The Good, Bad and Ugly from the Indiana Pacers' Early Season

The Indiana Pacers certainly have had their fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly during the early going of the 2014-15 NBA season. 

With a 1-4 record through Nov. 6, it has looked more bad and ugly than good because of a slew of injuries that has hit the team. Adding to Indy's woes was shooting guard Rodney Stuckey aggravating "a strained tendon in his left foot" during an 87-81 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 4, per The Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports). The Pacers' walking wounded now includes Stuckey, Paul George, David West, George Hill and C.J. Watson. 

Ouch. 

So many casualties often result in struggles on both ends of the court, and the Pacers are no exception. However, something good will come out of these. 

Indiana's head coach Frank Vogel touched on this issue when he spoke with the Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner in the aftermath of the Pacers' 96-94 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards on Nov. 5. He said, "It's a challenge but we've got guys who are capable of making basketball plays. They've got to come together as a group." 

In spite of the early-season losses, the decimated Indiana Pacers are no pushovers. At some point, they kept playoff contenders such as the Memphis Grizzlies (13-point lead in the third quarter), Atlanta Hawks (trimmed double-digit deficit to three in the waning moments of the game) and Wizards (lost by two in overtime) on their heels.  

Let's just hope these trials and tribulations will mold Indiana into an even more competitive team once it is back at full strength. 

The Good

In the absence of several key players, the Indiana Pacers have seen three once-forgotten components of last season's bench—Chris Copeland, Donald Sloan and Solomon Hill—play their guts out.

Copeland and Sloan, in particular, are two players who took the long road to the NBA. Both went undrafted. Copeland played in Europe from 2007-2012 while Sloan bounced to and from the NBA D-League and played on several 10-day contracts before finally making it to an NBA roster. These two guys have paid their dues. 

Who would ever have guessed that Copeland—who averaged a mere 6.5 minutes of playing time in 2013-14—would be Indy's leading scorer with a 17.2 points-per-game average on almost 40 percent shooting from deep?

Almost nobody. 

The reason why Copeland is thriving this season is because he's playing to his main strength—shooting the perimeter jumper. He has a quick release and is never afraid of scoring points in bunches. When you stick to your strengths, good things happen.

It seems that he has also expanded his horizons. Copeland, who's never been known for his work on the boards, is averaging 7.7 rebounds in November (with a season-high 12 rebounds against Washington). If he can continue to be aggressive in this area, the better it is for the Indiana Pacers.

And then there's Sloan, who kicked off the 2014-15 NBA season with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists against the Philadelphia 76ers. Most recently, he shocked the world by going off for 31 points while matched up against All-Star guard John Wall in the Nov. 5 loss to the Wizards.

Sloan, whom Doug Collins said reminds him of Raymond Felton during the ESPN coverage of the Wizards game, was an erratic shooter last year (37.6 field-goal percentage) but has developed a dependable outside shot. Sloan is also fearless in attacking the rim. He could be another Anthony Johnson (who backed up Jamaal Tinsley in the mid-2000s) in the making when George Hill returns. 

For his part, Pacers.com's Mark Montieth gushed about Solomon Hill and Lavoy Allen after the Nov. 4 game against the Milwaukee Bucks:

"

Hill, the Solomon one, has looked like a legitimate NBA player, too. After playing 226 minutes as a rookie last season, virtually none of them at a crucial time, he's already up to 102. He's a solid defender, attacks the basket, moves the ball well and is starting to hit jumpers. He's 5-of-12 from the three-point line for the season, a payoff from his offseason work with a shooting coach.

Lavoy Allen also has proven himself. With eight points and 12 rebounds against Milwaukee, he's now averaging seven points and 8.3 rebounds for the season in less than 30 minutes per game. So far he's playing better, and more often, than (Luis) Scola.

"

Indy's solid start on defense has also gone unnoticed. A shorthanded Pacers team is seventh overall in points allowed (94.6) and second in rebounds (48.8) through Nov. 6. Credit has to be given to head coach Frank Vogel and his staff for maintaining Indiana's excellence in these areas. 

