March 20, 2023
Myles Puts Giannis on a Poster as Pacers Blow out Bucks!
Raj and Preston, the hosts of The Final Word, the number one Pacers podcast on the web, welcomed listeners to their show. They discussed the Pacers' game against the Bucks from the previous Thursday, which was an unexpected blowout win for the Pacers. Raj noted that the team was missing two of their stars, Tyrese and Benedict Mathurin, and that the Bucks had Giannis, Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday on their side. Things started off poorly for the Pacers, but TJ McConnell had a great game and stepped up to help the team secure the win. Raj and Preston discussed how they expected the Pacers to win the game but did not expect it to be a blowout. They praised TJ McConnell, who they said always gives 110%, and compared him to Russell Westbrook in terms of energy and enthusiasm.
The conversation was centered around the Indiana Pacers' slow start during the beginning of the season, and how their performance has improved since then. The speaker attributes the team's change in momentum to the decision to take out Nembart and put in McConnell, as he was beginning to get things clicking. It was also noted that the team had a high number of assists in the game, which was an indication of the team playing team ball. The speaker also praised the performance of George Hill, noting that he was unleashed during the game. Overall, the speaker was pleased with the team's performance, noting that it was a good sign for the future.
George Hill, an older and less aggressive basketball player, surprised everyone when he scored 15 points against his former team, the Bucks. Hill made five out of six shots, achieving an 83 percent shooting from the field, which was a major factor in the team's victory. His teammates and coach must have told him to take advantage of the opportunity to score as much as possible, and Hill delivered. He shot three smooth threes in the game, two of them back to back, showing the team that he still has the potential to be the aggressive George Hill
Myles Turner finally gets revenge on Gianni's and the Milwaukee Bucks as he shows them that he has superstar level talent as well. Listen to Rahj and Preston talk about what the Pacers can do to keep up this momentum and establish a winning culture once more and again in the Pacers locker room.
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Transcript
0:00:01
Rahj
Welcome back to another episode of The Final Word, the number one Pacers podcast on the web. I'm your host, Raj.
0:00:08
Preston
I'm your co host, Preston. We have a great show lined up for you today, but before we get to that, make sure you like share and subscribe to The Final Word. But most importantly, hit that bell icon if you're watching on YouTube, so you never miss a show. Plus, it would really help the production of the show.
0:00:24
Rahj
Yes, it would. So, Preston, the Pacers, our Indiana Pacers, had a great game against the Milwaukee Bucks this past Thursday. Some great things happened. Some things happened I didn't really expect to really see. So the Pacers were on the good side of a blowout. They blew out the Bucks 139 to 123. Typically, Pacers are on the other side of that blowout, and typically, if they win, it's usually not a blowout.
0:01:04
Preston
I thought they had a good chance of winning this game, but not this much. They really surprised it.
0:01:09
Rahj
I thought they had zero chance of winning this game. Yes, because we didn't have Tyrese, we didn't have Benedict Matherine, two of our stars for the team, and they had Janice, and they had Chris Middleton as well as Drew Holiday. So you would think, especially since they were playing in Pfizer form arena, which they never won in, you would think that's an automatic win. But the Pacers had something different to say about it. So the game honestly started off pretty ugly. It looked like it's going to be a blowout in the other direction.
0:01:51
Rahj
Yeah. Nimhard was not looking good in the beginning. He was not distributing the ball properly, nor was he knocking down shots. He shot four shots in a row that did not go in, and the coach shortly pulled him to replace him with TJ. McConnell. McConnell had a great game. You can always depend on TJ. McConnell. He's a guy you just need on your team. He's always high energy. Kind of like how you can always expect Russell Westbrook to be high energy and always give 110%.
0:02:26
Rahj
Same thing goes for TJ. McConnell, minus some of Russell's athleticism, but actually, I believe you say minus the well, I'd say minus the athleticism, but not minus the shooting, because he's been knocking down these threes as of lately. And the mid ranges, he's the greatest.
0:02:44
Preston
Spot under the right wing. And the mid range, this is a really good spot for him around the elbow area. But yeah, Nimmart was a lot of the reason why it was such a slow start for the Pacers. And he was kind of being, I guess, like, a little selfish in the sort of a sense, like not really being like a point guard and not really being a pass for his point guard, but more of like a score first point guard. And his shots weren't really falling for him. So it was a good choice for Kosher. Taking out and put in McConnell because McConnell started to get things clicking. Then Nimhard was like, all right, team ball, it's the Bucks. We're going to. Not just me, have to score. The whole team has to get going on a flow.
