Breaking down some of the best actions for this version of the Pacers

What follows is my response to a mailbag question from CJ Burnett asking which actions the Pacers might turn to in the absence of the Haliburton-Turner pick-and-roll. On the plays that optimize Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakam as starters -- and how they can do more of the same, but differently.

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

So far, aside from a few injury updates, catchphrases like the "standard is still the standard" with regard to how the Pacers plan on approaching this season without Tyrese Haliburton, and confirmation that, as expected, Pascal Siakam will be functioning as the secondary ball-handler in the starting lineup with Bennedict Mathurin taking on more responsibility guarding the ball, nothing very tangible has trickled out of training camp as far as what, if anything, has (well) tangibly changed at training camp.

"There are adjustments every year, but I'm not going to get into details on it," Rick Carlisle told reporters following the team's first practice in response to a question about whether anything new had been implemented.

Fair enough. In the meantime, when it comes to considering what might be some of the best actions for this version of the Pacers, with an eye on the synergy between Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, Bennedict Mathurin, and Aaron Nesmith, the team's past film still has plenty to say, at least until their actual preseason games can start doing more of the talking.

Away-RAM-Blur

Since being traded to the Pacers, Pascal Siakam has averaged 6.1 possessions as the bring-up ball-handler, compared to 11.6 in Toronto. During his most recent All-Star season for the Raptors in 2022-23, he averaged 19.8. For reference, that's more than Andrew Nembhard averaged last season starting alongside Tyrese Haliburton (16.6). Needless to say, Siakam has plenty of past experience "handling" the pressure, that just hasn't been asked of him much with the Pacers, as he's more often screened himself into mismatches, leaked out for high seals in transition, spotted up from three, and gone to work creating for himself from the elbows and blocks. That said, when there have been glimmers of his past life slithering to the hoop as a driver and/or initiating from above the break, this play is oftentimes in play.

Per usual, the Pacers are stacking actions together with plenty of pace and tempo, as Nembhard can be seen barreling his way to the hoop with more than 10 seconds still remaining on the shot-clock. With Nembhard starting the possession in the weak-side corner, he flies off a pair of staggered screens out of "away" action to come get the ball from Siakam. Then, Haliburton flips around as the first screener to receive a screen from Turner to go screen for the ball in what is known as "RAM" action - or an off-ball screen for the ball-screener. That portion of the play is intended to make his defender a step slow in defending the subsequent "blur" screen (or ghost action) from Haliburton for Nembhard, thereby opening a crack in the defense against the switch.

When re-imagining that play without Haliburton and Turner, though, a few things stand out. First of all, given that 5-out spacing is required to open up room in the middle of the floor for the blur action between the two guards, the play is going to run most smoothly with Jay Huff or Obi Toppin on the floor at center. Secondly, without Haliburton to pull and tug at the defense as the screener, that role will likely need to go to Aaron Nesmith, who shot 41 percent on threes coming off movement last season. Also, the Pacers scored 1.192 points per chance (wow!) on 29 ball-screens (small sample size!) with Nesmith as the screener for Nembhard.

Of course, if Nesmith is screening for Nembhard that means Mathurin would most likely be dotting the opposite corner. In that event, if the defense rotates to the rim to help, the Pacers need him to be ready to let the ball fly.

"We just need him to run hard, shoot open shots that are there, and make simple reads offensively," Carlisle told reporters of Mathurin at Media Day.

Mathurin's default is to catch-and-drive. At times, that results in him squandering the space and time he has to shoot, either turning open shots into non-shots, as seen below, or tougher shots once he has to put the ball on the deck to recreate space for himself.

If he can speed up his read of closeouts, the combination of Away-RAM-blur has the potential to balance the need for Siakam to bring up the ball while increasing the difficulty for defenders to duck under by generating downhill momentum for Nembhard as a physical driver capable of carving out space at the rim or spraying the ball out to shooters -- provided that the shooters actually shoot.

Baseline Ricky ("L")

In contrast to his occasional glitches as a shooter when attacking closeouts or sprinting to the corners, Mathurin is generally less hesitant to launch the ball toward the rim when he's playing out of sets and can anticipate the spots on the floor from which the shots will come to him. In that regard, a favorite that the Pacers run for him, which doesn't depend on Haliburton, is this baseline off-ball screen and re-screen, also known as "Ricky" action or what the team refers to as "L". With Mathurin's ability to change speeds with the wait, fake, and sprint technique as an off-ball maneuver, this is an effective counter against teams that lock-and-trail aggressively through screens.

