When the Indiana Pacers’ offseason began, Larry Bird said he wanted the team to play faster. There was one big problem with that and last year’s roster: Each extra possession for the Pacers last year cut their chances of winning by almost 1%. Ouch.
More simply put, the Pacers roster hadn’t shown the ability to be effective as a smaller, faster team. When the speed of the game picked up the Pacers often found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Was it perception or was it real?
I had my friend Michael Beverage run of the data and the results may not be surprising, but they didn’t fit will with Bird’s vision for the team.