Mailbag: Has winning cured all ills for the Pacers?

Answering questions about a team that is starting to get healthier 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Unfortunately, just as the Pacers started playing some of their best basketball of the season, I started feeling my worst of the season. Turns out, 'tis the season for illness as well as the holidays, which are currently postponed for me. That said, although I remain on the injury report, I made it my priority to catch up on all of the games while still attempting to do what I need to do to get healthy, so that I could provide the thorough and informed responses that, I hope, have come to be expected from these monthly columns. As such, with you (the readers) as my only company, aside from medicine, tissues, and a thermometer, let's (tries not to cough) mailbag to the best of our festive abilities.

Off Panel (SKTCHD): One thing I noticed when looking at lineup data is the Pacers current (and maybe future) starting five of Tyrese, Benn, Drew, Pascal, and Myles has far and away the best defensive rating of any five person lineup with 100+ minutes played together. Obviously we are talking some small sample size data and a lineup that’s been in and out a lot, with a lot of the reps against questionable teams. But what about that lineup suggests to you it could prove to be a positive defensive one going forward? Do you see the makings of one yet?

The numbers are definitely enticing. According to PBP stats, that group has held opponents to just 98.1 points per 100 possessions in 185 minutes played. For frame of reference, when George Hill, Paul George, Lance Stephenson, David West, and Roy Hibbert played the most minutes of any five-man lineup during the 2013-14 season, they allowed 96.3 points per 100 possessions. No team has allowed less than 100 points per 100 possessions since the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs. That's some elite defensive company, which means there's probably reason to be skeptical as to whether the starters can keep that company over a larger sample size, especially in this era of basketball, when Turner, for example, has far more ground to cover on any given possession than what was once the case for Hibbert.

To that point, the current group is benefiting from the fact that opposing teams have shot just 33.1 percent from three against them. To put that into context, the New Orleans Pelicans have shot 33.2 percent from three this season, which ranks 26th in the league. Oh, and speaking of the Pelicans, three of Indiana's last five opponents also currently have bottom-15 offenses. Granted, Phoenix and Sacramento both rank among the top-10, but they also both barely cracked 30 percent from three against the Pacers. Generally speaking, teams have much more control over the volume and location of opponent threes than they do over three-point percentage.

Still, there are a few reasons to be encouraged. On a macro-level, when that group has been on the floor, the Pacers have taken care of the ball and finished stops with rebounds, as they've posted the equivalent of top-five marks in both limiting their own turnovers and opponent offensive rebounding rate. Individually, for a team that still ranks dead-last in points per chance allowed off drives, it certainly helps that Nembhard is available again without any restrictions, given that he allows by far the lowest blowby percentage on the team (17.7), among the seven players who have defended at least 100 drives this season.

Plus, he does stuff like this, shadowing Steph Curry the full-length of the floor, just as he also takes off pressure from Tyrese Haliburton when opponents shadow him.

Of course, Nembhard playing the part of fire hose wasn't the only reason why Steph never managed to heat up, as the all-world shooter finished with just 10 points on 2-of-13 shooting. After all, there was a possession in which Nembhard got caught ducking under and Steph still misfired from deep. Even so, none of the other starters on this roster have a chance of denying and trailing Steph with that much persistence and tenacity, which provides an interesting contrast to the previous four-game losing streak.

To understand why, think back to the loss in Brooklyn. In that game, look at who ended up guarding Dennis Schroder to close the half.

That's not a knock on Johnny Furphy. He's 20, and there's definitely been some possessions in which he's looked like a teenager trying to play defense, but he's also quietly had some standout defensive stands in almost every game. Rather, it was telling that, without Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Ben Sheppard, the Pacers ultimately turned to Furphy at the point of attack over Mathurin, let alone Haliburton. The opposite was the case in San Francisco. With Nembhard chasing Curry, Mathurin and Siakam took up the assignments against whichever two of Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and Draymond Green were on the floor. In turn, that meant Haliburton had no choice but to guard Schroder.

