The Indiana Pacers start their Summer League in Las Vegas with their first game on Saturday against the Washington Wizards. Their head coach for the week Jannero Pargo, Pacers player development coach, is excited to get things started.
“We have a deep group,” Pargo said after the team’s final practice at the Pacers practice facility before flying out west. “They play hard and are really coming together as a team. I’m looking forward to how we respond to a different colored jersey in Vegas.”
With numerous NBA-level talents on the team, it should be a fun group to watch. Pargo has been impressed by the maturity of the young group with how they play the game unselfishly and move the ball without needing to call plays.
Pargo said he’s been using the returning players (Isaiah Jackson, Bennedict Mathurin, and Andrew Nembhard) as examples frequently through the week and has already noticed their growth since the end of last season especially as leaders on the floor. He gave a specific example of Jackson explaining to his fellow Kentucky alum Oscar Tshiebwe about how the Pacers prefer to set screens and get out on the roll quickly.
“A year ago we were explaining that to him. It’s been fun to watch his leadership and growth,” Pargo said. “It’s one thing to know what to do and another thing to be able to talk through and explain it. It gives you confidence and your teammates confidence in you.”
Pargo said another area of growth for Jackson has been fighting through fatigue which held him back in his first two seasons. Jackson has only played more than 30 minutes three times in his career. While he’s been out of the rotation at times, he’s also played fewer minutes than expected many times when the team is shorter on centers than normal.
Nembhard, who started 63 games last season both as a point guard in place of Tyrese Haliburton and off the ball alongside him, brings more experience than a typical Summer League player.
“What we’re building here, I want to just be a part of it,” Nembhard said. “I don’t want to seem like I’m too good for nothing. This is a chance to compete and get better and have reps, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t play.”
Pargo sees Nembhard as the team’s quarterback that he can just give the ball to and not worry about calling plays. With the short time frame to prepare for Vegas, the team doesn’t implement a ton of plays but instead has triggers that initiate certain actions for them to run in the offense, so having someone experienced in how the Pacers like to ball and can organize the offense is invaluable in a setting like Summer League.
We’re playing around a little bit but we don’t want to get too off script. We want to give our rookies and our veteran guys a good introduction to the regular season.
Bennedict Mathurin averaged 16.7 points per game as a rookie but he also had considerably more turnovers (152) than assists (116). Even the more simple passing reads would elude him at times in his rookie season as he was more likely to put his head down and drive into the defense regardless of the amount of defenders once he put the ball on the floor.
“Benn’s doing a great job of creating plays for other people,” Pargo said. “The first play in scrimmage he threw a lob to Isaiah and that’s not something that we’ve seen a ton from him.”
Even in just the short clips that the Pacers have posted from each day of camp, you can see Mathurin finding places to set up teammates. It will be something to watch during the games at Summer League. All three guys probably won’t play more than a game or two in Las Vegas but they’re getting valuable reps as leaders of a team and getting a chance to show what they’ve been working on since April.
“All three guys have grown in their own way,” Pargo said, “and that’s something we can be proud of.”
If you’re craving more Summer League content, a full preview is available here with notes on the entire roster.
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