Feb. 12, 2023
Pacers Welcome Home George Hill! Wave Three Players After Trade Deadline.
The Final Word podcast discusses the recent excitement in Pacer Nation, the basketball team that the podcast is named after. The Pacers have had flashes of success this season but have struggled to maintain it, particularly since the return of their star player, Tyrese Halliburton. Despite Halliburton's impressive performance, the team still suffered a tough loss against the Suns. However, there were some positive takeaways from the game, including Isaiah Jackson's strong showing.
The recent trade deadline has brought changes to the Pacers roster, as they welcomed back fan favorite George Hill and added new players to their roster while waiving others. Despite some recent losses and lack of success, the Pacers have reason to be optimistic about their future.
Summary/Abstract
The hosts of The Final Word podcast welcomed viewers back to another episode and asked them to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast. They then discussed the recent excitement in Pacer Nation, the basketball team from which the podcast gets its name. The hosts discussed how the team had been having flashes of success, but hadn't been able to sustain it since the return of their number one player, Tyrese Halliburton. They discussed how Halliburton had been doing well for the team, scoring 18 points in one quarter and four or five three pointers in a recent game. Despite his efforts, the Pacers still managed to lose the game. The Pacers recently experienced a tough loss against the Suns, despite the fact that Kevin Durant was not present in the game. There was still some positives to take away from the game, with Isaiah Jackson having a good showing with 14 points in the fourth quarter. The trade deadline recently ended, and the Pacers got George Hill back, which was exciting as fans miss his energy and enthusiasm whenever he was on the court. The Pacers also waived some players and got some new additions to their roster. Ultimately, the Pacers have some optimism for the future, despite the recent losses and lack of success. The conversation is between two people talking about the Indiana Pacers. They discuss how they missed the energy of Paul George when he was playing and hope he brings the same effectiveness even though he is older now. They also talk about Jordan Nwora who was on the Bucks and didn't get much playing time. They think he could be a great addition to the team and be the first legitimate power forward they have had in a while. They mention Brissett and how he could have been a great contributer to the team. The conversation is about Brissett, a power forward for the Pacers. He is not a legitimate power forward, but more of a small forward. They also discuss the recently acquired player Serge Ibaka, who is a 6'10 power forward, and how they got excited when they found out they had him. They talk about how they were sad when they found out they had to waive him, as they felt he didn't get enough of an opportunity to show what he could do. They discuss how George Hill and Serge Ibaka could have provided valuable insight due to their veteran experience. They also talk about Goga Batadze, who was waived, and how they both saw potential in him, but he never got a chance to show it.
Timestamps
0:00:01
"The Final Word: Examining the Struggles of the Indiana Pacers Without Tyrese Halliburton"
0:02:35
Heading: Pacers Trade Deadline Recap and Optimism
0:04:41
Heading: Discussion of the Indiana Pacers' New Additions to the Team
0:06:04
Conversation Summary: Bruce, George Hill, and Sergey Bacca's Roles on the Pacers
0:10:33
Heading: Analysis of Recent Transactions for the Indiana Pacers
0:13:29
Conversation on Experiments with Lineup and Who Needs More Time on the Court
0:18:17
Heading: Miles Turner's Performance at the End of Last Season
0:20:33
Analysis of Miles Turner's Progression and Confidence in the NBA
0:28:03
Conversation Summary: Comparing LeBron James to Other NBA Players
0:30:01
"Analysis of the Indiana Pacers' Current Situation"
0:31:25
Heading: George Hill's Impact on the Indiana Pacers
0:33:43
Discussion on Improving the Offense and Defense of the Fifth Team
0:34:56
Heading: Discussion on Giving Smith and Jackson a Chance on the Team
0:39:34
"Analysis of the Sacramento Kings' Potential for the 2021 NBA Playoffs"
0:40:36
Discussion on Improving Team Chemistry and Player Potential for the Indiana Pacers
0:42:19
Heading: Discussion of the Indiana Pacers' Need for Practice and Chemistry to Improve Performance
0:43:58
Heading: Discussion on Paul George and George Hill's Relationship and PacersFinalWord.com
0:46:09
Heading: PacersFinal Word: The Importance of Practice and Defense
0:47:35
"The Final Word: Improving the Team's Defense"
Highlights
Paul George is never coming back and Lance is done with the league. Yeah, like, let's face the facts, they're old. Paul George is trying to be a superstar. And the Clippers, he's not even thinking about the Pacers at all. And he's like, the only person I know is Miles. And then he probably saw that George Hill came back, he was like, oh, that's pretty cool. George Hill. Miles are back together. Okay.
And I think every NBA player has the potential to be a star because the fact that you got to the NBA shows me something and maybe you can't compete with the rest of them. But our Pacer players, every single player other than Smith, I've really been seeing that they're terrible.
And you make a good point. Maybe not need a top rookie because we've already talked about our offensive play really isn't bad. So maybe building chemistry and getting the team more experiences, especially in playoff, maybe that could be a good thing. And then maybe they can build in the off season through getting some defensive players in some kind of way.
But it's better than tanking. Okay, I understand. Because this is a whole new team. So my thing is if us getting a rookie at this point, you could see some people that some people have been looking at in college, but nobody really shocking like I hear about all the time. Nobody like a LeBron or Steph or anybody come to the lead like that. So my thought is if we make it to the first round and play against a team, we don't necessarily do terrible because we can stay with teams sometimes, but we don't necessarily do terrible. We still lose at least get one game, maybe even if we get four and we still put up a fight for at least two games or something, then I'll kind of put the pace on the spot and then it'll also make them be like, all right, I want to get back at this. If we can make it to the playoffs, I want to really be able to stand in there and then they'll be working hard towards the summer. I mean, this is the first time and there's been a lot of changes in this year. So this has been the first time that they've played all together and stuff and they're still adjusting. And this is also a very young team.
Yeah, put him on the backup roll and not put him in front of Smith or not Smith, put him in front of Jackson and then he didn't play good. So now he's not really getting any minutes. And then now this will be his third chance if they try to put him coming off with Tyce. And then if he cannot do that, okay, maybe not a week, but maybe like a week and a half or something after like five games or something.
Transcript
0:00:01
Preston
What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of The Final Word, the number one patient's podcast on the web. I'm your host, Preston.
