Hello all. Im back on a Sunday morning, and Ive got basketball on my mind as usual. My thoughts today, as I reviewed the Pacers preseason, was the enormous amount of turnovers we were having, and what might be causing them....and more importantly, what might be some possible solutions. When you examine the roster, style of play, and the opponents strengths and weaknesses, it becomes apparent that the formula for success for the Pacers is simple: Limit the turnovers you cause, cause more for your opponent, and we will most likely be very successful. The question is, how can we do that? I'm sure some of the solutions being pondered by the Pacers staff won't be that popular among many, so I wanted to examine what might be being considered, and what might be the opinion of Pacer Nation.
Here are some solutions or ideas to solve the turnover problem:
1. CHANGE NOTHING, KEEP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
This actually might be the most prudent. As I'm a basic believer in the thought that the preseason means nothing, just stay steady with what you have prepared for all off season, and continue to play the same way. In other words, continue to do what you are doing, but just do it better. Give your new roster and new faster philosophy time to gel.
2. TIGHTEN YOUR ROTATIONS MORE THAN YOU PLANNED MORE QUICKLY, AND ONLY PLAY 8 TO 9 GUYS.
This would also encompass substituting less in games, in order for groups to play together longer with less interruptions. Now, the problem with this is that it doesnt totally play into the Pacers biggest percieved strength, which is a strong bench with multiple players who can play and wear down opponents. Many of this board would be upset at their favorite players (whomever they might be) having their minutes cut or eliminated, and as soon as we lost a game you'd see threads asking "Why doesnt RC play...whomever".
3. PLAY MORE BALLHANDLERS TOGETHER, PLAY EVEN SMALLER THAN PLANNED, AND PLAY A 2 GUARD FRONT(4 OUT 1 IN) IN ORDER TO MAKE PASSES SHORTER AND MORE DEFINED, AND TO CREATE SPACING.
This emcompasses alot of ideas all into one. This is the idea that would give you lineups with Tinsley playing along side another point guard (either Sarunas or Armstrong), with Daniels or Jackson, and 2 of Granger, ONeal, and Harrington. Aligning these players in a "4 out 1 in" alignment gives you 4 post feeding options to feed JO on the low block, and splits up the ballhandling responsibilities to get the ball up the floor. It also enables you to have multiple people lead a break, as you have 2 point guards in the game. You also theoretically have better floor balance to get back if you need to if indeed you DO turn the ball over.
4. REALIZE/ADJUST TO THE FACT THAT THIS GROUP CAN'T PLAY UPTEMPO WELL ENOUGH, AND CALL MORE PLAYS FROM THE BENCH.
We spent the entire off season discussing this new uptempo concept for RC, and the Pacers seem committed to going with it. However, if we start slowly and continue to lose early in the season, it seems both likely and prudent to me to slow our team down and call more organized sets from the bench. This will slow the tempo obviously, but it also gives a less intelligent team at reading defenses a designed play from the bench to run and try and execute. This should eliminate many read and react type situations for our young inexperienced guys to have to face, and ,make it a more "execution based" offense.
5. RUN MORE SCREEN/ROLL SETS, ALMOST TO THE POINT OF US BEING SICK OF THEM, WITH TINSLEY/HARRINGTON/JO.
This goes into the area of putting the ball into your best ballhandlers hands more often, and eliminating turnover chances from guys who arent as reliable making decisions. (Jackson, Daniels), or in handling ball pressure (Sarunas).
6. IF YOUR TEAM TURNS THE BALL OVER OFTEN, YOU NEED TO SIMPLIFY WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Its common for coaches (Ive done it myself) to put in too many sets and plays, causing your team to have to think how to play instead of just reacting. I have no way of knowing obviously, but maybe thats happening here with us. I havent gotten to see a preseason game, but how many turnovers have we had due to just simple confusion over what play we were running? Those wouldnt be apparent to us as fans, but to the coaches they would be very obvious. Maybe we need to cut our playbook in half and only run the stuff we do very well, and very safely.
7. WE CAN PLAY GUYS WHO ARE SAFER/LESS RISKY WITH THE BALL, AND BENCH THOSE WHO DON'T TAKE CARE OF IT AS WELL.
This might mean an increase of time for Armstrong for example, with a decrease for Sarunas and Tinsley, if the latter's flair for the dramatic causes him to turn it over too often instead of just making the simple pass. Big guys,this means you too.
8. YOU CAN RUN MORE CLEAROUTS.
Now, I for one would basically hate this, but nevertheless your turnovers should go down if you do this more often. You might not always get the shot you want, but at least you will get a shot most every time.
9. YOU CAN LIVE WITH A BAD RATIO OF TURNOVERS, AND TRY AND DOMINATE ANOTHER PHASE OF THE GAME TO MAKE UP FOR IT.
This has actually been done a few times thru the league. If you have one clear weakness, try and make up for it by being dominate in some other area. In our case, we might try and just be the best defensive team, or best rebounding team in the league. One way to accomplish that might be to instead of playing smaller, to play bigger instead.
10. YOU CAN DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT'S EXPECTED, AND PLAY EVEN FASTER.
This would mean doing things like substituting more often instead of less, playing 12 guys instead of 8 or 9, picking up full court after made free throws or even made baskets, trapping alot defensively in the half court, and trying to even up the turnover battle not by limiting your own but by causing more by your opponent. This would mean fully putting your foot on the gas pedal and going full bore with pressure and fast breaks for 48 minutes every single night, no matter the opponent or the situation.
No matter what versions of these solutions RC and the staff come up with as the season progresses, you have to know that turnovers and how to eliminate the problem are a big topic of conversation within Conseco Fieldhouse right now.
