Josh McRoberts Facilitates Winning Effort Against Celtics

by Tom Lewis on Mar 29, 2011 12:00 PM EDT in Indiana Pacers News

"I don't think I'm ever going to be a numbers guys," Josh McRoberts said when asked about his impact on the Indiana Pacers win over the Boston Celtics last night. "If you just look at stat lines, you're probably not going to be too impressed with me."

True enough. Scoring 6 points with 3 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal in over 27 minutes appears without context to be a minimal contribution to a big win for the Pacers.

However, if you actually watched the game last night, you'd note that the +24 number, for the team's positive production with McRoberts on the court last night, was not some fluke. McRoberts facilitated the offensive flow for the Pacers, keeping the Celtics' stingy defense honest which helped create openings for his teammates to score.

"Guys knocked down some shots tonight that were open. The way Boston plays, they're so tough, hedging on screens, up in the point guards and wings, just playing great defense."

Two weeks ago, the Pacers struggled to find any open looks against the C's in Boston, let alone knock down the shots. Tyler Hansbrough went into that game on a hot streak, but the Celtics were able to keep Hansbrough out of his pick n' pop comfort zone which in turn bogged down the rest of the offense. McRoberts and the Pacers learned from their struggles in Boston and took advantage of the play-making ability McRoberts brings to the table to show the Celtics something different out of the pick n' roll.

"Forcing a rotation out of that pick n' roll where I have the ball and try to create with it, then they have to rotate helps," McRoberts explained. "We could see how we needed to attack their defense (after the loss in Boston), I mean they play great defense. Trying to make a quick pass out of the pick n' roll to try to attack and make them rotate is what you want and that's an adjustment we made from the last game."

McRoberts even kept the defense honest by taking the ball to the hole in the fourth quarter when Boston had everything else covered up. Winning the little things always adds up for the Pacers. For instance, Paul George had a tough night, but did manage two hustle plays to keep two separate possessions alive for the Pacers. Both of those possessions ended in three-point plays.

When you get big nights from Roy Hibbert, Darren Collison and A.J. Price, you don't want those little things to tip the game the other way. Last night everything tipped in favor of the Pacers and McRoberts played a big part in making it happen even if you can't tell from the box score.

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Comments

The entire offense

The entire offense flowed through Josh when he was on the court. His box score might not be that impressive, but whether he’s getting the ball at the top of the key, or in the post, he’s certainly the one who facilitates this offense and makes it “go.”

I thought the game last night was amongst his best as a pro, even if he didn’t get a double-double or anything.

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by Beauford on Mar 29, 2011 12:57 PM EDT reply actions

I’ll second the motion on that. I’d like for Josh to start and Tyler come off the bench. That way we have a great facilitator with the starting unit, which I think is needed. And Tyler provides a much needed offensive threat from the bench.

by Sparhawk on Mar 29, 2011 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

that does sound interesting

though I do like how tyler’s toughness and physical aggressiveness cough*hard fouls cough make opposing teams uncomfortable

by BoomBaby31 on Mar 29, 2011 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I like it

that way Granger and Hans aren’t playing as much together, which would dramatically improve Hans contribution.

by Rogco on Mar 31, 2011 8:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Josh is the best passer on the team and it’s no fluke that the offense flowed through him. I think Vogel is purposefully putting the ball in his hands at the top of the key as if he is playing point forward. Wouldn’t mind seeing a little bit more of that going forward.

by indy62 on Mar 30, 2011 4:29 AM EDT up reply actions

not to mention his defense

Josh mcroberts is a much quicker defender than tyler. Josh gave kg a run for his money last night. Mcrobs does a good job rotating on the pick n roll and that really help contain rondo in the 2nd half. Josh also contest shots much better than hans. Joshs weakness is his rebounding and physically or lack thereof. Of which hans excels at. With hans and mcrobs its all about the matchup that the opposing team offers up.

by latrell spreewel on Mar 29, 2011 2:18 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Hope he's resigned

I remember late in the off-season O’Brien saying definitely that Josh had the starting position, that he was far better than anybody else (anybody else being Psycho-T). I was surprised at his confidence in Josh! Outside of Tyler’s obvious offensive talents and “coming-out” party, we’ve also seen at times Josh’s own growth.

They are both young guys with obvious disadvantages at this position (namely undersized), but they both have big upside IMO. Imagine if Josh had even an ounce of muscle on him!

Hopefully mgmt will re-sign him and let them compete for playing time next season (and make Josh lift weights).

by Funkerdown on Mar 30, 2011 11:40 AM EDT reply actions

Josh is a glue guy...

I said the exact same thing Sparhawk, about how Josh may not be a better player than Tyler, but is a better fit b/c of his passing, D, and understanding of the offense: where Danny likes to get the ball, looking for backdoor cuts, etc. Remember that run we had that basically saved our season? Josh was starting and playing is arse off! Now that Mike may be back for the playoffs, Vogel has some tough decisions to about who to start. I know Darren enjoys having Tyler b/c of his Pick-n-Pop/Roll game, but we had something when Tyler was the 6th Man.

Josh starting allows everyone else to shine, and Tyler off the bench brings the scoring punch we’ve sorely been missing in many games recently. Whatever is decided, it’s a good problem to have, IMHO…

by abeas1 on Mar 30, 2011 2:41 PM EDT reply actions