JeremiahBoyce.com had a chance to catch up with one of last year’s members of the Indiana Pacers. He hails from Texas A&M and wore number 15 for your Indiana Pacers. Donald Sloan came off the Indiana bench, but the bench did not perform well late in the season. The Pacers did perform well enough to get by the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards, but succumbed in the end to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.
JeremiahBoyce.com asked Donald Sloan if he agreed with Pacers’ President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird’s philosophy of staying the course.
“I think (Bird) knows exactly what he is doing,” Sloan told JeremiahBoyce.com. “I’m sure he is going to change a few things up for us to ultimately get to the finals like we know we can.”
Some of the changes Sloan expects the Pacers to ultimately make is using the bench earlier in the season. It’s difficult to do well in the playoffs if you don’t have a bench that doesn’t have team unity, that doesn’t play consistently and that doesn’t get playing time early in the season.
“For us to get where we need to go, I think we need to instill more trust in our bench,” Sloan said. “Late in the season, I think we needed those guys. It’d be good to go to the bench early in the year, so late in the year it’s a lot easier to throw them out there.”
Sloan is currently trying to get invited back to play for Indiana again next season by playing with the team’s summer league squad. The second year of his contract is currently non-guaranteed until August 15, but a solid summer League performance would likely cement his place on next year’s Pacers. The point guard is averaging a team-leading 18 points and four assists through three games for the Pacers. Sloan believes even if he doesn’t end up with the Pacers, he’d have nothing bad to say about his time in Indiana.
“Summer league is going great, man. I’m glad to be a part of it and given a chance to really show what I can do. My team is playing great as of now after a small hiccup the first game,” Sloan said. “It’s a dream come true to play for the Pacers. It’s a great organization from top to bottom. If my time here ends, I would have nothing bad to say. It definitely has been a great experience.”
