Carlisle using disappointing losses as Pacers’ teaching tools
INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Monday’s disappointing loss to Portland that his team “needed to learn some lessons.” He used a film session and then a practice Wednesday that went well beyond its scheduled time to drive home the range of lessons that needed to be learned, from the smallest-picture details of correctly executing double teams and block outs to the bigger picture demands of respecting every opponent and not treating each victory as an opportunity to exhale.
Based on his players’ reactions, he seemed to at least get his point across regardless of whether or not it was absorbed well enough to be employed in their Thursday-Saturday two-game series with the Heat in Miami. The Pacers are aware, at least, that their 9-7 record should be a lot better than it is after dropping five of their first 11 home games
“We have some tough losses to teams that we should beat,” guard Bruce Brown said. “Our record should be way better than it is now. We just have to focus better against the teams with the not-so-great records.”
Carlisle showed the Pacers film of what can happen when they aren’t taking their tasks seriously enough, how a lack of focus leads to small mistakes which lead to missed shots or turnovers on offense or easy scores or second-chance points on defense, which eventually turn into losses in games they should win.
The Pacers’ top-rated offense provides them with a margin for error. They can make mistakes and still outscore teams. But on the other hand, their defense is fairly permissive to start with and small mistakes just make it worse. They’re scoring 127.6 points per game (third-best in NBA history through 16 games) but allowing 124.8 per game (fifth-most) so that puts too many games on a razor’s edge.
“When we met before the season started, we talked about the details and the difficulties of NBA basketball,” Carlisle said. “We failed in the detail areas of the Portland game. We turned it over, we had some bad shots, ill-advised. We didn’t play to a standard that is the right standard for us. We hope it’s a lesson learned, because we now get into a very difficult stretch.”
Carlisle mentioned shot selection, physicality on defense, block-outs and grabbing the ball when it comes to rebounding. And he also mentioned that they haven’t reacted well when something doesn’t go according to plan on defense.
“There are a lot of details I could give you,” Carlisle said. “There are many instances with our team where we do a lot of good things in a defensive possession, then we have one ‘Oh (expletive)’ moment and then we give up an offensive rebound or have some kind of a breakdown that leads to a score and we can’t get the ball and go, because we’re the best in the world at doing that.”
Carlisle said he’s trying to mix in positive film with negative film, especially when it comes to defense so the Pacers don’t start to believe they’re simply hopeless on that end. He was particularly proud of what they did in the fourth quarter of last week’s win over the Pistons when they allowed just 17 points and slowed down young Pistons stars Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
“We just have to stay on it,” Carlisle said. “The season is still pretty young. We have to stay positive with the group and talk more about what we do want to happen and less about what we don’t want to happen, because that can come off in a negative way.”
One point they got across is that because the offense has been so good, the defense doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better than it is.
“We have to take on the challenge of guarding our yard,” forward Obi Toppin said. “Helping each other out on the floor and locking into everything they’re telling us to do defensively. Offensively, I think everybody knows our identity. If we get a couple of more stops defensively, we don’t have to be the best defensive team. ... If we get a couple more stops, that’s going to change our game a lot.”
But they don’t have to hold back when it comes to being clear about respecting opponents, regardless of what their records are. The Pacers have lost three games at home this season to teams that clearly seem lottery-bound in the Bulls, Hornets and Blazers. Though those three teams are a combined 15-37, they have All-Star-caliber players, including Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward and Portland’s Jerami Grant and DeAndre Ayton.
“It’s the NBA,” Toppin said. “No matter who we play, whether it’s somebody on the bench or starters, no matter who we play, if guys made it to the NBA, they’re really, really good players. No matter what we do, we have to approach every game the same, go in there not worrying about the other team, worrying about us. Doing what we’ve been working all summer for, all year for.”