So it's may, the weather is warm, spring is in full bloom in Indiana as tree's are green, flowers are starting to bloom and once again we are facing the New York Knicks in a playoff series that is now once again guaranteed to go to at least a game 6. Somehow someway this seems appropriate.
First let me get an apology out of the way. I owe BillS an apology because at the end of the Buck series I told him I would much rather faced the 76ers over the Knicks. Not because I didn't appreciate the rivalry or history but because I thought we had a better chance of beating the 76ers. I stand by my statement of that btw, but where I was wrong was in not embracing the morality play that is the Pacers vs Knicks. So yes BillS was right and I was wrong no matter how this ends because in the future when we are reminiscing about the past we are going to look back and this will be added to the long and storied tales between the two teams. Obviously the first two games made me want to throw a brick through my television, even though both games were competitive and from an outsiders perspective or Knicks fans perspective fun. Game 3 was fun from an outsiders perspective and a Pacers fan perspective and game 4 was fun for Pacers fans alone. But overall this has been one hell of a series.
You can't have a great series without a great opponent and guys, the Knicks (just as they were in the 90's) are a great opponent. If we can beat them, and believe me that is still nowhere near a guarantee, our team will have learned a ton in perseverance & toughness. Something we have lacked for most of the season but have shown some in the playoffs. If we lose to them, while disappointing, we will still learn the same things. I would hope they are learning something from us as well. To use the old clich?. "Iron sharpens Iron".
Do they exaggerate some things to draw a foul? Of course they do, hard to complain about that though when the all time face of your franchise is Reggie Miller. Instead of trying to act above it and be better than it I say we should learn from it and employ the same strategy to a smaller scale ourselves going forward. Hey, I wish we lived in a world where that type of behavior wasn't rewarded but it is. So since everyone else does it I say we shouldn't be above it either. I say this with the full embarrassment of suggesting this while Dale Davis is still in our state as he never so much as flinched on a blocking foul. But this is the times in which we live.
All of us Carlisle complainers, I include myself as the #1 culprit, have to eat some crow from these past two games. He absolutely has changed the defensive assignments and switched up how we attacked Brunson in both games and DiVincenzo this game. Fatigue is a factor, nobody will deny that, but at the end of the day that is the way the Knicks choose to play (big minutes) and Rick has chosen to keep fresh legs on the floor. It wasn't a great idea vs the Bucks but it is absolutely the way to attack the Knicks.
So, while I reserve the right to ***** and complain in the future about Rick and his rotations, I will happily eat crow today.
If I could put my finger on one statistic today that I felt was the reason for the huge victory it would be this. We beat the Knicks on the boards 52-43. Josh Hart who has been an absolute monster on the boards was held to a playoff low of 3 while is non union equivalent Aaron Nesmith had 12. That was devastating to their ability to make runs and took some of their energy. How fitting was it that we won the rebound battle with the greatest NBA pacers rebounder in the house. (I have a feeling I will be addressing this person somewhere in the future)
For a team that is not known to be a good defensive team, the Pacers actually played solid defense today. Once again nobody is denying the Knicks have fatigue and injury but that does not take away the effort our guys put in. If anyone knows our teams history this season they know that we could have just as easily walked out there and laid a dud of a game and overlooked them. We didn't and that needs to be acknowledged.
Let's give grades today, shall we? As always grades are totally subjective and I also tend to grade based on ability, expectation and how they perform.
Aaron Nesmith: I start with him because IMO he was probably the most important player today. He set the tone early and kept the energy up the entire time he was in there. Since he has been assigned to guarding Brunson, Jalen has not had the free looks that he had been getting throughout the playoffs (Philly as well) and can't seem to draw the fouls that he is used to getting. When Jalen looks in the mirror in his hotel room I'm pretty sure he will see Aaron looking out at him. His 12 rebounds were all tough,& in traffic. I can't make up my mind which was the most important thing he did today. Guard Brunson into a pedestrian game or lead everybody in rebounding. My gut feeling tells me the rebounding was important because both McConnel and Shepard did an admirable job on Brunson as well. My personal belief is that when Dale Davis waved his towel when he was revving up the car that he was slinging magic tough dust that landed on our bench thus somehow even making Myles Turner not soft for this one game.
Grade: A (going 0-4 from 3 kept him from an A+)
Pascal Siakam: 7-9 from the field was huge. When we had a few possessions where we struggled Pascal went down and got some tough in traffic shots and hit them. I'll be honest I don't understand why Thibs went away from Achiuwa in the second half. I assume he just wanted to to get more offense but it was a disaster both on the boards and the ability to guard Pascal. Statistically it wasn't a spectacular game but hey he only played 22 min. I will award him a solid game but he did what was needed in times that we needed it.