At times, it was very evident why Furphy was guarding the speedy guard in Brooklyn, rather than Haliburton, but two things worked in Indiana's favor: 1) Siakam was on hand to lend a hand from the strong-side corner while "guarding" Green, and 2) The Warriors rank 28th in ball-screens per 100 possessions.

Just as a comparison, Schroder tallied 58.7 picks per 100 possessions as primary (and really only) ball-handler when the Pacers lost to Brooklyn. In this game, he only recorded 25.8 per 100 possessions in total, with 19.3 coming against Haliburton. The Warriors just didn't look to press that particular pressure point very often. That won't be the case with every team, nor will every team shoot 31.1 percent from three -- as the Suns, Kings, and Warriors did in combination during this three-game road trip.

Still, Turner has been stingier around the basket, holding opponents to just 47.6 percent around the rim during the the current five-game win streak. Haliburton continues to be active with his length, Siakam lurks in the background, and Mathurin has collected 33 defensive rebounds during his minutes with the starters, which isn't that far off from the totals posted by Siakam (36) and Turner (38).

Last season, the Pacers surrendered 110.3 points per 100 possessions with Nesmith starting in place of Mathurin. Overall, it would come as a surprise if the current five-man unit matches or exceeds that mark, but there's been definite strides since they were throwing the ball around like a beach ball at a concert in Toronto and Brooklyn, and there's probably something to be said for how they've been more willing to mix in zone and switching as a means to at least give themselves a chance to catch their opponent off-guard even if they aren't necessarily elite at actually guarding.

Kyle Taylor: There have been a couple "25 under 25" lists out recently and Tyrese has been outside the top 10 on a couple of them. I believe it was Tim Legler who defended this decision as being about reconsidering Tyrese's floor. One stat that caught my eye: per PBP stats, from the 2022-23 season to present, across the regular season and playoffs and excluding garbage time, the Pacers have a -2.9 net rating in the 1309 minutes with Tyrese as the sole ball handler (no Bruce Brown, Nembhard, or McConnell). This season, the Pacers have been an atrocious -12 per 100 in 427 minutes with Tyrese as the sole PG. I know we've talked about coverages and injuries excessively. My focus here is big picture: How much has this season altered your assessment of Tyrese's offensive floor and overall impact as an offensive player, or has your assessment not changed at all? What, if anything, does it say about Tyrese's offensive impact that his game has been somewhat reliant on having a second PG out on the floor with him?

This is overly reductive, and Haliburton certainly isn't on the same level as Steph Curry as an all-time great to this point, but what does it say about Steph that he only scored 10 points and attempted 13 shots with Nembhard face-guarding him? Likewise, what does it say about Steph that the Warriors traded for a second ball-handler in Dennis Schroder who is now in the starting lineup?

Nothing, right?

After all, the following is an excerpt from my first mailbag to start the season:

"Either way, a lot of what's been going on at the end of quarters and during crunch-time, as it pertains to Haliburton's level of involvement and how he's being involved, is directly related to how teams are gearing up to respond to him as an All-Star point guard, who at times, at least against exaggerated coverages in the fourth quarter, may need to move and learn to dominate like a shooting guard."

Here's another excerpt:

"In that way, by learning to become a better role player and creating advantages with his movement, in a similar manner to, say, Steph Curry, who he bonded with at the Olympics, it's possible that he could become an even brighter star in the long run, despite some of the current growing pains in combination with the team's collective shooting woes."

Plus, two years ago, Samson and I recorded a podcast together over at Raptors Republic in which we discussed why Haliburton might need to grow his game to beat switches with movement and as a screener, with Steph as a reference point. So, some of this was foreseeable. It's hard to have this conversation without mentioning the exaggerated coverages or the way in which he looked limited to start the season, but his game has always been somewhat comparable to understanding the importance of negative space in art.

There was a lot of hand-wringing last season when he started getting blitzed more often following the finals of the In-Season Tournament, but the reality is that the Pacers scored 1.175 points per chance when Haliburton passed out of a blitz last season. For frame of reference, the Celtics led the league in points per chance out of ball-screens last season, regardless of coverage type, at 1.062 points per chance. Likewise, there has been similar concern over how much less he's been running pick-and-rolls as the ball-handler, with him averaging just 38.846 picks compared to 43.861 after Buddy Hield was traded, but the Pacers have scored 1.119 points per chance with him as the screener -- which ranks sixth among the 29 guards who have set at least 100 picks and also bests what the Pacers have generated with Turner (1.064), Siakam (1.055), and Toppin (1.017) as screeners, albeit on lower volume.

