As the Pacers reached the midpoint of the season, their record (14-27) wasn't much different than a year ago (15-26).
Both teams battled injuries that forced multiple lineup and rotation combinations. Both managed a few big victories but not nearly enough little ones.
This season, however, feels very different.
In the first half of last season, the Pacers played five overtime games and 14 were decided by three points or less. They lost by double digits just eight times, none by more than 24.
In the first half of this season, the Pacers have yet to go to overtime and have played just four games decided by three points or less. They already have 17 double-digit losses – more than all of last season – and have lost three times by at least 30 points in the last 3½ weeks.
"There has been a difference between last year and this year," team President Larry Bird said during the most recent episode of Pacers Crate, a weekly roundtable webcast on Pacers.com. "The one thing that happens to us early in games is we don't get out there and get after people and we get down by 15 or 16 points and then it's a battle the rest of the game to get back in it."
For a variety of reasons, the key veterans have not improved. Danny Granger and Troy Murphy have been less productive when healthy, Mike Dunleavy has yet to find his legs and T.J. Ford has fallen out of sight. Newcomers Earl Watson, Dahntay Jones and Earl Watson have not had the expected impact on the team's defensive mindset and overall mental toughness.
"I thought this team was capable of winning 38 to 41 games and pushing for a playoff spot," Bird said. "Right now we're in a situation where we're not playing as well as we want to play. … The group hasn't come together like I thought they would and we have some players that are struggling. When you put all that together, your record's not going to indicate what you thought was going to happen."
Young players offer hope for future
The biggest bright spot this season has been the development of the core of young talent. Roy Hibbert has shown marked improvement and looks very much like the center of the future. He could be joined in the lineup one day in the not too distant future by second-round pick A.J. Price, a rookie revelation. Tyler Hansbrough has been vexed by injuries but has generally impressed when healthy. Brandon Rush has not progressed as hoped but does show occasional flashes that tease the future.
"(Rush) rebounds his position as well as anyone, he wants to defend, but we've got to get him involved in the offense," said Bird. "You see Brandon's talents. He's very skilled but we've got to bring that out of him and we've got to get him to play on a consistent basis.
"Roy's better than he was last year. He'll continue to get better because of his work ethic. He's big, he can score for us, he can clog up the middle and he's an intimidating factor in there. Some games he'll get three or four blocks.
"Tyler's just got to play. He's got to get healthy enough to get out there and get his minutes. Tyler's everything we thought he was going to be. He's rugged, he's going to battle, he's never going to give up on a play and he's going to be fine in the long run.
"A.J.'s a kid we thought could come in here and get time as the season went on. … I had some conversation with A.J. and told him one he figures out that he's as good as these guys in this league he's going to be fine and I think he's proven that."
Re-assessing talent and expectations
Bird said he will continue to re-assess the talent on hand, which could lead to a move or two before the Feb. 18 NBA trade deadline. But he has to be careful about sticking with his long-term plan, which is to develop a core group that can be supplemented with key free agents when the franchise gets salary cap relief in the summer of 2011.
"You always look at your players and see what kind of fit you have," he said. "Right now, there's been a lot of talk of trading, which we always look at that and see if we can better ourselves."
The playoffs will remain the primary goal this season but moves will not be made that will risk the long-term future for a short-term gain.
"We always want to get in the playoffs, there's no question about that. But the one thing we said here a year-and-a-half ago is we are rebuilding," Bird said. "A lot of GMs and Presidents of Basketball Operations don't want to talk about rebuilding but we had to in the situation we're in. It's the only way I see that we can get out of this. We know the year after next we're going to have lot of money to spend so we've got to get the core group of guys to move forward with and hopefully we can do that."
