Feb. 9, 2023
LeBron James Passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Pacers Struggle Against Heat on 'The Final Word Pacers Podcast
The hosts of "The Final Word," a podcast about the Indiana Pacers, discuss the recent game against the Miami Heat and the importance of free throws. The Pacers struggled to make their shots and didn't capitalize on good shot opportunities, resulting in a 16-point loss in the first quarter. The conversation then moves to potential trades, specifically OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors, and the role of Daniel Theis on the team. The hosts question whether Theis will stay on the team or if the coach will trade him for younger, inexperienced players. They conclude that it's important to see how the younger players develop and build chemistry with the rest of the roster.
On this episode of "The Final Word Pacers Podcast", we recap the disappointing game against the Miami Heat where the Pacers fell 116-111. Despite strong performances from Buddy Hield with 29 points and Myles Turner with 21 points, the Pacers just couldn't close the gap. We discuss the impact of Myles picking up his second foul early in the second quarter and how Tyrese Haliburton's season high and low played out against the Heat. The Pacers struggled in the second half, shooting only 32%, and just couldn't overcome the Heat's defense. We also talk about the incredible performance by Bam Adebayo who finished the game with 38 points, 14 of which were from the free throw line. Join us as we break down the game and analyze the Pacers' efforts to end their 9 game road losing streak.
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Transcript
0:00:01
A
Welcome back to another episode of The Final Word, the number one Pacers podcast on the web. I'm your host Raj, and with me is my cohost, my dad, Mr. Reed. We have another great show lined up for you guys today, but before we get to that, please make sure you like, share and subscribe to The Final Word. But most importantly, hit that bell icon so you never miss a show. Plus, it would really help out the production of the show. So that being said that the Pacers tried to end their nine game home, sorry, home, their nine game away game, stretch of losing, and they were not able to do it against the Miami Heat.
0:00:51
A
Unfortunately, they had a great chance, I thought they could possibly pull it out. It didn't happen. Some good things happened, some bad things happened. But overall, how did you feel about the game tonight between the Pacers and the heap?
0:01:09
B
Well, actually, as I looked at the game tonight, I just saw what we usually see between the Pacers and the heap. We just had a real competitive game. Unfortunately, for some reason, the Heat, when it comes to getting foul and getting to the free throw line, they do that real well. And I think that in itself was the difference in tonight's game.
0:01:39
A
Yeah, they got to the free throw line, I believe, 39 times, which is quite ridiculous, and they only missed three, so they were 36 of 39. Bam Adebayo was completely irritating tonight. I think he had like, what, 38 points all by himself? 38 points all by himself. He knocked down all 14 of his free throws, which is amazing because he's a center. I mean, it's not to say center shouldn't be able to shoot, but typically when you think of his center, you don't think of your best free throw shooter on the team, and I'm not even saying that he is, but he got to the free throw line 14 times and knocked them all down.
0:02:24
A
Tyrees Halburton, did he miss like three free throws? He missed three free throws and he's a point guard. He can shoot long range. I'm pretty sure he is a better range. And Bam out of BIOS. So it's interesting sometimes when those guys who can shoot from half court or from almost half court, and they sometimes will, I'm not saying it happens all time, but they'll sometimes miss those free throws when you think that should just be automatic for them.
0:02:57
A
So I don't remember ever wondering if Reggie Miller was going to misprint those or not when I saw Reggie Miller shoot, and I just didn't about to.
0:03:07
B
Go in, just counted them.
0:03:11
A
So unfortunately that's not the case. Even when Paul George paul George is a pretty good free throw shooter. I'm trying to think of some teams we had, I don't know, I'm trying to figure out when we really started having teams where I was questioning our ability to actually knock down free throws. I don't know, the oladipo years, I'm not quite sure, but it used to feel like it was just a given they were going to knock those three throws down and not anymore these days.
0:03:54
B
But those free throws are important.
0:03:56
A
Yeah, I mean, it's a big difference between, you know, winning and losing the game. You know, we had 28 attempts and we only knocked down 20 of them. I think there's like 73% or something like that. So that's not really great. Not really great at all. So hopefully they can get that under control. But some good things happen tonight. Buddy healed. He had a great game. He had 29 and he was six of twelve from the three point line, which was good.
0:04:36
A
So he did all he could possibly do. TJ. McConnell had a pretty good game as well, coming off the bench, he had 18 points. Miles Turner had a good game, 21 points. But unfortunately, Tyrese, he had a good amount of assists, but he only had eleven points in being our main guy, which I would consider him our main guy, I just feel like you just have to score more. I don't know. I know they game plan for him because last time he had 43 points when they played the Heat.
0:05:15
A
So I'm pretty sure they made their adjustments to do what they had to do.
0:05:20
B
Well, they had quite a few turnovers, too. Yeah, they were down and they fight their way back into the game and then they go back into those turnovers. Yeah, I think a lot of it came from the matchups that they had and they tried to keep tall, long armed people on Halliburton so he couldn't get in position to make his shot. So if he went in, he'd have to really go in and have to look outside to be coming back outside with the ball.
