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Q&A: Rick Carlisle ready for ‘unique challenges’ as 2025-26 begins

Indiana’s coach anticipates a different ‘makeup’ of team as it seeks success in 2025-26 while Tyrese Haliburton mends. INDIANAPOLIS — What transpired at Gainbridge Fieldhouse last season, on the court and through the building, was a level of play and enthusiasm last savored in the days of Paul George, David West and Roy Hibbert. The Indiana Pacers built on their trip to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals by pushing to the 2025 NBA Finals. Coach Rick Carlisle and his team fended off a 3-2 deficit to Oklahoma City in their Fieldhouse farewell and forced Game 7 before losing the series and star guard Tyrese Haliburton to a ruptured Achilles tendon in the first quarter. It was a coin flip between bad and worse. “Building on” last season seems a bridge too far for the Pacers in 2025-26. Haliburton, hitting his prime after two All-Star and two All-NBA selections, will miss the entire season. Also, center Myles Turner – a fixture since he arrived as a 19-year-old lottery pick in 2015 – finally one-upped years of trade rumors by “trading himself” as a free agent, signing with the rival Milwaukee Bucks. Rarely has a Finals team returned with such a dampened outlook. Anything approaching the Pacers’ 50-32 record from last season would qualify as a moral victory, yet the roster still is stocked with players – All-Star Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell, Obi Toppin – whose ambitions are loftier than that. Meanwhile, the calendar is relentless: Indiana opens its season against the reigning champion Thunder, back at the Fieldhouse, in a sorta-kinda Finals rematch (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Carlisle talked briefly with NBA.com at the National Basketball Coaches Association last month about making this season more than a dreary off-Broadway production of “Waiting for Hali.” NBA.com: With Haliburton out and Turner gone, how do you balance reality and the desire to keep expectations high? Rick Carlisle : We’ve established standards, and we know this will be a season with some unique challenges. We’re missing an All-NBA player, a great playmaker and scorer. But there are opportunities for other guys. And from a style standpoint, we’re going to have to figure out very quickly what style is best for this group. We still want to play hard, fast, smart. But our makeup is going to be different. The transition you made to great results heading into last season, sacrificing a bit offensively to be more conscientious defensively, do you need to dial that up even more now? Defense is something that can be a constant. Shot-making can come and go, even for the best shooting teams. Defensive consistency can be there on a night-to-night basis. With physicality, commitment and togetherness. So this year, we’re going to look to our defense even more. Not that Andrew Nembhard needs to “step up” after what he demonstrated in the playoffs last spring, but now taking the role Tyrese had, what changes for him? Andrew’s unique because he’s a natural point guard who can play the 2 beside a guy like Tyrese. He can guard the best ball handler, and he can make plays with the ball. With him bumping over to the 1 and not having Tyrese, we go from two ball handlers and playmakers to just one. That’s going to be an adjustment. Who else can pick up that slack? I’ve always looked at Pascal [Siakam] as a ball handler and a playmaker, so if you count him we’re going from three to two. We’re going to have to figure it out. Looking up front, with Turner leaving and Thomas Bryant gone too, how do you try to plug that hole? It’s going to have to be a strength-in-numbers thing somehow. We had four centers come to training camp. Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman are both back from injuries last year. Tony Bradley is back. And we traded for Jay Huff. All of these guys bring a unique element to the mix. I’ve had seasons where I’ve played three centers consistently. In 2013-14 [in Dallas] we had Sam Dalembert, DeJuan Blair and Brandan Wright, and all three of them played just about every game during the season. Will their roles be situational? Dictated by foul trouble? Just stylistically, there were certain things each of them did that we needed night to night. And they were professional enough that they were able to handle minutes that would change by the game. As this season begins, we hear so much swooning over how tough the Western Conference will be. What is your take on the East?

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上個賽季，印第安納溜馬隊以驚奇的表現一路打進 2025 年 NBA 總決賽，讓球迷們興奮不已。儘管他們在激烈的第七場比賽中輸給了雷霆隊，但他們的表現為這座城市重新帶來了巨大的活力。然而，球隊現在面臨著一條艱難的道路。明星後衛 Tyrese Haliburton 在那場決賽中遭受嚴重的阿基里斯腱撕裂傷，將缺席整個 2025-26 賽季。

進入新賽季，溜馬隊的挑戰十分嚴峻。除了 Haliburton 的缺陣，球隊還失去了效力多年的中鋒 Myles Turner，他以自由球員身份加入了競爭對手公鹿隊。在失去兩名關鍵球員後，總教練 Rick Carlisle 和包括全明星球員 Pascal Siakam 及 Andrew Nembhard 在內的其餘球員必須找到一種新的競爭方式，以保持成功。

👟 新賽季，新戰術

總教練 Rick Carlisle 坦言，即將到來的賽季將帶來「獨特的挑戰」。缺少了以得分和組織進攻聞名的 NBA 最佳陣容球員 Haliburton，球隊的風格必須改變。Carlisle 解釋說，雖然他們仍然希望打出「努力、快速、聰明」的籃球，但球隊的「組成將會不同」。這種情況也為其他球員創造了機會，讓他們能扮演更重要的角色並展示自己的實力。

🛡️ 以防守為基石

為了應對這些變化，溜馬隊計劃更加依賴他們的防守。Carlisle 相信，即使在投籃不準的夜晚，防守也能成為球隊的穩定力量。他說：「防守的穩定性可以在每場比賽中都保持住。」他強調了身體對抗、決心和團隊合作的重要性。這種對防守的專注將是球隊在本賽季保持競爭力的關鍵。

💪 挺身而出，填補空缺

隨著 Haliburton 的缺陣，其他球員需要挺身而出。在上季季後賽中表現出色的 Andrew Nembhard 將轉任主要控球後衛。Carlisle 指出這將是一個調整期，因為球隊從擁有兩名主要持球者變為一名。他也期望全明星前鋒 Pascal Siakam 能在組織進攻方面做出更多貢獻，為隊友創造得分機會。

🏀 中鋒位置的團隊合作

Myles Turner 的離開在中鋒位置上留下了一個巨大的空缺。為了填補這個位置，Carlisle 計劃採用「人海戰術」。球隊在訓練營中帶來了四名中鋒：Isaiah Jackson、James Wiseman、Tony Bradley 和 Jay Huff。Carlisle 提到他有在單場比賽中使用多名中鋒的經驗，並將根據比賽情況，運用每位球員的獨特技能。這個策略將需要前場球員們展現出靈活性和團隊合作精神。