Granted, there's been an ongoing learning curve with regard to making an impact with actual impact, and he could still stand to improve at working to get himself open with misdirection cuts, but it doesn't necessarily need to be seen as a negative that he's being guarded to the point that the Pacers can play four-on-four with Nembhard or McConnell as a complement.

For the sake of emphasis, he is not even in frame for part of this possession, and when Mathurin receives the pass from Siakam out of the odd-man advantage, Haliburton's defender actually runs away from the ball to scurry back to him.

Absurd!

There are things that he still needs to improve at (i.e. not bailing out of drives as often when he is shaded left, attacking quicker before the blitz comes against perimeter mismatches, etc.), and there shouldn't be games when he gets outscored by Isaiah Wong (sorry, Isaiah Wong), but the idea that he is less than because the Pacers are more with more ball-handlers seems misguided.

Pinder: Do you think the team should stick with the current starting five once Aaron is back? I know you mention Ty and Ben's minutes together have a negative +/-, but when you contrast that against the +/- of that five-man group, it seems to be one of the better units

If ever there was a case for the importance of Andrew Nembhard, consider the following: The Pacers are finally above sea level with Mathurin and Haliburton on the floor together, as they are now outscoring opponents by 0.99 points per 100 possessions in the 781 minutes with them playing in tandem this season. As you mention and also in reference to the prior question, when all three of them have been in action together, the math has definitely math-ed (at least for now), with the Pacers posting a net rating of +14.5 in 265 minutes played. Take Nembhard out of the equation, however, and the Haliburton-Mathurin two-man lineups have been outdone by 6.04 points per 100 possessions in 516 minutes played, while giving up (gasp) 121.2 points per 100 possessions. That's tough!

Tellingly, even during this five-game win-streak, Haliburton and Mathurin have only played a total of 22 minutes together without Nembhard also on the floor. For the most part, with the exception of the game against Golden State when Nembhard's minutes were being matched to those of Steph, Haliburton closes out the first quarter alongside T.J. McConnell with some combination of Ben Sheppard, Obi Toppin, and either Pascal Siakam or Myles Turner. Then, Mathurin typically returns to play with McConnell, Siakam, Jarace Walker and whomever happens to be playing center. In addition to the stylistic differences between both of those groups, Mathurin's usage also swells from 21 percent in minutes with Haliburton to 25 percent in minutes without Haliburton.

That arrangement seems like the best method to provide both of them with the space to be who they are while also mitigating for what they can give up in combination defensively, at least when playing without Nembhard. As such, for the long-term future of the team, this situation seems somewhat similar to last season, in that the starting spot should arguably be Mathurin's to lose -- especially with what he offers offensively over Nesmith against teams, like New York and Dallas, who tend to hide their stars on the fifth starter.

In addition to winning, one of the top priorities for this season needs to be determining to what degree that pairing is viable. For as long as the Pacers are managing to accomplish both, they should arguably press on with the research and discovery -- unless, of course, they would happen to discover a surefire, outside upgrade over both at that position.

Patrick Fagan: Do you think Nesmith returns to the starting lineup when healthy? Why or why not?

Without completely rehashing my prior answer, if the Pacers are still rolling as they are now, it would come as surprise if Nesmith was automatically reinserted into the starting lineup. As previously stated, the Pacers need to determine to what degree Haliburton and Mathurin can complement each other as starters. If Nembhard can bridge the gap between them, then this is a moot point and they've once again found a way to exist at the intersection of winning and development as they did last season -- when Nembhard and Ben Sheppard both made strides during the playoffs.

