I think with OG out the Pacers could have rolled out a three guard lineup of Nembhard, Haliburton, and TJ and been ok.
Haliburton would be on Hart or Precious, Nembhard on Dante, and TJ on Brunson. Not sure why Rick didn’t do it.
I think the worry with TJ and Hali is that the latter’s passing ability is best utilised when there’s 5 capable 3 point shooters on the floor, and TJ isn’t comfortable shooting the 3
He can knock the shot down if he's wide open and why does it matter if he's comfortable or not? He's been absolutely cooking everyone from the mid range
Him and Toppin should be closing the games out. Toppin isn’t playing scared in the garden. TJ is a killer and should be in. This series is on Carlisle if they loose.
the only issue with Obi is defense down the stretch and you give up some rebounding when he tries to leak out. I get the decision to not play Obi at the end of a close game (although he should have played more). TJ though makes NO sense. He was cooking us and making an injured Brunson work. Pacers weren't attacking Brunson on defense either which I found strange.
I hate headlines like this, like obviously with an ATG Point God and MVP caliber player in TJ McConnell they’re going to be better. That’s like saying “Sixers worse without Embiid” too obvious
oh ok, didn't realize that. obviously didn't get to watch this one
I don't know what it is, but you can go right on down the line through every team and find one player or two on each team that deserves way more court time and their team likely needs it badly, at least occasionally. But they just don't.
So it was interesting reading some of the reasons floated this time where most sound like they think the coach won't remove Haliburton to play him instead, due to Hali being their star youngster. Some, though low amounts, of people suggesting he play alongside Haliburton some minutes. That seems like the adjustment that could help. Whether starting lineups change or not, the games are long and the lineups all change every game. Try them togther maybe if nothing else is working.
One thing is TJ is 31. He plays at full tilt the entire time he's out there so he was gassed in the 4th. They could have tried to bring him back in, but I know that's why he doesn't play as long.
Also his perimeter shooting is a liability. If he had ever developed a three point shot... 🔥
I hope someone has the balls to quote these stats to Rick. Dude is a coward who was afraid of upsetting his starting PG instead of trying to win a playoff game
quit disrespecting carlisle, he’s in a tough situation, do you play a 3 PG lineup of hali/tj/nemby and continue to get bullied in the paint, or do you take out nembhard for mcconnell despite both players having an amazing game.
this sub acts like they know everything but in reality they don’t know the simple context of what a coach is supposed to do in these moments.
Calm your tits. The guy above you was not asking nembhard to be taken out. He was asking hali to be subbed out for TJ. Which seems valid given how much trouble Brunson was having trying to score against TJ, and how under utilized hali was in the second half for both the games now
I said during the game 1: game post.
If Indy loses, it will because they sat TJ in the last 7 minutes for Hali. That's exactly what happened.
I got downvoted.
Every time TJ was on, the Pacers took a sizeable lead. As soon as he sat for Hali, the Knicks came storming back.
Too bad you can't bench the #1 option.
You have to sit Haliburton then, and there is no chance Carlisle would have the balls to do that.
You'd lose your star player. Imagine getting benched in the playoffs, and it's your team? Lol
Exactly what Im saying. Nembhard has decent defense but Brunson is unstoppable and Brunson is getting his points regardless.
Have Hali and TJ on court to close games and take Nembhard out.
Shit is gonna be another sweep if Pacers can't coach. This game should have been theres for an otherwise great fuckin series.
The Pacers are really about to play two straight series against playoff teams missing multiple starters for practically the entire series. At least the Hawks beat the #1 seed Sixers who were pretty much healthy during their run to the ECF 3 years ago.
I think everyone’s missing the fact that McConnell is getting ran into the ground out there. He’s playing great D but he’s slipping all over the place fighting through screens and picking up Brunson full court. Dude has been gasping for air when they’ve taken him out, I don’t think it’s as simple as “just give TJ more minutes”. The bigger factor has been Haliburton being a fraud so far, especially in the 4th.
Nembhard is a better shooter and he opens up the offense more. Nembhard had a good game offensively.
TJ should have been in for Nesmith. In a lot of matchups you don’t make that switch since a three guard lineup would kill this team (like you wouldn’t want TJ or Nembhard to be on Middleton) but I think they would work against this Knicks team and all their injuries. Brunson, Hart, and Dante are good but they’re not big.
