Rick Carlisle Addresses Impact of Tyrese Haliburton’s Absence as 4 Players Battle for Key Spot

“Not a superstar.” But definitely a superhero. Tyrese Haliburton etched his historic NBA playoffs run into basketball history last season. However, when he fell on the floor in Game 7 of the Finals, Paycom Center fell into a hush. Uncomfortable, painful, and a moment that screamed ‘Game Over‘. Surely, the Indiana Pacers couldn’t touch the Larry O’Brien trophy, but Hali? He became the hero. But that injured right Achilles tendon will keep him away from the upcoming season.

The 25-year-old point guard is the playmaker for Rick Carlisle’s strategies. More like the center of the Pacers’ universe. So, with the lead offense out of the scene, what and how would the head coach make changes? How does Coach Carlisle reimagine the offense without the guy who is the identity of the offense flows so much from how Tyrese plays.

“Yeah, there will be a lot of differences. There certainly are some unknowns as we move into this. One of our luxuries, superpowers I guess, was that Andrew Nembhard could start as a two guard, play off the ball, be a primary ball handler as a secondary ball handler, and guard the best perimeter player,” Rick Carlisle revealed on The Zach Lowe Show. “So now he’ll be starting, he’ll be the primary playmaker, and probably still have the responsibility of guarding the best player from the defensive element side of it. So much will be on him.”

He added, “We’ve got to alleviate pressure from him. The elements that make any team successful are going to be constant. We’ve got to move the ball; we’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve got to rebound the ball. And we’ve got to find a way to play with pace and tempo. Tyrese is such a natural pace generator, tempo generator, that as we start training camp this coming Tuesday, figuring out ways and creative ways, as you suggest, to do those things is going to be at the top of our list. We have a lot of work to do.”

This is a developing story…

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