Indiana Pacers: Observations from preseason opener vs. Bucks

The Indiana Pacers opened the preseason with a 104-86 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Here are some takeaways from the team’s impressive showing.

There has been a great deal of roster turnover for the Indiana Pacers since last season, and they only had a few training camp practices before their opening preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Under the circumstances, not much could have been expected of this new-look club in their preseason debut, but in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, the Pacers didn’t look like a team just getting to know one another.

Here are some observations gleaned from Indiana’s performance in their preseason opener against the Bucks.

The Good

• The ball movement and overall cohesion the team showed was impressive and unexpected.
• The Pacers played at a quick tempo for most of the contest, giving a hint that playing with pace may be more than just talk this season.
• Indiana played with a lot of spirit considering it was the opening preseason game; the enthusiasm the team has reportedly been showing in camp carried over to the game in Milwaukee.
• Myles Turner, both in terms of his play and his body language, looks ready to take the next step as a main cog for the Pacers. He had 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes.
• Victor Oladipo displayed speed, athleticism and aggression during his time on the floor. His stout defense also had a clear impact on the game. He added 15 points, four assists and three rebounds, but shot just 6-for-15 from the floor.

• Lance Stephenson consistently made plays for himself and for others — he and Domantas Sabonis are already establishing a strong connection on the court. Born Ready finished with 17 points, six dimes and six boards.
• Speaking of Sabonis, he is a smart basketball player who knows where to be and positions himself well to make plays off the pick-and-roll. He had eight points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.
• Bojan Bogdanovic didn’t shoot well in the opening game (2-for-7), but he did display solid basketball instincts and made several nice passes within the flow of the offense.
• Thaddeus Young showed the same level of hustle and on-court leadership that made him a valuable member of the rotation last season.
• Darren Collison was very steady as the team’s starting point guard, and showed that he is a better player than he was during his previous stint in Indiana. He had 10 points, five assists and a whopping seven steals.
• Damien Wilkins will have a tough time finding consistent minutes on this team, but he played very well against the Bucks and took a step toward winning a roster spot with 12 points in 24 minutes.

The Bad

• Shooting was a problem as there were many quality looks that were missed — pretty typical for an early preseason contest. The Pacers shot 42.5 percent from the field on the night.
• The Pacers’ defense was good overall, but there were some glaring lapses that will need to be cleaned up as the preseason progresses.

• Bojan Bogdanovic’s reputation as a poor defensive player was all but confirmed; he lacks lateral movement and will often need rotational help from Myles Turner and others.
• Late in the game, T.J. Leaf began to relax a bit and make some plays, but he looked very much like a raw, nervous rookie for much of the night.

On the whole, this was a very good and surprising performance for Indiana. However, its development as a team is likely to be a long process and there will be ups and downs along the way.

As well as the Pacers played against Milwaukee, they will have moments during the preseason where they look like they’ve never met each other — it’s going to happen.

However, Indiana did a lot of things well in its first preseason game, and the bulk of the negatives are either easily correctable or just standard early-season issues.

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