If the option to set up his man and replace himself in the corner isn't there, the play isn't just one-and-done, as Mathurin will instead take an alternate route to work, sprinting underneath that baseline screen as well as another staggered pick at the top of the key in order to cut to the opposite wing and flow into angled pick-and-roll.

In that regard, while Mathurin may not be the player the Pacers want operating frequently as a bring-up ball-handler or running alongside Nembhard in transition as a secondary ball-handler, he has improved at snaking the lane with his hostage dribble. Or, as can be seen here, just keeping his eyes up while changing angles and navigating the middle of the floor.

Plus, with the starters, he may not have as many obstacles to dodge if Nembhard and Nesmith are the players flanking him one pass away instead of McConnell, who isn't as likely to punish the stunt or be guarded when he doesn't have the ball.

Distorting the tag

Another way that the Pacers can clarify decisions for Mathurin while also keeping him moving is with this subtle change to one of their late-game favorites. In crunch-time last season, the Pacers would often (wedge) roll with the counter punches, toggling between Haliburton, Nembhard, and Siakam in three-man, wedge roll actions based on the coverages and defensive assignments. Here, for example, since the Sixers were switching with Haliburton being guarded by Kelly Oubre Jr., he sets the wedge screen (i.e. back screen at the strong-side elbow for Siakam to slide to the block) with Nembhard at the controls. When Siakam can't immediately slide to the block, he sets the wedge-roll screen for Nembhard. With Tyrese Maxey guarding Nembhard, the Sixers don't switch that action, but Siakam still has a size advantage over Jared McCain. So, buckets.

(Also, on the weak-side, notice that the Pacers have Turner positioned at the wing as opposed to the corner for the purpose of creating a longer help rotation for Drummond. In response, Drummond off-ball switches with Paul George to stay low. None of this has much to do with the point of this section or this article, other than to point out that there is a lot going on an NBA basketball court on any given possession and that to guard the Pacers is rarely to only guard the two or three players who are directly involved in the action.)

Anyway, without Haliburton, that calculus will likely change, as Nembhard will likely now be the player drawing tougher, on-ball assignments. To adjust, given that there won't be as much flexibility to merely swap primary ball-handlers, Siakam could instead set a back-screen for Mathurin rather than receiving the wedge screen from Mathurin. That way, if Siakam's defender has to sag off to protect against the cut, they could potentially create a delayed ball-screen coverage for Nembhard.

If not, and if the on-ball defender ducks under, then Nembhard will have the option to advance the ball to Mathurin, who will be continuing his cut around a pair of off-ball screens while also occupying the low-man and potentially distorting the tag.

Inverted spacing

That said, if the defender ducks under, there probably wouldn't be as much need for a tag, which means there wouldn't be quite as much tension on Mathurin's defender as to whether they should chase him around the screens. In order to, uh, level the playing field with the loss of Haliburton's gravity, both as a pull-up threat and away from the ball, the Pacers could turn to more flat pick-and-rolls. When Haliburton was out due to a hamstring injury shortly after trading for Pascal Siakam, the Pacers went to this alignment over and over again late in what turned out to be a 116-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

With Nesmith blurring to the opposite corner, Siakam sets a step-up screen for Nembhard with everyone else positioned along the baseline. Because the angle on the screen is flat, with Siakam facing the opposite basket, Nembhard has the option to dribble off the pick in either direction while also increasing the difficulty for the on-ball defender to duck under.

Meanwhile, because Mathurin is the player positioned in the dunker spot, Jaren Jackson Jr. isn't available to protect the rim. If the defense starts switching the step-up screen, the fact that the dunker spot is filled with a guard means that, in addition to not having a center to contend with at the rim, Siakam has a wider gap to attack into on the perimeter. Moreover, with Mathurin relocating to the opposite block to create room under the basket, the option is there for him to be opportunistic, screening the outside shoulder of Jackson as the help the helper defender (or crack-back defender) for a corner pin-in screen.

Again, all of that will arguably be most feasible with Huff or Toppin on the floor as bigs who can space to the corner (although, as was laid out in this piece on Isaiah Jackson, teams are starting to get creative with skip passes to non-shooting bigs). Even so, the overarching take there should be that the Pacers still have means by which Siakam can stretch his legs in the middle of the floor without Haliburton on the floor, including in ways with the ball in his hands as a driver that weren't as needed with Haliburton on the floor.

All of which is to say that, some roles within the offense might change, as will the angles on certain screens and the positioning of players around those screens, but the Pacers can still functionally do a lot of what they do. At what level they're able to execute a lot of what they do, however, will likely depend on to what degree the players, being mainly Nembhard, Mathurin, Nesmith, and Siakam, can all also change, not in replacing their fulcrum, but rather in growing what makes them different together.