0:00:07
Rahj
And I'm your cohost, Rahj.
0:00:09
Preston
We have a great show lined up for you 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 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
Alright. Right. So Preston, a lot of things have been going on lately this week in Pacer Nation. There's been a lot of excitement, buzzing as much as you can possibly have for a team that's pretty bad right now.
0:00:42
Preston
Yeah, our excitement. But sadly, we've not been very exciting on the court.
0:00:47
Rahj
We've not been very exciting on the court. We've had some flashes of excitement, we've had some good play from certain players, but nothing has really materialized after our number one player, Tyrese Halliburton, came back from his injury. And I do understand it takes some time for people to kind of really get back into their full rhythm and full swing of things, but it's okay. Everything's going to work out fine.
0:01:16
Rahj
Like I think I said before, it's a good thing that that kind of happened because it really exposed the type of team that we have and how good we actually are. For a second, it just seemed like when we were winning those games, even though they were all close games, sometimes just think they're just close games because they're just two really good teams. But it just seems like I guess it was really they were close games because our team wasn't that great and Tyrese was really making up a lot of the difference.
0:01:46
Preston
Yeah, he'll be having like 18 point quarters in the fourth quarter. He had like 18 points in one game and he does that multiple times.
0:01:56
Rahj
The most recent game he actually had, I think it was four or five three pointers he just shot in one of the most recent game.
0:02:05
Preston
Three pointers.
0:02:06
Rahj
Yeah, it was something like that. So he had a pretty good, solid game. He was getting open, knocking those threes down, but the Pacers just still somehow managed to get beat. But it is what it is. But anyways, some really good things have happened for the Pacers as far as optimism is concerned. Obviously, as we know, the trade deadline just passed and a lot of teams made a lot of different moves. I believe Kevin Durant went to the Suns, which he recently played the Suns.
0:02:35
Preston
And he wasn't there.
0:02:37
Rahj
And he wasn't there and they really didn't need him because the Suns pretty much beat us down.
0:02:44
Preston
It was just sad. We tried to come back for like.
0:02:47
Rahj
Kevin Durant was there. It had been really bad.
0:02:50
Preston
Kevin was there. They would have started putting the reinforcements halfway through the game or something.
0:02:55
Rahj
Yeah, it was pretty bad. But yeah, there's still some good things you can take away from that game. I do remember Isaiah Jackson, he got in near the end and he think he had like 14 points in the fourth quarter on that game.
0:03:16
Preston
Yeah, I think so.
0:03:18
Rahj
Yeah. It was a really good game for him, I think, because he had that ability to do what he did the next game, which was the most recent game we played, which was against the Washington Wizards, he got a little more playing time. He got more playing time than Smith as well. So he was able to actually show what he could do. He had a lot of exciting plays, I thought, in that game. But Pacer still didn't win again, as you know.
0:03:56
Rahj
But anyways, let's talk about the excitement. So trade deadline ended and we waived some players and we got some players you guys know already who we got. We got George Hill. He's back. I'm excited about that because I always miss George Hill pressing. Every time I saw George Hill, no matter what team he was on, it was so emotional.
0:04:23
Preston
Every single guy. Yeah, I like seeing them. I still have a post of the Pacers and then seeing him on the court. So it was it's it's I missed when he was played. So I hope he brings the same amount of energy. Maybe not the same amount of energy because he's older, but the same amount of effectiveness.
0:04:41
Rahj
You never know. He's 36, LeBron's 38. So true. I don't know. We know he's not LeBron, but we got good George Hill. We'll talk about him a little bit later, too, as well. But we also picked up Jordan Avoid. I don't really know much about him, be quite honest. I just know he was on the Bucks and he didn't get a lot of playing time. But it seems like he might be one of those situations I have to investigate a little bit more.
0:05:04
Rahj
He might be one of those Aaron Neesmith situations.
0:05:07
Preston
Yeah, he's been showing flashes of greatness here and there while he was on the Bucks, but never really got to maybe blossom all the way because of Janice and Middleton and all the mother people in the Bucks. So maybe we'll see a better version of him.
0:05:22
Rahj
Yeah, definitely. So he's still a young guy. He was in that 2020 Draft with Tyrese Halliburton, so they're all around the same age. He's a young guy. Hopefully he'll be able to blossom with this team. He'd be a really good well, he'd be our first actual, I think, power forward, a legitimate power forward. Not Aaron Neesmith, who's really not a power forward and not really Isaiah Jackson, who's really more of a center and not a power forward.
0:05:51
Rahj
So he'd be our first legitimate power forward we've had in a while. I guess you could say what's his name? Brussette. You could say Bruce is a legitimate power forward, but he's not like a.
0:06:04
Preston
Solid he's like a small forward, I think.
0:06:06
Rahj
Yeah, you could say he's a small forward, but he's not a legitimate power forward. Even when he plays the power forward, just because he's not that great. I do like percent, but he's not like, starting caliber all the time. But he does have flashes. But yeah, so we got that guy. So looking forward to seeing what they're going to do. I believe they're going to be playing on Monday, and we'll be able to get to see him on the floor.
0:06:36
Rahj
Wait, hopefully we'll get to see George Hill on the floor as well now, Sergey Bacca, it's interesting because when I found out we got him, people were saying, oh, he's not going to suit up. Oh, he's going to get weighed. I was like, oh, no, he's not going to keep him. And they waived him. And the Pacers instagram had a big welcome sergey Bacca post with Sergio Bacca and a Pacer shirt and everything.
0:07:03
Rahj
Why would they go through all that just if they had to have some kind of insight about them possibly waving him, or maybe they did that just kind of throw us off the track. So I'm not sure.
0:07:12
Preston
I don't know.
0:07:13
Rahj
But yeah, they said, welcome, Sergiobaka.
0:07:18
Preston
I was happy that we were going to get him because I thought he was going to be a good, decent role player. And also, how Paul? He's pretty tall, right?
0:07:26
Rahj
Yeah, he's like 610.
0:07:27
Preston
Yeah, I thought bring some height to the team, too, because we're kind of like a small team, kind of, because Miles Turner is the only person, I.
0:07:34
Rahj
Think close to seven foot.
0:07:36
Preston
Close. Yeah, I was going to say close to seven.
