities of midwest America.
It is not-so-affectionately known as ‘Nap Town’, as deep and unrelenting sleep is seen to be the most appealing option here to the millionaire, partying athletes that pass by.
The area, much like the NBA team representing it, is consistently ignored.
Thus, the Pacers represent the greatness of sports in being disrespected and overlooked, with a connection to the people they represent and the ability to beat any individual using the power of team.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
If people can lose their job, and clubs can face massive payouts, due to the behaviour of coaches, it will drastically change the way sporting teams in Australia will be run.
A Serbian, a Canadian, a Slovenian and a Greek fellow walked into a bar … Well, they’ve actually walked into the NBA and now…
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
