I am disappointed with Lance

[McKeyFan]

Most of you know I have been one of the most vocal Lance supporters on the forum, predicting big things for his future.

Last night did not help my case.

He was given the perfect opportunity to step up and show what he can do under pressure. He had the opportunity to play some point guard. He had the opportunity—and we had the need—for him to be more aggressive as a scorer. It was Knicks-Pacers in Madison Square Garden, Lance's home town. You couldn't find a better recipe for someone with the seeds of greatness to begin to emerge as a great force on the basketball court.

Instead, we got a couple missed three pointers early in the shot clock, a hesitancy to drive to the hoop most of the time (when he did, he overcompensated and hurt himself on some wild sky dunk attempt).

I actually felt comfortable watching him play the point. I still feel like he should have done so all year, and I think we'll see him do that in the future (the play at the end he slipped on a wet spot on the floor, it appeared). That's not the issue here.

The issue is that he had the opportunity to step up and do something special . . . and he didn't. This tells me he may certainly be a bright spot for us as an unexpected very good all around player, but it doesn't foreshadow him becoming really great.

It's not over yet. He'll have more opportunities. I was pretty hard on Roy before he finally broke out and emerged as a star (at least I think he did.) So one's fate isn't determined in one outing. But I am disappointed in last night's performance.

Anybody have memories of how Reggie performed during his first similar early opportunities?

[ksuttonjr76]

It was only one game for someone who went from barely playing to being an important part of the team. I remember a certain young Kobe Bryant missing the final 3-4 shots in a series against the Jazz.

So in other words...back away from the ledge.

[Steagles]

The entire team played like crap and we still managed to keep it close. You were looking at a young, but good team that can win ugly games. On the road, without his buddy in the backcourt, Lance did the best he could, but it was just an all-around team loss last night. I don't think it will be nearly this bad at The Bank.


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[DisplacedKnick]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

As young as he is I think you have to give him some slack, especially since he didn't know about his new role in any pregame meetings, walk-throughs, shootarounds or at any point before last night's pregame warmups. I was thinking before the series that was a matchup where we'd have the edge (of course I said the same about Chandler-Hibbert and how stupid does that seem right now?) and at SG if anything you've had the advantage. When a young player has to shoulder something new, and particularly against a team which has strong perimeter defense, it takes a lot of coaching and watching film. He didn't have any of that.

He's done what he's supposed to do. Just at this point he hasn't figured out how to do what he wasn't supposed to do - and hasn't been prepared for.

[yoadknux]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

This is what happens when you have too high expectations. If something didn't happen all season, why would you expect it to happen now?

[Pacergeek]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

I think the officials basically took Lance out of the game. He was getting mugged out there and no fouls were being called. Lance is somewhat fragile mentally. If he loses confidence, he will check out.

[mrknowname]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

needs to improve his shooting a lot. his ft % is a bad indicator for shooting ability. hasn't looked confident bringing the ball up the court either

[D-BONE]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

I'm disappointed within that game itself, but not reading too much in beyond that. Let's see what Lance does with his remaining opportunities.

Honestly, asking him to play major minutes at point at this juncture is quite an imposition given he wasn't put in a position to gain any experience at it throughout the regular season.

Personally, I'm not sure where Lance's long - term ceiling is. It might be approximately the expectation he's established this season - solid complimentary player. Of course, it could be higher, too, but for some reason I just don't sense the underlying stability in his play/persona to elevate him to being a "star".

[Coopdog23]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

He honestly didn't drive the ball at all

[Rogco]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

Bah, lot's of things to be upset about last night.

Paul George trying to be a superstar and failing (the airball and numerous turnovers come to mind). Ian being the only pacer to shoot 50% or better from the floor.
Missing 14 free throws. Vogel staying away from Tyler (did he get hurt or something, what was up with that???)

[Mac_Daddy]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

There was some pretty bad officiating last night on both sides and it definitely didn't allow the Pacers much to work with. Sure, Lance had a bad game but so did everyone else.

I don't know why we decided to emulate Dwight Howard from the FT line.

[Unclebuck]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

Sure, I wish he had played better. But overall nothing long term or lasting to be disappointed about. he's a very important player in our future success

[A-Train]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

Lance has a habit of coming to a stop in a sorta stiff legged way that seems to jam himself up, causing him to tweak a knee or a hip, or losing his balance, or something. I've seen him do this on several occasions and then basically fall down for no good reason, except that a leg will buckle. Then, of course, he rolls around on the ground for a few minutes, gets up, hobbles around some more, then gestures to the bench that he's okay.

Well, either he's not okay and he wants to play through it, or he's being overly dramatic for some reason, or...???

It's just an odd thing that he does with how he gets stiff legged that starts it all.

[naptownmenace]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

Lance has a habit of coming to a stop in a sorta stiff legged way that seems to jam himself up, causing him to tweak a knee or a hip, or losing his balance, or something. I've seen him do this on several occasions and then basically fall down for no good reason, except that a leg will buckle. Then, of course, he rolls around on the ground for a few minutes, gets up, hobbles around some more, then gestures to the bench that he's okay.

Well, either he's not okay and he wants to play through it, or he's being overly dramatic for some reason, or...???

It's just an odd thing that he does with how he gets stiff legged that starts it all.

I just think that Lance's conditioning is not where it need to be and working on his conditioning should be a priority this offseason. It seems that whenever he goes over 30 minutes in a game he gets tired and sloppy. However, he's no worse than Paul George was last year at this time in that area so there's no need to panic.

He wasn't put in a good position last night, not knowing that there was going to be an adjustment in his role during practice. I expect him to play better Saturday if Hill can't play. However, Lance isn't a PG. His strength is at the SG position. We've had many discussions about this in the past but one thing this series has shown is that Lance is a much better catch and shoot player from the perimeter than he is shooting off the dribble.

[Dr. Hibbert]

Re: I am disappointed with Lance

The only thing that disappoints me with Lance is that either he doesn't recognize, or is being coached not to, take players like Kidd or Prigioni one-on-one and get shots closer to the basket (backing off Kidd for a 30-footer was maddening!)

Other than that, I'm really not sure what anyone expects from the guy. He's not a shooter, and that's not going to change. He still impacts the game defensively and in transition. Just needs more awareness or green light to drive more on weaker defenders.