It's Officially Time For The Pacers To Bench Tyrese Haliburton
Whether it's to toughen him up with some tough love, or to let him get healthy - Tyrese Haliburton needs to ride the bench for a few games, let him play with the second unit. I'm not the coach, I don't know the inner workings of what's happening in the locker room, but the player the Pacers decided to build a team around, hasn't shown up during a stretch where the team needs him most.
Injuries, strange lineups, but the constant should be the guy you gave a $250 million max contract. Instead, Quenton Jackson (you'll most likely need to google him if you're not a Pacer die hard ) is leading this team. Not because Jackson the most talented player on the court, but because he's playing with effort and strong drives to the basket. Quenton Jackson and TJ McConnell made it to the line were Meanwhile Haliburton is chucking up 3's from 5 feet behind the arc, tossing up running floaters, or passing out of drives - it's terrible basketball.
There are definitely more problems than simply Haliburton's play (for starters - why does Indiana stop going to Siakam when he's consistently dominating), but you shouldn't be worried about the guy who is supposed to be the best player on the court. It's a tiny one game sample size, but what player would you rather have based on stats below?
Q. Jackson T. Haliburton
24PTS 4 PTS
3 AST 8 AST
2 REB. 1 REB
10/12 FG 1/7 FG
Haliburton had some nice dishes to Jackson, and when this offense is clicking, Haliburton is obviously more than a point scorer, but most of Jackson's points came from him simply being aggressive and driving to the rim. Jackson did what he did purely through effort. Jackson even made it to the foul line a few times, which Tyrese did a total of zero times (unless you count his technical free throw which was 1/4th of his points for the night)
Haliburton has been asked several times if he's injured (bad back / lingering hamstring) and he's responded that he's fine, If he was hurt there is zero reason to be playing him in November. So what the fuck is going on? It has to be a mental thing? His decision making has been terrible.
Haliburton is still incredibly young, and I don't think most 24 year olds have the confidence and ability to consistently step up every night while being the face of the franchise. It took Brunson till he was 27 before he started to look like the stud that he is. But if you aren't going to play aggressive and play with some toughness (that we've all seen you play with) why are you starting? Something needs to change. That's not all on Haliburton either, Rick Carlisle needs to figure out a way to get Tyrese back on track. Right now, I truly believe the way to send that message and correct the behavior is riding the pine where you can think about who you want to be when you step on the court.
