Indiana Pacers 2010-11 Player Review: Darren Collison
by Nathan S. on Jun 20, 2011 7:48 PM EDT
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PrintDarren Collison
#2 / Guard / Indiana Pacers
The centerpiece to a four-team trade this past August that had Indiana sending Troy Murphy to New Jersey was rookie point guard Darren Collison, one of the most sought after young players in the league that summer. The UCLA product became the starter in New Orleans (that would lend him All-Rookie First Team honors) following an extended injury to Chris Paul in February 2010 that DC would use to record a 19 and 9 average.
In the first start, he put up 17 points and 18 assists and even recorded his first triple double against the Pacers. However, for a player that had proved he was too good to simply be a backup, much less a backup to the best player at his position, it made little sense for New Orleans to not get the best offer they could for him.
The Pacers, meanwhile, had been heavily maligned at the point guard position for the better part of three seasons, a number that's pretty generous to Jamaal Tinsley's perception and overall play, running Travis Diener, Flip Murray, and Earl Watson as extended starters, losing Jarrett Jack to free agency, and struggling to get T.J. Ford to stick under Jim O'Brien.
Indiana had found themselves linked to various young point guards over the summer, from Jonny Flynn to Ty Lawson, but Bird's patience landed him one of the crown jewels of a historically deep PG class of 2009. With one move, Indiana had cemented their PG issues in a player they hoped would anchor the spot for years.
Early in the season, Collison showcased his wares offensively, limiting his turnovers far better than his rookie play suggested. Unfortunately, with the positives came the negatives, mostly in his defensive abilities, or lack thereof, which were heavily scrutinized by not only O'Brien, but fans of the organization. Also down were Collison's assist numbers, though fans were quick to overlook it because of the perception regarding O'Brien's motion offense not fitting the play of a point guard and his numbers.
His defensive problems seemed stemmed at his shorter height, leading many fans to doubt his abilities as a starter. Coupled with a stretch of inconsistency that saw some poor shooting and occasionally questionable decision making, souring some outlooks on the young player, but despite overall play through the winter, Collison came on well late in the year to
Once in the playoffs Collison had a tremendous Game 1, scoring 17 points, while also adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds. As Game 2 progressed, it was becoming clear Derrick Rose was unable defensively to keep up with Collison's speed. As Collison exploited it towards the end of the first half in the second game, he suffered an unfortunate ankle injury, sidelining the rest of Game 2, and throwing him for the rest of the series, ending an unnecessarily turbulent season where preseason hype helped shortchange a lot of good things Collison accomplished.
So how did Collison impress?
And how did Darren disappoint?
Most of Collison's negatives were a direct counterbalance to his positives. He was one of the few players who generally had the game in his hand. When he well, the team tended to come out on top, but if he played poorly, the team would walk away with a loss. In fact, in his 15 worst games using Hollinger's Game Score, the Pacers were just 2-13.
Elsewhere, his assists were down a considerable amount from last year, though not having such a surefire pick and roll game in Indiana, but what was originally seen as a byproduct of O'Brien's system taking the decision making away from Collison, his assists didn't climb often under Vogel, while some of his questionable decision making returned at points in the season.
Well, what's next for DC?
Barring another genius move that lands Chris Paul or someone, DC will remain a growing option with a young team. Too much of Collison's play was over-analyzed in a negative sense, it seemed, and for a player who ended the year on his fifth head coach (if you count 2010 Summer League with Monty Williams) at one of the league's most difficult positions, that Collison's career numbers were seen as a disappointment speaks volumes of his expectations.
But that doesn't give a pass for some of his poor play, and he did play poorly at times. Consistency is what each and every young Pacer returning will need to have for this team moving forward, and Darren is among the most necessary in that category. With his scoring touch, and the team likely still needing some extra points, DC should be expected to handle more of the scoring load consistently.
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I still believe in DC
DC’s performance on an injury-plagued team (New Orleans) whose offense revolves heavily around the PG position setup some unrealistic expectations for DC in Indy. Despite not having the gaudy stats many expected, I thought he showed tremendous potential as an efficient offensive general who’s an absolute headache in transition for the opposing team. He’ll be fine. His much-maligned defense needs to be viewed with a grain of salt. The PG position is evolving, and when combined with the “no touching” defensive rules in the NBA, it’s easily the toughest position to cover in the league. Very few PGs in the league can keep in check opposing PGs night, night out. That’s why I think it’s much more important for Indy’s team defense to continue to improve, and for them to continue to present defensive matchup problems (Paul George, Singleton?) that can counter some of the offensive favoritism the rules allow.
