Unusual circumstances have moved Donald Sloan into the Pacers’ starting lineup for the first three games of the season, and he will likely remain in that role for at least a couple more weeks. Starting point guard George Hill is dealing with a knee contusion and C.J. Watson is in a boot because of a sore right foot.
Sloan joined the team last season after previous stints in Cleveland and New Orleans. The Pacers liked what they saw in Sloan and signed him to a two-year contract with the first year guaranteed. Then, in the offseason, team president Larry Bird locked him in for this 2014-15 campaign for $948,163.
And, for the team’s sake, thank goodness they kept a guy on their roster that can perform and knows the system well
Donald Sloan is the Pacers’ only healthy point guard at the moment.
Hill is still a long ways away, according to head coach Frank Vogel, and C.J. Watson is at least another week away.
This season has been a sharp contrast to last. While on their quest for the No. 1 seed, Sloan averaged eight minutes of on-court time in the 48 games he stepped onto the court. This season, he’s averaging 35.7 minutes per game, more than four minutes a game more than his next teammate, Roy Hibbert (31.3).
As for his season total, through three games he has played nearly one-third of the minutes he played ALL of last season (107-of-392). Different players and circumstances have thrusted him into a different, much-needed role.
[Pacers lean on Donald Sloan at point guard as new season beings]
Already Sloan has seemingly talked to the media more than he did all last year. Below is a Q&A with the 26-year-old guard out of Texas A&M, which was conducted on Nov. 3rd.
The other guys are going to be out a while. You’re going to get a whole lot of minutes. How do you view the situation that you’re in?
A lot different than last year but definitely a great opportunity. I didn’t want it to come this way, with a lot of guys being out and being banged up, but I definitely got to make the most of it. When the guys do come back, it’ll give something for the coaches to scratch their head about, as far as minutes and having guys out there. That’s the goal right now. Win as many games as possible — just try to win every game. Make them think once guys do come back.
How many minutes do you feel comfortable going in a game? How long can you go and play well.
48. [laughs] As much as needed. I try to push myself as much as possible. I got great teammates out there picking up a lot of the slack, offensively and defensively helping me out. I feel OK with any amount of minutes. I get a little fatigued but, like I said, they’re there to help pick up a lot of the slack.
You’ve been through it as the starter for a week now. What’s been the biggest challenge or difficulty playing in this new role?
Man, um… I can just imagine how Lance [Stephenson], [Paul George], GHill, how they felt last year after playing those back-to-backs. I could just imagine how their bodies felt playing at the high level that they were all playing at night in and night out, and then having to turn around and do it again less than 24 hours later it seems like. Kudos to them, and now I have a newfound respect for guys that have jobs every night to carry the team [and] performing back-to-backs like that.
Because of that, have you had to adapt your routine by any means? Is it more icing sessions, more…
More icing, more cold tubs, more treatment, and really thinking about what I eat.
You probably fall asleep a lot easier at night?
Actually, it’s the opposite. I feel like my body is going so much after games. Normally, last year, I would be able to go right into the city, lay my head on the pillow and fall right to sleep. But now, my body is … the adrenaline is still going and it takes me two or three hours.
When you come off the bench, it’s a different mindset because you are trying to hit the ground running and try to bring a burst of energy. When you are a starter, especially in this situation, do you have to figure out … I don’t know about pace yourself, but take a different approach mentally to the game?
Yeah, you definitely have to take a different approach coming in. I would have liked to be the guy coming in off the bench, picking up the pace, picking the other guards up full-court for the 12 or 18 minutes that a backup normally sees. But when George [Hill] got injured, I kind of had to rethink, ‘Well, I’m going to have to not save energy or take plays off. I’m going to have to be a little smarter with how I play defensively, with my initiations to push the break and just different things like that because I feel, as much as we need that, we need somebody out there that’s going to organize and run plays, too.
Fouls trouble’s a special kind of… [laughs]
Yeah, I was actually made at myself the other day for picking up two picks ones [in Atlanta]. Careless fouls. I actually felt like one was a jump ball, a wrap-up, but the second one was just a foul playing the game.
You have four games in five days coming up. How do you handle that … given the limited bodies?
Just taking them one game at a time. We are going in to win every game. We believe we can win every game. So that’s our mindset. It’s going to be tough with limited bodies, but we feel pretty confident in ourselves that [if] we take it game by game, we can come out 4-0.
Does a guy like yourself, who has to go a lot of minutes, have that kind of stress coming up … is that especially difficult?
Yeah, I think so. Especially when you are about to go up against a Brandon Knight, a John Wall, [Rajon] Rondo. Just got to kind of know they are going to probably try to attack more, and I’m going to be as aggressive at them to let them know, ‘Hey, yeah we got limited bodies and we got four in five nights, but it’s not going to be easy. I’m going to attack you. You’re going to feel me as much as you are letting on.’
Last year, Sloan was the first player out to warm-up. This season, however, he’s had to reduce his pre-game workload.
How has your game-day routine changed?
I still come in and shoot around the same time, but I don’t shoot as much.
Are you still the first guy out with Lavoy?
Yeah, I’m still the first person and I’ll be out there for about 15 to 20 minutes. And then I come back like right before the game and go in the practice gym, and just shoot spot-ups, spot-ups, spot-ups. [The workload] has gotten a lot lighter. It’s like they’re trying to put a bubble around me right now.
How specifically do you have to change your game know that you’re on the only point guard available? Are you having to back off defensively more than you’d like?
That’s the thing. It’s a catch-22 because if I get up on ’em, push up on his hip, I may get a ticky-tack foul trying to ride him off. They may say something. But then, at the same time, if I’m off of him it’s like I’m not really playing defense. I mean I’m there, but I’m not aggressively trying to impact the ball.
I mean [the coaches] see that. They haven’t come to me at any point and said, ‘Hey, you need to get up on the ball, you need to get up in them. If they call a foul, don’t worry about it.’ They haven’t said they because they know the situation and that I can’t afford…
So you may be getting grief on the outside but …
Yeah, of course. But as a team and as a staff, we know how we should do it.