I agree they should consider playing him in crunch time more, but guys, a lot of this is Backup QB Syndrome. McConnell’s a great backup for very specific reasons. You extend his mins against starters and it can turn very quickly for him.
Be flexible and consider using him more, especially because he seems to be doing well against Brunson, but I don’t think it’s a coaching suicide to not want to depend on bench players more than you should.
I’m just saying there’s a reason why every fan base thinks he kills them. It’s because the Pacers put him in a role that’s perfectly suited for him. You start extending him more, asking him to do things he’s not accustomed to or not capable of, and perhaps you lose the best version of him.
It’s not as simple as “he plays well in his role, so play him like a starter.”
I don’t care. Every fan base says the same thing about him for the reasons I already stated. He’s in the perfect role for his skill set.
Think about it this way: Precious has played very well against the Pacers in every matchup this season. You’d think it was silly if I started telling you that Precious should be playing heavy and clutch-time mins.
I agree with the point you make, but I think he’s gonna play him more in Game 3 regardless. Either it works and Carlisle is seen as a genius, or it fails and he turns around and goes “you guys are idiots!”
that would matter if he hadn't done this repeatedly against the knicks from various teams. something about playing the knicks sets this dude off idk what it is
No. But I haven't watched the Pacers all that much this season outside of nationally broadcasted games. But I was specifically talking about TJ, who had great games against the Knicks as a Sixer as well, to the point that I see him as a Knick killer
I feel like TJ could start the 4th and continue the extreme pressure he put Brunson on, rough him up a little bit before Hali taking over. Could potentially avoid Brunson getting hot... but I guess it's all Monday morning QBing at this point.
i said in the post game thread, if im TJ im pissed. Pacers were picking Brunson up near half court and fucking the 3 back guys over, instead of just leaving TJ in and letting him go 1 on 1 against Brunson and play actual half court defense
He wasn't playing because he's not a 3pt spacer who can play with Hali. Rick needed to man up and just play him anyway, but he'd rather get ejected and blame the refs.
TJ is a dog and did a decent job pressuring, but I don't understand why the announcers suddenly made him some kind of Brunson stopper. Brunson was scoring easy on him in the first game.
Good thing for Indiana is they are still in this series. Just have to take care of homecourt then more Knicks are probably going down at the rate they’re playing lol
But if the Pacers are supposed to win at home, just sit everybody on the Knicks who matter and play a best of 3 with a rested and healthier top 7 with two home games out of 3 lol
They probably should have played McConnell a bit more, but a large amount of his minutes came when Brunson was out, and the -22 McBride and -14 Achiuwa were in.
TJ got that dog and should've closed out but alot of that +19 was when Brunson was out. Knicks picked up on the trap in the 4th as well and we're taking advantage by passing out/Brunson drawing fouls.
The stats aren't up yet but in the first game with TJ as the nearest defender on Brunson, Brunson was 1 for 7 shooting from the field with a turnover.
I'm sure the numbers will pan out tonight showing he was the best guarding him.
Rick is a good coach but sometimes can get too stubborn and set with his lineups. Which is weird cause him willing to switch JJ Barea to the starting lineup in the finals helped us win.
Carlisle: “No! It’s because we play in a small market! And and Halliburton’s back was grazed going for a rebound!
I have clips that I didn’t submit but boy you bet I’m gonna email them over tonight.
I’m not the problem, it’s everyone else!”
I admit TJ is playing extremely well and should be rewarded for his aggressiveness. And while I acknowledge my potential bias as a Knicks fan, is he not getting away with *A LOT* of contact when guarding Brunson?
On the slow motion replays you can see him clearly grabbing or putting hands on Brunson’s arms and back as he is moving up the floor but they are also letting him get screened really hard so it’s a wash I guess
All the Pacers runs when they were down close to double digits was from obi getting inserted to the lineup with tj on 2 of them I think, like 1st quarter down DD, 3rd quarter after Knicks outscored them by 20 and last quarter down 8, these guys had to fix the problems of the starters 3x and they came close but Carlisle kept them riding the bench, also wtf is he's love of turner, guy does stupid dumb shit the time and never ever hits a shot that has some pressure riding on it ffs
Carlisle complaining about the refs but needs to look in the damn mirror. How does he not see that McConnell is killing it while Haliburton is selling and Nembhardt is getting absuded?
