Andrew Nembhard gets valuable point guard reps with Haliburton and McConnell sidelined
Andrew Nembhard grew up playing point guard. In college at Gonzaga and for Team Canada, Nembhard has typically been a lead ball handler for his teams.
With the Indiana Pacers so far this season, that has not been the case as much. Nembhard starts for the blue and gold, but he plays in more of an off ball role and is deployed for his defense. He has exceeded all expectations as a rookie, yet he has done so in an unfamiliar role.
So far this year, Nembhard has 1,668 minutes of playing time. Only 373 of them have come with all three of Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell, and George Hill — Indiana's other point guards — on the bench. That means only about 22.3% of Nembhard's minutes have come at point guard this season.
Haliburton and McConnell should be the Pacers point guards most of the time right now. They bring talent and experience to the position, and that has been helpful for the blue and gold. But over the weekend, both players were out, and that allowed Nembhard to get a ton of reps as a floor general, and those situations are incredibly valuable for the youngster.
"It's just valuable for our young guys to get this kind of experience," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the two games vs Detroit. He would later go into more detail on Nembhard's opportunity at point guard.
"[Andrew] Nembhard needs this kind of work at the point position. He needs to play 35 minutes a game [for] a few games playing the point position," the head coach said. Nembard played for nearly 70 minutes in the two games against the Pistons. "He had the opportunity to play a lot. He played 36 tonight. He did a lot of good things in both games, but there's a different rhythm to that position, a different flow."
Carlisle went on the detail that Nembhard was calling plays and running the team. He was a true floor general, which is useful experience for the 23-year old rookie. Long term, he will benefit from games like this.
In the two outings, Nembhard showed off many of the skills that made the Pacers so excited about drafting him with the 31st overall pick in the most recent draft. He scored 34 points in the pair of games on largely self-created shots. He tossed 15 assists and grabbed seven rebounds, and his defensive activity was impressive.
Nembhard also found a way to get to the charity stripe (nine free throw attempts) and was successful as an offensive focal point. These opportunities may not come much for the youngster this season, but he made the most of it over the weekend.
"The difficult part is just not having as much experience at this level doing it," Nembhard said of changing roles and playing the one in the pair of games. "The most fun part is just having the ball in your hands, being able to get that experience when you take the shots, get to make the plays, be more of a focal point on the offensive end of the floor." He added that the experience was obviously valuable for him.
Nembhard has typically stepped up when called upon. On a road trip earlier this season, he had the best game of his career against the Golden State Warriors with Haliburton and McConnell sidelined. He stepped up as a backup when Haliburton missed 10 games in January, averaging 8.5 points and 5.6 assists per game — both of those numbers are above his season averages. When the Pacers need Nembhard to run the show, he has produced in limited opportunities.
"Overall, I just like his moxie. I like how hard he plays," Carlisle said, later singling out Nembhard's toughness and the physical element he brings to the position. "He can run a team and still score when they give him the obvious shot. That's one of the difficult things to teach in this league is an aggression mentality but the ability to shoot and score in the right situations and be able to pass and playmake in the others. I just think this is really good for him."
Those traits are what make Nembhard solid at the point guard spot, but it's hard for him to get opportunities. That's what makes games like this, with Haliburton and McConnell sidelined, so important.
"I think the value (of these games) is just me getting reps, being able to be a playmaker as well as scoring myself," Nembhard said. Carlisle shared a similar note.
"He just needs the reps. He needs to play. He had the one spectacular game in Golden State. Some of the other games, it was a little up and down. There's no way that he's going to get the kind of consistency that he needs unless he plays and plays the reps," the head coach said before complimenting Nembhard for his 19 point, eight assist outing.
When Nembhard is on the court without any other point guard, he is averaging 15.7 points and 9.7 assists per 36 minutes. He has shown that, despite being needed more as a defender and off-ball player for Indiana this year, he can fill in as a point guard in a pinch. He's a natural.
"Down the stretch, big," veteran guard Geroge Hill said of the importance of younger players figuring it out on the fly. "It shows when you're called on later, you have some rhythm and things like that. It was a good opportunity for all the guys to get out there."
Haliburton and McConnell are questionable for the Pacers next game. If either of them can't go, Nembhard will be pivotal again at the point guard spot, and he should be able to fill in just fine. He showed that in the past few days.
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