The Indiana Pacers did not end their regular season on a great note and their playoff run did not get off to a great start either. The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference were upset at home in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs which is drawing serious reactions from teammates to NBA analysts.
Charles Barkley is never one to hide his feelings and as the Pacers look to be on the verge of a total meltdown, the current TNT analyst is calling out the roster. The Pacers may have managed to hold on to the No. 1 spot in the East, but losing to the No.8 Atlanta Hawks hardly makes the home-court advantage worth it. The Hawks led by double digits for most of the game as the Pacers were no match for them. Now, Barkley is calling them out as "flay wussies."
"I'm an Indiana fan because of everything [they] stand for," Barkley said, "but to come out and play like flat wussies... and I'm only calling y'all wussies because I don't want to get the FCC pissed off at me.... They're embarrassing coach Vogel and the great Larry Bird."
The Pacers now have the pressure on their backs as they look to even up the series before heading to Atlanta for Game 3. Head coach Frank Vogel is feeling the heat and is considering switching the lineup around in order to spark some production. The Hawks ran a spread offense that blanked the Pacers for most of the game. Paul George is aware of the defensive struggle and is now requesting to cover the surging Jeff Teague in Game 2.
George told media during a team practice that he would "love to change it up a little bit and give him a different look." He noted that he and Vogel have discussed the adjustment and could make that a permanent move in order to cool Teague down. The point guard torched the Pacers two weeks ago for 25 points and then topped that with 28 points on Saturday in Game 1.
Can the Pacers turn things around? The team is just 12-14 since March 1 after being known as one of the league's toughest defensive units. They are now struggling to cover the 3-point shooting of Atlanta while allowing Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll to excel defensively. While it was one Game 1 in a long series, the number of problems facing Indiana is a cause for concern.