0:07:38
Rahj
We did have Gogo battaliday, which he didn't play, but he's definitely not playing now.
0:07:43
Preston
He got waived, but oh, he is.
0:07:46
Rahj
I know that Goga got waived.
0:07:49
Preston
Really?
0:07:50
Rahj
Yes. He's gone. And the funny thing about it is because we both saw some good things in Goga. Yeah. He didn't really get a chance to really materialize everything, and that was partially because he was playing behind Miles Turner and Demonic Sabonis for so long. And then after that, even after Sabonis left, we had Jackson come in who had some promising upside to him, and he just never really got the chance to really show what he could do. And I thought it was interesting because I saw a post, not a post game, but a conference, and Kevin Pritchard said that he honestly didn't think Gogo got the opportunity that he should have gotten, and he said he thinks that was partially his fault.
0:08:41
Rahj
So I think what they're saying is Goga really wasn't that bad, but he didn't get a super good amount of time and opportunity to really develop himself to where he could get better. Even when you're playing with the G League, you say, yeah, you go play with the G league develop. It's not the same amount of competition. It's not the same type of competition with the G League. You're sending a bunch of people to the G League who need to develop, who need to get to the level of playing on NBA level, but that's where all those people go, so they're not playing against the same type of competition.
0:09:16
Rahj
There's not a bunch of Kevin Durantz and Kawhi Leonards and LeBron. James is in the G league. He's gone. I like goga. Hopefully he gets picked up by somebody.
0:09:31
Preston
Yeah, I hope the team picks him up and tries to use them at least just a little bit. Give him like two minutes, three minutes or something. He'll surprise you.
0:09:39
Rahj
Yeah, he might surprise you. He got some really athletic things he can do, but yeah, he's gone. I'm sad.
0:09:46
Preston
So now that I know he's gone, now I'm really sad that we lost Sergi Baka for the height because we don't have anybody's like another person.
0:09:55
Rahj
Goku was a seven footer. It's hard to get a seven footer these days.
0:09:59
Preston
It really is. My goodness. Hope another one rolls around. But yeah, really sad we lost Serge because I thought he's going to be a really decent role player. Also because I thought him and George Hill could bring some good insight of how to evaluate different situations. Because them being goodness, I can't think of the word what?
0:10:22
Rahj
Veterans.
0:10:22
Preston
Veterans. I was trying to say that the entire time.
0:10:24
Rahj
I kept saying that. It's like this.
0:10:27
Preston
Yeah, them being veterans. So I was really hoping he could come and give team that.
0:10:33
Rahj
Yeah, no surge of a it's cool.
0:10:36
Preston
To have a veteran and team. There's a bunch of young ins, they're all in their early twenty s. And I also like that we got Jordan, how do you say that?
0:10:46
Rahj
Nabora.
0:10:46
Preston
Nawar.
0:10:47
Rahj
We could be wrong, but I think that's how you say it.
0:10:49
Preston
So we get a nice spread of like still keeping the young guys, still building the team because it's still they're all the first year all together, so they're still like working on Jones together and stuff and getting that chemistry.
0:11:03
Rahj
So we also waived James Johnson, which is somebody who very rarely saw the floor, even though he did get starting minutes at one game for some reason, which I'm not really quite sure, because he didn't really deserve the starting minutes, but they gave them to him. I think it was a Miles Turner out or something like that. And they started him.
0:11:21
Preston
Yeah, I think it might have been Miles.
0:11:24
Rahj
Yeah, Miles Turner was definitely out. I can't remember what it's like. Oh yeah, it was one of those two. Because Miles Turner was out for a couple of those games when Tyrese was out as well, and they started James Johnson on one of those. But it's funny because they took James Johnson from not playing at all to starting.
0:11:40
Preston
I forgot james Johnson even on.
0:11:43
Rahj
Yeah, I know.
0:11:43
Preston
I didn't even know who he was.
0:11:45
Rahj
I always forget about James Johnson. I talked to your grandpa about it. It's like, oh, yeah, that James got waived. I was like, James? I was like, dad, don't have anybody on the team named James.
0:11:56
Preston
Yeah, james grandpa, remember?
0:11:59
Rahj
I was like, oh, yeah, james Johnson. Oh, yeah, that guy never played, but they said he was a good locker room presence and all that good stuff.
0:12:10
Preston
Pretty cool.
0:12:11
Rahj
Yeah, the team liked him, and I guess they'll mean some fans liked him, too. So some fans are sad to see him go even though he never played. Some fans, yeah, some fans are sad to see him go because of, I guess, his locker room presence, which fans aren't in the locker room. So I don't really maybe he did.
0:12:29
Preston
Some on social, I don't know.
0:12:32
Rahj
I don't know.
0:12:33
Preston
So strange.
0:12:34
Rahj
But yeah, but James Johnson is gone. Goga is gone, and Sergey Bacca was gone before he came. No, he was actually out from the Bucks. He wasn't with the Bucks for a while for personal reasons or something like that. So honestly, the idea of him actually even playing this year, if he was to be on the team, wasn't going to be very high. He's going to get some Tyce action. He's going to be the new Tyce, probably.
0:13:08
Preston
I was wondering how long they're going to keep Tyson.
0:13:11
Rahj
That's like, Tyce, what, is he not going to play?
0:13:14
Preston
And then he comes out and starts balling. I'm like, okay, tyson okay.
0:13:18
Rahj
But yeah, I just thought Tyce was like, I was with Boston. You guys are nothing. I thought he had that kind of, you know, that kind of air about him. But he seems like he's okay.
0:13:29
Preston
He fried on he looks like a pretty genuine guy.
0:13:31
Rahj
Yeah.
0:13:32
Preston
I think he might enjoy playing here a little bit.
0:13:34
Rahj
Yeah. So whether we keep Tyson after this season, who knows? Who knows? Now, Preston, I do have a question for you. Because of the lack of playing well, what's the word I'm looking for? We're not doing so well right now. When we're not doing so well, sometimes teams will take the opportunity to experiment more with their lineup. So who do you think should get more time? Who's currently on the bench, whether as a starter or at least backup minutes?
0:14:16
Rahj
Who's not really getting a lot of time right now?
