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O'Brien awaits defensive epiphany
By Conrad Brunner | March 4, 2008
Before his team picked up consecutive victories over Toronto and Milwaukee, Jim O'Brien talked about his Pacers approaching what he called an "aha experience," a sort of moment of clarity when everything comes together and the team can begin its surge toward the postseason.
It happened in O'Brien's first full year with the Celtics, who finished the 2001-02 season by winning 18 of their final 24. It happened again his only year in Philadelphia, when the 76ers closed the 2004-05 season by winning 13 of 19.
Though the Pacers have managed their first winning streak in nearly a month, O'Brien doesn't believe the team is approaching just such an epiphany.
"Just the opposite," he said. "Offensively, we played well against Toronto and Milwaukee but we had two very poor defensive games against those teams. Even though we got wins and we're happy about the wins you will not win many basketball games against the top teams in the league playing the defense we have shown the last two games. If anything, we're further away than we were before these wins, defensively."
Extending their modest streak will be a major challenge for the Pacers, who begin a three-game road trip Wednesday night in Houston against a Rockets team that has won 15 in a row, the last three after losing All-Star center Yao Ming for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot.
"It's nice to be able to put (Dikembe) Mutombo back there, not that he's Yao, but they're second in the league in defense," O'Brien said. "They space the court and they still have a superstar in Tracy McGrady that takes a lot of attention. They've got a veteran point guard (Rafer Alston) that makes threes and they bring a number of people off the bench that space the court and (forward Luis) Scola, since he's been in the starting lineup, has been really, really tough.
"Their momentum with Yao has just carried over. They're a team that the whole world said should have a 'woe-is-me' attitude after Yao went down and they just refuse to have that attitude. They have a winning attitude."
Though the Pacers have racked up 250 points in their last two victories, O'Brien remains concerned about getting the team to improve its defense to a postseason level.
"That's the challenge that I make every single day is that there's a certain level defensively that playoff teams play to," he said. "We haven't found that level. That's one thing. The second thing is we're very capable of finding it immediately. It's just a matter of the players assuming ownership at the defensive end. We teach it but it's got to be them that gets it done."
The Rockets (39-20) have relied on a balanced offensive attack and their usual stout defense in Yao's absence. Their winning streak is the franchise's longest since the championship season of 1993-94. The last six wins have come by double figures.
"We believe despite losing Yao, we're still a good team," said McGrady. "We're right there with the best of them. We're not worrying about what anyone says. But opinions are going to change eventually."
KEY TO THE GAME
Though the Rockets lost a huge offensive weapon with Yao's injury, they still play stifling defense, allowing only one of their last 13 opponents to reach 100 points. In that span, they've given up an average of just 86.2 points. The challenge for the Pacers will be establishing and maintaining the tempo that has produced 250 points in the last two games, 72 from Mike Dunleavy, who'll have to shake fellow Duke product and defensive specialist Shane Battier.
TRENDS
Danny Granger has averaged 23.2 points in his six games since the All-Star break. Jeff Foster has averaged 11.0 rebounds in the last seven. Mike Dunleavy has averaged 32.3 points on .563 shooting overall and .571 from the 3-point line in the last three, racking up 39 free-throw attempts in the process. . Travis Diener has averaged 15.7 points, 8.3 assists, 1.3 turnovers and .471 shooting in the last three. Marquis Daniels has averaged 11.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.75 steals in the last four. The Pacers have averaged 125 points, outscored opponents 55-36 from the line and produced 52 assists against 21 turnovers in the last two.
SERIES
The Rockets outscored the Pacers 12-4 in the final 4:27 to take a 106-103 victory in Conseco Fieldhouse on Feb. 1 as Carl Landry scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Pacers missed nine of their last 10 shots. Houston leads the overall series 45-26 and is 26-9 at home.
INJURIES
Pacers - G Jamaal Tinsley (sore L knee) and F-C Jermaine O'Neal (bone bruise, L knee) are out.
Rockets - G Steve Francis (torn tendon, R knee) and C Yao Ming (stress fracture, L foot) are out.