Remember, Nesmith went from shooting 41 percent from three during the regular season to 27 percent throughout the playoffs, and he struggled to recapture his rhythm with a one-dribble three against hard closeouts. He's a better fit for the play-style, and there's been some recent losses, as well as wins, when his presence was clearly missed on defense (i.e. T.J. McConnell was guarding Brandon Miller! Also, the Pacers had to choose between Haliburton defending Schroder's speed at the point of attack or Kuminga's size around the basket!); however, when Mathurin is cooking, he can "defend" certain match-ups by forcing them to play defense as an upgrade to Nesmith, especially when Nesmith is outsized.

Overall, it wouldn't come as a surprise if Nesmith eventually ends up back in the starting lineup, but again: they should arguably press on with research and discovery for as long as the winning, or at least the solid play from the current starters as a group, continues before automatically simulating to that potential endgame -- especially if the ultimate endgame once again reveals the need for a wing-sized wing defender.

Tyler Bishop: No real question. I'm just very thankful Andrew Nembhard is back. He really is the perfect backcourt partner for Tyrese. Merry Christmas!

Yes, Tyler, there is a Santa Clause.

Eric: My question is with regards to the current roster and the rotations/line-up combinations when everyone is healthy. How do you foresee Rick and the coaching staff mixing and matching players? Based on fit, my layman's glance would say bring Toppin, Nesmith, and TJ in for Siakam, Mathurin, and Nembhard at the 6 minute mark to keep pace in with Haliburton. Giving the other line up of something like Sheppard/Jarace, Nembhard/TJ, Benn, Siakam, and Bryant. This gives the pacers heavy pace with Haliburton with some slightly better wing defense, and lets Mathurin and Siakam function as the second unit engine with TJ.

Some of this will obviously be situational. The rotation changed somewhat in San Francisco because the Pacers were trying to mirror Nembhard's minutes with whenever Steph was on the floor. In turn, that led to more playing time for Mathurin with Haliburton. Likewise, in Sacramento, when the Kings played Trey Lyles at center, the Pacers also played small, with Obi Toppin at nominal five. Then, when Sabonis reentered the game, they brought in Thomas Bryant. As such, those types of match-up decisions will likely also factor along with which players jell with which and whoever happens to be rolling on any given night.

That said, as stated in the prior response, it seems as though they are prioritizing playing Haliburton with McConnell, Sheppard, Toppin, and either Siakam or Turner as the first hybrid lineup, with Siakam then joining Mathurin and Toppin with either McConnell or Nembhard and Walker or Furphy. Both of those groupings are straight-forward enough, as the Haliburton bench lineup allows him to play off-ball in tandem with McConnell as part of a speed lineup with plenty of moving targets, whereas the Siakam lineup generally relies more on length to insulate Toppin while counting on him and McConnell to make sense of spacing that doesn't always make sense.

When Nesmith returns, he could plug in for Sheppard with the Haliburton group, or take the place of Walker/Furphy with the Siakam group. Either way, the depth of the roster enables them to stay fresh and play to their identity, but don't be surprised if playing an 11-man rotation once again leads to inconsistent playing time for certain role players from night-to-night.

Paul Glennon-March: I’m curious what you think about Bennedict Mathurin. I’ve noticed that he’s doing a much better job with rebounding and I think defensively he’s also doing better (though I definitely see lapses on his part). He also seems to be more decisive on what he does on offense. Does this seem too optimistic of a picture of him? Do you still believe he can be a long-term starter with the Pacers?

When Samson and I recorded our end-of-season mailbag podcast after the Pacers had been eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals, he brought up Jayson Tatum and Andrew Wiggins as examples of big wings who upped their rebounding impact during the playoffs, asking whether there could potentially be an already existing answer on the roster to the rebounding woes.

This is how I answered: "I think Bennedict Mathurin is somebody who can punch up as a rebounder. He had moments during the regular season when he looked like he had embodied the spirit of prime Lance Stephenson."

That said, while there was reason to think he could level up, can't say I saw this coming. To recap, after boxing out his own man, he outrebounded Sabonis.

Wowzer! Plus, even when he doesn't get the rebound, the boxing out part has slowly become a bigger part of his regular routine.

As for his defense and decision-making, both are still fairly hit-or-miss. For example, it's one thing to get beat by De'Aaron Fox (he's really freaking fast!), it's quite another to get beat by De'Aaron Fox while giving him unlimited access to his strong hand.

