What defensive matchups make sense for the Indiana Pacers in playoff series with Milwaukee Bucks?

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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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It's the first round of the playoffs. Let's dive into the series from the Pacers. It's the Bucks. It's the first round of the playoffs. Let's dive into the series from the Pacers ORG perspective. Do the regular season games between these two teams matter? What are the key matchups going to be? How will the cross matchups work? The alignment, Sterer Kramer and I are going to dive into all of it today on the Locked On Pacers podcast.

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You are Locked on Pacers WORK_OF_ART. Your daily Indiana Pacers ORG podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network ORG, your team every day. What up, y'all?

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Happy Wednesday and welcome into another edition of the Locked-on Pacers podcast.

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Where are we, of course, talk about the Indiana Pacers ORG, as always. My name's Tony East PERSON. I cover the team for Forbes and SI ORG. And today, let's dive into Pacers ORG' bucks head first into a bunch of key storylines from a Pacer ORG's perspective in this series. Some matchups looking back at the regular season,the changes between the teams. How will this alignments work?

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Lots of craziness you can expect, I think, in the matchups in this series. And Derek Kramer and I break it all down. Stats, analysis, ideas, the benches, all sorts of stuff that we dive into today. In a first glance look at Pacers' bucks, mostly from a Pacer's perspective today. We'll have Bucks people on on Friday tomorrow. Me by myself. We'll see how much I do this weekend. There's only so much series previewing that can be done. But lots more coming on this series started today with Derek Kramer for my Pacers ORG blog.Let's just get right to it. Pacers and Bucks ORG. Let's dive in the Pacers first series since 2020. Their first series with games in Indianapolis since Tyreek Evans was balling against the Kyrie Celtics in 2019. It's been a while. There's going to be a lot of fun stuff to talk about.And here to break it down with me, somebody who only tracked like one third of Miles Turner's total blocks to date now because it was 2019. He hadn't blocked as many shots. It's Derek Kramer of I Pacers Block ORG. He's back. Derek PERSON,are you excited for this series?

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It's just so great to have the Pacers ORG back in the postseason with a very good chance of winning a game in the postseason as well. It's been even longer since that happened. Like, let's just, as long as we get a competitive series for the first time since that Victor Oladipo, crazy year, seven game series against LeBron PERSON, like that's, at minimum, that's what I want to see. Like, just a competitive playoff basketball series.It's been too long.

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They were like in every game in that Celtic EVENT series. I think they were up in the fourth quarter two or three times, but it never felt like it. And then the heat series EVENT was just like down. It's like they were permanently down nine that whole series. It was very painful. Yeah, I don't know who I'm going to pick the win yet.Injuries are going to play a big factor that makes it kind of hard to make predictions anyway. But I think the Pacers ORG, I would be shocked if they got swept, right? And I think that's a huge step forward for them and where they are. And that also is a factor of the health here. Where I want to kind of start is a big picture question for you. And that is they played the Bucks a lot this season. And I think this was kind of the key topic at practice today, at least that I was kind of wondering what players would say. They played the Bucks five times this season. But, you know, you were thereSunday after the Pacer's Hawks ORG and all the players were like, yeah, you know, we don't want to look back at the regular season. We don't know how much to draw from that. And it's obvious how like, like generically, how big the changes are since then, right? Doc Rivers instead of Adrian Griffin, Siakam in, nobody, no Bruce Brown, McDermid PERSON in, he might like play like, play like that does matter. I don't think he'll play very much. Patrick Beverly PERSON in, he actually will play a lot despite being a minimum guy who was traded for a second-round pick. No campaign. I think I got everybody who playedor mattered, at least in these games. Like, it's way different. It's way different. Jay Crowder missed some of the games. There's a lot that's changed. So it's not nothing, right? Like, really what's interesting is the Bucks have like six or seven guys from their team that won the title and played Jalen Smith's team in the 2021 finals or the same team that played Aaron E Smith in the 22 second round. So like there are guys that have seen this before in the playoffs with the Bucks ORG and they have a lot of the same personnel. But how much do you think you can and can't draw from the five games we've already seen the Pacers and Bucks ORG play,given how many changes there have been?

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I don't think there's a ton. I think the Pacers ORG need to take the confidence and take that from it. They know they can beat the Bucks ORG. But honestly, I think one of the biggest reasons that they went for and one against the Bucks is just Adrian Griffin PERSON wasn't that great. So like I'm not the huge Doc Rivers PERSON guy.Obviously the Bucks ORG have had their issues since then. There's all these injuries, but I don't think there's a ton you can really take away in terms of this playoff series. Like it just feels like both teams are so different. Just look, just the Bucks ORG transition defense alone is just so, just night and day difference between like I thinkI looked up the Bucks transition D since the All Star break is like fifth best in the league now, the fifth fewest opponent fast break points. And like there were so many buckets that just Obie Toppin would get just beating the Bucks down the floor after made points. And like there were so many buckets that just Obie Topin PERSON would get just beating the bucks down the floor after made baskets.

