Indiana Pacers GM Chad Buchanan knows that the group can’t assume things will pick up right where they left off last year (made Eastern Conference Finals).
(via Indiana Pacers):
“You can’t just assume that things just pick up where they left off. I think what we did last year, we’re trying to do some of the same things in regards to stimulate the guys, hanging out together, growth on the court together. Some of these guys were playing for contracts last year. Now, they’ve been settled. They have some comfort there. How does that impact a guy’s day-to-day approach? It’s a totally new dynamic. It’s the same group, but it’s a new season. Now there’s more expectations on the guys than we had last year. If you think back to when I was sitting here last year, we were in a completely different place. I think we were hopeful to compete for a play-in spot. We got fortunate with how things played out last year. We had guys come together. We had guys developing and growing and developed a unique style of play, but you can’t just assume that that’s going to pick up where you carried off.
“There’s a great saying I always believe in that, ‘Just because you’re on the right track, doesn’t mean you’re going somewhere. You’re going to get run over if you don’t keep moving.’ We gotta continue to push these guys to grow as players, but also continue to push the chemistry to stay strong, because guys accepting their role is a huge part of a team’s success. I always feel like I can tell the chemistry of a team by watching the guys on the bench. How do they react when there’s success on the court to guys that they’re competing with for players? And I think you guys would all say if you watched our team last year, the bench was great energy, great support, great enthusiasm. We want to see that again. You can’t just assume that’s going to be there, we gotta encourage those things, because that’s a big reason of why we were successful and who we are.”