0:06:04
B
I think we had some turnovers because of that.
0:06:07
A
Yeah, it seemed like sometimes I don't know, it just seemed like this to me or you, but it seemed like Halliburton would sometimes set us up for some good shots and we just didn't take them. I felt like he set us up for some good shots, we didn't take them. We overpassed the ball and then we get a turnover. Did you see that or was that just me?
0:06:33
B
Well, I think the pacers work on moving the ball, having people get touches, so you have people moving around in the paint. You can maneuver in and get good positioning. However, sometimes it looked like they overpassed and actually, because they overpassed, sometimes the clock actually ran out on yes, it's.
0:07:00
A
Nice to run selfie, but eventually somebody has to shoot the ball. You can't just keep on playing hot potato with the thing. I don't know what it is. People just need to get more confident with shooting the ball. Once they actually gets them in that position, where they're able to shoot the ball. I don't know what it is. I don't know if they feel like the release isn't fast enough, they're going to get blocked, but I just seem like they did some overpassing, like I don't know.
0:07:30
B
Well, a lot of it's not necessarily that they're overpassing. Just sometimes as good as the shot is, the ball just doesn't go down. I think that was something we ran into early with the Pacers in play in Miami and even in playing the Lakers. They got to the point where they were having to take shots, and you would think they were pretty good shots, but if you're taking them against somebody that's long, that sort of throws a shot off.
0:08:08
A
Yeah, definitely. And in regards to their shot taking in the beginning, it looked like they were going to do pretty well. I mean, they didn't do terrible, but they were trading those threes for a second, it looked like they were trading those threes back and forth of Miami. Then they went cold and Miami ran up on them. I believe six of seven shots between both the Pacers and the Heat were three point shots.
0:08:44
A
They couldn't hang and went cold. And then we got down by I believe was it 16 in the first quarter? Yeah, it got down by 16 and had to get back into the game again, which is unfortunate if it's even like that. Because I guess in regards to second quarter points, we're second in the east, no second in the league scoring second quarter points. So maybe somebody need to tell them they've already played the first quarter and beginning the game.
0:09:28
A
Imagine you played the first quarter, we're in the second. Yeah. So I feel like that's what they need to do. Something needs to happen. I don't know what kind of mental hypnosis they need to go through or I have no idea, but they got to turn that around. Would you say it's too late for them to? We don't really like the idea of tanking, but it just doesn't seem like we're going to really get too much done the rest of this year.
0:10:00
A
It just seems like we've just kind of hit our limit as far as our growth, and now it just kind of is what it is. What do you think about that? Do you think we can still grow, actually get better? Is there possibly anybody we could actually add to our team that's on another team who's available? I know people have been talking about OG Anobi from the Toronto Raptors. What do you think about that? Somebody we could use?
0:10:33
B
I heard him mention him several times. He is actually a good young player and he would fit in well with this group. Yeah, that would be a good move.
0:10:51
A
Yeah, I think that somebody kicked around the idea of trading and trading away TYs and Dwarte and some picks for him. So I don't know if the Raptors would go for that. But speaking of Tyce also because I don't dislike Tyce, I also wouldn't say I'm super fond of Tyce, but I guess one thing I will appreciate about him is he looks like he's another center who's out there, who knows what he's doing on the court, which is very important.
0:11:27
A
He doesn't seem like he gets tripped up necessarily. And I know that's probably why Coach Carlyle wants him out there over the other few inexperienced or less experienced centers that we have. What's your opinion about Tyson as far as his role with the team right now? Do you think it's something that he's going to go forward with? Do you think the coach would possibly want to trade him? How important is that to have Tyson versus letting the young guys get in there and start to build chemistry with our roster that we have and seeing how they can develop?
0:12:22
A
How would you say that is? You don't know?
0:12:26
B
I don't know. It's not a good one.
0:12:33
A
Yes. No, it's fine. TYT can get in there and do some things. But how would you say the importance of having Tyson there versus having some of the younger guys in there?
0:12:50
B
Well, I think one of the advantages of having Tyson in there, they have a more experienced player. Plus physically he's a lot stronger so he can push back and do he'll battle. He's not the type of guy who's going to give up, but he doesn't have the unique jumping ability that someone like Jackson would have. He doesn't have that explosiveness, so you don't have to worry about him blocking shot. But I think once again, once he gets his feet under him, I think he'll be a more explosive player.
0:13:41
B
Yeah, I think eventually he's going to become more productive.
0:13:46
A
Yeah, I think so as well. Definitely so in that regard, Miles Turner tonight, he had 21 points. He had a solid game. He was in foul trouble in the beginning of the game. They had to take him out to make sure he didn't file. He eventually did file out with a few seconds left, I believe. But in regards to Miles Turner, as far as how he is getting in foul trouble, what do you think the issue is with that?
0:14:26
B
Well, I think one of the issues that they really have to settle is I think they're too reliant on Miles Turner, where when their defenses actually break down, they have somebody that someone that's going to be in position to take shots and to drive to the basket and stuff like that. When other players men get beat, it's like miles is the last wall of resistance.