0:14:19
Preston
Jackson. Isaiah Jackson, for sure. And then I would have to say, I think just Jackson isn't mather and.
0:14:33
Rahj
Certain, no matter is not starting.
0:14:36
Preston
I don't think he needs more minutes because you're getting starting minutes, pretty much.
0:14:39
Rahj
No, he doesn't need that. And then Nimhard is nimhart has been starting.
0:14:43
Preston
Yeah. I think just Isaiah Jackson, putting him with, like, even keeping what's his name? No, Tyson. Even keeping Tyson him, like Tyson power forward and then him at the center, I'd be good, too. Like, switching him out for Turner and then keeping Tyson for the power forward or switching Tyson, whoever plays Power Ford. Who plays Power Ford.
0:15:14
Rahj
Well, normally they'll have Jackson play power forward, jackson. But Tyson is more of a center. I know Tyce isn't as tall as.
0:15:21
Preston
Jackson or Tyce being a center. If he can bump against guys or handle them, I guess a little bit more. I can know he has a little bit more meeting his bone. So if that's why you would put him at the center, but maybe have him and Tyce experiment how they do together. We already know how Miles and TYs do together. Maybe experiment or like switch out Miles with Jackson. So overall, I just think Jackson needs more time anyways because he's a really good player and I think that he can give us some he can help us a lot on the defensive side.
0:15:58
Preston
Like if we had him and Turner, I mean, have they done that yet.
0:16:02
Rahj
Prepared Turner and Jackson?
0:16:03
Preston
I don't know why they haven't done that yet.
0:16:05
Rahj
That's a good question.
0:16:06
Preston
Because that's twin towers right there. Yeah, because they both can block. Like, they're really good blockers.
0:16:13
Rahj
Yeah, both of them are top ten shot blockers. And we got Jackson right now, seven, and Miles is three. So we got the number three shop blocker in the league and we have the number seven shot blocker in the league. So you would think he needs more.
0:16:28
Preston
Time and he needs to be paired with Miles.
0:16:30
Rahj
Yeah, you would think he would be able to be paired with Miles. I mean, that would be traffic teams and stuff. That seems like that would be an obvious thing to do, to put Miles, Turner and Jackson together on the floor.
0:16:43
Preston
And that would up our defense. Because like coaches said before and I've said before, me and dad said before, we need better defense, for sure. And rebounds too. I mean, I know he's close to Turner site. Is he like 610?
0:17:01
Rahj
He's like six 9610.
0:17:03
Preston
Yeah. So he's still pretty tall. He has a long arm, so that can help him get rebounds. So we really need to work on our offensive rebounds and our defense just rebounds in general and then defense. So having them with up both of those things and I really think they should experiment on that.
0:17:22
Rahj
I definitely think they should experiment with that, for sure.
0:17:27
Preston
So who do you think needs more time?
0:17:29
Rahj
I think Jackson as well. I agree with you right there. And I'll say Smith, just because I want to see what he can do.
0:17:39
Preston
I don't want him to become the new gogo. Because he hasn't been yeah, because he.
0:17:43
Rahj
Came here, he got signed we've talked about this before to become a starter. So he was the projected starter. He wasn't playing that good because that's why he's generally not playing anymore.
0:17:53
Preston
Well, I mean, he was playing pretty decent. I mean, he wasn't playing terrible and then as the season started going on, then he started kind of going down.
0:18:03
Rahj
I thought he was playing terrible the entire time.
0:18:05
Preston
Terrible.
0:18:05
Rahj
Okay, he wasn't not his start. I don't know if maybe you're confusing the end of last season with this season, but the end of last season, he was playing phenomenal. It's like, oh, my goodness.
0:18:17
Preston
That's probably what I was that's what.
0:18:19
Rahj
You have to be thinking of because he was playing a phenomenal those last 20 games. He was with us last year, and we were like, who is this guy? Oh, man, he's knocking down yeah, that's.
0:18:29
Preston
Why I was mistaken.
0:18:29
Rahj
He's blocking people down at the post. I'm like, oh, man. I was like, well, there's a Miles Turner replacement right there.
0:18:36
Preston
For real. I was thinking about getting rid of Miles back then because I was like, Miles is trash.
0:18:43
Rahj
Yeah. Honestly, you can't do nothing, to tell you the truth. I got to be honest. Got to keep it real. I was thinking I was like, shoot, we got Miles. I mean, on us. I was thinking, we got Jackson, we got Smith. I was like, wow. I was thinking, Myles Turner, you're in trouble. We got Isaiah Jack.
0:19:01
Preston
Oh, yeah, isaiah Jackson and Janelle Smith were playing crazy in those last 20 games. Really good. Maybe we weren't winning necessarily, like a whole bunch, but they were, like, making games exciting at least. And they were like, showing out for them to at least.
0:19:20
Rahj
I agree. They really were. They were doing a really good job.
0:19:23
Preston
But I'm sad because I'm glad that we kept Turner because that was a smart move, giving Turner a little bit more of a chance and then signing with him again. But I will say over the summer or not summer, around April, I don't know when it was.
0:19:42
Rahj
I don't even know what happened the.
0:19:46
Preston
Last, like 20 games. I don't know. I was trying to put a date to it. But anyways, last season, I really thought Turner was out of here because I was really hating on Turner. I was hating on Turner forever before that, anyways, even when he was playing decent, I guess. But I was really like, okay, this is a great excuse to get rid of Turner.
0:20:05
Rahj
Yeah, I was thinking it was too. And I'm glad they didn't because obviously, like we've talked about before, miles Turner, he didn't have a certain amount of confidence during the game. But then in practice, he practiced close with him. He's just going crazy. And these like other games or tournaments or whatever, he's involved in this stuff. It's like, oh man, my Turner looks good. Then he comes plays with us. And I'm like, what's going on?
0:20:33
Rahj
So I think it has something to do with maybe honestly, maybe Subonus being around. And maybe it's a bonus comparison because the entire time Sabonis was here, because people in Indiana love Sabonis, I still like, Sub bonus people wasn't comparing him to Miles Turner, comparing them a lot, like, pitting them against each other. So it was probably one of those things to where it was causing Miles to kind of maybe possibly doubt his abilities, maybe be a little more self conscious about the things he did do back then.
