Strengths:
- Tyrese Haliburton is our point guard for the foreseeable future and he is quickly becoming MVP calibre.
- We have one of the best head-coaches in the league.
- We have a lot of flexibility going forward in how we want to construct this team.
Weaknesses:
- Our supporting cast is not as established as we may like. Many of our other players are on short term deals.
- There is no guarantee we are now a ‘player’s destination’. We like to hear how TH is a dream to play with, but would that get a top FA like Siakam or Anunoby to commit?
- Defens. Yes, I missed the last e, it is so obvious that our defens is crap that I don’t even need to spell it out.
Opportunities:
- We have some talented young players on the roster, but progress has been slow. Mathurin and Nembhard are stalling this season so far and Walker and Sheppard don’t see much of the court. We could switch tracks this season to focus on development, we have our own pick as well. (Yes, that is me saying we start thinking about losing a bit more)
- We can strike whilst the iron is hot, do we make a win-now move? It’s definitely a possibility. We have some decent assets that may get a deal over the line. We traditionally value our picks highly, but we have a decent group of young players coming through and we’re not going to get a pick better than mid-range this year anyway.
Threats:
- Indecision is a real threat. Carrying on as we are currently (8-6) does not achieve anything. We are not developing our young players and we are not signalling intent for the future. Having the best offense in the league is awesome, but it won’t be long before we are in the same (bad) boat as Atlanta has been in recent years. Great offensive leader of the team, but incapable of consistent performances due to no defensive identity.
- Fans lethargy. It almost feels normal to score 131 points in a loss. We’re currently offering an unbalanced experience and fans will start to get fed-up with losing, especially giving up 132 against the Raptors and 128 against the Magic. Both teams are firmly in the bottom half for offensive rating by the way…
Decisions that may set a direction:
- Finish the season and look to attract an FA. Key position is forwards, a few options coming up, Siakam, Harris, Anunoby, DeRozan???, PG24???, Kaw… OK, I’ll stop there. Of the big name players the only realistic addition that fits our timeline would be OG Anunoby. Would he come? And for how much? And is he actually worth it?
- Our defense is so poor because we are consistently looking for transition offense. What about tweaking our schemes a bit and actually crashing the defensive boards? If we have to sacrifice 5ppg of our offensive rating in exchange for gaining -5papg and boosting our defensive rating… It would make such a difference to the way this team looks and feels.
- Make a mid-season trade. We need a better option for our forwards. But who? And what would it cost?
I don’t actually have a preference (although I hate the option of not doing anything), I don’t think any decision will be made before the new year anyway, but I am curious where you, as fans, lean?
Hell if we don’t change our ways
Just your typical r/pacers ‘calm down it was one game and we’re less than 20% into our season’, checking in here. Maybe fan lethargy would be less of a threat we weren’t putting this much energy into swot analysis after games. Will we make the playoffs? I think we will. Are we learning? I think so. This is a reasonable trajectory/expectation for the season.
This isn’t in response to last night’s game. It is more about the format of the team, being best in offense and worst in defense is not a path that will lead anywhere (and the offense will tail off at some point, almost guaranteed).
Beyond 2024/2025 we only have Tyrese and Nesmith on the books, as well as our current rooks and sophomores. By then we’ll know if Mathurin and Nembhard are tied down long term and what is available in terms of cap space. That is the year we need to know whether we’ve made the jump we are hoping for. I don’t think it’ll be enough. Yes Tyrese is awesome and I love Nesmith’s contract, but a core of those two, Mathurin and Nembhard, plus presumably Walker and Sheppard is going to have to do a hell of a lot of improving if this is to lead to ‘our time’.
And let’s be honest, that is something we’re all clamouring for. Even if it is just repeating what we did during the Heatles reign. We’ve suffered for a long time since that team was broken up.
Stats haven’t quite come around but I think our defense has gotten better over the last 5 games. Beyond this year there are staggeringly infinite unknowns. Think of our team 2 years ago……
I really do love being a fan of this franchise and I would love to see a championship one day. I think for the first time in a while we have pieces that eventually could make it a possibility, but it’s not really in the realm of thought for me. For now I’m just really happy and having fun watching what I will remember for years as a highlight/wonderful season.
Anyway, Have a great day. It’s a good thing to have passionate fans!
My biggest disagreement is that pushing for a playoff berth, even if we may not make it out of the first round, is going to be a huge step in development for our team. Myles and Bruce are pretty much the only 2 players on our entire roster that have ever had meaningful playoff minutes. We don’t have to be contenders or tanking with no in between, the middle ground isn’t always a bad thing when we still have assets and a very high ceiling to develop into. Idk about you but Tyrese wants nothing more than to be in the playoffs this year, and I want nothing more than our superstar-in-the-making to remain happy and content playing for our team, and right now the vibes are immaculate. No sense in destroying that just cause we obviously aren’t winning a championship this year.
Again, not over reacting! Just an analysis of where we currently are.
I didn’t state we shouldn’t push for a playoff berth, although I do hate the idea of standing still this season. The reason I do is because the team is actually in quite a precarious phase.
Bruce is on a team option, do we take that next year? Do we decline and extend for a different number? Myles is only here for this and next season on his current contract. Do we extend him? What number are we looking at there?
What about Hield? I am fine just letting him ride out the season, but do we extend him? What would that look like? Is the intention to keep him another three, four years? What will he ask for at that point?
Toppin is a huge question mark to me, I don’t think his play has merited starting, he’s expiring. Is he capable of making that next step? What is that worth to us?
This team is helluva lot of fun, there is no denying it. But things aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And that defense really does need sorting out. I’m not convinced we’ll make it to the play-offs if we have to rely on being the best offensive team. There’s slippery slopes all under this current approach.
Can’t believe I’m reading a SWOT on a holiday. I have beef with your thinking though. Your strengths quadrant is highly oversimplified, which imbalances the rest of the analysis, tilting it unfairly towards the negative.
Haha, sorry, I think it’s because I’m in annual report mode.
Feel free to suggest areas of strength I have not expressed!
Tyrese needs a running mate and then defense. Honestly, I don’t care if it’s another SG as we probably sending a couple of them out in the deal.
lol at fan lethargy from high scoring
brother i endured worse and this is some of the most exciting brand of basketball i’ve ever seen this franchise play
It’s when the opponents can’t be stopped that fans get scratchy.
Nice write-up. Agree with a lot, but not all.
Re: fan lethargy: this team is just now getting on the radar of the casual so I wouldn’t worry about that anytime soon, maybe even at all this season. I think we’ve only had one sellout. We’re getting into the time when local fans start to pay more attention around the holidays, and then when the Colts season winds down. Once people discover we have a legit budding superstar, I think they’ll latch onto that and hope for win. They probably won’t think too much about things like being the worst defense ever as long as playoffs remain a possibility. 42-44 wins should get the play-in for the East.
Re: focusing more on development: I’d be hesitant here, given Tyrese’s stated goal of playoffs. Granted, this is likely a play-in and early exit team, but that is a good experience and is its own form of player development. Plus, you’d have to tank hard to get any sort of a good pick and this draft class seems meh anyway. This team already can’t get young guys on the court enough, let alone with another 20ish year old in the mix.
We honestly need to just get bigger we are still rolling out way too many guys who are 6’4 to 6’6 we need to surround Tyrese with Aaron Gordon sized guys