Former President Barack Obama recently appeared for an interview on The Young Man and the Three podcast, hosted by Tommy Alter and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. One of the many topics discussed was the All-Star Game, about which the former President had genuine concerns.
Tyrese Haliburton has been an All-Star consecutively for the last two seasons and was a de-facto host for last season’s All-Star Game, hosted in Indianapolis. In that game, Hali scored 32 points for the East and made 10/14 shots from beyond the arc, contributing to the East’s 211-186 victory over the West. However, despite Hali’s brilliant performance, President Obama does not seem impressed with the quality of the ASG dropping throughout the past few years. He said,
“Y’all gotta have a little more pride in that All-Star Game. It’s not as if you all don’t play pickup during the summers. You know how to play in a way that, alright, I’m not going to hurt anybody, I’m not going to take anybody out, but that All-Star Game, it’s broke, man. Like, people just like not running. Everybody just trying all kinds of… it used to be when Kobe and Michael and Isaiah and those guys were playing, man. I mean they weren’t playing the way they did regular season, but they wanted to win.”
Responding to the same, Haliburton was reminded of a similar lecture he had to hear from his father. Obama continued saying, “It insults the game.” Though Tyrese tried defending himself by saying he was trying to “read the room” during his first All-Star game, it wasn’t enough to sway the former POTUS.
“This is your business. This is your product. You don’t want people thinking you’re all out there just half a**ed…Y’all need to do something because I ain’t watching that thing no more,” Obama added.
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President Obama enjoys watching the Indiana Pacers in the NBA
Besides discussing the All-Star games and playing pickup, President Obama said he enjoys watching the Pacers in the league. Speaking to Tyrese Haliburton, Obama remarked, “I like how the Pacers are playing. The beautiful game and the ball’s popping. You’re not backing up and dribbling the whole time.”
However, the former President had one critique of Hali and the team. “You’ve got to pick up that defense a little bit,” Obama added.
Last season, despite ranking top in offensive stats, the Pacers were dead last in defense, allowing 122.0 points per game with the lowest opponent FG% in the league. Furthermore, the Pacers lined up to play zone defense in half-court just nine times through the entirety of the 2023-24 season.
This year, however, things do look different. The Pacers seem to have worked in zone defense during the training camp, which was evident during their preseason matchups this year.
With their new defensive strategy, nearly five percent of Indiana’s preseason possessions featured zone coverage. This allowed the Pacers’ opponents to average just .33 points per possession and shoot 1/14. Though it may seem unsustainable, the results seem effective in the long run.
The Pacers have been testing such strategies throughout the preseason and might have some new tools up their sleeve as the regular season progresses.
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