Grade: B+
Myles Turner: 5-5 from the field 3 blocks and 5 rebounds all in 25 minutes. Actually we need to take the time to point this out as well. The Knicks rested their team in the 4th but guess what, so did we. There is no advantage for them in getting more rest than us. In fact after the game we went to our own beds and I'm sure they flew out. Anyway back to Myles. When you are perfect from the field, block more shots than their entire team and don't embarrass yourself in rebounding (again crediting the all time leader in rebounding here) then you deserve a monster score.
Grade: A
Andrew Nembhard: 4 of 5 from the field with only 2 of those being 3's. I think he set the tone early by attacking the paint and not just settling for outside shots. He was part of the reason that DiVincenzo was mostly irrelevant today, yes for those of you from NY we are acknowledging fatigue is a factor as well. Dished out 5 dimes and was still basking in the glow of that huge *** shot from Friday. His defense has been solid, even on Brunson just not as great as Aaron's has been these past two games. But he certainly played his part today.
Grade: B+ (I'm giving him the + for hitting that shot Friday)
Tyrese Haliburton: Man do fanbases around the NBA hate this guy. The Knicks fans online are comical about it but my God do the Bucks fans hate this guy, he is living rent free in their heads while they celebrate their summer vacations. Anyway, while his scoring was nice him grabbing 6 rebounds (I think mostly in the first half) was huge. The reason it was huge? His task today was to guard Josh Hart. Well what is Hart's main super power? Rebounding. Tyrese outrebounded their super rebounder. That tough dust clearly landed squarely on Haliburton. Good passing, good shooting and in the tradition of Knicks vs Pacers he provided quality trash talking and a villain for N.Y. to root against. He played the most minutes of any pacer today and he only played 27 minutes.
Grade: A
T.J. McConnell: His entire game, and series for that matter, can be best summed up by Josh Hart. When asked about the play of McConnell Hart replied that he was an annoying little ****. I can't think of a bigger compliment than that other than maybe Doc Rivers calling him a pain in the ***. Enjoy every minute that he gives us on the floor folks because it won't last forever and while we can't expect him to play at a super high level every game, he will give you super high effort EVERY SINGLE TIME. He was a part of the trifecta that harassed Brunson into a pedestrian game. All while dropping 10 dimes and hitting 50% from the field including 100% from 3. I'm sure there is someone in upstate N.Y. that uttered an unholy word on mother's day because of T.J.
Grade: A
Obi Toppin: Obi didn't get dusted by tough dust and also did not get the rebounding memo today. But what he did get was the speech from Micky from Rocky 2 about speed. Obi just runs whoever their 4 is at the time to death and as great as Hart is he suffers from the same problem Nesmith suffers from in a lot of games. He's to short to affect Obi's shot. Achiuwa has the size but not the speed. Obi coming in and dropping 14 points on them with 55% shooting is crushing for them because they need to keep the scoring low across the boards. I will say this about Obi, Since moving to the bench and being an energy guy who can score he has totally changed his value to our team. I'm not ready yet to give the full metal jacket speech of born again hard, but I'll say he has certainly redeemed himself from the very weak start to the season he had.
Grade: B
Isaiah Jackson: Ready when called upon and that means a lot for a team that left him out of the lineup for a large part of the season. He plays physical and is always jumping, sometimes to his detriment foul wise but he is slowly getting better about it. 10 points on 50% shooting and 100% from the line. No blocks today but did steal the ball twice. Did what he was called in to do. Also he matches the physical play and style of the Knicks as well. Nobody on their team shove him around.
Grade B
Ben Sheppard: 1/3 of the trinity that made life not so fun for Brunson. He spent the least amount of time on him but when he did his length did seem to bother him a little. But the most important thing Ben did all day long was grab 7 rebounds. In other words he had more boards than any Knick player did in only 18:44 minutes. Clearly the tough dust landed on him as well. Rock solid defense & great rebounding, what more can you ask for a player picked in the last part of the first round. I guess we could ask for better shooting but it didn't matter today.
Grade: B
It was nice to see Jalen Smith get a few productive minutes on the floor. I really had hoped he wouldn't revert into his shell like he has but here we are. I still think he could help going forward because he IMO is still the best interior rebounder on the squad. But I'm not sure his season isn't over.
I don't want to grade him because there isn't a score low enough and I just want to rejoice in our day. But what does Doug McDermott offer that a good roast beef sandwich wouldn't? At least I might enjoy the roast beef. But I'm not going to let him hold me down today.
This was a magical weekend of basketball in Indiana. For those of you that couldn't be here I can only say that being in the fieldhouse in May vs the Knicks is almost mythical in nature. And this series has already offered just as much drama as any Pacers Knicks series from the past.
The fans in Indiana have been nothing short of spectacular btw. This game was just an oddity because in the first half the place was alive and by the time we left it was as quiet as a church because the game had been over with for almost an hour.
