There were some butterflies before my first summer league game with the Pacers. Then there were a lot of butterflies for my first preseason game. With the first regular-season game Wednesday night and then the home-opener on Saturday, there's a whole other set of butterflies.
My parents will be here for the home opener and a lot of family is coming out to show some support, as well. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully we can start the season off at home on a good note.
I'm probably going to need around 10 tickets for my family, which isn't too bad. Players get three tickets so I'll have to hope some of the other guys have tickets they aren't using to try to get some from them. Being a rookie, that may be tough.
Looking back on the preseason, I can say those games and training camp were more about the mental aspect of the game for me. I think that's what this game is really all about, out-thinking the opponent. Your brain is constantly working throughout the game, just trying to find matchups, where you need to be offensively and defensively, everything is just a whole thought process and that's what I've been trying to get down.
On the offensive end I know shots are going to be there and I haven't really been worrying about shot selection or getting shots up or anything like that. Defense is what I'm really trying to key on right now.
Coach O'Brien has told the media that I'm going to be in the rotation right away mainly because of my defense and hustle. It helps your confidence knowing your head coach puts you in the rotation. The defensive end is really where I want to make my mark early on. If I can do that, I know the offensive end will start to work, start to get going and shots will start falling – eventually. The defensive mindset is what I want set in stone.
I've been struggling with my shot and I've got to admit it's starting to play with my mind a little bit.
When you're struggling, you start to think about that next shot, whether it's going in or not and that's something I've got to break out of. I've always had a habit of being self-conscious about my shot if it's not falling. That's something I've got to work on and just start playing basketball.
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