How the Pacers spent their summer vacation (Patreon)

As told by Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard 

By Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper  

Shortly after 10 PM EST on Monday night, the Pacers started uploading player interviews from Media Day to YouTube. Why they waited so long to meaningfully engage with fans after not providing a livestream was certainly an interesting choice, but that's a topic for another day. With a roster full of rotation-caliber players, a common theme throughout many of the sessions was that nothing would be given, as far as minutes, and that roles would have to be earned. In fact, this was echoed so often, along with the emphasis on defense, that some form of the word "compete," whether it be "competition" or "competing," was uttered over 20 times, according to the YouTube transcripts. In addition to indicating that they would still be good teammates to each other no matter the results of the various camp battles (aww!), the main takeaways were that everyone can get better on defense, and that those who fight on that end of the floor, while also demonstrating unselfishness, would increase their chances of getting on said floor -- at least with more regularity. 

Other than that, as is generally the case with these things, when hope springs eternal and the overall tone is upbeat, existing somewhere nebulously in-between focusing on development and eyeing winning (depending upon who you ask), very few specifics were offered as to how they would improve or what steps they had taken toward improvement, defensively or otherwise. Well, that is with the exception of two players, both of whom were comparatively more forthcoming and detailed about how they spent their respective summer vacations. 

Let's dig in!

Andrew Nembhard - tap in or tap out

When Chad Buchanan spoke with reporters last week, he answered a question about Jenny Boucek's promotion to the front of the bench during which he briefly mentioned that she's put in 1-on-1 work with Andrew Nembhard on his shot this summer, whether meeting up with him in Indiana or traveling to various off-site locations. According to Buchanan, the training was at the request of Nembhard, following the growth he witnessed in T.J. McConnell's confidence as a shooter last season. 

"Drew just wanted that constant reaffirmation that he was doing things right," Buchanan explained. "In watching him play right now, I think you see the growth in his shooting. I think the coaches and all of us do as well. A lot of it is Jenny just constantly having the same message in his ear over and over again."

On Monday, Nembhard provided a hint as to what that message has been: "Me and Jenny have kind of been working on cleaning up a couple of things, so I'm excited about showcasing that," he said. "It's a lot of little details, kind of just like ball placement, when it's coming up, foot tapping, and just having that same kinetic chain up through my right foot."

Without being present at the workouts, it's tough to say exactly what the teaching points have been, but based on a few key words and the film from last season, it would seem as though this particular clip might provide some insight. With Goga Bitadze setting a high cross screen for T.J. McConnell to cut toward the ball from the weak-side wing, McConnell receives the pass and then immediately flips it back for Nembhard to attack downhill against the switch.  

Before diving into the nuances of the footwork on his shot, though, notice first how he skips on the catch. That buys him an extra half-second to read the reaction of his match-up while also enabling him to play with a change of pace. As the ball reaches his hip, his defender starts to duck under, so he accelerates into the screen and pulls up from deep.

Now, look at the steps leading into his shot. On the gather, he does a 1-2 tap, squaring up with his left and tapping forward with his right. Then, as he describes, the energy transfer is smooth up through his right foot. That wasn't always the case. He made that shot in the second game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs, when Bitadze was still on the roster. By comparison, here he is shooting out of the same action 43 games later, versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Again, he does a skip-step hesitation. Only this time, off the dribble, instead of the catch, so as to scan the defense and potentially string out the dropping big man. 

From there, almost as if the prior possession was on repeat, he responds to the on-ball defender ducking under by rising above the pick, but notice the change in footwork. Rather than the 1-2 tap with his right, he uses a hop. 

During this particular stretch of games, Nembhard seemed to have hit a bit of the rookie wall while battling illness and adjusting to a larger role when Tyrese Haliburton was out of the lineup. In fact, from the point in which Haliburton went down with injuries on January 11 against the New York Knicks, Nembhard shot 22 percent from deep on an average of 2.4 attempts over his next 22 games. Barring that segment of the season, however, he shot 41.8 percent on the year.

Notably, the hop seemed to be more prevalent amid the slump, albeit less pronounced than what was the case during his final season at Gonzaga. 

"That's what a shooter needs," Buchanan said. "The confidence that 'I'm doing things right, and I may have missed my last seven shots, but I'm going to stick with what I'm doing' and I think that's where Andrew got interested in what Jenny can do to help."