Roy Hibbert has also been "The Great Wall of Hibbert" so far with his 4.2 blocks per game, No. 1 in the NBA through the first week of November. 

The Bad and The Ugly

As good as the Indiana Pacers are on defense and rebounding, they've done an atrocious job in the turnovers department. 

Indiana is currently 27th in the NBA in turnovers with an average of 17.6 per game. On the other hand, the team forces only 11.2 turnovers per contest.

One game which manifested this Achilles' heel was the Nov. 4 game against the Milwaukee Bucks—the Bucks' first win in Indy in four years. NBA.com's game notes for the Pacers describes how Indiana lost in the waning moments:  

"

But Indiana's bench played a bulk of the minutes down the stretch as the quartet of Copeland, Lavoy Allen, Rodney Stuckey and Damjan Rudez combined for 32 points in the half to keep the Pacers within striking distance. But the Bucks were able to force Indiana into some key mistakes down the stretch, as the Pacers committed 19 turnovers in the game that resulted in 28 Milwaukee points. 

"

An instance of a really bad turnover was after a great defensive play by Chris Copeland with three minutes left in the game against the Wizards. After Copeland poked the ball away from Washington guard John Wall, the Pacers forward led the fast break and then decided to be fancy by inexplicably passing the ball behind his back to teammate Donald Sloan.

Turnover. Wizards power forward Nene Hilario scored on the other end to put his team up 81-77. 

Indiana's opponents have feasted on its turnovers. The Pacers need to minimize their mistakes by sticking to pinpoint execution instead of doing the fancy things or becoming lazy during any given play. 

Aside from turnovers, the Pacers, as in recent years past, are bad on offense. Indy is 23rd in the league in total offense (91.8 points per game) and 26th in field-goal percentage (41.8 percent) as of Nov. 6. Without guys such as PG-13, George Hill and David West in tow, this is to be expected. 

With this, no other Pacers newcomer has been as horrible as C.J. Miles.

Through his first five games in Pacers blue and gold, Miles has stunk up the joint by shooting 25.4 percent from the field and 17.2 percent from three-point distance. Miles misses clean looks and also has a penchant for taking bad, hurried shots. Shooters shoot, no matter how bad they're playing.

This is what Miles has been doing. Unfortunately, he hasn't given Indy the lift it so desperately needs...yet. 

Miles, who admitted he's lost a bit of sleep over his struggles on the court, told Montieth on Nov. 3 he will eventually end his shooting slump:

"

It can take three or four games to find it or it can take 12. I don't want it to take 12. It's about being comfortable and doing it the right way. Just competing and knowing that the numbers always even out. Someone taught me that as a young kid. There's going to be a time when I triple that, because the numbers have to even out.

"

Let's hope they even out sooner than later. 

The Parting Shot

Without Paul George, George Hill, David West, C.J. Watson and Rodney Stuckey, the Pacers, in the famous words of former Arizona Cardinals head coach Denny Green, "are who we thought they were"—a struggling, young team in the bottom tier of the Eastern Conference. 

However, it's still early in the season and there's still hope. 

The Indianapolis Star's Autumn Allison hints in her Nov. 3 update that Hill, West and Watson could be back in action sometime this month. On the other hand, the earlier Associated Press report says Stuckey "will miss at least three games." 

With those four back in the fold, Indy should make a push for a lower-seeded playoff spot. The Pacers also bolstered their thin backcourt by signing point guard A.J. Price on Nov. 6. 

This Indiana squad has seen the rise of unheralded players such as Chris Copeland, Donald Sloan and Solomon Hill. It has also remained a force on the boards and on the defensive end in spite of a badly-crippled lineup. 

However, the Pacers have struggled mightily with turnovers, points allowed off turnovers and offense. New acquisition C.J. Miles has also been a non-factor with his atrocious shooting. 

The biggest takeaway from the Pacers' rough start is this: This whole ordeal should toughen and mold the second-stringers. They will get the exposure they need so when the time comes for the regular first-stringers to take the court once again, Indy should be a more competitive and deeper team down the stretch. 

That is definitely something to look forward to.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all stats are current as of Nov. 7 and are courtesy of ESPN.com.