There's also times where he makes quicker decisions, but they aren't necessarily the right decision. Here, for example, he makes a quick extra pass, but the pass is in the opposite direction from where the defense is rotating, when he also arguably has time and space to shoot.

That's somewhat of a recurrent theme. On the season, he's shooting 44 percent on catch-and-shoot threes, but he's attempting less than two per game.

These need to be shots.

Likewise, good on him for finding the seam in the defense, but he needed to shoot as soon as he flashed, rather than pulling out the do-it-yourself kit. Just take a look at Haliburton's reaction as the shot-clock is winding down.

The Pacers rank 26th in catch-and-shoot three-point attempts, which is down from 15th last season. Turner, Siakam, and Toppin have all increased their averages of catch-and-shoot three-point attempts from a year ago, and they comprise three of the top four on the team in terms of per game volume. The Pacers don't need to run more plays for Mathurin to up his attempts; he just needs to recognize when the right read is to let the ball fly. Otherwise, the flow can just as easily be sapped from the offense with passes for the sake of passing, as with extended catch-and-hold forays. Put simply, just shoot.

Brad Cangany: How many types of screens are there? What are the names?
When I was learning the game back in the early 70’s our school team ran the Hinkle offense. We used the pick and roll. Over the years defense evolved and rules changed. I need to bring my game into the 21st century.

Oh Brad, there are many, many types of screens. As far as ball-screens, here are a few examples that the Pacers regularly incorporate into their offense.

Double Drag (aka 77) - This typically develops in semi-transition with the two screeners running into the screen from an angle perpendicular to the ball so that the ball-handler can, yes, drag out the defense. It's a little unusual for both screeners to be rolling, when usually one or the other would pop, but Turner makes the adjustment as his defender, Kevin Love, drops down to tag Obi Toppin. Also, shoutout to Ben Sheppard for cutting from the wing to the opposite corner. In addition to involving Tyler Herro as the low-man, his movement opens up a gap for Haliburton to drive into.

Ghost swing flare slip step up: Before Indy Cornrows went kaput as powered by Vox Media, I wrote an entire breakdown on every time the Pacers ran this play -- which (surprise, surprise!) incorporates three different types of screens. Back then, the principle players were Caris LeVert, Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and either Malcolm Brogdon or T.J. McConnell. In essence, it was an effective way to play five-out with two bigs on the floor that provided for plenty of options and reads. Now, McConnell is still buzzing around with his dizzying array of driving angles, and the Pacers will also even occasionally run this as a zone buster.

Typically an ATO play, the set starts off with a ghost screen (aka blur action or running slip oftentimes run between two guards) on one side of the floor floor to lift that player to the top of the key. Once there, as Johnny Furphy can be seen doing below, that player sets a flare screen and slips looking for a potential cut into the lane. If that gets covered up, the ball reverses to the original side of the floor into a step-up screen (i.e. flat screen) for the ball-handler to attack downhill. In this case, Toppin slips out of the step-up screen and ultimately ends up popping back out to three, but the flat-angled screen is to create ambiguity and randomness as to whether the ball-handler will drive middle or baseline.

Wedge-roll: This action was just the subject of an entire article, but the Pacers go to this play frequently toward the end of games, while shuffling who does what between Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, and Pascal Siakam depending upon match-ups and coverages.

Here, Haliburton sets a wedge screen (i.e. an angled back-screen from a guard for a big to slide from the top of the key to the block).

If the defense switches or ducks under to take away the potential post-up opportunity, then the wedge screen effectively acts like a RAM screen (i.e. an off-ball screen for the player setting a ball-screen) to delay the coverage on what then becomes a wedge roll, with Siakam setting a ball-screen at the wing. For more on the ins-and-outs of why that action has been so effective for the Pacers during crunch-time as late, go check out that article.

