On the subtle awareness of Tyrese Haliburton (Patreon)

And what can be learned about the Pacers from Team USA

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

It doesn't happen often that consecutive sentences are strung together lauding Tyrese Haliburton's defense. Then again, it also isn't often (or, to be quite frank, ever) that he plays in a lineup with the defensive firepower of Team USA's second unit, which has the luxury not only of wing-sized wings in Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards, but also the ground coverage and overall physical barrier that is Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, both inside and on the perimeter. Still, while the Pacers don't have the personnel to insulate Haliburton to that degree, Team USA didn't always come to his rescue last summer, nor was he exactly quick to rescue himself.

That's why this possession, in what was the Americans first tune-up game before the Paris Olympics, was so telling. On the night, Haliburton finished with two points, six assists, four rebounds, four steals, and one block. And yet, what stands out here isn't his event creation; it's the event that he prevented with his self-awareness.

For frame of reference, last summer's FIBA World Cup team generally left Haliburton to fend for himself against mismatches last season -- meaning that, if he got switched against a big in the post, it was generally his responsibility to front and/or try to affect the entry pass. The same was also the case against Canada, at least to begin with. To Haliburton's credit, he earned some key deflections swimming the post and received help from Anthony Edwards rotating from the weak-side, but there was also a possession during his first shift when he got quickly dislodged.

With that in mind, look at what happened at the end of the first quarter, when he was guarding his Pacers teammate, Andrew Nembhard. After switching the hand-off, with Davis defending Nembhard and Olynyk rolling to the post against Haliburton, notice how Adebayo switches off the ball, taking the bigger player while kicking Haliburton out to the corner. Again, what a luxury!

But, here's the thing: Adebayo didn't so much kick Haliburton out to the corner, as much as Haliburton directed Adebayo to take Olynyk. When listening to the broadcast, the All-Star guard can be heard calling for Adebayo to fill, while also motioning for the swap. Then, when Olynyk circled back to the top of the key against Adebayo, ultimately flowing into an empty hand-off at the wing preceded by a 45-cut, Haliburton switched off the ball again, gesturing at Jayson Tatum to likewise take the bigger defender.

In that way, he's keeping himself out of the hunt while also providing a vision of what might be possible around him for the Pacers, with the addition of more positional size and defensive versatility. Also, watch Tatum.

At first glance, it appears as though he is late rotating to the basket as the low-man against the slip, which technically he is, but he wouldn't have been for the Celtics. Think back to the NBA Finals. Part of the reason why Boston was able to slow down the Mavericks as a factory for lobs was because of a unique coverage, in which they would keep either Tatum or Jaylen Brown glued to the dunker's spot with the corner man (in this case, Derrick White) protecting the rim instead.

Normally, most teams would have Brown slide laterally to protect the rim in that instance with White sinking into the legs of Lively, but the Celtics made the strategic decision to zone up the weak-side in order to limit lobs and prioritize the glass. As such, that might explain why Tatum initially stayed attached against Canada -- as though he was expecting Haliburton to rotate while preparing to box-out.

 Old habits die hard, right? After all, the Pacers would never have Haliburton make that rotation, as Jrue Holiday and Derrick White both did for Boston. Then again, that's also sort of the point. If a lineup with that many top-notch defenders still needs time to adjust to a new system and new teammates after only just coming together, then perhaps some internal growth can also be expected from Pascal Siakam after a full training camp with the Pacers, as they've suggested.

"One of the things that impressed me most about Pascal is that he came from Toronto where they play a much, much different style of defense," said Rick Carlisle at Siakam's presser, after the All-Star forward signed his max contract. "We fully committed to playing a style that's a physical style that involves a high level of exertion. If you watched our team during the playoffs we picked up full-court the entire game, every game so that we could keep offensive tempo of the game and the tempo of the game where we needed it to be."

Of course, the full-court pressure, which Carlisle is referencing is only one of the many changes that Siakam had to adjust to midseason. After playing several seasons under Nick Nurse, in which the Raptors allowed the near-to-highest volume of corner threes in the NBA, Siakam was traded to a Pacers team that surrendered the fewest, ranking last in closeouts per 100 possessions. Granted, some of that relaxed in Toronto after the Raptors acquired Jakob Poeltl and with new head coach Darko Rajokovic implementing a more conservative scheme, but it was obvious for large portions of the season that, in addition to his tendency to run into contact on screens, Siakam also appeared both unsure and, at times, lethargic with his off-ball rotations.

Some of that improved during the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, when he played the role of roamer, allowing Aaron Nesmith to press up closer to Jalen Brunson. In that regard, while he likely isn't going to gain in his explosiveness as a secondary rim protector over the length of his new contract, it does seem reasonable to think that he might have better feel for where to be and when in this system after a full training camp and with the conditioning necessary to play this system, rather than trying to adjust on the fly to playing on the fly.

Likewise, the same may also apply to Jarace Walker. As pointed out when observing Johnny Furphy play for Kansas against Walker's alma mater of Houston, the defense for the Cougars, featuring hyper-aggressive trapping with off-ball pre-rotations, is very different than that of the Pacers, which is considerably less overzealous. For Walker, who is still only 20-years-old, there is going to be a learning curve, along with what is being expected of him during Summer League with regard to upping his level of effort and hard play.

Overall, the Pacers aren't going to be able to provide the same cover for Haliburton as Team USA can with Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis; however, if he can demonstrate the same level of awareness and communication that was evident on that very telling possession, then maybe, just maybe, with the actualization of what positional size is available to them in Siakam and Walker, Indiana can at least grow in cohesion, along with stature.