0:21:06
Preston
Miles was clearly not as good as a bonus, and I think he knew that, too. But then he's like, I could be I could tell sometimes he wasn't as confident, and then he would, like, not necessarily look confused in that sense, but not taking stuff that he should take. But speaking of confidence, though, in the last game they played against Washington goodness. I saw a bunch of flashes of extreme confidence in him bumping in. I saw him bump into Porto Venus. I was like, what?
0:21:41
Preston
Because he bumped into Port Zingis, tried to go in for another one. Prezingis tried to pull the chair out from under him, but then he still scored on him, and I was like, Goodness. And he was off balance, too, and everything. And with these, like, hook shots and these fade aways and bumping into people, I never thought I would see Miles bump into somebody and get the shot. I remember back, like, two years ago, I was laughing so hard because Miles bumped into somebody, and then the person didn't move.
0:22:10
Preston
The person didn't move. And then I think it was like drumming or something.
0:22:13
Rahj
Yeah, I don't know. I agree. Or somebody like Chris Paul on him.
0:22:17
Preston
And then Chris Paul, then he tries to bump somebody. You got, like, one of the shortest guys in the league, and you can't score against him. He's like, 511. You can't score. They try to say he's six foot, but we all know Chris Paul's 511.
0:22:32
Rahj
Yeah, it's like, how are you not scoring Chris Paul when you're on the.
0:22:35
Preston
Same I'm the same height as Chris Paul. Okay, I might be six foot. I don't know, but yeah.
0:22:41
Rahj
But Miles Turner definitely is turned around and definitely nice to see the progression. And I think Quinn Buckner mentioned something in the last game, too, about that as well. He's like, it's nice to see the confidence, because Miles had this he had this behind the back. He dribbled the ball behind the back and did the step back and then shot the three. Or it wasn't the three. That was like, a long two and hit it.
0:23:06
Rahj
I was like, oh, man, that's like you don't really see centers doing that. So his ball handling skills, while they're still not the best in regards to being a center, they're definitely top tiered in regards to being a center. Now, obviously, you could say, well, there's guys who are as tall as him, like Kevin Durant and Yanis, who can handle the ball better than him. Like, yeah, that's true, but there's not a lot of those guys running around in regards to a rail or run of the mill center. He definitely has very good ball handling skills.
0:23:36
Preston
Very good. Like Dough couldn't do nothing like that. Or like drumming. Or Thompson. I don't even know if Thompson still plays. I'm just trying to name big guys.
0:23:45
Rahj
DeAndre Jordan.
0:23:48
Preston
I haven't seen those guys in the round. I remember seeing them like just two years ago starting on teams, and now they're not even starting on any team.
0:23:56
Rahj
Well, they're getting older.
0:23:58
Preston
Sure, they're getting older and they're getting older.
0:24:00
Rahj
And the thing about I liked when they were young. Well, the thing about them is they're not really super skilled players and so they're just big and tall. So eventually being big and tall is going to get you so far, and then your athleticism goes down. So that's kind of where they're at right now. There's a people who can actually score and shoot the three. And back when they were first drafted, you didn't have to be able to score and shoot the three.
0:24:27
Preston
Yeah, all you gotta do is be big.
0:24:29
Rahj
You just have to be big and, and dunk the ball and that's all people care about. But people, people care about, you know, stretching the floor these days.
0:24:37
Preston
And now they're looking for a guy like Yoko. You can pop a three and he's big and he's tall and he might not be as muscular, but he's still big. And then he can get to three, which is weird. And then he's slow. I'm like, how's this guy he's about to be, he could be like third time in a row, not All Star, third time in a row, MVP. And I'm like, Why is this he's so slow?
0:25:03
Rahj
I don't get it.
0:25:04
Preston
Give it to LeBron. LeBron should have okay, for everybody, listen, LeBron should have won MVP for like the past, every year, every year since maybe Steph Curry. Yeah, stuff curry should have been an MVP too. Every year since 2013. And then maybe he'll miss it. I was looking at it. He was scoring like 2000 points every season except for a couple of times or near the end. So maybe like three times in the past ten years he shouldn't have got it. But the other seven times he should have definitely got MVP.
0:25:41
Preston
That's how I feel about it.
0:25:42
Rahj
Because this I agree, crazy. And I'm not even a LeBron James fan.
0:25:46
Preston
He's not he complains about him. Well, he respects him now because he broke the record, I think.
0:25:52
Rahj
No, it has nothing to do with breaking the record. I've respected LeBron for a little bit of time. I didn't respect him because of some things he said back in the day, back when he was a younger player. But he's probably grown, maybe mentally, hopefully. So he's done a lot of good things and you just have to respect what somebody does on the floor. He's one of these talents that you just don't see very often. And we're probably not going to see well, like I said, we probably won't.
0:26:15
Preston
See but until me NADRA yeah, but.
0:26:17
Rahj
Like, you can tell us, like, they're trying to build up the they were trying to build up the next LeBron James with, I think, Zion Williamson.
0:26:24
Preston
Zion becoming crazy. He ain't no LeBron.
0:26:26
Rahj
Yeah, he's not.
0:26:27
Preston
LeBron had his first, like, four shots in a row when he came to the league, and they were all jumpers.
0:26:32
Rahj
They weren't no easy lase yeah, so he's not going to be that. They're trying to build him as that, but I don't know. I don't know who else would be. We might not see somebody like him coming to the league for another, you know, ten years. You never know. I mean, we were fortunate enough to see him come into the league right after Michael Jordan retired. Yeah. Kobe Bryant came in, obviously, you know, about seven years before he, LeBron, came into the league. So, I mean, we were fortunate enough to have Kobe and Jordan overlap, and we were fortunate enough to have Kobe and LeBron overlap.
0:27:13
Rahj
So right now we don't really have anybody.
0:27:16
Preston
Who'S like that. Curry or like, you could say a lot of these players, but, like, none of them really just went like, Lucas Good, but I guess he's flashy, kind of, in my opinion. He's not that flashy, but he's very skilled. But when he'd be scoring them 60 40, 50 point games, he's not like he's flashy sometimes, but like talking about flashy the entire time, like Toby or something like that. We never like we have these guys scoring like 50 point games all the time, being dominant, but like flashy the whole time and doing crazy stuff the whole time.