While there's no way to know for sure what the regimen was until the games start back up, it seems more than likely that they are aiming for him to go with the 1-2 tap as the means to gain consistency in his shot, as well as his confidence. 

Aaron Nesmith - it's all a blur! 

Last season, according to Basketball Reference, Aaron Nesmith played 63 percent of his minutes at power forward. Offensively, that meant he spent a lot of his time in the corners, either staying put to space around actions or sliding into passing windows. On the year, no one on the team was assisted on a higher percentage of their made shots than Nesmith, who was fed on 82.1 percent of his field goals. This season, with Obi Toppin and Jarace Walker on the roster, Nesmith will presumably be competing for minutes at the three, which will require him to operate more often above the break.

"Taking a little bit more out of Buddy's playbook," Nesmith said of the change in responsibility. "Setting blurs and slip screens, and just being more active and being hard to guard off the ball."

Per Second Spectrum, Buddy set more than twice as many screens for the ball last season (589) than Nesmith (240). Moreover, when Nesmith was involved as the screener, it was typically for reasons that had to do with the match-up as opposed to what the outcome would be for him. For example, when the Pacers played the Knicks at home in December, Quentin Grimes was managing to beat Haliburton to his spot even when he rejected the screen with Mitchell Robinson in drop. So, the Pacers adjusted by calling for Nesmith to hook back into flat angled screens in transition that targeted Julius Randle with Mitchell instead defending the corner. Eventually, they arguably lost the plot a bit with how much they hunted Randle in space, but the point is clear, Nesmith is screening to gain an advantage for Haliburton -- not himself. 

Likewise, there was similar intention on this possession against Boston. When the Pacers don't get the switch they want out of the wedge set for Turner to slide to the block (imagine writing that sentence a year ago!), Nesmith sprints in front of the ball as the screener for the purpose of either creating a moment of hesitation for Haliburton against Smart or bringing him the switch versus Robert Williams III, as the most favorable match-up, depending upon how Boston reacts.

Commonly known as a ghost screen, setting a no-contact screen and slipping out into space is what the Pacers call "blur," which is what Nesmith was referencing when discussing how his role would change when playing above the break. Last season, he attempted 13 shots after setting a screen without contact, per Second Spectrum. Of those shots, only that one -- against Boston -- was launched as a three. If Buddy Hield comes off the bench, like was the case at the end of last season and should probably still be assumed despite how many times the word "compete" was said at training camp, it remains to be seen how often Nesmith would be used to slip out of stack screens or "blur" in front of the ball. His spot in the rotation isn't necessarily guaranteed, but if he plays, he'll most likely be playing with Nembhard, Hield, Walker, and whoever happens to emerge as the back-up center of choice. In that event, Hield would be the best logical option to stress the defense and gather his shot after blurring in front of the ball. Additionally, if the screen is for the purpose of creating hesitation for Nembhard against a switch, then it seems likely that Walker would probably draw the weaker defender, at least between the two of them.

Whatever the case, other opportunities will likely still emerge for Nesmith to catch the ball above the break and make decisions. Here, out of "push" action for McConnell, Nesmith blurs to the top of the key off a flare screen from Myles Turner. Then, when McConnell gets two feet in the paint, which is the trigger for Hield to cut from the opposite wing to the basket, Nesmith becomes the most open of the available options. Except, after looking down to protect his dribble, he gets tied up before ever getting to the rim, even though he attacked his defender's top foot. That's where a quick swing pass to Turner probably would've been preferable, at least until his handle can mitigate for what he lacks as a quick-rip threat. 

Remember, that's part of the reason why over 80 percent of his shots were assisted last season. That said, if he's taken a page from Buddy's playbook as far as constantly dissecting the arc to remove help defenders or cut the stunt, then he'll have a better chance of standing out from other options on the roster when he's no longer just stationed in the corner.

Either way, two players, who were starters last season and still seem as though they will meet the criteria of defensive impact and unselfishness for playing time, likely won't open camp with the first unit. After providing detail as to what they each focused onto improve, the roles that Nembhard and Nesmith emerge with from camp, when they're working to add to their offense and advanced in the rotation last season for what they bring on the other end of the floor, should speak to exactly how competitive the competitive nature of camp actually was.