We know the Pacers are going to score, right?
They gave every indication of that in the preseason when they averaged 107.2 points. Sure, it was just the preseason, when players assured of a spot on the team tend to give less than their best effort – especially on defense – but they also played their entire starting five in just two games, and only for about 30 minutes in each of those.
All of the major moves in the off-season was made for the cause of offense. Jeff Teague, Thad Young, Aaron Brooks and Al Jefferson weren't brought in to lock down anyone, they are here to help put up points. And Nate McMillan wasn't hired as the head coach not to take advantage of those moves.
All of which means the Pacers' season will come down to how well they defend. They're going to give up more points than in recent seasons because of the faster pace, but they'll need to limit opponents well enough to keep all that offense from going to waste. A 112-108 loss is not better than a 90-88 victory.
Team president Larry Bird's major move for the defense in the off-season was to re-sign veteran assistant coach Dan Burke, whom he called his most important free agent signing of the summer. Burke, who joined Bird's coaching staff in 1997, has earned a reputation as one of the NBA's best defensive minds, and was the primary architect of the defense that drove the teams of 2013 and '14 to the conference finals. Those teams played at a slower pace, which limited defensive possessions, but still stood out as likely the best defensive teams in franchise history.
Paul George was an outstanding one-on-one defender, earning first all-defensive team honors in 2014. Roy Hibbert protected the rim to a degree that earned a feature story in Sports Illustrated and a colorful description from television analyst Jeff Van Gundy: "The Great Wall of Hibbert." David West was an outstanding linebacker, putting teammates in the proper place and barking out instruction, George Hill was one of the best point guard defenders in the league and versatile enough to guard three positions, and Lance Stephenson was, at the very least, energetic and physical.
Burke will have his work cut out for him this season, with a smaller team put together with offense in mind. George is the only starter capable of making life miserable for a high-scoring opponent and Myles Turner is the only shot-blocker. Everyone else is going to have to put forth effort and communicate well to make it work.
"We could be pretty good," Burke said. "We might not be as stifling as the (recent teams) but we're smart enough, we care enough, and we have enough pride in our team defense."
"I think we have the speed. Size worries me, but we have guys who care. That usually helps. You have to have the desire and heart. You have to have guys with guts. We have pretty good know-how, and we're in the process of building trust."
The Pacers' defense clearly was in need of development in their six preseason games. Their most glaring flaw was fouling, the result of not moving quickly enough to stay in position. It's true that McMillan kept his players in training camp mode, conducting demanding practices throughout rather than tapering workouts before the games. Dead legs were an issue. But so was slow feet and lack of commitment, which led to a flood of fouls.
The Pacers allowed 201 free throw attempts in the preseason, 69 more than they got up, and were outscored by 60 points at the line. That's hardly a formula for success in the regular season, where getting to the foul line is one of the most accurate barometers of outcomes.
For all the talk about offensive tempo, McMillan and management are obviously serious about defense. Bird wouldn't have been as serious about bringing back Burke, if not. And McMillan wouldn't have dedicated the first day of training camp, and continued to emphasize it throughout. His devotion to it was evident when he addressed a group of junior high school, youth league and high school coaches at a clinic one Monday evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"We've got to get our guys to play defense with their feet and not their hands," he said. "Just know that the Pacers at about 11:30 tomorrow, they're doing this."
He wrapped a towel around his neck, grabbed each end of it and slipped into a defense stance, displaying the classic defensive drill used by high school and college coaches to teach players to move their feet.
Movement and communication will be essential to this season's defense being adequate. Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis are quick enough to stay in front of their man, but are undersized by NBA standards. Thad Young is quick for a "four" position player, as is Turner for a center. But everyone will have to be talking to one another and covering for one another to take advantage of their quickness and overcome their lack of size.
"That's something teams work on the entire year," McMillan said. "It's so important you have good communication on the floor. It makes you stronger, it intimidates opponents when you're talking. When you listen to football teams and that linebacker is calling out all the commands and putting people in place, that's what we're trying to get in the NBA."
Asked recently to identify his best talker on defense, his "linebacker," McMillan paused for seven seconds.
"Dan Burke," he said, finally.
McMillan then mentioned George, Ellis and Rodney Stuckey. "But Dan Burke is the best on the defensive end," he added.
George, the team's most accomplished defender, believes he can fill the role. He doesn't appear to be chatty on the court by nature, but says he is adapting.
"I've been good with that," he said following Monday's practice at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. "Guys know how good we've been defensively, so I've got their trust on that side.
"The good teams I've been on, communication was everything. It got to the point we didn't have to communicate as much, we just knew where guys were going to be. Now with a new team we have to communicate as much as possible. Communication is going to be big for us to start this year off."
Ultimately, much of the burden of communication will fall on Turner, who as a center will have the best perspective of the defense. It's a lot to ask of a 20-year-old beginning his first season as a full-time starter, but he's confident and talkative by nature, and smart enough to know what people are supposed to be doing.
"Sometimes guys aren't talking because they don't know what to say," Burke said. "He's a smart kid. He'll speak his mind. He has confidence that way."
Turner doesn't expect to have a problem with it, as long as he's giving out meaningful information.
"The guys respect what I do down there; they know I'm capable of blocking shots," he said. "It would be different if I was just coming in and saying things, but the guys respect what I'm doing.
"I've always done it, but I guess I'm becoming a little more vocal with it. My words mean something now. Last year it was, 'I'm here, I'm here, go, go, go.' Now it's 'Step up,' or 'I've got your back.' Saying words that mean more."
The bottom line of the defense, however, will come down to raw effort. All the strategy and all the conversation won't matter if players aren't going all out. To achieve that, the players will have to develop the degree of pride the previous conference finalists displayed, with players challenging one another rather than waiting to hear from the coaches.
Burke, for example, recalls George and Stephenson baiting one another if one of them was struggling to contain his man. "If you can't guard him, want me to take him?" "I've got him, I've got him!"
"There was a collective pride and urgency," Burke said.
The Pacers will need to re-establish that this season. It will take time. But all that offense won't do them any good if they don't do it.
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