0:03:22
Preston
And then they switched that and the entire team started to play phenomenal and there was a lot of team ball going on and that's like, without Tyrese, we showed how good we can really be.
0:03:32
Rahj
Exactly. And it's a good sign, honestly. And so I'll say this, some people, we actually had a high number of assists. I think you guys can look this up. I think we had like 39 assists for that game, which is pretty darn amazing considering Tyrese wasn't playing. But they were like Preston was saying, team ball was at an all time high for this team and it was a good sight to see. And another good sight to see, which is something I always love to see on the floor in a Pacers jersey, is the one and only George Hill.
0:04:07
Rahj
My man, George Hill, Indiana. George he was unleashed this last Thursday. So, Preston, me and you were talking about this, and I think I was talking this to my dad also. I was like, what's going on? George Hill, when he's in there, he's not trying to score, like, what's going on? Like, as soon as he gets the ball, he passes it, like very quickly.
0:04:28
Preston
I think this game, they just told him, hey, don't get busy. Do your stuff, do your stuff.
0:04:33
Rahj
So that's exactly what happened. They said, hey, George, this is your old team. You are unleashed. Give them the business. And that he did. He gave them the business. He was dropping threes on them left and right. He knocked down three. Threes in the game, two of them back to back. Smooth threes, too. Smooth threes. So I was like, yes. George Hill. This is the George Hill I know. He turns back into aggressive George Hill. What were you saying, Preston?
0:05:01
Preston
Yeah, this is like a little glimpse of aggressive George Hill again, because he's a little older and he's not as aggressive and he doesn't attack as much. But still, this man came up with 15 points and he was five. So he attempted six shots and made five bones. He was 83% from the field goal, which I was like, Goodness, I was not expecting this. But that was also part of the reason why we won that game, because he was like, if we're going to coach is probably thinking, if we're going to beat the Bucks, we need everybody scoring as much as we can. If there's a person with a potential to score a lot like George with the 15th was he had today, then he needs to get him going. So I think he told him, hey, if you have an opportunity to shoot that, don't be like that little veteran who's just there to help the team.
0:05:44
Preston
Kind of like another assistant coach in a sense on the court, but to really get going and start it up.
0:05:52
Rahj
Yeah, just to get going and started up there's my lovely wife Preston's mother once again. But yeah, it was a great sight to see George Hill on the court doing what he knows how to do best. It was beautiful. Yeah, they just took the leash off and said, Go get at it. And honestly, guys, if you remember one of the last games when George Hill was actually in the Bucks, he was key in the Bucks coming back to beat us when we were playing. Well, beating the Bucks initially when we were there before.
0:06:28
Rahj
And when TJ. McConnell had that, I think he had a 25 point first half or something like that.
0:06:34
Preston
Yeah, I think it was something like that.
0:06:36
Rahj
Something like that, yeah. So George Hill knows how to play. So for whoever these Indiana fans are who don't think George Hill knows how to play for whatever reason, just think he's not really worth the time on the court. You can see he definitely is worth time on the court. So that being said, TJ McConnell, like I said, he had a great game as well. It was great to see him on the court as well. But one person we did not see on the court was Chris Duarte.
0:07:06
Rahj
Oh, yeah, chris Duarte got no play on the court at all. You're glad about that?
0:07:12
Preston
Yes. 0 second of court. Glad.
0:07:14
Rahj
Why are you glad about that?
0:07:15
Preston
After not last game, but two games ago, after how he played, doesn't deserve it, honestly. I thought they would give him some minutes but looking like they're getting ready for him to get out of here because the fact that he didn't play any coach probably okay dorche you didn't like and coach also because he's probably not seeing as much in practice too. Because if you're not going to give a guy who was a starter and then not give him any minutes like, okay, after one bad game, but then consistently not being accurate or not being consistent.
0:07:49
Preston
And then also, he probably is seeing some stuff in practice like he's not doing as well as the other guys.
0:07:53
Rahj
I don't know.
0:07:55
Preston
Yeah, I'm just happy too a little bit because I just don't want him to be here.
0:08:02
Rahj
Now, here's one good thing. I'll be quite honest, Preston, it sounds bad, I'm sorry. Chris Duarte, if you're listening to this, I know you're probably not, but if for some reason you do happen to listen to this, I'm sorry, but you're just not it right now. Honestly. One positive thing about Chris Duarte leaving is number three will be freed up again for George Hill. So he'll get his old jersey back, we'll be able to dish that number seven, get that number three, unleash all that George Hill power.
0:08:33
Preston
And I feel like on this podcast. We've been hating on Dorte a lot.
0:08:40
Rahj
We have.
