The Indiana Pacers have lost four straight, and has not looked like the best team in the Eastern Conference that many people expected them to be. Newly acquired Evan Turner seems to be in line to be scapegoat for his new team. The Pacers problems were there before Turner arrived. but they hid them very well.
Prior to Turner’s arrival the Pacers had issues on the offensive side of the ball.
The Pacers are a inept team on the offensive end. The Pacers average 98.6 points per game (20th in the NBA). With the pace that they play at isn’t a bad number, but comparing them to other championship caliber teams they don’t stack up well. Teams such as Miami, Oklahoma City, San Antonio , and the Los Angeles Clippers all are more efficient on the offensive side of the ball. The Pacers are second in the NBA with scoring defense, but it will be tough for them to score with the top teams in the NBA. Without having a solid point guard the Pacers have had issues with turning the ball over at a high rate. Turner will be expected to share ball handling duties as he tries to find his niche with the Pacers.
When inserting a new piece to a team it’s always tough to work out the problems in the early stages. To some Evan Turner is a bust and is looked at as an inefficient player. I disagree with both and I feel that Turner is over scrutinized. With the route that the Pacers are going it will be easy to place the blame on Evan Turner.
All-Stars Roy Hibbert and Paul George haven’t played as great as they were in the early stages of the season. I don’t know if you want to blame Paul George’s and Hibbert’s decline in play on Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami or defenses catching up to their tendencies on the court. All in all I know that the responsibility of struggling should be shared collectively and not based on the acquisition of Evan Turner.
Honestly, this was a pretty redundant article with not much insight.
If anything, you should have talked about how they are using Evan Turner (as a spot up shooter, not a creator) and how they are playing him with Lance Stephenson, who also needs the ball in his hands to be effective.
So if anything, they should be using a different lineup of:
PG: Watson
SG: Turner
SF: George
PF: West
C: Bynum/Mahinimi