0:28:03
Rahj
Just thoroughly impressive.
0:28:05
Preston
Pretty much thoroughly impressive.
0:28:07
Rahj
I mean yeah, and that's when you think about LeBron. You think about Kobe and Michael Jordan. Those guys are just thoroughly impressive. You just need them.
0:28:14
Preston
That's just ridiculous.
0:28:16
Rahj
Yeah.
0:28:17
Preston
Like Kareem, I don't think we have.
0:28:21
Rahj
Any of those guys right now left after LeBron retires. You mean people could argue people can argue Kevin Durant all the time. And honestly, I highly respect Kevin Durant, but I just don't see it. I don't put him in the category.
0:28:35
Preston
I remember when people were talking about he was stealing the throne from LeBron, and I was like, Shut up.
0:28:41
Rahj
Well, they're trying to do that with Kevin Durant. They're trying to do that. The Kawhi Leonard, they try to make him see like Kawhi is the UK.
0:28:47
Preston
Yeah, they try to do that, too. I remember that.
0:28:49
Rahj
Yeah. So it's like they're trying to build up that next guy.
0:28:53
Preston
Are either one of them scoring 30 points, almost averaging a double?
0:28:57
Rahj
Double?
0:28:57
Preston
Come on, man.
0:28:58
Rahj
Yeah. I don't know.
0:29:00
Preston
At 37, that's crazy. I don't know. You can very much down the LeBron.
0:29:04
Rahj
Fan, but I don't know who is going to be next, but my chair broke. That's not good. One. Thing we have to think about is, all right, guys, we actually had the break, had a little bit of emergency, but we are back. So as far as the Pacers are considered right now, they are not doing so hot as we know. So some positive things right now. One thing positive about them ending in a terrible position which they could possibly end up being behind the Orlando Magic to be the third worst team in the east is obviously potential of high draft picks, which is how we were able to get our wonderful rookie.
0:30:01
Rahj
Yeah. Mathering. So that's one good thing about that. I can't really think of anything else that's good, honestly.
0:30:12
Preston
And to be honest, I really want us to keep fighting because I think we could get to like not a high spot, but at least like eight or seven. I mean, I think we could get there but but lost a train of thought.
0:30:32
Rahj
Well, the thing about being eight through seven Pacers, I think that's the thing.
0:30:37
Preston
I just want to make the playoffs.
0:30:39
Rahj
Yeah, I understand. And us making the playoffs, I mean, we definitely want to make the playoffs. George Hill is on the team now and he's only not made the playoffs two times in his career and that was two of the years he was here at the Pacers. So it's looking like it's going to be every year he didn't make the playoffs. He was with the Pacers sad, which is very sad. He's like, Pacers not going to play off again.
0:31:06
Rahj
Getting traded from the Bug to the.
0:31:07
Preston
Pacers, that has to be disappointing. You're like, I go from playing with Janice to Halbert. That is a big step down. But not that that's a terrible step down because Halburn is still a great player. But yeah, that is very sad that every time he's with the Pacers he doesn't make the playoffs.
0:31:25
Rahj
It's not every time. It's just the times that he's with the Pacers are the times that he wouldn't have made the playoffs. But that's all right. I'm glad to have him. So there's a lot of excitement about George Hill being here for many of the reasons of the fact that he was on the team that went to the Easter conference finals two years in a row.
0:31:51
Preston
What team?
0:31:52
Rahj
He was a part of our team.
0:31:54
Preston
I think he said a team.
0:31:55
Rahj
I was like, what's the team? That's why people are excited. They have all those nostalgic memories of him and David West playing the power forward and Roy Hibert playing the center. Lance Stevenson, paul George, we never got past. We keep on having those we have those good fuzzy feelings. I mean, I remember back when we had those guys, we were blowing teams out and it's not even really that we had a super great offense because our offense was good, but it wasn't like a top offense. But our defense was so good. We were able to stop teams from scoring.
0:32:30
Rahj
So if you guys remember that, that's why I say that the Pacers just had a really if they I told Preston today that the Pacers had a top ten defense or even 10th as far as defense in the league, they would be I think they'd be a top ten team. But right now they're 29th in defense. There's only one team under that. I have no idea who they could.
0:32:54
Preston
Definitely be, like, fifth in the east if you look at it like that. Fifth in the east, for sure.
0:33:00
Rahj
Yeah, they could be if they were.
0:33:03
Preston
A good defensive team, because defense can carry you pretty far. They could carry you from the spot that we're in now, the fifth, because our offense isn't that bad. I mean, obviously we need some improvement with passing and stuff. We've been passing the ball around recently, like I noticed in the game we just had against Washington, we kept on passing the ball around and didn't look like it was really going anywhere. And then took a little bit for us to allow second chance shots that we had to take, which was good because we made most of them of the second chance shots. But offense needs some work, but not as much as our defense. Our offense is pretty decent. So if we could up that defense, we could definitely be a top team in the east.
0:33:43
Rahj
Yeah, offense is definitely decent. I'm not sure as far as fast break points, I know before Halliburton had an injury, we were leading the league and all the teams and fast break points. So that shows you that our offense is not bad. It's really our defense. It's like we can't stop anybody. We just can't.
0:34:04
Preston
Because the reason why I think it's a bunch of teams are taking advantage of that. We're so small, and so also it's a bunch of just defensive errors, like leaving people open in the corner and then you're like, oh, I forgot he was there, or like, stuff like that. But mostly you don't have errors like that. But mostly I think it's taking advantage that we're such a small team and going in the paint and knowing if Miles isn't there, then they can do whatever, because if Miles out there, all they have to deal with is six, eight heights or whatever.
0:34:38
Preston
And then it's like, oh, it's just a small forward in the paint. Let me go in here and do stuff. And then it's hard for us to really get them. That's why I think we need to give Smith and Jackson a chance more. So Jackson and Smith. Smith needs to be the new Goga. I mean, I don't even know. We need to trade Smith.
0:34:56
Rahj
I think we trade Smith already.
0:34:59
Preston
Okay, listen, we need trade Smith, okay? We should give him a chance for like a week, right?
0:35:07
Rahj
A week.