0:08:41
Preston
But at the same time, the fact that after all these games, I feel like we've only had maybe two episodes on the podcast where we actually said something yeah, I think it was like two said something nice about Dorte.
0:08:58
Rahj
Every time.
0:08:59
Preston
It's just we're always hating on him because, well, he's just not consistent at all. And there's been other times where he's been good that we just didn't talk about it. But I think coaches and everybody on the team hi, everybody on the team. But the coaches are realizing this too. They've given them a lot of chances, too. Like, they had him on the bench a lot, but then they were starting to start him and see what he could do there. But he wasn't doing enough.
0:09:25
Rahj
He wasn't doing enough. And one thing that he wasn't doing enough in his defense was shaky, super shaky defense. And I will say this, like I said, I've talked about this before. Mather's defense is shaky, maybe not as shaky as Dorte's. And then also Nimhardt's defense is shaky. But having that, having George Hill into the rotation, I just think did something for us defensively. I really checked us as far as how we were defensively that game, but considering we scored 49 points in the third quarter, yeah, must have had some good.
0:10:05
Rahj
Well, we have the offense, but as well, considering we were getting blown out.
0:10:09
Preston
Because a lot of 24 seconds each play is sometimes that gets ran out the entire time. And then our offense had to definitely be cooking too. But to be able to get that many opportunities to score and then scoring with those opportunities, it was really good. It was really nice to see the Pacers as like a really good team without Halliburton because I don't think we ever saw that. Because I remember when Halliburton left for those eight games when he got majorly injured, it was more than eight.
0:10:39
Rahj
Sorry.
0:10:39
Preston
When he got majorly injured, we were not playing good. We lost probably more than eight games and only won like maybe one or two.
0:10:49
Rahj
Yeah, it was bad. I predicted we were going to go I think you said eight because I predicted we were going to lose eight in a row at least. And we did lose eight in a row. I didn't want to be correct about that. But I think the good thing about this is if it wasn't for that sorry stretch of play, I don't think they would have been able to beat the Bucks like they did. I think they figured some things out and I'm honestly starting to believe that the team of the future is already here.
0:11:19
Rahj
I think possibly that if we just develop the guys we have obviously make some changes in the offseason and do what we have to do to improve. But I'm thinking we just need to kind of just see what happens with this current team we have without making too many changes, hopefully possibly drawing in a big time free agent, you never know. Or at least a big time All Star or Fringe All Star, somebody who would probably fit well with the team. Kind of like how the Bulls pulled together lonzo Ball and then also Lonzo Ball.
0:11:58
Rahj
Goodness. What's the man's name? DeRozan. I couldn't think of the man's name. Lonzo Ball. DeRozan and other guy ball. Guy point guard ball, white guy, caruso. Thank you. I can't think of anybody's name right now. Yeah. Lonzo, DeRozan and Caruso. You wouldn't say those guys were super amazing. You could say DeRozan was, but you wouldn't say they were like superstar talent or anything like that. But if you have the right combination of guys on the team, especially when they match that with Zach Levine, they had magic last year.
0:12:34
Rahj
Obviously Alonzo got injured and hasn't played for over a year right now. You can kind of see he was somewhat of the glue that held that team together. Kind of like how Tyrese is for us as well. If we can just get somebody else who's like that over here, maybe somebody who's kind of underlooked as far as their talent nationally wise, I think we can actually do some major, major things. And the Pacers and the Pacers fans should be very excited about these next few years coming up.
0:13:02
Preston
Yeah, and like you said earlier, or not earlier, last podcast, that role players don't get the recognization recognition, recognition that's conflict anyways, that they should have. And they're like very key parts. Like you need a good shooter, you need a good facilitator point guard, you need a person who's really good defense, like a good center, just all those things. And that's why I don't really like how you said changes and how you said not big changes, maybe like another big guy.
0:13:35
Preston
But not to take away too many minutes from the other players because I like the team ball pieces are really like because they don't have their guy who can take over, so they're forced to do more team ball. And then also they don't have multiple guys like three superstars or two superstars to where they're like they're always giving them the ball and having them shine or something like Katie and Chris Paul and all them on that team. So we're like more everybody's getting the ball, everybody's getting points. And I like that because it's making everybody click. And then once everybody clicks, everybody gets going. And everybody gets going, we start to win games. So I really think if we just keep on passing the ball route, swinging it around, getting people open, because if we keep swinging the ball around, the defense is going to go from here to here to here, trying to keep up and then doing more screens and stuff to get somebody open.
0:14:25
Preston
And so if we keep doing that we'll definitely be in the play in.