I know I am probably going to regret this because we may get trashed on Tuesday but I just feel the need to bring back the song that I haven't used since Frank was here.
First let me get an apology out of the way. I owe BillS an apology because at the end of the Buck series I told him I would much rather faced the 76ers over the Knicks. Not because I didn't appreciate the rivalry or history but because I thought we had a better chance of beating the 76ers. I stand by my statement of that btw, but where I was wrong was in not embracing the morality play that is the Pacers vs Knicks. So yes BillS was right and I was wrong no matter how this ends because in the future when we are reminiscing about the past we are going to look back and this will be added to the long and storied tales between the two teams. Obviously the first two games made me want to throw a brick through my television, even though both games were competitive and from an outsiders perspective or Knicks fans perspective fun. Game 3 was fun from an outsiders perspective and a Pacers fan perspective and game 4 was fun for Pacers fans alone. But overall this has been one hell of a series.
You can't have a great series without a great opponent and guys, the Knicks (just as they were in the 90's) are a great opponent. If we can beat them, and believe me that is still nowhere near a guarantee, our team will have learned a ton in perseverance & toughness. Something we have lacked for most of the season but have shown some in the playoffs. If we lose to them, while disappointing, we will still learn the same things. I would hope they are learning something from us as well. To use the old clich?. "Iron sharpens Iron".
Do they exaggerate some things to draw a foul? Of course they do, hard to complain about that though when the all time face of your franchise is Reggie Miller. Instead of trying to act above it and be better than it I say we should learn from it and employ the same strategy to a smaller scale ourselves going forward. Hey, I wish we lived in a world where that type of behavior wasn't rewarded but it is. So since everyone else does it I say we shouldn't be above it either. I say this with the full embarrassment of suggesting this while Dale Davis is still in our state as he never so much as flinched on a blocking foul. But this is the times in which we live.
All of us Carlisle complainers, I include myself as the #1 culprit, have to eat some crow from these past two games. He absolutely has changed the defensive assignments and switched up how we attacked Brunson in both games and DiVincenzo this game. Fatigue is a factor, nobody will deny that, but at the end of the day that is the way the Knicks choose to play (big minutes) and Rick has chosen to keep fresh legs on the floor. It wasn't a great idea vs the Bucks but it is absolutely the way to attack the Knicks.
So, while I reserve the right to ***** and complain in the future about Rick and his rotations, I will happily eat crow today.
If I could put my finger on one statistic today that I felt was the reason for the huge victory it would be this. We beat the Knicks on the boards 52-43. Josh Hart who has been an absolute monster on the boards was held to a playoff low of 3 while is non union equivalent Aaron Nesmith had 12. That was devastating to their ability to make runs and took some of their energy. How fitting was it that we won the rebound battle with the greatest NBA pacers rebounder in the house. (I have a feeling I will be addressing this person somewhere in the future)
For a team that is not known to be a good defensive team, the Pacers actually played solid defense today. Once again nobody is denying the Knicks have fatigue and injury but that does not take away the effort our guys put in. If anyone knows our teams history this season they know that we could have just as easily walked out there and laid a dud of a game and overlooked them. We didn't and that needs to be acknowledged.
Let's give grades today, shall we? As always grades are totally subjective and I also tend to grade based on ability, expectation and how they perform.
Aaron Nesmith: I start with him because IMO he was probably the most important player today. He set the tone early and kept the energy up the entire time he was in there. Since he has been assigned to guarding Brunson, Jalen has not had the free looks that he had been getting throughout the playoffs (Philly as well) and can't seem to draw the fouls that he is used to getting. When Jalen looks in the mirror in his hotel room I'm pretty sure he will see Aaron looking out at him. His 12 rebounds were all tough,& in traffic. I can't make up my mind which was the most important thing he did today. Guard Brunson into a pedestrian game or lead everybody in rebounding. My gut feeling tells me the rebounding was important because both McConnel and Shepard did an admirable job on Brunson as well. My personal belief is that when Dale Davis waved his towel when he was revving up the car that he was slinging magic tough dust that landed on our bench thus somehow even making Myles Turner not soft for this one game.
Grade: A (going 0-4 from 3 kept him from an A+)
Pascal Siakam: 7-9 from the field was huge. When we had a few possessions where we struggled Pascal went down and got some tough in traffic shots and hit them. I'll be honest I don't understand why Thibs went away from Achiuwa in the second half. I assume he just wanted to to get more offense but it was a disaster both on the boards and the ability to guard Pascal. Statistically it wasn't a spectacular game but hey he only played 22 min. I will award him a solid game but he did what was needed in times that we needed it.