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So like that's very different just with that.

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Their defensive scheme, I know Tyrese mentioned today, like the, they were kind of seeing if they could put Brooke PERSON at the level on picks instead of just his classic drop coverage. And now they're just back into their bud ways, if you will, of having him back almost just full time, not trying to scheme any differently with that, which might be better for the Pacers ORG. Like, Tyrese loves drop coverage. But, like, that's also something that the Bucks ORG are much more comfortable doing.So, like, I don't know how much you can take away from that beyond, like, just the confidence that you know, like, most of your players have had a ton of success against most of their players this season. Yeah.

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So, like, when you look back at the, or when I look back at the in-season tournament semi-final game, right? I vividly remember, like, three or four times that game where the Bucks ORG would score. And then Isaiah Jackson PERSON would just sprint in a straight line and get a transition basket. And the Bucs ORG scored. This wasn't like a fast break. He had just run straight like that.They were that bad at transition defense then. And so part of the pivot they've gone through under Doc PERSON is cleaning that up. And like you can see the classic Bucks numbers that you saw under Mike Boodoodenholzer now where their offensive rebound rate is pretty low, like bottom five, bottom six and league because they're getting back. They don't care about the offensive class as much and that tradeoff has helped them in that way. And they've still struggled in other ways. But yeah, like clearly that is a change they made. Like it's been very well reported thatthey had their defensive scheme that Tyrese talked about today where Rick Lopez PERSON was up high and all the bucks players are like, yo, Adrian PERSON. Like we had this thing going that was really good where he'd like stand back there. And they, and they changed that even from like the first Pacer ORG's game to the last. And that doesn't even account for like Seacom is now, Pascal Seacom is now on the Pacer ORG's, right? Like that alone is even beyond these things that change for the bucks, a big change for the Pacers ORG and what things they could do defensively and offensively and their spacing. So, like, in terms of the way, like, the things thebucks were good and bad at at the time, I'm throwing those out the window. What I'm not throwing out the window is, like, individual skill strengths and weaknesses. And I only say that because, you've probably heard me say this. Like I said, I've said this a million times about the Bucks this year. Part of what made the Pacers ORG have so much success against them, even beyond the transition stuff, is like campaign Damien Lillard PERSON and Malik Beasley couldn't stay in front of anybody on the Pacers ORG, right?So like every Pacer's guard, McConnell, Brown, healed, Halliburton ORG, whoever, Matherin was great, great against the Bucks this season. He guarded Yannis really well in that one game, right? Like that kind of stuff, those guys aren't just going to be magically better defenders in the playoffs, right? So that I can take from that, but that's not specific to Pacer ORG's bucks. You know what I mean?So like you learn those things from those games, and that's part of the reason the Pacers went four and won against the bucks, which is why I bring it up. That's the kind of stuff that I will be pulling from heading into this. But I agree with you that a lot of the transition stuff, how Lopez is defending, how Halliburton's rolling every time, how Matherin PERSON looks good. Obviously, that's a big deal. He's not even playing. Like, that stuff just does not matter at all.And the game will be played at a different pace because it's the postseason. How much? We'll see.

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So one, you've got to work on your rocky impression.

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Yo, Adrian PERSON. Let us play drop coverage. Yeah, I'm not going to do that.

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I'm not going to do that.

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Just maybe thinking what you said, yo, Adrian PERSON.

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Second, like you said, Mike Malik Beasley, there's that viral clip where Tyrese kind of like wince for a screen and then he's just standing there. There's literally a traffic home. Like literally, he doesn't move. Tyrese just goes right by him. And he just kind of pivots and watches him blowby.Like, I don't think we're going to see Malik Beasley guard Tyresellberg PERSON. Like, I think that's going to be one of the big things. It's going to be different. Like, Pat Bev's going to be better on that end than Cameron Payne PERSON. Like it's just no brain. I know.That's an obvious difference in what the bucks are going to look like. I'm trying to remember all the, you got nailed a lot of points there. Another thing with buds, like they're back in their bud ways, like with their drop coverage, like they're not forcing a lot of turnovers. And the Pacers ORG are like having the least amount of turnovers, like opponent's points off turnovers, I think since the All Star Breakthrough, one or two in that.So that kind of plays into the Pacer ORG's strengths. Like they're not going to turn over the ball anyway. So it'll be really interesting to see like how low the Pacers ORG can keep those turnovers against the team that's not trying to turn over the ball anyway. So it'll be really interesting to see how low the Pacers can keep those turnovers against the team that's not trying to turn you over. They're just trying to make you take difficult shots. That's another thing I'm interested in seeing.But yeah, like I don't, I think just the matchups alone are going to change a lot. And I know we're going to hit that later.