0:14:28
Rahj
I think I agree 1000%. And I think we could possibly go on a run. I mean, I think they could get on a high, especially if they won't go ahead and win against Philadelphia. I think something could possibly click in their minds to say, hey, guys, we can do this. We can be a good team. We can overcome these obstacles and opposition. So I really believe that that can happen and we can possibly shock some people just how we kind of shocked some people at the beginning of the season this year, even while Tyrese is playing how we were fifth, sometimes 6th and the East, I think we could kind of get back to that kind of form of playing like that again. I believe we can.
0:15:13
Rahj
So one thing I do want to talk about, the Pacers had tied the franchise high with three pointers. 22 three pointers in that last game tied the franchise high. They shot one more, we would have broke it and that would have been amazing sight to see. So what do you think about that, Preston?
0:15:36
Preston
We were draining three whole game. Really exciting to see. It was like seeing the warriors.
0:15:44
Rahj
Exactly.
0:15:46
Preston
It was really exciting to see. It was like goodness, like swish after swish after swish. It was really cool.
0:15:53
Rahj
And it has something to do with what you're talking about as far as that team ball and passing. I think all of that happened as a result of really them sharing the ball properly. Because if they weren't and they were just trying to one on one and isolate guys, I think that wouldn't have happened.
0:16:11
Preston
We would have lost.
0:16:11
Rahj
But we were dishing that ball left and right and we were draining. And everybody got a piece of it.
0:16:17
Preston
Everybody got a piece of it. Speaking of everybody got peace. Three, almost four, if you counted. TJ. McConnell had 20 point games. So three of our players had 20 point games. If TJ. McConnell had like one more point because he had 19, it would have been four of our players had a 20 point game or higher. So that's really cool.
0:16:34
Rahj
Yeah.
0:16:35
Preston
Like four players on our team had more than 20 points. That's really good. And then everybody else was around there from twelve to 15 range, I think.
0:16:46
Rahj
Yeah. George Hill had 15. I believe Miles Turner had eleven. So yeah, we did pretty high. Twelve, yeah. Noir had twelve. Been playing good. Not neesmith nissmith. Did he have like 20? Niece Smith?
0:17:04
Preston
Oh, yeah, he had 22 points.
0:17:06
Rahj
22, yeah. So niece Smith, I think he dropped five three pointers that game. So he was hot.
0:17:14
Preston
He dropped six.
0:17:16
Rahj
He dropped six. Okay.
0:17:17
Rahj
Nine. He attempted oh, wow.
0:17:18
Preston
So he dropped six three pointers that game. So he was hot. And so I just really think this is going to really come together better than we ever thought could.
0:17:27
Preston
Nembhard dropped four.
0:17:29
Rahj
I remember that. I think it was the third.
0:17:31
Preston
No, it was the fourth. I can't remember a quarter. He was dropping threes, like, left and right.
0:17:34
Rahj
It was crazy. Yeah, I think it was the third quarter, I believe that's when we got really hot. But yeah, the coach told him to attack the basket because one thing we were missing without having Benedict MatherIn is somebody to really go in and attack. And they just told him, hey, just go do it. Go make it happen. And so he went in and started attacking that basket. I think so. Good in the first, not so great in the first. He didn't attack the basket in the first. And I think maybe when they pulled him out, they had probably had a talk with him. I think George Hill had to talk with him as well.
0:18:08
Rahj
And just something happened in his mindset and he just changing things up. And I think that's really what happens when you have good coaching and people who can actually provide the experience they've had in the past, to know how to kind of defeat your opponent.
0:18:23
Preston
Yeah. And he went from trying not to dribble himself into a good position to pass the ball and then run around like how Steph Curry runs around, like a thousand screens before he gets the ball and shoots. Not necessarily like that, but get into a certain spot to where pass the ball and then get busy.
0:18:40
Rahj
Exactly.
0:18:42
Preston
In the first, he was trying to make a way for himself to score.
0:18:46
Rahj
Exactly.
0:18:47
Preston
He switched that up.
0:18:48
Rahj
That's exactly what he was doing. And I can't stand when that happens. Yeah, I don't like that. I don't like that at all. Because not to say he can't be a player like that, but I don't like seeing people play like that in general. This is why people like to watch the warriors play. When you think of team basketball, you think of the warriors, or you might think of the spurs. Maybe not the spurs now, but you think of those two teams because they're not only good I mean, okay, spurs aren't great right now, but generally the spurs in the past, they're not only good they're not only good players, but they make it fun to watch.
0:19:27
Rahj
People would refer to the spurs back in the day, as they say they play beautiful basketball. I remember when spurs beat the Miami Heat and they were saying, oh, yeah, I think it was Chris what's his name? Chris. The Miami Heat. The old Miami Tall. Chris.
