-(Life on the road) Bus/Airplane/Hotel; now 4 busses, get to hotel, taken through special door, get our keys and given instructions for what to do for food; we’re in our own little bubble here in Indianapolis; very different experience than in the past; we’re all adjusting -(Wood?) Game time decision. Knee has been bothering him. Had treatment during shoot-around and after. Hopefully he’ll be able to play tonight; GTD, hoping for the best -(Wood) I coached him in Charlotte 4-5 years ago; very talented but things didn’t connect with work ethic and maturity; he bounced around; you could always see the talent; things for younger players, especially bigs, might take longer to connect; seeing older, more mature Wood; he has some growth to go through; he’s learning us as we learn him; early results are good; not putting too much pressure on him to be great; just continue to grow, learn and improve. -(Like to see him put on weight?) Getting stronger so he can bang more with bigger guys; to ask him to guard Nurkic/Jokic early on was hard; as he goes, older you get, you get stronger; it’s new for him -Cousins is a passionate guy; his passion can be intimidating -(Backcourt) John, we didn’t know what we were getting; we heard from sources and seen videos that he was playing well but for him to come here and produce/lead the way he has has been phenomenal; want to keep him healthy for the long term; James has been great; he can really score but he can pass too; always receptive; he’s good to work with and an amazing player
Meh. New offense + still trying to get adjusted to NBA basketball after two years? I'll give him a long leash.
Pacers are one of the few/only teams that have ALL 5 starters as top 100 players on the league. They are a very solid TEAM.