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existed this season. Yeah. And I think you, like, you have to be confident in the Pacers half court offense. They're one of the, the best half court offenses. offenses. They have the reputation of being this transition. That's how they score. But they're very effective in the half court. So you're confident if you're the Pacers ORG like that you can execute in that. And then it's just a matter of like how does your how easy is the random flow gameor how difficult is that for the bucks to kind of scheme against and game plan against when they have the whole playoffs to prepare for it. And we don't, we haven't seen that yet. We don't know what that's going to look like when a team is only focusing on your offense and your tendencies and all of that stuff. And that's kind of the best part about playoff basketball is seeing how your players react to that and how they face up against teams that are game playing against their every strength and every weakness.

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And they know the counters that are coming and they know the counters to those counters. And that that's why I, in theory, like in my brain when someone says, talks about the Pacers ORG playing random offense, it's not random, truly. Like, they have to, they have to have a sense of what's happening to be able to react and do things that make sense. But it is like not scripted, you know, like it's very reacting to what else is going on in a way that they understand it really well, but can be difficult for opponents. And, you know, I remember a couple of Pacers players talking about this last year, like Daniel Tice was talking about it with the Celtics ORG when they played against them. Like other teams were like, didn't know what to expect, playing the Pacers ORG. It was really hardbecause it was just fast and random. And so can that actually work? Like, can you get to the playoffs and play random in a way that the Bucks who are going to, like Seacom PERSON described, have a book of your plays and know all your tendencies left and right and hammered into your brain ahead of four to seven games in a row against the same opponent. Can you wiggle free from that? Can you play in a way that is so unpredictable or complicated that it doesn't matter?And your half-court offense can hum and your transition offense can hum. And I think that's possible. But I don't know. And I've never seen the Pacers ORG in that setting. So I also wonder what their response is going to be as a young team if they go, uh-oh, it's not working. What do we do now? And that's where someone like Rick PERSON has to really show his like, hey, let's, I've done this before.We've got this. You know, all the guys who've been in the finals before, you know, but the prep's different and the execution's different. So that that is my final, like, just big question that is adjacently related to the regular season matchups.

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Yeah. And I think one of the kind of the in that realm like the part of the buck's coaching staff change was bringing in a guy that's worked with doc a lot and was with the Kings during Tyrese's rookie year. I think Tyrese brought that up today at practice. So like you know how

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yeah you know how well the the kings have kind of game planned

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against Tyrese, which obviously they have a defender who's kind of helped with that in

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some of those games on Davey on Mitchell PERSON that can make anybody's life tough on that end.

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So you wonder, like, how much of that kind of gamesmanship is going to be going on and kind of playing, playing them how the Kings might play Tyrese, if that's how the Bucks ORG are going to kind of approach things.

Speaker 21069.66s - 1177.4s

Yeah, I am endlessly fascinated by this, but I agree with you in general, and the Pacers ORG said this to my face. So I'm inclined to believe them. The five games that happened, forget about it. You learn some stuff from it.You maybe, I think you're right, are more confident as a result of them, but you can't, I don't think it'd be smart to say, oh, they beat the bucks four to five times. They will do well, will do well in this matchup. The other factors that make that very challenging is Janus PERSON.More reporting from Woj, Derek PERSON. Janice, might miss a game, might miss two. Like, I hate that it's going to be a storyline is when is game two? What day of the week is game two? And we got report number two. Eric Name in Milwaukee GPE.Apparently, Damien Liller didn't practice on Tuesday. I'm going to make sure I have this right before I got it wrong. Doc River said, no, Damon Liller PERSON was not able to practice. And they've done imaging, apparently. So my God, what is this Bucks ORG team going to be? So that is fascinating to me.You can look back at the Bucks ORG, though, and say, yeah, you know, Dame might be hurt and Yonis PERSON might be out. But, like, Thanasis and Pat Conaton and Chris Middleton and Brooke Lopez PERSON. And there's two more. I just ran through the list of all the bucks that were on their team on the title. Do you say Bobby PERSON?They know how to win in the playoffs. Bobby Portis, yeah. I missed me. I did not. Bobby Portis is one. I'm missing one more.It's like they're still going to be good and tough to beat. Like I'm not just thinking, oh, the stars are out. It'll be easierby Portis is one. I'm missing one more. It's like they're still going to be good and tough to be. Like I'm not just thinking, oh, the stars are out. It'll be easier. But it is helpful for the pastures in that way. So matchups.Let me start a very lobby loaded one to you. Who are you putting on Dame PERSON?

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And is it Andrew Nimhardt? Yeah, I think the obvious choice is to put Andrew Nimhardt on Damien Lillard PERSON. There's no other, like maybe you would think about Neesmith PERSON, but you probably want Neesmith PERSON either on Middleton if Janus PERSON is out or you're going to just put him on Janus PERSON.So like yeah, Nimhard PERSON's the obvious choice and that's probably who Dame's going to guard two. So it's not even going to be like a cross match situation. So I think they just like that.I think it'll be the same thing with Pat Bev and Tyrese. Like they're probably going to guard each other as well. That makes the most sense for Tyrese. And that's like the obvious place.