0:19:46
Preston
Chris Bosh.
0:19:47
Rahj
Chris Bosh. I couldn't say. I couldn't think of the name.
0:19:49
Preston
I was like, Chris Bosh. I was like, who's bald? What?
0:19:54
Rahj
No, he wasn't bald. I'm sorry. Chris Bosh. Okay. Anyways, he referred to them as playing beautiful basketball. And whatnot it is, people like to watch it. And that's one thing that's good about Tyrese, because he kind of gives that he just makes everybody want to pass the ball. I remember. That's what Jalen Smith said. He said it kind of rubs off and it's kind of contagious to a degree. Obviously, they can't dish it like Tyrese can, because Tyrese is a phenomenal All Star, probably one of the best, if not the best point guard in the league as far as assists and whatnot. And you could say whatever else you want to say about him, but pass the ball. I think he's like number one, personally.
0:20:40
Rahj
But, yeah, I think that makes all the difference. So I do want to talk about this one last thing before we really wrap it up. So if you guys did get a chance to watch the game, if there's one play you must watch, it involves one Miles Turner and one Giannis Antetokounmpo. Miles Turner completely destroyed and posterized Giannis on tentacle. He said, who's? Your daddy? He said, it's me. It was bad. Yeah, it was so bad.
0:21:18
Rahj
I think Miles Turner took a piece of his soul on that play.
0:21:22
Preston
He said, you.
0:21:25
Rahj
Took a piece of Janice's soul. It was like Giannis was like, oh, crap.
0:21:31
Preston
Yeah, that was funny.
0:21:34
Rahj
It was like, if you guys remember, if you're old enough, Highlander, the immortals, they beat each other up. And then once the person wanted to take their soul or whatever, their essence, they chopped their head off and then absorbed their essence. Preston, you don't know anything about that. Anyways, it was great. It was like Highlander all over again. But anyways, he chopped his head off.
0:21:58
Preston
But that was crazy.
0:22:00
Rahj
He just chopped on Yanni. Yeah. So he powered up like Super Mario Brothers eating one of the mushrooms. It was crazy. Yeah, he went into Super Sam mode on that right there. But anyways, had to talk about that. Kudos to Miles Turner. He's been bawling out this year and he's just continuing to play well. He's having the time of his life playing with these guys. He's having a career year. And I just know next year is going to be amazing and hopefully everybody will be healthy around that point in time.
0:22:37
Rahj
But, yes, it was a great show, Preston. Great show. So, that being said, you know what it's time for, preston, I'm going to ask you this. What is your final word?
0:22:57
Preston
Soul.
0:22:58
Rahj
Soul.
0:22:59
Preston
I don't know. He took his soul out of maybe Soul Snatching. Soul Snatching. Swing.
0:23:08
Rahj
Swing was why swing?
0:23:10
Preston
Because he swung the ball around.
0:23:12
Rahj
Because he swung the ball around. Sierra yeah.
0:23:16
Preston
I'll just go swing for now. I'll use the other one. I was thinking for next one. All right, so, dad Thomas, what is your final word?
0:23:25
Rahj
My final word is cut Giannis's head off.
0:23:31
Rahj
My final word.
0:23:33
Rahj
That sounds violent. Guys, I didn't mean it like if you heard that and thought something else, hopefully you didn't just start listening. Hopefully you heard the references and whatnot. But that is not my final word nor my final phrase. My final word is actually team. There is continue to play team ball. Keep swinging that ball around, dishing that ball, and things are going to continue to go up and up for this Pacers team. We obviously had no problem scoring points. We scored 139 points and it was against one of the number one teams in the league, and it was not overtime.
0:24:09
Rahj
We scored 139 points with no overtime. That's amazing.
0:24:14
Preston
That was really good. No overtime is crazy.
0:24:16
Rahj
Yeah. So we got the 76ers coming up in just a few minutes, and it's going to be a great game. Hopefully Myles Turner can posterize Joel and Embiid like he tried to in the last game. Like he pretty much did the exact same exact dunk that he tried to do on Joel, on Giannis. I think he's been working on that. So Myles is trying to snatch people's souls. I just know he is. So he's trying to get some clout off of these guys who are rated above him.
0:24:45
Rahj
And I don't blame him. He's had a career year, and if he can get a little bit of clout from dunking on some All Stars, go, more power to him. So, you guys, hopefully you've enjoyed this episode of The Final Word. Make sure you share the final word with a friend. Share with a loved one. Share with somebody. Just share the final word. And you guys take it easy. Be blessed.
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