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Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Hickville, Indiana
Age: 17
Posts: 14,943
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Is our bench underrated?
Quote:
Q. Why don't the Pacers ever get any credit for their bench? I mean take a look at who we have, or would have were we at 100 percent: Stephen Jackson, Fred Jones, Scot Pollard, Austin Croshere, Jonathan Bender, David Harrison, James Jones, Anthony Johnson and Eddie Gill. Every single one of them, with the possible exception of the injury-prone Bender, has proven to be a strong player who can step up and contribute well either starting or off the bench. Yet other teams with less impressive benches get all the attention. Are we missing something? Is it safe to say the Pacers have the best bench in the league, or at least the conference? (From Justin in Cape Coral, FL)
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A. There's no anti-Pacers bias involved in this. In fact, there's a pretty simple explanation: for much of this season, the Pacers haven't been able to define their second unit because, with all the suspensions and injuries, so many reserves have been forced to start. Entering this season, Stephen Jackson was supposed to be the sixth man; he has started all 28 games in which he's played. Fred Jones wasn't supposed to play much at all; he leads the games (57) and minutes (1,828). James Jones wasn’t even on the rotational radar and he's second to Fred Jones in appearances (52).
Early in the season, when the second unit was populated by temps Britton Johnsen and Tremaine Fowlkes, among others, the team was routinely getting hammered in the category of bench points. That's because the best reserves were starting. That's been true much of the year. At the moment, for example, just two original starters are in the lineup, Jeff Foster and Reggie Miller.
As the team has crept closer to full strength, the bench has begun to gain some continuity and productivity. In the last seven games, the Pacers have enjoyed a 223-135 advantage in bench scoring (an average of 31.9 to 19.3). That's a major turnaround because, in the first 52 games, the bench averaged 22.9 points per game to the opponents' 26.7. The problem lately is the starters have been getting outscored by an average of nearly 13 per game in those same seven games (62.1 to 75.0).
Under the circumstances, it's impossible to accurately compare the Indiana bench to those around the league because of its constantly changing makeup. As you point out, if the team was at full strength the reserves would stack up against most anyone. But we're all still waiting for the team to reach full strength. There has been enormous pressure on the reserves all year long and, for the most part, they've come through better than most would've expected. Without them, the team couldn't have survived the constant adversity it has faced.
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http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/question_050307.html
I think we have one of the best benches in the league, but as Conrad stated, we haven't really had a clear bench this year. Our benchies have been starters, our starters suspended, and our 3rd stringers have even become starters. One good thing that came from the suspensions was the emergence of Freddie Jones. Imagine if Freddie was getting 3rd stringer minutes; we wouldn't realize that he can be an okay PG, a go-to-guy, and a 3-point shooter. Pollard may have also seen less minutes and we might not have realized that he was as good as he is. Now that we know players like Freddie Jones and Scot Pollard are a lot better, Croshere is inconsistently good, AJ is decent, and James Jones is decent, can these guys step up and become servicable 2nd stringers next year? Back to this year, Anthony Johnson has played like a backup PG lately, instead of an old, fat, injured, slow, CBA player. He's been able to hit a lot more of his shots and has done a pretty good job setting his teammates up. James Jones, who we all (I'm assuming, except myself, of course) thought would be horrible, has a career-high of 27 points and is a very athletic player that also has a 3-point shot. Croshere has been very inconsistent this year, which I've already stated, but when he is having a good game, he can look like a great 2nd option (ask Donnie Walsh about Croshere's contract). Double D has been a great addition to our bench (although as of now he is a starter) and has shown that he can still be a force on the glass, although his offensive input is a lot worse than the old Dale. Eddie Gill is another great surprise; he's shown his ability to hit the 3-point shot, something we struggled with a lot last year. His play-making skills and quickness make him a good player on both ends of the floor. There's a lot you can say about David Harrison. I was probably the biggest Harrison-hater out there when we drafted him. He had a horrible work-ethic and couldn't rebound. This year he's shown a lot for a rookie and gained some confidence from me. He is an excellent shot blocker, good enough post player to run the ball through (although his passing out of the post isn't that great), and even shows hustle (diving on the floor). Michael Curry, Britton Johnsen, John Edwards: You all suck.
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