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Like that's why you would keep Pat Bev in the starting lineup is to guard Tyrese.

Speaker 61224.24s - 1247.18s

So I think like those two things just kind of match up for exactly what the other teams would be looking for. You have the kind of defensive guy first guarding the primary ball hander or scoring option, guy trying to sneak through the screens on the pick and roll and everything. And then the big situation is kind of where, like, things might be cross-matchy.

Speaker 21247.46s - 1367.52s

So the reason I generically ask about Dame first is because it, you know, it's so obvious to just like, this guy's on that guy, this guy's on that guy, this is all the cross-matching. And we're going to do it in the front court, too, so I'm going to step on my own toes later. But the reason I wanted to start with Dame is, Janus is a multi-man operation. Like the best game that Pacers ORG played against him this season, and a lot of teams have had success with this, is when they form the wall that when he sees it, he like stops and thinks for a second. And I remember after that game, him talking in the,in the away locker room in Cambridge Fieldhouse about how he is naturally a past first player. I don't think of Janus PERSON that way, but he said it about himself. I'm inclined to believe people talking about themselves. And so that strategy can work. And Janus PERSON will lock into a game plan and figure out how to beat that stuff. He's done it. He's on a championship. Like he's beaten that coverage before, but like that is how you guard Janus. You don't put Pascal Seacum on Yanis PERSON. You're like, yep,we're good. We got it. Like, that's not going to happen. So that, the ripple effect from that is you almost have to be able to slow dame with fewer resources because you're putting so many of them on Janus PERSON. And so Nemhard could be it. Neesmith PERSON could be it at times.Perhaps that's an adjustment that could happen. Like we just saw against the Cavs ORG, Neesmith started the second half on Donovan Mitchell in a regular season game, right? And then you use Nemhardt in a different way on Middleton PERSON or a shooter or whatever or just have him help a ton with Yonis PERSON. Who knows?But if you can limit Dame as much as feasibly possible with one person, and I'm not saying that's even possible. Like, Dame could have an otherworldly series and the Pacers ORG just lose. But if Nemhard can deter him in any way by himself, or at least with not like a ton of extra scheming help, that goes a long way not only slowing Dame PERSON down,but also slowing Honestown PERSON, which is why I think that is the matchup to start with, because it's almost like an inverse ripple effect on how you can defend their actual best player.

Speaker 61368.66s - 1407.94s

Yeah, I think, like, what you're saying about Janus PERSON with the wall, like maybe if he's not at full strength, he's going to be more likely to kind of give in to that when there's multiple defenders, like, which, like, the whole of both injuries right now, Janus and Dane kind of feel like Admiral Akbar PERSON,it's a trap. Like until both of those guys are declared out before game one or even like Dame PERSON seems very unlikely, it seems like it was just rest. But until either of those guys are actually declared out, like I fully expect them to just,they'll be healthy and ready to go at game one. And I'm sure that's how the Pacers ORG are approaching things as well.

Speaker 21408.5s - 1417.8s

Who would you, you're Rick Carlis, Derek PERSON. Who are you using as Scout Team Janus PERSON on the roster? Scout Team Janus PERSON.

Speaker 61418.02s - 1425.22s

Like it, like, Jaris PERSON? Like, is that the best guy who doesn't play?

Speaker 21425.42s - 1448.14s

I think Jarris PERSON is the move, too. James Johnson, you are Scout TV ORG. I don't know who it actually is. I remember Alex Poitler's on this for a podcast telling me when he was Scout Team LeBron in 2018. So I am looking forward to learning who Scout Team Yonis is. I don't even know how much they've focused on their stuff versus Buck ORG's stuff versus all that kind of stuff.So we got Dame PERSON.

Speaker 01448.52s - 1503.54s

I agree with you that Halliburton ORG will be on Beverly and Beverly will be on Halliburton. So that one seems pretty easy. I do wonder if the Buck's first lineup adjustment could be either Beasley in if they're not scoring enough or Jay Crowder PERSON in to get some size and still try to guard Halberton PERSON that way and then Halberton would guard Jay Crowder. And one more break here guys. We have got to talk aboutFanDuel ORG. It is playoff time in the NBA ORG and the NHL ORG. Baseball is in full swing. Go Phillies ORG. FanDuel ORG is your place to bet on every single gameand right now with all that action going on in the sports world, new customers on Fandual, get $150. That's a lot and bonus bets guaranteed. How about that? Does $150 win or lose? You just sign up.You can bet on everything from Slackchats to home runs to slam dunks on an app that is safe, secure, and easy to use. So what are you waiting for?