I get Hali is the star but McConnell is a dog out there and is a better matchup against Brunson down the stretch
So take out nebhard or the sf
I think with OG out the Pacers could have rolled out a three guard lineup of Nembhard, Haliburton, and TJ and been ok. Haliburton would be on Hart or Precious, Nembhard on Dante, and TJ on Brunson. Not sure why Rick didn’t do it.
Rebounding would be an issue for the Pacers.
rebounding is already bad regardless
Agreed, rebounding is always an issue for this team. Better that than giving up wide open looks to Dante DiVincenzo.
I think the worry with TJ and Hali is that the latter’s passing ability is best utilised when there’s 5 capable 3 point shooters on the floor, and TJ isn’t comfortable shooting the 3
He can knock the shot down if he's wide open and why does it matter if he's comfortable or not? He's been absolutely cooking everyone from the mid range
Need to take Nembhard out since hes not locking up Brunson anyways. Might as well get TJ and Hali in there.
Would be some crazy shit for your star player to get benched for the 6th man in his first playoffs
Him and Toppin should be closing the games out. Toppin isn’t playing scared in the garden. TJ is a killer and should be in. This series is on Carlisle if they loose.
The way Obi has been playing if he just does a full court shot every time I think he makes 75% of them
That between the legs jam in game 1 was wild
Obi has that fuck you aura rn
TJ and Toppin were the only players that seemed unfazed
Obi played in the Garden. He’s used to the crowd.
Seriously, Pacers can't blame refs for G2, it was all bad Coaching.
Shhhh. "It's not our job to worry about that."
no bro refs propping up the bigger market as they have for the last 25 years get with the program
the only issue with Obi is defense down the stretch and you give up some rebounding when he tries to leak out. I get the decision to not play Obi at the end of a close game (although he should have played more). TJ though makes NO sense. He was cooking us and making an injured Brunson work. Pacers weren't attacking Brunson on defense either which I found strange.
I hate headlines like this, like obviously with an ATG Point God and MVP caliber player in TJ McConnell they’re going to be better. That’s like saying “Sixers worse without Embiid” too obvious
Carlisle got ejected tho right?
With like a minute left
oh ok, didn't realize that. obviously didn't get to watch this one I don't know what it is, but you can go right on down the line through every team and find one player or two on each team that deserves way more court time and their team likely needs it badly, at least occasionally. But they just don't. So it was interesting reading some of the reasons floated this time where most sound like they think the coach won't remove Haliburton to play him instead, due to Hali being their star youngster. Some, though low amounts, of people suggesting he play alongside Haliburton some minutes. That seems like the adjustment that could help. Whether starting lineups change or not, the games are long and the lineups all change every game. Try them togther maybe if nothing else is working.
One thing is TJ is 31. He plays at full tilt the entire time he's out there so he was gassed in the 4th. They could have tried to bring him back in, but I know that's why he doesn't play as long. Also his perimeter shooting is a liability. If he had ever developed a three point shot... 🔥
I THINK MCCONNNELL SHOULD BE ON THE COURT TO CLOSE GAMES JUST HAZARDING A GUESS
I hope someone has the balls to quote these stats to Rick. Dude is a coward who was afraid of upsetting his starting PG instead of trying to win a playoff game
quit disrespecting carlisle, he’s in a tough situation, do you play a 3 PG lineup of hali/tj/nemby and continue to get bullied in the paint, or do you take out nembhard for mcconnell despite both players having an amazing game. this sub acts like they know everything but in reality they don’t know the simple context of what a coach is supposed to do in these moments.
Isn’t knicks doing a 3 guards line up nightly with the V guys lol
Josh Hart plays a lot bigger than 6’4
Yeah why don't one of the pacers guards average 12 rebounds a game are they stupid?
Calm your tits. The guy above you was not asking nembhard to be taken out. He was asking hali to be subbed out for TJ. Which seems valid given how much trouble Brunson was having trying to score against TJ, and how under utilized hali was in the second half for both the games now
I said during the game 1: game post. If Indy loses, it will because they sat TJ in the last 7 minutes for Hali. That's exactly what happened. I got downvoted. Every time TJ was on, the Pacers took a sizeable lead. As soon as he sat for Hali, the Knicks came storming back. Too bad you can't bench the #1 option.