That's just a few examples, of course. I've previously also done breakdowns on "C," which is a high-low action triggered by a vertical chase screen, as well as "two-side," which features a pair of Iverson-like staggered screens, typically as a counter for when teams top-lock Tyrese Haliburton. Once he gets a clean catch out of the action, they'll flow into an empty strong-side corner ball-screen with the option for him to reverse the ball into middle pick-and-roll for the opposite guard to attack into a tilted defense. This list is obviously far from exhaustive, but hopefully some of these definitions, along with the how and why of which screens are being deployed and for what reason, can enhance the overall viewing experience.

James T. Sandberg: I am curious about the team's recent success. The eye test tells me there has been a better balance of Siakam offensive plays to open space for Ty-led ball movement to get the defense in rotation. Earlier in the season, it felt like they couldn’t figure that balance out. Am I noticing something real (stats, I mean) or are shots just falling? Or, in other words, what is the best balance between Siakam-iso possessions and Tyrese ball movement?

Not to plug my own work again, but this is exactly why I wrote the aforementioned wedge-roll piece following the win over the Sixers. When the Pacers lost to Charlotte, Pascal Siakam attempted a season-low of eight shots and only had one touch within two-point range during the entire fourth quarter. In Philadelphia, by comparison, the Pacers ran that wedge-action three times in a row, while making a purposeful effort to keep him involved and/or leverage his gravity even when he didn't necessarily directly touch the ball in the post.

Granted, that's not the first time the Pacers have ran that play, but the fact that they went to it repeatedly, while also benefiting from a healthy Andrew Nembhard, who can act like a bridge between Haliburton and Siakam by typically drawing the weaker assignment and also being malleable in terms of his ability to screen or handle, was a change. And, they keep changing, along with whatever coverage gets thrown at them. Just look at this key, late-game layup from Nembhard against the Warriors. When Nembhard sets the wedge screen, Draymond ducks under to prevent Siakam from being able to slide to the post against Curry. By doing so, though, he's slightly out of position to defend the subsequent ball-screen, which effectively leaves Curry in no-man's land -- unsure of whether to switch onto Haliburton or recover back to Nembhard.

All of which is to say that, putting those three into action at the same time allows for a lot of different permutations, while essentially melding what Haliburton does with what Siakam does -- as there is both space and opportunity to isolate against mismatches or play downhill out of pick-and-roll depending upon the coverage.

Jeff Hasser: Give a New Year's Resolution for each of the starting five!

Myles Turner - Approach every rebounding opportunity as if he is about to secure a double-double 

There was a funny moment at the end of the win over the Golden State Warriors, in which Myles Turner, who finished with 23 points and exactly 10 rebounds, could be heard on the Warriors broadcast apologizing to Pascal Siakam for "stealing" his rebound on the final possession, saying, "I need a double-double."

On the season, for a player who previously had a conversation with Rick Carlisle and Lloyd Pierce about focusing on averaging 10 rebounds per game, Turner has only reached that threshold in five games this season, with the Pacers posting a 3-2 record when he does.

The burden for securing the glass doesn't exclusively fall on him, as there are certainly going to be possessions when he can't both contest a shot at the rim and pull down the rebound. Plus, a lot of the struggles in that department to start the season stemmed from the fact that they were allowing a slightly higher percentage of three-point attempts, and with more three-point attempts, comes more long rebounds -- of which they weren't always the quickest to track down.

Still, these types of lapses, when Sabonis out-hustled him to his own missed three and then also out-muscled him under the rim, are entirely on him.

In those moments, regardless of whether he is sitting on zero rebounds or nine rebounds, what he told Siakam needs to become his mantra for the New Year:

"I need a double-double."

Bennedict Mathurin - Just shoot! 

This is a re-hash from the prior question on Mathurin. Again, he's shooting 44 percent on 1.5 catch-and-shoot threes per game. There isn't necessarily a magic number for how many attempts he should average, but he does need to start taking the inflow shots that come to him -- especially out of read-based offense.

Andrew Nembhard - Use the shot-fake that he uses 

Since being drafted, Nembhard has only attempted five or more free throws in a game six times, and two of those games have come during the current win streak.

Here, he didn't just use a shot-fake against Yves Missi in the win over the Pelicans. He actually used the shot-fake to get to the line.