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Speaker 21574.34s - 1642.6s

And then it gets tricky because it's similar to what we just talked about with Dame PERSON and like one guy on one guy. Like naturally my brain, I'm like Neesmith on Middleton, but like Chris Middleton PERSON is a killer. And in the playoffs, he's been ridiculous and he's got like four inches on Neesmith PERSON. So like, that's a hard one on one matchup.And you almost need Neesmith to be like guy number two to help with Seacum PERSON on Janus PERSON or Turner on Janus. We can debate who should be on who there. So that one is going to be a very interesting matchup to me. And then what do the Bucs do with Middleton, Janus PERSON. We can debate who should be on who there. So that one is going to be a very interesting matchup to me. And then what do the Bucks do with Middleton, Janus, and Lopez PERSON and who all they all guard? Because you can make an argument that if Siakum PERSON's going to be sitting all thescreens for Halberton, you want Brooke Lopez on Pascal Seaccom. And then Janus PERSON can guard knee-smith, the Rome a little more, Middleton on Turner PERSON. That trio of how that all sorts out will be fascinating to me. And then if that goes poorly for the Pacers ORG, either from a lineup perspective or from a cross-matching perspective,is that where they look to make their first adjustment either by like starting OB or going bigger with their group and like that is where this gets really complicated to me.

Speaker 61642.6s - 1650.6s

Yeah, I think I agree the, those whole trio and how they decide who matches up with who and what the bucks do as well.

Speaker 01667.06s - 1667.14s

I kind of expect that the bucks will at least try putting Brooke on Pascal and kind of seeing if Pascal's shooting can hold up against that deep drop, although like we've talked about,

Speaker 61670.06s - 1704.18s

like very confident in Pascal's threes from the corners, but above the break just doesn't, it doesn't feel like it's going in as much. So how they kind of do that, I think they'll probably go with knee-smith on Janus and then Pascal. Pascal on Middleton PERSON is my guessbecause that's what they've done with those bigger wings even since Pascal's been back like Niezsmith PERSON's still been the guy that covers those bigger wings. Which Janice is obviously a different beast than all of those guysbut that's my guess is what they'll try first.

Speaker 21704.82s - 1806.4s

That's interesting. my inclination was turner on on yannis PERSON to start thinking but here so here's where it gets tricky is like whoever any any honest might not play it and then you have to think differently about the matchups but I think that like I was at practice. I was just kind of thinking this. Like, Ben Shepard and his second team shirt and Doug McDermott in his second team shirt, like, you don't want to rely on a rookie or kind of like an inconsistent,whatever you'd call McDermott PERSON right now. But you have, like, wing depth that I think they're going to need, not because they are, like, desperate to rely on those guys in the playoffs, but because Neesmith is going to foul guarding Janus or whoever is guarding Janus is going to rack up fouls, Pascal, whoever. And so I think in my brain, Turner on Janus PERSON, because he's going to be a screener a lot, does make a lot of sense. does make a lot of sense, but you have less,less like center depth for creative rotations if turners and foul trouble, it's just player backups more, whereas you can do more stuff with the wings and have more options. But, you know, McDermott PERSON can't be on anybody.And Shepard PERSON is a rookie who you, like, definitely aren't having to be a Yonist PERSON stopper. So there's a lot of like secondary, what your reserves are impact on who there. My natural thought was Turner on Janus, Neesmith on Middleton, and Seacom on Lopez PERSON. But I think I get what you're saying with Neesmith on Janus PERSON. But once the last time they, was it Matherin PERSON?I guess that when they went to somebody that small on him.

Speaker 61806.88s - 1809.22s

Yeah, Matherin PERSON definitely guarded him. Like, Nismith had.

Speaker 21809.42s - 1810.9s

And well. Yes.

Speaker 61811.2s - 1820.18s

Yeah, like this is the, like we haven't even talked about Matherin PERSON being out as part of why this matchup is different. And he had some, some of his best games of the season came against the bucks

Speaker 01820.18s - 1835.1s

with some huge stops late against Janus PERSON. He had like 25.13 rebound game. Some multiple very good games for Ben PERSON. Neesmith guarded Janus a lot in that in season tournament game for sure.

Speaker 61836.74s - 1852.38s

Like I just think that's probably where they go. I like Turner as kind of the guy that's guarding Lopez PERSON, although both teams probably like will let the center shoot the three if that's who they're guarding or whoever Turner and Lopez PERSON are guarding,

Speaker 01852.5s - 1884.18s

they're going to kind of be okay with that guy taking a three. I like Turner as that guy who can kind of come over and help with the Janus Wall ORG. Turner's, speaking of the Miles High Club ORG, has blocked Janus 22 times, which is second most in his career, partially because he's in the division.He plays him all the time. But this playoff series, just a side note, he could become the most frequent flyer of the Miles High Club if any amount of blocks happen

Speaker 21884.18s - 1894.76s

because he's only one behind Andre Drummond PERSON. Hey, what if Drummond's bowls get the eight seed and then the conference finals is Pacers' Bulls ORG? Then maybe we could have a scenario.

