For a third straight season, the Indiana Pacers continue to exceed expectations. At some point, whether you like the guy or not, we simply have to give a lot of the credit to head coach Nate McMillan.
Is McMillan perfect? No. Does he have some flaws? Yes. Is he the guy to take the Pacers all the way? That remains to be seen. But the reality is, McMillan has created a winning culture in Indiana. The players love and respect him. The team continues to play at a very high level. If that happens for a season, it’s no big deal. When it happens three straight years? It’s time to give credit where it’s due.
Back in 2017, when the Pacers traded away Paul George and were set to “rebuild,” every projection system and source had them winning 30-32 games. CBS Sports said, “Indiana will be bad, but playing in the East should help them land around the 31-win mark.” SB Nation said, “It’s going to be a long season for Nate McMillan. But hey, Lance Stephenson is around! (hits face on desk).” The Pacers won 48 games and nearly knocked off LeBron James in the playoffs.
Last season, projections were a little higher – but then Victor Oladipo went down. The doubters returned, and the Pacers kept right on ticking. They won 48 games yet again.
Fast forward to this season. The Pacers lost over half their team in free agency. They’re still without their star player. It was another “re-tooling” of sorts for the franchise.
Sporting News said this — “The Pacers should remain a playoff team, but don’t be surprised if they are fighting for their spot until the last week of the season.” Hoops Habit said- “I don’t buy the Indiana Pacers. Not without Victor Oladipo, who’s expected to miss extended time this season. Factor in Bojan Bodganovic, Thaddeus Young and Cory Joseph all jumping ship, and pessimism is a valid stance. 7-seed at best.”
And yet, here the Pacers are- right in the mix in the Eastern Conference once again. They’re just a few games behind the No. 2-seed in the East. Nate McMillan has his team prepared and ready to play on a nightly basis. And this team looks like it will be dangerous come playoff time.
Following a big win earlier this season, Malcolm Brogdon said this about his coach: “We followed Coach McMillan’s lead. He’s a calm coach and he keeps his composure. We were able to do the same.”
When discussing the offense, Brogdon said: “I love playing for Nate. He gives us the right amount of freedom with the right amount of structure. He trusts us to go make plays and puts us in a great position to succeed.”
Victor Oladipo has always had high praise for McMillan. Before Bojan Bogdanovic left in free agency, he mentioned McMillan’s “no-nonsense” coaching style as a positive, and said coaching was a big reason why he would strongly consider staying in Indy.
The numbers don’t lie. Nate McMillan is 160-118 as the Pacers Head Coach in the regular season. That’s the 3rd highest winning percentage in Pacers NBA history. It’s a 47-win pace, and that includes the final and rather tumultuous year of Paul George, two seasons of brand new teams, and major injuries to go with it. In his career, McMillan is 23rd all-time in wins with 638.
Over the last few seasons, you could argue that every single player (other than Tyreke Evans) has exceeded expectations with this team. Pacers President Kevin Pritchard deserves a ton of credit for that. But so does Nate McMillan.
Having been in the locker room over the last seven seasons, I can tell you this — team chemistry the last few years has been incredible, especially when you compare it to the end of PG’s era. Every player talks about the “unselfishness” of their teammates. They constantly talk about playing for each other and being happy for the success of others. It’s refreshing to see.
The question now is — can McMillan and company make some noise in the playoffs? On Media Day, McMillan acknowledged that goal — “For us, this is a year of proving it. We all have something to prove this season. For the last 3 years, we’ve had decent seasons but it’s been 1st round and out. It’s a year to prove ourselves.”
You may not always like his offense, his rotations, or his cliche interviews. But Nate McMillan is clearly a good coach. He’s great for this team. Now let’s see how far he can take this thing.
Tyler Smith covers the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Hoosier basketball for Indy Sports Legends. Smith is also the youth pastor at New Hope Christian Church, and the varsity girls’ basketball coach at Crawfordsville High School.
