2015 was a disappointing season for the Indiana Pacers. A new GM was named half way through the season, With a new vision and started making changes immediately.
2016 Already has a different feel to it. When we caught up with Matty and asked about Terrence Jones he had this to say.
We are going to preview each position, These are just predictions of how we think the Pacers will shake out this seasonWell we have been all in the news this offseason. We are disappointed the way some things went down. We truly feel terrible for Terrence this man has done nothing wrong. he's a hard worker and for him to be told he was being traded last season to Atlanta for Evan Turner so he could have a bigger role and the league office denying the trade he came back hard and played his a** off for us.. then this offseason being told he was being signed and traded to Houston who made it clear that they had a spot for him. Deja vu strikes again with the league denying the trade. We haven't spoken with Terrence in about a week he is clearly upset with the way everything went down I feel for him, but we are determined to find another way to succeed and to get better. We have backup plans as we know some things just don't work out. My vision for this team has changed about 500 times since I've started and i'm sure that will continue to change over time. We are commited to bringing in players who want to work hard and win and we plan on playing a better brand of basketball this upcoming year.
POINT GUARD
Starter: Tony Parker
The Pacers Struck first this offseason and picked up a veteran Point Guard in Tony Parker. This offseason Tony has been playing incredible basketball for France. The Pacers never really had a True Point Guard all last season Tony Parker will change that this season.
Bench PG's
Tyrone Wallace
Tyrone Wallace looked very promising in short stints last season with the Wizards, The Pacers looked to trade for him midseason last year and it all fell through after he became available this offseason the Pacers made it a point to finally succeed in bringing him to Indy. As a 6'5 PG their are rumors that he could also Back Bradley Beal up at the 2 if needed.
Shooting Guard
Starter: Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal was injured for a good part of last year. This is going to be a very Important year for him and his development. He's shown great promise during the last 20 games last year... however this year with Indiana's new size advantage Beal will be looked to score more.
Bench
Keifer Sykes
This is probably the biggest surprise out of all of the positions, This position was rumored to be a spot for Roy Devyn Marble. However with recent event this will leave Matty to think outside the box. Kiefer has a scorers chance if nothing else.
Small Forward
Starter:Aaron Gordon
Aaron Flourished in the SF role last season just look at his stats over the last 5 games in which he played 22+ min he avg 26.2 PPG 6.8 RPG 2.2 SPG 1.0BPG It's a Small sample but since Matty took over Aaron was by far the best player on the court for Indiana. He shot 51% from the field last year and stopped 93% of drives he faced.
Bench
Kobe Bryant
6 time World Champion Future Hall of famer. Coming off of a Championship with the pelicans. will most likely be backing up Aaron Gordon to put that in perspective, When Kobe Became a Professional Basketball player Aaron Gordon was 1 years old.. the Pacers set out to add veteran Leadership this offseason. Most will say Kobe is done, WHEN ASKED ABOUT RETIREMENT HE SAID THIS
Power ForwardHah Come on guy's the same question every year I think I averaged like 15 points a game last year in less then 20 minutes a game, my legs might not last 40 minutes a game but give me the ball and ill give you points!
Starter:Cody Zeller
Indiana Native Cody Zeller is coming off of a career year and is excited to play for his hometown Indiana Pacers. He is going to have big shoes to fill considering he is taking over for LaMarcus Aldridge. However he finshed last year off strong through the last 5 games his avg were 24.6 ppg 9.6 rpg 1.8 spg 1.0 apg.
Bench
Terrence Jones
Rumors are starting to trickle down that Terrence is very unhappy with Indiana for not following through on trades that were promised however as of right now these are just rumors and Terrence has not confirmed anything. so for now Terrence will be a big part of this teams Bench
Center
Starter:Marc Gasol
Marc Gasol just like Tony Parker is away supporting his Native country and playing remarkably well. He will be a big part of this Pacer team. Expect him to bring a big rebounding presence that this team has lacked in previous years. Not many Big Men that are bigger then Marc. this might be make the pacers the biggest front court in the CSL Marc Gasol 7'1 Cody Zeller 7'0 Aaron Gordon 6'9
Bench
TBD
This is where Matty will have to pull off a Miracle, With no money left and most of the Talented big men gone. Maybe he will find a scrub to fill in for a bench big man, This role was most likely Intended for Spencer Hawes..
Coach
Doug Collins
After last year leading the young Suns to a 52 win season and a playoff berth the unthinkable happened.. HE WAS FIRED?!? Former NUMBER 1 DRAFT PICK Doug Collins has taken over the Pacers with a pretty nice resume he coached Michael Jordan in Chicago and in Washington he coached Allen Iverson in Philly, He is considered a players coach he proved last year he can lead a young team to the playoffs. And he is already taking shots at fellow coaches/gms when asked about GM Duties he said this
Matty brought me in to coach and that is what im going to do I trust Matty to give me a team that can win. I think some coaches out here have big heads. let your GM do their job and you do yours "COACH"
