Indiana Pacers: State of the team at midseason

Stopping people has been another story altogether

Things don’t look so good on this end of the court, as Indiana is 23rd in the league in field goal percentage against (47.0 percent), 17th in 3-point percentage against (36.8 percent) and 21st in defensive rating, checking in at 107.0 on the year.

The median defensive rating in the league is currently 105.3, and the Pacers only have one rotation player who is performing above that standard (Victor Oladipo).

The team’s difficulty in getting stops has been a shared responsibility — none of the regular rotation players are dreadful on the defensive end, but everyone outside of Oladipo is playing at a below-average level, the worst offender being Lance Stephenson with a defensive rating of 109.5.

Individually, Indiana has had difficulty keeping themselves between their opponents and the basket, and they’ve also been very inconsistent in terms of executing defensive rotations and close-outs. In short, they have a lot of work to do to get this straightened out.