With the 8th pick, Indiana selects Jarace Walker!

Post #21 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Sat Jun 24, 2023 10:46 pm

Yeah. I don’t see a comparison to Hansbrough other than position played? Nothing about Jarace’s talent or style seems to resonate with Tyler at all.

jarryd3107 · Post #22 » by **jarryd3107** » Sun Jun 25, 2023 3:46 am

Scoot McGroot wrote:Yeah. I don’t see a comparison to Hansbrough other than position played? Nothing about Jarace’s talent or style seems to resonate with Tyler at all.

He settles for the midrange faceups a lot, which is my lasting memory of Psycho T (aside from the crashing and bashing). He also does that thing where he burrows his way to the basket without an idea on what to do when he gets there.

He seems to not have the lateral quickness to defend the perimeter so he’s going to be defending the 4 and giving away height. Not only that but he doesn’t have a great 3pt shot so spacing could be interesting.

I’m not out on Walker, I see the potential. He just didn’t pop on the tape I watched.

jarryd3107 · Post #23 » by **jarryd3107** » Sun Jun 25, 2023 3:51 am

I should add some positives; Walker is a really decent ball handler and can go coast to coast easily. He’s also extremely fluid and a great passer. None of this resembles Hansbrough, I just got shades of him when watching some half court stuff.

Post #24 » by **Grang33r** » Mon Jun 26, 2023 2:02 am

For those who might have missed it - Walker with his new #

Post #25 » by **Grang33r** » Mon Jun 26, 2023 4:46 am

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Tom White · Post #26 » by **Tom White** » Mon Jun 26, 2023 11:00 am

HA! How did we ever manage without the unique insightfulness of Jay Bilas? Good grief.

Skybox · Post #27 » by **Skybox** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:04 pm

Love this pick, particularly for you guys. Great next to Myles with all of your wings at 2/3 and Hali steering the ship. I think Jarace is a good fit with Carlisle too. I might have taken him at #6, even as a versatile brute off the bench behind Paolo.

Good luck...do you see him as a 3/4, a 4/5, or just a 4?

Pacers Forever · Post #28 » by **Pacers Forever** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:09 pm

Skybox wrote:Love this pick, particularly for you guys. Great next to Myles with all of your wings at 2/3 and Hali steering the ship. I think Jarace is a good fit with Carlisle too. I might have taken him at #6, even as a versatile brute off the bench behind Paolo.

Good luck...do you see him as a 3/4, a 4/5, or just a 4?

Thanks. I believe he’s going to be a 4 only.

tcheco · Post #29 » by **tcheco** » Fri Jun 30, 2023 12:57 am

Is it just me or it would make sense for the Pacers to offer a contract to Jerami Grant?
Can play 3 and 4, score 20 ppg with good splits and play adequate defense.

Post #30 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Fri Jun 30, 2023 3:24 am

tcheco wrote:Is it just me or it would make sense for the Pacers to offer a contract to Jerami Grant?
Can play 3 and 4, score 20 ppg with good splits and play adequate defense.

Sure. Just also expect Portland to offer him a lot too, and Detroit could make another large offer.

Pacers Forever · Post #31 » by **Pacers Forever** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:18 pm

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=9ViPZrC6T8ng6kcZke0I5g

Post #32 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:38 pm

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=jYPPXwUlm02fAaE9rSSACw

vtime · Post #33 » by **vtime** » Mon Oct 9, 2023 3:08 am

Dazzling preseason debut

granger05 · Post #34 » by **granger05** » Thu Oct 12, 2023 11:28 pm

There's an article on the Athletic (behind a paywall) where they asked players in the Indy/Houston preseason game about rookie advice they'd received, both good and bad.

Here's Jarace's answer:

Jarace Walker, Year 1: Just have fun with the process. Enjoy every moment, not take anything for granted.

Worst advice? I can’t say I got any bad advice. But if I did get bad advice, I know who it would come from.

So...who do you think is giving bad advice? I assume this is an answer clowning on somebody on the team in good fun, but who you got? There are a lot of articles right now about Buddy Hield helping keep the locker room and practices light so I assume he'd be the one to give some tongue-in-cheek bad advice to the rookies.

Wizop · Post #35 » by **Wizop** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 3:01 am

Really terrible game tonight against Atlanta. Walker was minus 24. Sheppard is years ahead of him.

Post #36 » by **pacers33granger** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 4:29 pm

Wizop wrote:Really terrible game tonight against Atlanta. Walker was minus 24. Sheppard is years ahead of him.

Tbf he was mainly just playing garbage minutes with guys who won't be in the rotation.

He's really young and will have some growing pains though. Those who expect him to be starting at some point this season may be disappointed.

Sent from my SM-S901U using RealGM mobile app

Wizop · Post #37 » by **Wizop** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:59 pm

pacers33granger wrote:Those who expect him to be starting at some point this season may be disappointed.

I'd penciled Obi (offense) with Brown (defense) and Walker (defense) with Buddy (offense) but it's looking like Walker is only ready for maybe 12 minutes a game unless we're playing someone with a favorable matchup for him. Nesmith and Nwora could both play ahead of him.

jowglenn · Post #38 » by **jowglenn** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:03 pm

People talking about Walker starting were probably getting ahead of themselves. He's a 20 year old rookie! There's no need to push him into a bigger role immediately. The Pacers are deep and they can bring him along slowly but surely. There's no harm in him playing 12 minutes a game to get his reps, develop his skills and grow as a player.

8305 · Post #39 » by **8305** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:45 pm

Wizop wrote:Really terrible game tonight against Atlanta. Walker was minus 24. Sheppard is years ahead of him.

That was tough to watch. Given where he was drafted and team needs, he needs run. Maybe 12 minutes a night with an otherwise experienced group? Shepherd looks like he might belong in the league.

Long ways to go for both. Like last year, hope to see progress as the season progresses.

JMaster5K · Post #40 » by **JMaster5K** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 12:04 pm

Skybox wrote:Love this pick, particularly for you guys. Great next to Myles with all of your wings at 2/3 and Hali steering the ship. I think Jarace is a good fit with Carlisle too. I might have taken him at #6, even as a versatile brute off the bench behind Paolo.

Good luck...do you see him as a 3/4, a 4/5, or just a 4?

I guess I see him a bit different than most,... I think he'll be a 3/4. Might even grow into a starting 3. Coach has a history of taking smaller college 4's with movement skills and defense, and developing them into real quality 3's to fit his passing game and NBA defense. He did it with Ron Artest in 03-04 in Indy, when Artest was the league defensive player of the year. He's also done it with Jae Crowder, Justin Anderson, Dorian Finney-Smith, etc while in Dallas.

If his shot comes around, (I am a believer it will.) his floor game is already as good, or nearly as good as most of those guys. So, at this point, still raw, all potential, but the opportunity should be there, if he wants to take it.