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GR3 has earned spot in Pacers lineup
http://www.1070thefan.com/blogs/brun...-pacers-lineup
Glenn Robinson III has been a breath of fresh air for the gasping Pacers.
You can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. Nothing frustrates Nate McMillan more than his team’s propensity for taking backward steps. Win a couple of games, start to look like a cohesive team, and then go to Portland and play like strangers who just stumbled off an 18-hour international flight.
Well, McMillan is going to have a decision soon, and it really boils down to this: does he want to step backward, or forward, with his team?
Paul George could be back from his troublesome ankle sprain as soon as the Pacers’ next game Sunday in Los Angeles against the Clippers. The automatic thing for McMillan to do, the easy and obvious thing, would be to return to his original lineup with Monta Ellis at shooting guard, George at small forward and Glenn Robinson III on the bench.
The difficult thing, the risky thing, but absolutely the right thing, would be to leave Robinson in the lineup at shooting guard and move Ellis to the bench.
Not that there aren’t valid reasons for sticking with the original five. That was the chosen lineup entering the season, a group that went 6-5 in 11 starts together before George’s ankle intervened. It was the lineup that beat the Cavs (without LeBron James and J.R. Smith). It was also the lineup that lost to the Nets and Bucks. Eleven games is not much of a body of work to judge a lineup, and for that reason it seems overwhelmingly likely McMillan will go back to it once George is healthy enough to return.
It would be perfectly reasonable.
It would also be wrong.
Because there are many, many more reasons to keep Robinson in the lineup, reasons that speak to the present and the future of the team, reasons that speak to how this team should ultimately take shape.
1. HE’S EARNED IT
Nothing sends a stronger message to a flailing team than manifest accountability, and it works both positively and negatively. It isn’t just a matter of benching players who aren’t producing, or limiting their minutes. It’s also a matter of rewarding those who have been performing. In five starts, Robinson has averaged 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting .491 from the field and .524 from the 3-point line. That latter stat is huge, because it reflects how hard Robinson has worked to improve what was the biggest weakness in his offensive skill set.
He also, finally, has shed the passivity that confounded past coaches and scouts and is playing with heretofore unseen confidence and aggression.
“He’s just been solid,” McMillan said. “We’re not calling plays for him. He’s allowing the game to come to him, he’s playing in the flow of the game, he’s getting himself open and what I really like is he’s defending hard, working hard on the defensive end of the floor and he’s trying to help on the boards. … We need that from our guys. He’s playing big minutes and he’s bringing energy the entire time he’s in the game.”
He has shown no signs of leveling off. In fact, his production has steadily risen. In the last three games, his averages are 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, .655 shooting overall and .636 from the arc.
While the Portland game was a clunker, Robinson played major roles in the two most impressive wins over the year, over the Thunder and Clippers -- both games George missed. It’s a relatively small sample size, to
“I’m not surprising myself,” Robinson said. “I think I’m surprising a lot of people who haven’t gotten the opportunity to see me play that much. I have teammates who believe in me, who push me everyday in practice and the whole summer and I’m trying to execute off it.”
Conversely, Ellis has done little to suggest a firm grasp of his position. In the six games George has missed, games when the Pacers could’ve really benefited from an uptick in production from Ellis, he averaged 8.2 points and shot 35 percent.
2. THE LINEUP WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE
It doesn’t take a basketball savant to identify the biggest problems with the original lineup: the backcourt is small, often overmatched defensively, putting even more pressure on a thin frontcourt, and there is a dearth of 3-point shooting to create the necessary spacing for the offense to achieve maximum efficiency.
This is one move that could solve a lot of those problems. At 6-6, Robinson has prototypical size for the shooting guard position. He is also much more athletic and a more willing defender. While he has not been a long-range threat in prior seasons, he looks very much like one this year. He also has been a big help on the boards, an area of major concern.
Add it all up, and this one move has the potential to help the defense, the rebounding and the 3-point shooting.
3. THE NUCLEUS WOULD GROW STRONGER AND YOUNGER
Face it, as much as Larry Bird (and possibly McMillan) may believe otherwise, Ellis doesn’t fit in this team’s future. He’s an old 31, in his 12th season, and clearly in decline. Robinson is 22 and would give the team another important element to its young nucleus, joining Myles Turner (20), Paul George (26) and Jeff Teague (28). Thaddeus Young’s 28, for that matter, even though it seems like he’s been around forever.