0:35:08
Preston
If he doesn't play good for at least two games in the week. Because I understand if you have a bad game, okay, then I understand if you have another bad game back to get back. But if you have a third bad game and you're supposed to be decent, I'm not talking about like he played decent. He didn't play phenomenal by bad game. I mean like bad because he's not been playing good. So he's recently been playing bad.
0:35:33
Preston
So if he has like three bad, the bad, the bad games kick him off the team. You know what I'm saying? That's what I'm saying. Because how do you have a bad week? There's a difference between a bad game.
0:35:46
Rahj
But a bad week. By your stands, we would have nobody on the team.
0:35:49
Preston
No, but I mean this dude that's had chances before, right? And then that's why he's not playing. And then so I'm saying he needs one more time a week. Trade him.
0:36:00
Rahj
I don't know.
0:36:02
Preston
I know I'm being harsh, but come on, if we really think about it, we have given this guy a chance. So I'm not saying like this is his now second chance. This is his 4th, 3rd chance. I said third. This is his third chance. This is his first chance. Last season he played good second chance because you need a second chance. If you do bad second chance earlier this season, I say this would be the third chance they try to give them because earlier in the season when they try to start them, they're like, oh, he's not doing that good. So they try to give them a second chance.
0:36:42
Rahj
Yeah, they put on the backup rolls.
0:36:44
Preston
Yeah, put him on the backup roll and not put him in front of Smith or not Smith, put him in front of Jackson and then he didn't play good. So now he's not really getting any minutes. And then now this will be his third chance if they try to put him coming off with Tyce. And then if he cannot do that, okay, maybe not a week, but maybe like a week and a half or something after like five games or something.
0:37:11
Rahj
Maybe we just put him into the game. Maybe we just put them in and then see, because honestly, I think what needs to happen is they need to go ahead and just stick him at the back of minutes at the four just because so we can see what happens if we're a bad team for the rest of the season. It is what it is. I don't really think we're going to be making a playoff this year. We could possibly make a playoff.
0:37:36
Preston
If like coaches took out a whole day of practice just for defense.
0:37:40
Rahj
But that's going to mean our ability to draft high. If we do that, we're not going to have that ability to draft high. You make the playoffs round.
0:37:52
Preston
I know. Let's say we do make the playoffs, okay. And we go against the team. Let's hope we don't get ace because we're not making it past the first round because we don't have to go against the top team. But let's say we get to like, like 7th. You know, we wouldn't make it past.
0:38:13
Rahj
The top first round either way.
0:38:15
Preston
I know.
0:38:17
Rahj
Okay.
0:38:17
Preston
But it's better than tanking. Okay, I understand. Because this is a whole new team. So my thing is if us getting a rookie at this point, you could see some people that some people have been looking at in college, but nobody really shocking like I hear about all the time. Nobody like a LeBron or Steph or anybody come to the lead like that. So my thought is if we make it to the first round and play against a team, we don't necessarily do terrible because we can stay with teams sometimes, but we don't necessarily do terrible. We still lose at least get one game, maybe even if we get four and we still put up a fight for at least two games or something, then I'll kind of put the pace on the spot and then it'll also make them be like, all right, I want to get back at this. If we can make it to the playoffs, I want to really be able to stand in there and then they'll be working hard towards the summer. I mean, this is the first time and there's been a lot of changes in this year. So this has been the first time that they've played all together and stuff and they're still adjusting. And this is also a very young team.
0:39:34
Preston
Like, got a handful of rookies. Not a handful. We got like two rookies and then we got some other third year players. Halliburton is a third year player, right?
0:39:44
Rahj
Yeah.
0:39:45
Preston
And then so we got a lot of these players and then I know, like, for Halliburton we might expect a lot, but at the same time we shouldn't necessarily expect a whole lot since this is the first year he's actually been doing all this. So he might not come off right off the gate. Like, I thought he was going to be doing all this and scoring 25 points and up every single game, but I have to remember, oh wait, this is his first year. He's actually doing this. Like, before he was kind of like being a role player and now he's having to lead a team. So I think after the end of this year we can just make the playoffs because I don't really think we need a top rookie. I think we just need to get better chemistry and just fix a couple of things because I think we really do have a solid team that's fair.
0:40:36
Rahj
And you make a good point. Maybe not need a top rookie because we've already talked about our offensive play really isn't bad. So maybe building chemistry and getting the team more experiences, especially in playoff, maybe that could be a good thing. And then maybe they can build in the off season through getting some defensive players in some kind of way.
0:40:58
Preston
And I think every NBA player has the potential to be a star because the fact that you got to the NBA shows me something and maybe you can't compete with the rest of them. But our Pacer players, every single player other than Smith, I've really been seeing that they're terrible.
0:41:17
Rahj
Smith isn't that bad.
0:41:20
Preston
You were saying early in the podcast how at the beginning of the year you thought he was just terrible, terrible, terrible. So I'm saying terrible now. We kind of switched places because I was trying to give Smith some love. But now after all that talking my dad gave to me, I'm realizing that Smith is he's not bad. He's not terrible, but he's bad.
0:41:42
Rahj
He doesn't look confident, he lacks confidence.
0:41:45
Preston
But anyway, like I was saying, if every NBA player really has the potential if they put in the work, because these stars be putting in a whole lot of work. So if everybody in the summer, even just away from the team, just in their own home gym or whatever at a park or something I don't even know not park, but like at a gym or something with their personal trainer and putting it in every single day and really working hard and then really, really putting, like drenching and sweat like you just play two games or whatever.
0:42:19
Preston
And the practices, I think the Paces can be a really good team. We just need tons and tons of practice and getting good chemistry. Because I haven't been seeing good flash, like I've seen flashes, but I don't really see a very, very good chemistry like looking team.
0:42:37
Rahj
So, yeah, I agree.
0:42:39
Preston
I think we're all good in like our separate ways, but not really altogether, if that makes sense.
0:42:45
Rahj
Now that this makes sense. Yeah. So I'm hoping George Hill and the excitement that he's going to bring once he steps onto the court, everybody's going to go crazy. I just know it. So I'm hoping that when George Hill starts playing, he can show these young guys how to play defense. Because like Chris Dwarte, he's not a very good defensive player at all. He's not terrible on offense. He could be better.