Speaker 51894.76s - 1896.44s

So the balls in the finals, that's what you're saying.

Speaker 41899.14s - 1900.66s

No, we throw out the regular season.

Speaker 21900.66s - 1998.56s

He's dead. Yeah, and so it's funny you mention that because, like, I was going to think to say, think about Brooke Lopez PERSON. Like, if you're the Pacers ORG, like, if you're having to give up something,it's going to be Brooke Lopez threes. Like, if Brooke Lopez goes four for five from deep in a game, you might just lose that game. But I think the flip side might be too true, or it's Miles Turner goes four for five from deep in a game. The Pacers ORG have a really good shot in the same way.And so does that influence where those teams want to put those centers defensively on what player? And the other thing of maybe against or four, depending on what the teams ended up doing a lot, is like if Turner's on Janus PERSON, which was my suggestion just now,well then if your perimeter defense sucks as the Pacers ORG in this series, which it might. Like it just was terrible against the Cavs in a big game last Friday. Like Turner PERSON won't be around the basket or like won't be able to help if he's guarding Janus PERSON as much or also just be like, doop, a little easy dump off, easy basket for the bucks.And so that puts a lot of pressure on that in a way that's like, if Turner PERSON's on Brooke Lopez and he's willing to live with those threes, he can at least help clean up around the basket and then you make Brooke Lopez PERSON beat you instead of the driver. But that's going to be mitigated with good perimeter defense. So it's tough to, like, that could be a factor as well in how they decide. And again, maybe this is their first adjustments.Like, let's change how this is going. Let's see if we put somebody on somebody else. And Seacom PERSON's defensive role specifically, like he hasn't been as impactful defensive as I thought he'd be like who he, maybe he just ends up on Middleton PERSON because of that. Because Middleton PERSON's good, but he hasn't been as good with all his injuries. It's endlessly fascinating but I think it's possible thatnobody ends up guarding their natural position on either team in the opening five and I think that's fascinating. Yeah, it is super interesting.

Speaker 61999.48s - 2027.8s

But I think Pascal has a better chance. Well, anybody does. But I think Pascal makes more sense against Middleton than Neesmith PERSON does, which is part of why I like the Pascal on Middleton PERSON thing. Because I feel like Middleton PERSON, like jump shooting, having that hide advantage over Neesmith PERSON could just kind of post him upand not have to do much, but turn around and shoot over him. Which you don't have to worry about as much with Janus PERSON, because if he takes a jump shot, that's a win for you.

Speaker 22028.34s - 2035.86s

Yes, for sure. So if Janus does, what do you think the Bucks will do if Janus can't play game one? How do you think they'll line up?

Speaker 62036.9s - 2041.26s

I think, though, I was trying to look and see, like, who they had started recently.

Speaker 22041.42s - 2044.56s

And I'll just guess first. I think they'd start Bobby Portis. Is that what you think?

Speaker 62046.14s - 2046.28s

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Speaker 22048.68s - 2058.94s

When I looked to see what they did in the last few games, like that's who they started in his place. And I, like he's played really well lately from what I've seen. So then I think you would go with Pascal on Bobby

Speaker 62058.94s - 2061.6s

and then Neesmith on Middleton PERSON.

Speaker 22062.16s - 2072.06s

Then it's more natural. It's very straightforward. Yeah. But then you do have the issue of like what we just talked about where knee Smith with the height disadvantage trying to guard Middleton PERSON.

Speaker 62072.78s - 2078.18s

So then if Middleton PERSON is Middleton, then that becomes the challenge.

Speaker 22078.82s - 2173.52s

Yeah, Middleton PERSON's not what like he used to be. What's he three time, four time all star? But that dude in the playoffs for forever has just been like lights freaking out. Like I'm not bent against that dude until I see it happen. The other funky thing about the, you know, I'm not saying this helps the bucks per se with air quotes. But like one tricky part of cross-matching is off a miss, picking up in transitions confusing.Because like the guy who guarded you is not necessarily who you're guarding or who you hope to guard. And so for a less good transition team in the bucks, I'll be curious what that ends up looking like or if that ends up being a problem for them. But I agree with you. I think that should Janus PERSON not go, it would be Dame, Beverly, Middleton, Portis, and Lopez PERSON.I wondered if they could go Jake Crowder and Milton PERSON at the four and try to just go Dame PERSON with as much shooting as they can. And I feel like, because Beverly PERSON, the Halliburton ORG thing, like we've seen it in the past even, like I feel like they're going to start him into the series.Maybe it's Beasley PERSON. Just something to get the shooting out there to make the Pacers ORG defend more in space. And then hopefully that can get Dame going if you're the bucks. And if, look, if Dame can't play, which it's wayasley, just something to get the shooting out there to make the Pacers defend more in space. And then hopefully that can get Dame going if you're the Bucks ORG. And look, if Dame PERSON can't play, which it's way too early to even guess what his status is going to be. If they can't play, then I have no idea what the situation's going to be.But yeah, I think that that with Portis PERSON in there is at least more straightforward, but then the cross-matching is easier in tradition. But I think that obviously is a huge help to the Pacers ORG if you can't play. Any bench matchups stand out to you at all, or is it, I think that's way more straightforward in general. Yeah,

Speaker 62173.56s - 2179.56s

I think I'm not as, like there's not as much kind of, yeah, that you need to worry about necessarily with the bench.