Grade: B+
Myles Turner: 5-5 from the field 3 blocks and 5 rebounds all in 25 minutes. Actually we need to take the time to point this out as well. The Knicks rested their team in the 4th but guess what, so did we. There is no advantage for them in getting more rest than us. In fact after the game we went to our own beds and I'm sure they flew out. Anyway back to Myles. When you are perfect from the field, block more shots than their entire team and don't embarrass yourself in rebounding (again crediting the all time leader in rebounding here) then you deserve a monster score.
Grade: A
Andrew Nembhard: 4 of 5 from the field with only 2 of those being 3's. I think he set the tone early by attacking the paint and not just settling for outside shots. He was part of the reason that DiVincenzo was mostly irrelevant today, yes for those of you from NY we are acknowledging fatigue is a factor as well. Dished out 5 dimes and was still basking in the glow of that huge *** shot from Friday. His defense has been solid, even on Brunson just not as great as Aaron's has been these past two games. But he certainly played his part today.
Grade: B+ (I'm giving him the + for hitting that shot Friday)
Tyrese Haliburton: Man do fanbases around the NBA hate this guy. The Knicks fans online are comical about it but my God do the Bucks fans hate this guy, he is living rent free in their heads while they celebrate their summer vacations. Anyway, while his scoring was nice him grabbing 6 rebounds (I think mostly in the first half) was huge. The reason it was huge? His task today was to guard Josh Hart. Well what is Hart's main super power? Rebounding. Tyrese outrebounded their super rebounder. That tough dust clearly landed squarely on Haliburton. Good passing, good shooting and in the tradition of Knicks vs Pacers he provided quality trash talking and a villain for N.Y. to root against. He played the most minutes of any pacer today and he only played 27 minutes.
Grade: A
T.J. McConnell: His entire game, and series for that matter, can be best summed up by Josh Hart. When asked about the play of McConnell Hart replied that he was an annoying little ****. I can't think of a bigger compliment than that other than maybe Doc Rivers calling him a pain in the ***. Enjoy every minute that he gives us on the floor folks because it won't last forever and while we can't expect him to play at a super high level every game, he will give you super high effort EVERY SINGLE TIME. He was a part of the trifecta that harassed Brunson into a pedestrian game. All while dropping 10 dimes and hitting 50% from the field including 100% from 3. I'm sure there is someone in upstate N.Y. that uttered an unholy word on mother's day because of T.J.
Grade: A
Obi Toppin: Obi didn't get dusted by tough dust and also did not get the rebounding memo today. But what he did get was the speech from Micky from Rocky 2 about speed. Obi just runs whoever their 4 is at the time to death and as great as Hart is he suffers from the same problem Nesmith suffers from in a lot of games. He's to short to affect Obi's shot. Achiuwa has the size but not the speed. Obi coming in and dropping 14 points on them with 55% shooting is crushing for them because they need to keep the scoring low across the boards. I will say this about Obi, Since moving to the bench and being an energy guy who can score he has totally changed his value to our team. I'm not ready yet to give the full metal jacket speech of born again hard, but I'll say he has certainly redeemed himself from the very weak start to the season he had.
Grade: B
Isaiah Jackson: Ready when called upon and that means a lot for a team that left him out of the lineup for a large part of the season. He plays physical and is always jumping, sometimes to his detriment foul wise but he is slowly getting better about it. 10 points on 50% shooting and 100% from the line. No blocks today but did steal the ball twice. Did what he was called in to do. Also he matches the physical play and style of the Knicks as well. Nobody on their team shove him around.
Grade B
Ben Sheppard: 1/3 of the trinity that made life not so fun for Brunson. He spent the least amount of time on him but when he did his length did seem to bother him a little. But the most important thing Ben did all day long was grab 7 rebounds. In other words he had more boards than any Knick player did in only 18:44 minutes. Clearly the tough dust landed on him as well. Rock solid defense & great rebounding, what more can you ask for a player picked in the last part of the first round. I guess we could ask for better shooting but it didn't matter today.
Grade: B
It was nice to see Jalen Smith get a few productive minutes on the floor. I really had hoped he wouldn't revert into his shell like he has but here we are. I still think he could help going forward because he IMO is still the best interior rebounder on the squad. But I'm not sure his season isn't over.
I don't want to grade him because there isn't a score low enough and I just want to rejoice in our day. But what does Doug McDermott offer that a good roast beef sandwich wouldn't? At least I might enjoy the roast beef. But I'm not going to let him hold me down today.
This was a magical weekend of basketball in Indiana. For those of you that couldn't be here I can only say that being in the fieldhouse in May vs the Knicks is almost mythical in nature. And this series has already offered just as much drama as any Pacers Knicks series from the past.
The fans in Indiana have been nothing short of spectacular btw. This game was just an oddity because in the first half the place was alive and by the time we left it was as quiet as a church because the game had been over with for almost an hour.
I know I am probably going to regret this because we may get trashed on Tuesday but I just feel the need to bring back the song that I haven't used since Frank was here.
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