Rick Carlisle Bluntly Calls Pacers Struggles 'Ongoing'

Jeremy Hanna | Nov 30, 2024

Oct 30, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle watches the action during a game against the Boston Celticss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images / Grace Smith/USA Today Network via Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers are currently tied for seventh place with a 9-11 record after a devastating 130-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

This is far off from the expectations set from last season where Indiana made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, falling short to the Boston Celtics, the future champions.

The Pacers actually began their postseason push in the NBA Cup, proving that they can hang with the more dominant veteran teams, eventually reaching the NBA Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This year is a different story, with the Pistons coming across as a scrappy young team with something to prove. Despite being 9-12 in the regular season, Detroit is 3-0 in NBA Cup Group B.

Meanwhile, the Pacers are 0-3 in the NBA Cup this year.

This is largely because of multiple players being out with an injury, including guard Andrew Nembhard, forward Aaron Nesmith, and guard Ben Sheppard. Unfortunately, these players are all the defensive backbone of the Pacers.

This means that Indiana has had to dig into its bench to find players with defensive depth, like veteran point guard T.J. McConnell.

"You're navigating through a ton of things," McConnell said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indy Star. "Just continuing to figure out where guys want the ball and their best skill defensively. I know we're however many games in, but when guys are in the lineup and out of the lineup, it's still challenging to find that chemistry if they're not in there all the time. We just have to continue to find ways to make guys better. That's mine and Ty's job and go from there."

This has resulted in a much different team than the one that surprised NBA fans last year, something head coach Rick Carlisle is well aware of.

"It's a different configuration for sure," Carlisle said. "...This is different. Their styles are all unique. That's why I've been saying, this year's not like last year. The pieces so far have been different, particularly when you have some of your main guys out. It's taken some time and it's taken some effort to make it work better and better, hopefully. It's ongoing."

This year, the Pacers won't be able to utilize the momentum granted by the NBA Cup. However, if they figure out their issues, they have plenty of weapons to still make it to the playoffs.

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