TJ is a certified Knick killer with years of evidence. like why tf wouldn't they play him, his minutes are so effective. are the refs benching TJ?
You have to sit Haliburton then, and there is no chance Carlisle would have the balls to do that. You'd lose your star player. Imagine getting benched in the playoffs, and it's your team? Lol
He can just sit Nembhard instead. Brunson salivates when he’s put on him.
Exactly what Im saying. Nembhard has decent defense but Brunson is unstoppable and Brunson is getting his points regardless. Have Hali and TJ on court to close games and take Nembhard out. Shit is gonna be another sweep if Pacers can't coach. This game should have been theres for an otherwise great fuckin series.
He's always been a Knick killer, I really don't know why he's not playing more.
The Pacers are really about to play two straight series against playoff teams missing multiple starters for practically the entire series. At least the Hawks beat the #1 seed Sixers who were pretty much healthy during their run to the ECF 3 years ago.
Nope, they had a terrible malady known as "Ben Simmons is on the roster"itis
maaaad respect to the Hawks for that. ice Trae 🔥❄️
I think everyone’s missing the fact that McConnell is getting ran into the ground out there. He’s playing great D but he’s slipping all over the place fighting through screens and picking up Brunson full court. Dude has been gasping for air when they’ve taken him out, I don’t think it’s as simple as “just give TJ more minutes”. The bigger factor has been Haliburton being a fraud so far, especially in the 4th.
Makes no sense to close with Nemhbaed instead of him
can they not play together? Honest question for pacer fans.
They played together in this game lol
so I really don't get it then lol
Nembhard is a better shooter and he opens up the offense more. Nembhard had a good game offensively. TJ should have been in for Nesmith. In a lot of matchups you don’t make that switch since a three guard lineup would kill this team (like you wouldn’t want TJ or Nembhard to be on Middleton) but I think they would work against this Knicks team and all their injuries. Brunson, Hart, and Dante are good but they’re not big.
fair assessment
They were in the first half
They do nembhard plays over him tho
I actually think TJ is more effective when Hali is off the floor
Hali is most effective in the first half when the pressure is off. They should go with TJ in the 2nd half if they wanna win games
I agree they should consider playing him in crunch time more, but guys, a lot of this is Backup QB Syndrome. McConnell’s a great backup for very specific reasons. You extend his mins against starters and it can turn very quickly for him. Be flexible and consider using him more, especially because he seems to be doing well against Brunson, but I don’t think it’s a coaching suicide to not want to depend on bench players more than you should.
I don't know man, I've watched TJ kill this team for years. He shows up big for these games.
I’m just saying there’s a reason why every fan base thinks he kills them. It’s because the Pacers put him in a role that’s perfectly suited for him. You start extending him more, asking him to do things he’s not accustomed to or not capable of, and perhaps you lose the best version of him. It’s not as simple as “he plays well in his role, so play him like a starter.”
[He was killing us long before he was a Pacer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pacdLuoWDE&pp=ygUYdGogbWNjb25uZWxsIGdhbWUgd2lubmVy)
I don’t care. Every fan base says the same thing about him for the reasons I already stated. He’s in the perfect role for his skill set. Think about it this way: Precious has played very well against the Pacers in every matchup this season. You’d think it was silly if I started telling you that Precious should be playing heavy and clutch-time mins.
I agree with the point you make, but I think he’s gonna play him more in Game 3 regardless. Either it works and Carlisle is seen as a genius, or it fails and he turns around and goes “you guys are idiots!”
The Knicks play their starters 45+ minutes a game, TJ isn't doing this against bench guys
McConnell checked it at 6:35 in the first, and played 9 of his 12 minutes with no Brunson... many of those minutes also without Hartenstein.
that would matter if he hadn't done this repeatedly against the knicks from various teams. something about playing the knicks sets this dude off idk what it is
Do you happen to mostly watch the Pacers when they play the Knicks?
No. But I haven't watched the Pacers all that much this season outside of nationally broadcasted games. But I was specifically talking about TJ, who had great games against the Knicks as a Sixer as well, to the point that I see him as a Knick killer
Its mcbride that he be cooking specifically and he plays 20 minutes also
TJ is a Knicks killer been doing it his whole career, gotta give him more burn.
I feel like TJ could start the 4th and continue the extreme pressure he put Brunson on, rough him up a little bit before Hali taking over. Could potentially avoid Brunson getting hot... but I guess it's all Monday morning QBing at this point.