I won't give up on him.
But there were a lot of things I didn’t like. His court vision leaves me weary of his long-term prospects as a starting PG for this team.
Thug Life. It's a Pacers thing, you wouldn't get it.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jun 20, 2011 8:31 PM EDT reply actions
I like DC, but we need a big point to back him up. And I don’t mean Lance. Lance can be the 3rd point, but Lance should be and is a shooting guard. I can see Lance going up against another teams small point and punish that dude.
Reggie Jackson and Darius Morris can both be had with a late first more than likely. Shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain one.
And it's now my sig
by Bronn on May 17, 2011 4:56 PM EDT
I would love to get Darius Morris in the late first.
I think he’d have a chance to be a starter someday.
Thug Life. It's a Pacers thing, you wouldn't get it.
by infinityzero.systemerror on Jun 21, 2011 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions
3 coaches in 2 years..........
give him some consistency and a good system, he’ll be fine.. Though I spent most of last summer advocating a trade for him ,so Ill go down with the ship if need be. I get a ton of gruff from friends because of his TOs though, which he does need to get under control.
Turnovers
DC needs to get his TOs under control along with Hibbert, along with Granger…along with the entire team. Turnovers were easily one of the most frustrating aspects of the team last season. I guess it could partially be blamed on a young, inexperienced team, but definite strides need to be made in that aspect of the game. Team-wide.
I would not be surprise if DC returns to his rookie form next season
last year, we saw a player that was very very passionate about his job, he brought a part of the game to the Pacers that the Pacers never really had in all their years. The guy can beat anybody to the basket, just curious why he didn’t do it more. DC should look to penetrate and shake his man at all time next season, he has all the physical tools to be a great floor general.
by latrell spreewel on Jun 20, 2011 10:58 PM EDT reply actions
So he brought the ability to beat anyone off the dribble?
We hadn’t had that in years? You know TJ Ford JUST stopped being a Pacer right?
KEEP COACH FRANK
It's simple.
Coach (vogel hopefully) needs to go to collison. And soon after he is appointed the coach (hopefully soon, to get this thing rolling) and tell him that he needs him to be the unquestioned leader on this team. Granger isn’t going to fill the role. He never has been very vocal. He just isn’t a leader. A great defender and jump shooter, sure. We have a bunch of young guys with a high ceiling. Hibbert, George, even Hansbrough (IMHO) but no one is there to take the lead. We need collison to step up and be the field general on the court. He needs to be the vocal guy who is making sure that everyone else is where they need to be. We need him to be our steve nash. I’m not asking him to be derrick rose or russel westbrook. And the sooner that vogel (or whoever) goes to him to explain that, the better. He needs to accept that role and begin working towards it.
Mmm-mmmm. That IS a tasty burger.
by BleedingBlueForever on Jun 20, 2011 11:30 PM EDT reply actions
Sigh
I guess. Whatever. DC is a terrible decision maker one minute, and the catalyst of a team that looks like it can go 1-1 in a playoff series with the #1 seed the next. Coaches? Maturity? Leadership? Size? Myeh. Just get better, DC, and we’ll see where you’re at when your incredibly, incredibly fair (to the point where I almost feel bad for you) contract expires.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
PG's usually take awhile to develop
I am hoping the game slows down for him this year. He has been thrust into a starters role earlier than what should be expected for a tiny, shoot first PG who was drafted in the 20’s.
right now he is making me cry we don’t have holliday though. i wanted him so bad when he came out lol.
He is infinitely better than what we have had the last few years though..
Darren will be fine.
Why would we give up on the best PG we’ve had here, maybe ever? He’s exactly what this team needs at the PG. Cocky enough to look for his own shot, but cool enough to not go Westbrook all over us and take ill-advised Js and completely forget about his teammates. If we continue to run more PNR on offense and allow DC to probe the defense ala Rajon, Paul, or Deron, then DC will avg 10+ assists and lead us to our first winning season in awhile.
I hope he and Danny can develop the same type of dynamic that Mark and Reggie had back in the day. Miller was a great scorer and led by example, but the vocal leader and manager of all the personalities on the team was Jackson. Neither was the outright CEO that Jordan, Bird, or Johnson were, but both were necessary and well-respected by their teammates and made it work. They never won a title, but played significant roles on Top 5 teams in the ’90s.
I said maybe...
Did not wan’t to dis Coach Jax, or early Tinsley, or my good friend Haywoode Workman. I just don’t understand the apathy about DC. Of course, i’m an optimist by nature.
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