Indiana Pacers · 4 notes
Indiana will likely have a light day Oct. 17 and Oct. 18 off before the New Orleans opener, assistant Lloyd Pierce said. Ivica Zubac is "the non-shooting 5," he said; Jay Huff and Larry Nance Jr. change the spacing. On Aaron Nesmith: "Obviously, we're missing Aaron."
Ivica Zubac is learning a system a bit different from the Clippers', and Indiana is adjusting too: "he's a little different than anybody we've ever had," Rick Carlisle said. Larry Nance Jr., Jay Huff and Aaron Nesmith will be used at more than one position.
Larry Nance Jr. and Jay Huff should treat Indiana's backup center job as a team, Rick Carlisle said: "their job is to hold the fort." Both can also play power forward so the Pacers can go bigger. Asked about T.J. McConnell for the opener: "Working on it. We hope so."
Larry Nance Jr. got his first minutes as a Pacer. Rick Carlisle: "we needed to get Larry acclimated, get him back out there in a real game. So he did well." He listed Nance with Ivica Zubac, Obi Toppin and Jay Huff as frontcourt options, Nance able to play some power forward.