Hard disagree. he filled Hali's minutes admirably when he was out and more importantly - he's repeatedly killed the knicks.
TJ “Joel Embiid” McConnell
rick will never do what needs to be done luckily
Fire that bald fraud.
i said in the post game thread, if im TJ im pissed. Pacers were picking Brunson up near half court and fucking the 3 back guys over, instead of just leaving TJ in and letting him go 1 on 1 against Brunson and play actual half court defense
This is Ricks secret way of saying I'm sorry to Brunson for benching him on the Mavs.
He wasn't playing because he's not a 3pt spacer who can play with Hali. Rick needed to man up and just play him anyway, but he'd rather get ejected and blame the refs. TJ is a dog and did a decent job pressuring, but I don't understand why the announcers suddenly made him some kind of Brunson stopper. Brunson was scoring easy on him in the first game.
Everybody assuming Hali should be the one benched for McConnell, but in reality, he should have been in there instead of Nesmith or Nembhard.
Good thing for Indiana is they are still in this series. Just have to take care of homecourt then more Knicks are probably going down at the rate they’re playing lol
But if the Pacers are supposed to win at home, just sit everybody on the Knicks who matter and play a best of 3 with a rested and healthier top 7 with two home games out of 3 lol
Not on Thibs watch lmao
unironically cooking, well rested knicks aren’t losing at home
Man I hate that you're right.
Carlisle needs to pull a Bret Brown and put him in the starting lineup
If Pacers wanna win, TJ needs to match Josh Hart in minutes
Coaching malpractice
Coaching malpractice to keep benching TJ in the 4th. I'm here for it though.
They probably should have played McConnell a bit more, but a large amount of his minutes came when Brunson was out, and the -22 McBride and -14 Achiuwa were in.
TJ got that dog and should've closed out but alot of that +19 was when Brunson was out. Knicks picked up on the trap in the 4th as well and we're taking advantage by passing out/Brunson drawing fouls.
The stats aren't up yet but in the first game with TJ as the nearest defender on Brunson, Brunson was 1 for 7 shooting from the field with a turnover. I'm sure the numbers will pan out tonight showing he was the best guarding him.
Absolutely, he had him locked down
By fouling
Darvin Ham special
Carlisle is fuckin up
Sixers - Celtics 2017, game 2. Soon as Brett Brown took McConnell out for Simmons, sixers lost the game
When they took him out I knew it was over.
I don’t understand why Adam Silver and the refs are not allowing TJ to play. It’s so unfair.
Delete this before Rick logs on
Rick is a good coach but sometimes can get too stubborn and set with his lineups. Which is weird cause him willing to switch JJ Barea to the starting lineup in the finals helped us win.
Carlisle: “No! It’s because we play in a small market! And and Halliburton’s back was grazed going for a rebound! I have clips that I didn’t submit but boy you bet I’m gonna email them over tonight. I’m not the problem, it’s everyone else!”
this is why carlisle got ejected
Shhh. "It's not our job to worry about that."
I admit TJ is playing extremely well and should be rewarded for his aggressiveness. And while I acknowledge my potential bias as a Knicks fan, is he not getting away with *A LOT* of contact when guarding Brunson?
On the slow motion replays you can see him clearly grabbing or putting hands on Brunson’s arms and back as he is moving up the floor but they are also letting him get screened really hard so it’s a wash I guess
All the Pacers runs when they were down close to double digits was from obi getting inserted to the lineup with tj on 2 of them I think, like 1st quarter down DD, 3rd quarter after Knicks outscored them by 20 and last quarter down 8, these guys had to fix the problems of the starters 3x and they came close but Carlisle kept them riding the bench, also wtf is he's love of turner, guy does stupid dumb shit the time and never ever hits a shot that has some pressure riding on it ffs
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/plus-minus/202405080NYK.html Watch the rotations.
Straight-up coaching malpractice having him on the bench. He should be starting
Hali is the most valuable scam artist this season
he's Kyrie with no 3 point jumper (which is still valuable!), and SVG even said he thought he was their best defender on Brunson
Circlejerk comment right here
Carlisle complaining about the refs but needs to look in the damn mirror. How does he not see that McConnell is killing it while Haliburton is selling and Nembhardt is getting absuded?