For longtime Indiana Pacers broadcaster Marl Boyle, the frontcourt combination of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis may create a hole in the team's defense.
The Pacers will enter the 2019-2020 season with a revamped roster. They lost four of their starters namely Bojan Bogdanovic, Darren Collison, Thaddeus Young, Wesley Mathews, and Tyreke Evans. This will force the team to field incoming four-year man Sabonis along with Turner — the lone starter from last year's squad. For Boye, this will create a defensive lapse:
“The big thing is the change of four starters, and the fact that they are going to play Myles Turner and Domantis Sabonis together at the same time,” Boyle told Chris Sheridan of TheLines. “The coaching staff believes it will work, but when they go against teams that have opposing bigs who play outside, who is going to go outside and defend that player? If it is Myles, that takes him away from the basket where he is at his best defensively.”
Turner led the league in blocked shots last season with 2.7 swats per game. He was a critical part of the Pacers defense which ranked third overall last season with a defensive rating of 106. Apart from his individual efforts, the rest of the squad helped lock down their foes.
But now that the team has seemingly dwindled, proper adjustments have to be made. Sabonis, for his part, needs to fill in the void left by the starters. He isn't known for his defense which could be a cause of concern moving forward.
As such, it'll be a tough yet interesting 2019-2020 campaign for the Pacers. To recall, they lost star guard Victor Oladipo midway in the season but managed to sneak in some impressive victories and even qualified for the playoffs. But in the upcoming season, the Pacers' mettle will be tested further. Will they still rank as one of the best defensive teams in the league?
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