said on the Hello and Welcome podcast<\/a>. \u201cSo I\u2019m getting back to playing the one this year, and I think that\u2019s the biggest adjustment, just a different lens on the floor. You know, you\u2019re running to the corner, you\u2019re looking at the court differently. There\u2019s a lot of different things that come with it. I\u2019m excited about the opportunity to grow my game and create.\u201d<\/p>\nIn the Pacers first game without Haliburton last season, Nembhard nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine assists. In the second Haliburton-less outing, the Canadian guard had 15 points and 10 dimes. 13 days later, he had 22 points in the same circumstance, Nembhard\u2019s second-highest scoring game of the regular season. Many of his better statistical games came without Haliburton, and that will be a reality every game this coming campaign.<\/p>\n
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard during an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<\/p>\n
So with more opportunity and more touches, Nembhard\u2019s stats should inflate. That will help him with Most Improved Player consideration. His role will change more than that, though. On defense, the 2022 draft pick might see different assignments as well.<\/p>\n
In the past, Nembhard has typically guarded the best player on opposing teams. His defensive abilities outpace his offensive impact \u2013 he was the primary defender on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard, and Donovan Mitchell throughout the postseason. It\u2019s a role he takes pride in.<\/p>\n
Asking Nembhard to be both a high-volume lead initiator and a defender of All-Star talents is too demanding. He will certainly still guard better players, but Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin will need to take some of his defensive load so that Nembhard can be more effective as the point guard on offense. He\u2019ll need energy for a demanding role on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of multiple changes that the Pacers will undergo this season without Haliburton. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s going to be a different look, for sure. A lot of similarities still with our group. You know, we have a young group that wants to play hard, wants to pick up full court, push the speed of the game, do what we do,\u201d Nembhard said. \u201cBut make adjustments in terms of personnel, and everybody else (has) to step up in certain ways to fill that void of Tyrese being gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of Nembhard\u2019s Most Improved candidacy will come on the back of some statistical growth. But more volume alone might not be enough. His ability to manipulate defenses and hit outside shots will also be important.<\/p>\n
On the biggest stages, Nembhard has been money from long range \u2013 he has drilled 47.3% of his three-point shots in the postseason. But in the regular season, that ratio is just 33.5%. Shooting with more accuracy would go a long way for Nembhard, and it would be a welcome improvement once Haliburton returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely want to have a better regular season going forward,\u201d Nembhard said of his jumper.<\/p>\n
His passing will be important, too. The Gonzaga product does move the ball well. He averaged five assists per game last season and keeps things moving on a Pacers team he called selfless. But he\u2019ll have to be even more on the nose in year four, and his high turnover rate must be cleaned up if he\u2019s going to improve \u2013 and if Indiana will keep winning.<\/p>\n
Those are both distinct possibilities. Nembhard is in a prime position to take significant steps forward this season, both because of his age and his role change. If he does, the Pacers should be a better-than-expected team, and that\u2019s something Nembhard believes will happen. \u201cI think we\u2019re that team in the league that everybody just underestimates,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we play better in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 23: Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Indiana Pacers dribbles the ball against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[56219,3441,355,15990,99],"class_list":["post-177453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-andrew-nembhard","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-nba","tag-pacers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Indiana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758672428_895_960x0.jpg\")
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