Speaker 22179.56s - 2180.5s

There's many unique skill sets.

Speaker 62181.24s - 2181.36s

Yeah,

Speaker 22181.44s - 2188.3s

can the bench be as impactful and just like like, outright awesome as it has been,

Speaker 62188.38s - 2194.8s

like, since the All-Star break? And, like, how is the T.J. McConnell PERSON, like, they might guard him with

Speaker 22194.8s - 2198.96s

Perk Lopez PERSON at times because teams have put centers on him and then just, like, dared and dared him

Speaker 62198.96s - 2204.4s

to shoot. We saw what he did against the Hawks ORG. Of course, that's the Hawks. And there are a Rucker Park

Speaker 42204.4s - 2207.52s

League defense, as Rick PERSON was saying about both teams.

Speaker 52207.84s - 2210.46s

But they had three, he had three threes there.

Speaker 42210.7s - 2231.18s

So hopefully he didn't use them all up. I guess you're thinking if you're the Pacers ORG. But he's been so fantastic. Obie Toppins PERSON been fantastic off the bench. They both have the highest two net ratings among any rotation player that's like consistently been in the rotation. Isaiah Jackson's PERSON is like off the charts, but he hasn't played as many games.

Speaker 62231.88s - 2257.8s

And he's got some garbage time minutes kind of messing with that as well. I think it's going to be interesting to see like which backup center ends up being the guy like if sticks PERSON holds on to it or if he struggles and then Isaiah Jackson PERSON gets a shot. I think that's something to watch. I hope that Doug McDermott PERSON does not play at all. Like I think you just go nine and then like use a use knee Smith or use the Ackham PERSON with those

Speaker 22257.8s - 2261.6s

four starters. What about eight? Could you go?

Speaker 62261.7s - 2275.22s

Oh, if you just take like Shep out if you don't think he's ready and consistent enough yes like he hasn't looked as good lately he's not hitting as many shots so i could definitely see them cutting it all the way down to eight i think that would be tough it would be hard minutes wise

Speaker 22275.22s - 2285.92s

like your your plan and your nmhardt a lot if you're going to aid and that's tricky i think shep's at least got to play 10, probably. I think they'll start that way.

Speaker 62286.04s - 2286.36s

I agree.

Speaker 22286.96s - 2288.64s

So if you look at the Bucks ORG rotation,

Speaker 62288.76s - 2290.88s

they use against the magic in their final game of the season,

Speaker 22291s - 2394.9s

which they win that they're in two. I don't know how. It looks like they tried, given their rotation, and they just sucked in the game. It's just the last game in the season's weird motivations, but just rotationally.They basically played eight with Crowder, Conitin, and Beasley PERSON as their bench, which I point out to say, I think that it's pretty straightforward how, like, matching up and lineups would go. The two curious things I have for the Pacers, one positive, one negative. Positive is, if McConnell is McConnell again, the best guy to put on him is the Bucks is Patrick Beverly PERSON? Like, is Patrick Bervley got to pay 48 minutes a game in the series? Like, he can't, that's not possible, right?There's going to be some amount of time in the game where either Halliburton or McConnell PERSON, likely all McConnell minutes, if you're the Bucs ORG, where he has a not good perimeter defender on him. Like, like, their probably next best option is like Pat Conantin or Jake Crowder PERSON. I don't know. Maybe I'm selling somebody short. And they're not going to put Chris Middleton on T.J. McConnell PERSON, right?So that is something I'll be curious about is if McConnell's magic keeps rolling and he's just 16 points automatically every night. That's a bench advantage the Pacers ORG can get. The negative part is, I don't see a good place for the Pacers to put Obie PERSON defensively against that group because it's shooters or ball handlers who are at least moderately effective. And Obie PERSON has proven that even in matchups where his defense is a particularly good, he can stand the floor by making threes and being really great offensively. But I think it's going to be tricky for him specifically in this series without an obvious spot to put him defensively. Like if Jake Crowder is making shots, it's going to be really hard to find where Obie PERSON goes defensively.Yeah, I do agree with that.

Speaker 62394.96s - 2420.84s

I think he's got the toughest kind of matchups to deal with among anyone in the roster, really. Like, that's just a tough. But it's going to be whether he can keep up the 70% two point percentage that he has all season and the 40% threes. If he can do enough on the offensive end to kind of make up for anything he's going to give up, then it might, it won't matter because he's been that good offensively that he's been incredible, despite any defensive

Speaker 22420.84s - 2443.16s

shortcomings. Agreed? I can't wait. So it's still somehow four days away. So still a lot to dissect. Although I want to get into a lot more about this series and future episodes, but I think this was a good primer for what this all look like. Do you think we missed anything big from like a very zoomed out X's and O's perspective?