That isn't always guaranteed with him, as sometimes he can be a bit too ethical, especially last season, when he would occasionally use the shot-fake only to then fadeaway.

Nembhard is a physical player who typically creates space for himself with contact, but he could also be more active to leverage that contact into drawing fouls.

Tyrese Haliburton - Keep or get the ball back when forced left 

This is somewhat of an old talking point, and there were some strides made between Haliburton and Siakam in this regard by the end of the Knicks series, but Haliburton has passed out of nearly 60 percent of his drives going left this season and the team has only scored 0.613 points per chance when he faces ice coverage toward the left sideline. Here, for example, when Podziemski flips his hips to force Haliburton away from the screen, Draymond countered for the counter by motioning for the veer-back switch to take away the pop. To his credit, Turner responded by diving against the smaller defender; however, by the time the ball filtered over to the weak-side, Kuminga had already scrammed out the mismatch.

The Pacers are an egalitarian team, and as pointed out in a prior response, Haliburton's approach to the game can at times be like understanding the importance of negative space in art, but there are certain instances when the team could stand to find some solutions that would allow for the ball to stay with the two best players on the floor. For instance, maybe the screener could occasionally pop closer to the elbow for Haliburton to then flow into a "get" hand-off with the big? In that case, at least Haliburton would be able to attack middle and perhaps even regain access to his strong hand.

Pascal Siakam - Drive time

Since Draymond switched there, another possible solution would've been for Walker to intentionally drive at the big rather than reversing the ball for the post-up that never materialized. Of course, that's a lot to ask from a second-year player, whose handle isn't always the tightest in tight space -- especially given that his teammates were pointing for the reversal. The same doesn't necessarily apply to Pascal Siakam.

It doesn't happen often, and this obviously isn't two-man game or ice coverage, but the natural inclination for bigs on drives is to help. So, if Haliburton has a perimeter mismatch and Siakam drives in that direction, he typically draws two to the ball, which allows Haliburton to attack the switch through the closeout, like so.

On the season, Siakam is only averaging 8.1 drives per 100 possessions, compared to the 15.6 he averaged after being traded last season. Meanwhile, whereas Mathurin's touches have increased from 41.9 per game a year ago to 55.3 now that he's playing starter-level minutes (i.e. no one else on the roster has seen a bigger increase), Siakam's number has basically stayed unchanged, still hovering around 54.0 per game. As such, whether for the sake of countering against switches or potentially generating more catch-and-shoot three-point attempts for a team that, just to repeat, ranks 26th in that category, Siakam could stand to rack up more drive time, at least in strategic situations when the team is willing to hand over the keys.

Patron-only popsicle content

Despite my current misfortune, I'm very lucky. Just before I got sick, someone who cares about me very much bought me a blue poinsettia. Much to my dismay, though, I've been about as good at taking care of it as I've been at taking caring of myself. With each passing day, when I manage to get any sleep, I wake up to find that another petal has shriveled up and fallen off, causing me to ask myself where I went wrong and what I could've done better. (Seriously, I don't know how parents of real human beings do this!). Anyway, we're both having a very (ahem) blue Christmas.

This is the plant version of Sad Jeff Teague and a rendering of my current status.

My plan for this section was to recreate my sister's wassail popsicle recipe, which is my favorite homemade concoction of hers. Of course, not unlike all of my other holiday plans that have been put on hold, as my cooking these days is pretty much limited to broth or whatever else I can manage to swallow and easily heat up in a microwave, any notion of me whipping anything up for a table spread got tabled. But again, despite my current misfortune, I've realized I'm very lucky.

If not for the fact that I always (always!) keep a box of popsicles (otherwise known as a superfood) in my freezer, let's just say my Christmas would've been a lot bluer.

Of course, despite my current misfortune, there's also another reason that I'm very lucky: In addition to medicine, tissues, a thermometer, my withered plant, and the superfood that will always (always!) be in my freezer, I've also enjoyed the company of the many supportive messages that so many of you sent in response to this mailbag prompt, in addition to supporting me in doing whatever it is that you call what I do. Thank you, as always, but especially now -- when hopefully, before too long, I'll join the Pacers in being on the upswing, or at the very least on the mend.