0:43:11
Rahj
He's shown flashes, but his defense is not very good. He'll get jumping, somebody has a ball fake and it's just not good. And that really makes it harder on Miles and whoever's down there in the low post. So we need to get that defense together and that'll take us a long way. So like I said, it'll be excitement to have George Hill. I think I said something about having some people wished it was Lance.
0:43:41
Rahj
Some people just can't let Lance go. And honestly, I'm kind of one of those people. I wish somehow we could finally get Lance and George Hill back together on.
0:43:48
Preston
The Lance and George Hill got back.
0:43:50
Rahj
Together and then somehow snag Paul George and then get the band back together and all that good stuff, I think some magical things can happen.
0:43:58
Preston
Paul George is never coming back and Lance is done with the league. Yeah, like, let's face the facts, they're old. Paul George is trying to be a superstar. And the Clippers, he's not even thinking about the Pacers at all. And he's like, the only person I know is Miles. And then he probably saw that George Hill came back, he was like, oh, that's pretty cool. George Hill. Miles are back together. Okay.
0:44:20
Rahj
George Hill. That was Paul George as a guy back in the day. I don't know how they feel about each other now, how they connect and everything, which I'm pretty sure they're still cool, but, you know, that was this guy back in the day.
0:44:30
Preston
True. Even though I was just a little tiny baby, I wasn't a baby baby. I wasn't a baby. I was still in grade school. I'm thinking about 2010.
0:44:55
Rahj
All right, guys, so I think that's what we got for you today. Hopefully you've enjoyed the show. We're very excited about George Hill.
0:45:04
Preston
I have a final word. Sorry, you can finish the outro.
0:45:07
Rahj
Sorry. Okay. Yeah. So I'm glad Preston has a final word, but yeah, hopefully you guys have enjoyed the show. Make sure you, like, share. Subscribe to the Final Word podcast if you've not done so already. Share it with a friend, share with the enemy, share it with somebody, but just share it. Let somebody know about this final word. Also, make sure you visit Pacersfinalword.com. And I'm going to start actually saying that at the beginning of the show, pacersfinal Word.com. Because if you go to Pacersfinalword.com,
0:45:38
Rahj
you can actually leave us voicemails. You can actually leave us messages as well. You can send us messages and we can reply to you or you can leave us voicemails. And also, if we liked your voicemail enough, we'll probably go ahead and feature it on the show. So if you have some input that you want to say, if you don't have your own show and you want to be a part of ours in some kind of small way, you have something you want to say about the Pacers, something you're excited about, and we'll probably give you guys a topic. Go ahead and leave that on the Voicemail on Pacersfinal Word.
0:46:09
Rahj
And that's where you can see all of our material and all that good stuff, and we're going to be constantly working on that website to make it better and better every day. But Preston, the time is near. What is your final word?
0:46:24
Preston
Practice.
0:46:26
Rahj
Practice.
0:46:26
Preston
This is my little ten minute ramble about practice. Practice. I figured it out.
0:46:34
Rahj
That's great. So why practice?
0:46:36
Preston
I'm so proud of myself. Pretty much because what I just said like five minutes ago, my little ten minute ramble, if we really practice over the summer really hard. I mean, I just want us to make the playoffs and then if we make the playoffs that will give a bunch of them a bunch of them hope. If that's the word I'm looking for, hope.
0:46:55
Rahj
I agree.
0:46:56
Preston
Confidence that they can actually be a good team. They're like, oh, we made to the playoffs. I mean, maybe we didn't make it far, but we could next year so we can't get worse.
0:47:06
Rahj
I agree. Yeah.
0:47:08
Preston
So dad, what is your final word?
0:47:12
Rahj
My final word is I'm going to have you guess. What is it? What is my final word?
0:47:17
Preston
Lance?
0:47:18
Rahj
No, what's my final word? No.
0:47:21
Preston
Jail?
0:47:23
Rahj
No, something I was talking about. I was talking about defense.
0:47:27
Preston
Dang it. Defense. Okay.
0:47:28
Rahj
Defense is my final word.
0:47:30
Preston
Defensive practice. Practice defense. A practice defense. There you go.
0:47:35
Rahj
So that's my final word. They need to practice their defense. Yeah, if they can practice their defense and not be 29th in the league, that's bad.
0:47:45
Preston
29Th in the league out of 30 was last week.
0:47:47
Rahj
I think you said their defense wasn't bad and I'm thinking impressive. What are you talking about? They keep on going, getting worse and worse. Then your grandpa tried backing you up for some reason.
0:48:03
Preston
Okay, now it is that bad. A week ago it wasn't that bad.
0:48:07
Rahj
It can be 31st. There's only 30 team.
0:48:09
Preston
Based off based off based off the game. Based off the game that I was referencing, I saw flashes of good defense because it was probably one of the games where Jackson and Miles are, like, blocking into the stands or something. Or I think it was a game where Jackson blocked into the stands a couple of times or something when Jackson went off and then when we were hitting fast breaks. But I don't know if we had halliburton yet. But I don't know.
0:48:37
Rahj
You just got to remember their perimeter.
0:48:39
Preston
Defense will affect their perimeter defense is trash.
0:48:42
Rahj
Exactly.
0:48:42
Preston
Going to say their perimeter defense is actually Chris Dwarte. Not healed, but like for real trash. Like garbage. Middle school, high school is to get on your perimeter to defense like, oh, my goodness, sorry.
0:48:59
Rahj
Anyway, it's not good.
0:49:01
Preston
It's not.
0:49:01
Rahj
And that's really the reason why we're such a bad defensive team. It has nothing to do with our interior defense.
0:49:07
Preston
If we didn't have Miles, we'd be 61 in the league. There is no other teams. But they just don't want to put.
0:49:14
Rahj
Us in college teams above us.
0:49:16
Preston
They don't want to put us back close to the NBA. Like if we didn't have Miles or Jackson. I'm like, goodness, I'm sorry for rambling bunch of this episode, but goodness, my.
0:49:26
Rahj
Feelings just yeah, but all right, guys, well, hopefully you enjoy this past show. Make sure you like share and subscribe to the final Word and we will see you guys on the next one. Peace.
Join the Email List
Listen On
Not sure where to start? Listen to Staff Picks!
Here are some great episodes to start with! Or, check out episodes by topic.