Speaker 62444.18s - 2479.8s

I'm trying to think. I think we at least touched on most things. Like it will be interesting. I think like if Obie PERSON does struggle, like do the Pacers ever get to the point where they would try Jaris PERSON in that spot? Or like I think that's going to be tough. Like, he's had some big moments against good teams, but I don't know if Rick PERSON's going to, like,feel like he can put him in in the series, even if, like, they need a change in the bench in that way.

Speaker 22480.2s - 2583.96s

Yeah, I don't. It may be, like, like, Obie PERSON's offense is more important than his defense. That's who he stays in the court, right? So in that way, I don't think you go to Jarrett PERSON because his offense can't reach that level, right? You know, I don't know. We're already questioning if they can play Ben Shepard PERSON.Like, are they going to go to a rookie who hasn't been as good? I have trouble seeing that, but that's the hardest part of this to me is the reserve front court for the Pacers. Madder PERSON would be huge in this series, right? Like, this is where we can talk about what happened in the regular season with how the team changed without him, but this is a series where he would have certainly helped, right? He proved that in the regular season. So I think that's endlessly fascinating. The Lakers are up four with about five minutesto go, Derek PERSON. We'll see if that holds that is relevant because Lakers are up four with about five minutes to go, Derek. We'll see if that holds. That is relevant because Lakers Nuggets ORG will get great TV time slots and Pelicans Nuggets ORG will not. We still don't know when this series will start when game two is going to be. The TV networks Rue the Day.They dominate. They are the decider. So we will see. But you know it's coming on Sunday. So tomorrow I'll do a solo show talking about some other key topics heading into the series, Neesmith and Jalen Smith PERSON's past seriesagainst the Bucks. Can the young Pacers ORG, what's it going to look like in their first playoff series? We just talked about three guys in great detail having roles in the series who have never played a playoff game before, Ben Shepard, Andrew Nemhard, and of course, Ty Reese Hallibert PERSON. It's in his home state. There's just a lot of very interesting factors for me. They'll have a week off.Maybe they can help his health. Maybe he'll look awesome. There's so much to dive into still leading into the series. Derek PERSON, thank you for the time. Where can people find your coverage of the Pacers ORG, what this series is going to look like?And you will be at the games in indie for the series as well.

Speaker 62584.06s - 2591.28s

So lots of on-the-ground coverage. Yes, nothing official official yet but i'm hoping to be there in person to cover uh the home

Speaker 02591.28s - 2597.7s

playoff games all good all good um one thing i want to i want to make one prediction we just talked

Speaker 22597.7s - 2603.02s

all about these matchups and i think the bucks are going to play a lot of zone and i agree a hundred

Speaker 02603.02s - 2605.76s

matchups the matchups aren't going to matter and that might be what

Speaker 62605.76s - 2612.08s

kind of misses with the Pacers ORG flow offense because they they have like looked kind of flummoxed by

Speaker 22612.08s - 2617.96s

a zone a lot and even though they know what to do it's like they that messes them up so I think

Speaker 62617.96s - 2651.58s

we're going to see a lot of zone from the bucks so all that matchup talk might be for not at least for who the bucks are going to put on who. They can find my work on ipacers.com. A couple new articles on Obie and TJ PERSON recently, if you haven't seen them. A bunch of new t-shirts. This is one of my older ones, but there's some other ones that are out. So check them out. You can find them on my Twitter page. Any article will have a little thing on it. But yeah, thanks for having me on. He'll be back as this series progresses.

Speaker 22651.74s - 2656.52s

Or if there's another series that we have to do this exact exercise for. We will see.

Speaker 62657.92s - 2660s

Yes, Pacer's Bulls ORG in the conference finals.

Speaker 22661s - 2665.24s

Which implies the Pacers will win their second round series against opponent TBD.

Speaker 62665.88s - 2668.52s

The day this comes out is East Plains night.

Speaker 22668.76s - 2693.08s

So tonight you will find out who joins the Pacer's side of the bracket between the heat and the Sixers ORG. I expressed my opinion yesterday. The Pacer ORG should hope it's the heat. But do you really want to hope it's the heat in the playoffs? It's a lose-lose. That's just one of them's coming into their side of the bracket.Back tomorrow talking more Pacers ahead of the playoffs, really looking forward to it. It's so much of them's coming into their side of the bracket. Back tomorrow, talking more Pacers ORG ahead of the playoffs, really looking forward to it. So much fun to be covering these years again. Follow Derek. Thank you all for listening. Have a wonderful day. I'll see you

Speaker 02693.08s - 2728.68s

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