What would you all do to solve this apparent problem? Which of the above coaching strategic ideas suits your personal taste better, and which one do you think Carlisle will go with? Is there another idea I didnt come up with?
Opening night is just days away now, and its likely that by Christmas, if we dont solve the turnover issue somehow, that our season might be on the "morphine drip" by then.
JMO
Here are some solutions or ideas to solve the turnover problem:
1. CHANGE NOTHING, KEEP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
This actually might be the most prudent. As I'm a basic believer in the thought that the preseason means nothing, just stay steady with what you have prepared for all off season, and continue to play the same way. In other words, continue to do what you are doing, but just do it better. Give your new roster and new faster philosophy time to gel.
2. TIGHTEN YOUR ROTATIONS MORE THAN YOU PLANNED MORE QUICKLY, AND ONLY PLAY 8 TO 9 GUYS.
This would also encompass substituting less in games, in order for groups to play together longer with less interruptions. Now, the problem with this is that it doesnt totally play into the Pacers biggest percieved strength, which is a strong bench with multiple players who can play and wear down opponents. Many of this board would be upset at their favorite players (whomever they might be) having their minutes cut or eliminated, and as soon as we lost a game you'd see threads asking "Why doesnt RC play...whomever".
3. PLAY MORE BALLHANDLERS TOGETHER, PLAY EVEN SMALLER THAN PLANNED, AND PLAY A 2 GUARD FRONT(4 OUT 1 IN) IN ORDER TO MAKE PASSES SHORTER AND MORE DEFINED, AND TO CREATE SPACING.
This emcompasses alot of ideas all into one. This is the idea that would give you lineups with Tinsley playing along side another point guard (either Sarunas or Armstrong), with Daniels or Jackson, and 2 of Granger, ONeal, and Harrington. Aligning these players in a "4 out 1 in" alignment gives you 4 post feeding options to feed JO on the low block, and splits up the ballhandling responsibilities to get the ball up the floor. It also enables you to have multiple people lead a break, as you have 2 point guards in the game. You also theoretically have better floor balance to get back if you need to if indeed you DO turn the ball over.
4. REALIZE/ADJUST TO THE FACT THAT THIS GROUP CAN'T PLAY UPTEMPO WELL ENOUGH, AND CALL MORE PLAYS FROM THE BENCH.
We spent the entire off season discussing this new uptempo concept for RC, and the Pacers seem committed to going with it. However, if we start slowly and continue to lose early in the season, it seems both likely and prudent to me to slow our team down and call more organized sets from the bench. This will slow the tempo obviously, but it also gives a less intelligent team at reading defenses a designed play from the bench to run and try and execute. This should eliminate many read and react type situations for our young inexperienced guys to have to face, and ,make it a more "execution based" offense.
5. RUN MORE SCREEN/ROLL SETS, ALMOST TO THE POINT OF US BEING SICK OF THEM, WITH TINSLEY/HARRINGTON/JO.
This goes into the area of putting the ball into your best ballhandlers hands more often, and eliminating turnover chances from guys who arent as reliable making decisions. (Jackson, Daniels), or in handling ball pressure (Sarunas).
6. IF YOUR TEAM TURNS THE BALL OVER OFTEN, YOU NEED TO SIMPLIFY WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Its common for coaches (Ive done it myself) to put in too many sets and plays, causing your team to have to think how to play instead of just reacting. I have no way of knowing obviously, but maybe thats happening here with us. I havent gotten to see a preseason game, but how many turnovers have we had due to just simple confusion over what play we were running? Those wouldnt be apparent to us as fans, but to the coaches they would be very obvious. Maybe we need to cut our playbook in half and only run the stuff we do very well, and very safely.
7. WE CAN PLAY GUYS WHO ARE SAFER/LESS RISKY WITH THE BALL, AND BENCH THOSE WHO DON'T TAKE CARE OF IT AS WELL.
This might mean an increase of time for Armstrong for example, with a decrease for Sarunas and Tinsley, if the latter's flair for the dramatic causes him to turn it over too often instead of just making the simple pass. Big guys,this means you too.
8. YOU CAN RUN MORE CLEAROUTS.
Now, I for one would basically hate this, but nevertheless your turnovers should go down if you do this more often. You might not always get the shot you want, but at least you will get a shot most every time.
9. YOU CAN LIVE WITH A BAD RATIO OF TURNOVERS, AND TRY AND DOMINATE ANOTHER PHASE OF THE GAME TO MAKE UP FOR IT.
This has actually been done a few times thru the league. If you have one clear weakness, try and make up for it by being dominate in some other area. In our case, we might try and just be the best defensive team, or best rebounding team in the league. One way to accomplish that might be to instead of playing smaller, to play bigger instead.
10. YOU CAN DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT'S EXPECTED, AND PLAY EVEN FASTER.
This would mean doing things like substituting more often instead of less, playing 12 guys instead of 8 or 9, picking up full court after made free throws or even made baskets, trapping alot defensively in the half court, and trying to even up the turnover battle not by limiting your own but by causing more by your opponent. This would mean fully putting your foot on the gas pedal and going full bore with pressure and fast breaks for 48 minutes every single night, no matter the opponent or the situation.
No matter what versions of these solutions RC and the staff come up with as the season progresses, you have to know that turnovers and how to eliminate the problem are a big topic of conversation within Conseco Fieldhouse right now.
What would you all do to solve this apparent problem? Which of the above coaching strategic ideas suits your personal taste better, and which one do you think Carlisle will go with? Is there another idea I didnt come up with?
Opening night is just days away now, and its likely that by Christmas, if we dont solve the turnover issue somehow, that our season might be on the "morphine drip" by then.
JMO
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