No one is suggesting the Pacers throw in the towel on this season and go young just for the sake of it. Quite the contrary, Robinson has the ability to not only make the Pacers younger, but better -- right away. It’s rare to have that kind of opportunity for growth from within, and it should be seized, not abandoned.
4. ELLIS COULD BE REBORN AS AN ELITE SIXTH MAN
Any time you make a significant change, you risk disenfranchising the player getting the demotion. In Ellis’ case, you also risk devaluing a potential trade asset. Neither of those factors should outweigh doing what is best for the team and franchise -- and in fact this could very well be the best thing for Ellis.
When he came off the bench in Philly on Nov. 11, it was the first time that happened since the 2007-08 season. Though the Sixers lost that night he actually played well, scoring 19 points with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Ellis is obviously used to not only starting, but playing a primary role in the offense. Here’s the conundrum: if he remains a starter, he will have nothing more than a secondary, or even tertiary, role.
With the second unit, Ellis could begin a new chapter of his career as a sixth man. It’s a natural evolution that can prove rejuvenating for veteran combo guards -- just ask Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Manu Ginobili, among others. He would clearly be the first option off the bench, a far more natural role than he’s in now. This could add years to his career, because there is a much bigger market for proven scorers off the bench than a starter who’s aging and undersized.
The potential exists, then, this move could benefit both the starting lineup and the bench. There would have to be some sorting out to do with the second unit backcourt minutes -- Aaron Brooks would likely be the odd man out -- but omelettes, eggs, you get the picture.
5. SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE
The season is near its quarter-point, and it’s painfully obvious there is something missing from this team, something not quite right. McMillan shouldn’t have to coach effort, shouldn’t have to tell players on the bench to show support for those on the floor, yet those things are constantly on the agenda. This suggests something fundamentally wrong with the makeup of the team.
No one is singling out Ellis as the source of the team’s problems, but the simple reality exists that the starting lineup has two significant problems: it lacks prototypical size and skills at shooting guard and power forward.
There is no obvious solution at power forward.
There is at shooting guard.
This team is gasping for a breath of fresh air. McMillan needs to open the door to let a little change blow through the roster. It just might do the Pacers a world of good.
You can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. Nothing frustrates Nate McMillan more than his team’s propensity for taking backward steps. Win a couple of games, start to look like a cohesive team, and then go to Portland and play like strangers who just stumbled off an 18-hour international flight.
Well, McMillan is going to have a decision soon, and it really boils down to this: does he want to step backward, or forward, with his team?
Paul George could be back from his troublesome ankle sprain as soon as the Pacers’ next game Sunday in Los Angeles against the Clippers. The automatic thing for McMillan to do, the easy and obvious thing, would be to return to his original lineup with Monta Ellis at shooting guard, George at small forward and Glenn Robinson III on the bench.
The difficult thing, the risky thing, but absolutely the right thing, would be to leave Robinson in the lineup at shooting guard and move Ellis to the bench.
Not that there aren’t valid reasons for sticking with the original five. That was the chosen lineup entering the season, a group that went 6-5 in 11 starts together before George’s ankle intervened. It was the lineup that beat the Cavs (without LeBron James and J.R. Smith). It was also the lineup that lost to the Nets and Bucks. Eleven games is not much of a body of work to judge a lineup, and for that reason it seems overwhelmingly likely McMillan will go back to it once George is healthy enough to return.
It would be perfectly reasonable.
It would also be wrong.
Because there are many, many more reasons to keep Robinson in the lineup, reasons that speak to the present and the future of the team, reasons that speak to how this team should ultimately take shape.
1. HE’S EARNED IT
Nothing sends a stronger message to a flailing team than manifest accountability, and it works both positively and negatively. It isn’t just a matter of benching players who aren’t producing, or limiting their minutes. It’s also a matter of rewarding those who have been performing. In five starts, Robinson has averaged 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting .491 from the field and .524 from the 3-point line. That latter stat is huge, because it reflects how hard Robinson has worked to improve what was the biggest weakness in his offensive skill set.
He also, finally, has shed the passivity that confounded past coaches and scouts and is playing with heretofore unseen confidence and aggression.
