Pacers: Where does the issue lay early on?

After the worst start to a campaign since 2009, there are a few questions surrounding the Indiana Pacers now – most importantly, where is the problem?

Despite a pretty decent preseason, the Indiana Pacers are staring a win-less record in the face, and the prospect of staying that way is staring right back.

The offense looks disjointed, the defense is… well… somewhere, and things just don’t look great for the Blue & Gold so far.

As of today, the Pacers sit in the bottom ten in shooting percentage, bottom ten in point differential, and bottom five in points. Offensively, it’s been a nightmare so far. Paul George and Monta Ellis, the two best shooters on the team (sorry, Mr. Bird), have been uncharacteristically poor and it’s plenty plausible that the tandem picks up the pace, but it’s part of the problem now.

In addition to their poor placement in other offensive categories, they also rank bottom six in assists. At first glance, it could be attributed to not moving the ball around well enough, but it could also mean the Pacers simply aren’t hitting off the pass, which is strange enough.

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Defensively, Indiana is also in the bottom ten in defensive rating. If you don’t know, defensive rating is the amount of points scored per 100 possessions for a team, and Indiana’s rating is 103.7. The highest, Milwaukee Bucks, is at 117.1, but the lowest, the Utah Jazz, is at 85.5. The middle is right around the mid-to-upper 90s though which still means Indiana is heading in the wrong direction.

However, perhaps the most disturbing number is the 19 turnovers per game the Pacers average. That number puts them at the fourth worst in the league. Taking a look at the others – 76ers, Wizards, and Thunder – the Wizards and Thunder have elite ball handlers who are flying at 1000 miles an hour to keep up with their respective adjusted offenses, and the 76ers, are, well, the 76ers and being compared to them in any category is probably bad news. Essentially, unless you have John Wall or Russell Westbrook bringing it up the floor every time, there should be nowhere near that many turnovers.

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In summation, there isn’t one area to put the blame in, which is a concern in of itself. However, with plenty of season left don’t read too much into statistics – this could be a blip, or it could be an indicator.

A 0-4 start would be the worst since 1988, but Indiana will hopefully avoid that when they return to the floor on Tuesday night against the Pistons in Detroit.

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