0:15:07
A
Right.
0:15:08
B
So I think what they're doing is they're actually, in some cases expected too much out of Miles.
0:15:16
A
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I think they are. So basically what that sounds like to me is we need to improve our defense overall because if you're expecting this much out of Miles, it's just not going to be overall good for Miles. Yeah, he is definitely the number three shot blocker in the league currently right now. That's great. You're saying that they're pretty much dependent on him too much for that. So you can't give them all that pressure of having to having to deal with that. We need to get some guys to be able to step up on the perimeter and improve their defense.
0:15:59
A
I don't know what that's going to take. I don't know if we need to get a new defensive coach. I'm not really sure at this point. Defensive coach, new players who can play defense because right now we're not able to hold these teams. And even me and Preston were talking about this earlier in regards to us even being able to blow some teams out. It doesn't look like we're ever going to be able to blow anybody out. It looks like we're just always going to be able to possibly beat them by a little bit.
0:16:38
B
Well, I think the problem that we have is rebounding the ball and getting those loose balls. If we're getting those loose balls, then once again we're in position to score. But I don't see those funds being replaced anytime soon.
0:17:06
A
Yeah, I don't think so either but yeah, Pacers lost again, unfortunately. 10th road lost in a row. But like I said, we had some good, some bright spots, as much as you can see. But as far as let's go on to some other news. LeBron James got the scoring, all time scoring record. So the question is, is that going to be possible for anybody even get that record after he's got it? Because he's probably going to play for another at least a couple, if not three more years. I mean, he don't look like he's ready to retire anytime soon.
0:17:52
B
Just the fact that he's still there shows that people can have a prolonged life in a sport. Of course, I'd have to say LeBron is doing an excellent job of actually taking care of his body, keeping himself in shape and keeping himself out of injuries.
0:18:17
A
Yeah, he's definitely done a good job of that. I heard somewhere that he spends like a million dollars a year or something like that on his body as far as keeping himself in shape and making sure he's ready to play and whatever else he has to do for his body. That's what I heard. I don't know if you ever heard anything like that, but I heard he spends like a million dollars a year on his body, which I guess I don't know exactly what you would do. I don't know how many supplements or trainers.
0:18:46
A
I don't exactly know if he's getting some special juice to inject, something like that.
0:18:57
B
He's got special cooks.
0:18:58
A
Yeah, he's got special cooks. That's probably what it is. It's probably a little bit of everything. Probably something to do with payroll and things like that, but I don't think he's taking a million dollars worth of products or gym memberships or anything like that. Yeah, but he's definitely long lasted, so definitely got to give him that credit. But somebody was saying that they don't think anybody's going to break his record for another 40 years because it took roughly 40 years for him to get the record.
0:19:26
A
But I'm personally thinking I don't think anybody's going to get the record at all. Me and Preston were talking about it. It just seems like it's going to be out of reach as much as it was pretty much almost out of reach for LeBron to even get it. Now he's attained it and he is not even looking like he's going to retire. So if he retires the next three years, how many more points is that if he's averaging 36 points he scored.
0:19:56
B
The next three years?
0:19:57
A
Yeah, exactly.
0:19:59
B
At the Pace, he's still functioning that yeah, it's just amazing. We're looking at a person his age can participate at the high level he's participating at.
0:20:10
A
Yeah, that's very impressive. But anyways, I think we're going to go ahead and wrap it up and in this latest episode of The Final Word pacers lose to the Miami Heat, unfortunately, but I don't know, we'll just see how the season goes. We still love the Pacers, win or lose. We just want them to win more. So it's more exciting for us to talk about it.
0:20:38
B
That's true.
0:20:39
A
And it's definitely more exciting for you guys to listen, but all right, guys, well, thank you for listening to another episode of The Final Word. Dad. So what is your final word that you're going to leave us with? Final Word. Do you have one?
0:20:56
B
No, I don't really have words. Let's go with this hope. Hope they will come out of this slump and win some games. Yeah, we need something to celebrate.
0:21:15
A
I agree. I agree. My Final Word is going to be hang, as in hang on in there. So hang on in there and keep on listening to The Final Word while we report these games. The latest NBA news to you guys who are tuning in, we have a new website. The final Word has a new website. It is Pacersfinalword.com. Pacersfinal Word. That is our new website. You can go there and you can see all of our posts all in one place.
0:22:02
A
You can play directly from the website or you can take it directly to one of your favorite podcast listening networks. So you can also we're going to start doing this. You can also start to leave us voice messages. So maybe in the future we'll say, what did you guys think about the last game? Or what do you guys think we need to do in the future as far as trades and picks? You guys can leave us a voicemail and we'll actually feature you on an episode of The Final Word, and we'll let you know if you have been one of the people to be featured so you can tune in specifically for that episode.
0:22:42
A
But, guys, that's going to be it. Thank you for watching or listening to The Final Word, the number one pacers podcast on the web. I'm raj and my dad were signing off. Take it easy.
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