“He’s just been solid,” McMillan said. “We’re not calling plays for him. He’s allowing the game to come to him, he’s playing in the flow of the game, he’s getting himself open and what I really like is he’s defending hard, working hard on the defensive end of the floor and he’s trying to help on the boards. … We need that from our guys. He’s playing big minutes and he’s bringing energy the entire time he’s in the game.”
He has shown no signs of leveling off. In fact, his production has steadily risen. In the last three games, his averages are 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, .655 shooting overall and .636 from the arc.
While the Portland game was a clunker, Robinson played major roles in the two most impressive wins over the year, over the Thunder and Clippers -- both games George missed. It’s a relatively small sample size, to
“I’m not surprising myself,” Robinson said. “I think I’m surprising a lot of people who haven’t gotten the opportunity to see me play that much. I have teammates who believe in me, who push me everyday in practice and the whole summer and I’m trying to execute off it.”
Conversely, Ellis has done little to suggest a firm grasp of his position. In the six games George has missed, games when the Pacers could’ve really benefited from an uptick in production from Ellis, he averaged 8.2 points and shot 35 percent.
2. THE LINEUP WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE
It doesn’t take a basketball savant to identify the biggest problems with the original lineup: the backcourt is small, often overmatched defensively, putting even more pressure on a thin frontcourt, and there is a dearth of 3-point shooting to create the necessary spacing for the offense to achieve maximum efficiency.
This is one move that could solve a lot of those problems. At 6-6, Robinson has prototypical size for the shooting guard position. He is also much more athletic and a more willing defender. While he has not been a long-range threat in prior seasons, he looks very much like one this year. He also has been a big help on the boards, an area of major concern.
Add it all up, and this one move has the potential to help the defense, the rebounding and the 3-point shooting.
3. THE NUCLEUS WOULD GROW STRONGER AND YOUNGER
Face it, as much as Larry Bird (and possibly McMillan) may believe otherwise, Ellis doesn’t fit in this team’s future. He’s an old 31, in his 12th season, and clearly in decline. Robinson is 22 and would give the team another important element to its young nucleus, joining Myles Turner (20), Paul George (26) and Jeff Teague (28). Thaddeus Young’s 28, for that matter, even though it seems like he’s been around forever.
No one is suggesting the Pacers throw in the towel on this season and go young just for the sake of it. Quite the contrary, Robinson has the ability to not only make the Pacers younger, but better -- right away. It’s rare to have that kind of opportunity for growth from within, and it should be seized, not abandoned.
4. ELLIS COULD BE REBORN AS AN ELITE SIXTH MAN
Any time you make a significant change, you risk disenfranchising the player getting the demotion. In Ellis’ case, you also risk devaluing a potential trade asset. Neither of those factors should outweigh doing what is best for the team and franchise -- and in fact this could very well be the best thing for Ellis.
When he came off the bench in Philly on Nov. 11, it was the first time that happened since the 2007-08 season. Though the Sixers lost that night he actually played well, scoring 19 points with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Ellis is obviously used to not only starting, but playing a primary role in the offense. Here’s the conundrum: if he remains a starter, he will have nothing more than a secondary, or even tertiary, role.
With the second unit, Ellis could begin a new chapter of his career as a sixth man. It’s a natural evolution that can prove rejuvenating for veteran combo guards -- just ask Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Manu Ginobili, among others. He would clearly be the first option off the bench, a far more natural role than he’s in now. This could add years to his career, because there is a much bigger market for proven scorers off the bench than a starter who’s aging and undersized.
The potential exists, then, this move could benefit both the starting lineup and the bench. There would have to be some sorting out to do with the second unit backcourt minutes -- Aaron Brooks would likely be the odd man out -- but omelettes, eggs, you get the picture.
5. SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE
The season is near its quarter-point, and it’s painfully obvious there is something missing from this team, something not quite right. McMillan shouldn’t have to coach effort, shouldn’t have to tell players on the bench to show support for those on the floor, yet those things are constantly on the agenda. This suggests something fundamentally wrong with the makeup of the team.
No one is singling out Ellis as the source of the team’s problems, but the simple reality exists that the starting lineup has two significant problems: it lacks prototypical size and skills at shooting guard and power forward.
There is no obvious solution at power forward.
There is at shooting guard.
This team is gasping for a breath of fresh air. McMillan needs to open the door to let a little change blow through the roster. It just might do the Pacers a world of good.
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