Pacers fans have sometimes expressed dissatisfaction with the coaching of Nate McMillan, mostly in the form of criticism of his offensive schemes. Namely, that it seems like the only play he can run is a two-man pick-and-roll at the top of the key. As the national media brings his name up as a possible fringe candidate for COTY of the Year, the corncobs that inhabit the state of Indiana wish he’d do something a little more modern.
But I’d like to offer a counterpoint: when you have Myles Turner, who can hit jumpers from anywhere any time he wants, why wouldn’t you run pick-and-pops with him until his arms fell off? It’s called building your scheme around the players you have. I’m looking at that roster, and there’s a lot of marginal scoring talent, but no one guy who is a guranteed walking bucket since Victor Oladipo got injured. So, as coach, McMillan has to CREATE that walking bucket out of offensive sets, and the man who benefits is Turner.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But as with Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota, I don’t really see any reason why you wouldn’t just do the pick-and-pop literally every time down the court and see how many points you can score before the defense desides the don’t want to allow it anymore.