New Indiana Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren has been a busy man since accepting the job less than 24 hours ago. From press conferences and interviews, to Victor Oladipo questions, he will have a lot to answer as time goes on with the status of key players uncertain.
On The Ride with JMV Wednesday, JMV asked the new Pacers head man about the tandem down low of Myles Turner and Domas Sabonis. During the Nate McMillan years, the two of them on the floor together at times became a liability. But in Bjorkgren’s offensive scheme, he sees the duo in a different way.
“Where that benefits the most is in the playoffs,” Bjorkgren said. “When you get to the playoffs, you have to be able to play big and mix things up. The best time to get great at that is during the regular season, and Myles and Domas compliment each other very well.”
Due to a lower body injury, Sabonis was unable to play in the Orlando bubble. That left Turner as the only viable big man to play the “5” most of the time. Despite being swept by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, Turner showed his true ability in the final two games of the series. The former Texas Longhorn went for double-doubles both nights with 15 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3; Then a 22 point and 14 rebound outburst for Game 4.
Bjorkgren told JMV that he has high hopes for Turner in his offensive game plans.
“In this offense (Turner) can stretch the floor and is really tough to guard,” Bjorkgren added. “You’re going to see him being very active. And that’s for both bigs, whether they are on the floor together at times, or one at a time, they’ll be very active out there.”
Dan Dakich also had Bjorkgren on his show today, along with Kevin Pritchard. Tune into The Fan Morning Show tomorrow as the new Pacers coach will also jump on with Jeff Rickard and Big Joe at 9:05 AM.
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