<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pacers-biggest-concern-ben-sheppard-nba-summer-league-performance');   ga('set', 'title', 'Pacers’ biggest concern about Ben Sheppard after 2023 NBA Summer League performance');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SHEPPARD.jpg"></figure><h1>Pacers’ biggest concern about Ben Sheppard after 2023 NBA Summer League performance</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-19T17:21:31-07:00">July 19th, 5:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-19T17:21:31-07:00">July 19th, 5:21pm</time><address><a>Jay Postrado</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A team that was very competitive despite an attempt to rebuild shows quite a lot of promise. The<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news-jarace-walker-undergoes-elbow-procedure-nba-summer-league" rel="noopener"> Indiana Pacers were not expecting</a> much of a breakout season but they delivered otherwise. Tyrese Haliburton’s squad knew that it was not their time yet to be in the NBA Playoffs but also evaluated that they could make a deeper push by next season. They did well in adding more veteran talent and shooting. Bruce Brown Jr. will surely make a huge impact on the team but Ben Sheppard could also fill in a roster spot. Did his NBA Summer League stint prove that?</p><h2>Ben Sheppard’s Summer League stint with the Pacers</h2><p>The 6-f00t-6 guard knows his way around off-ball movement. His biggest specialty is his shooting and shot IQ. Ben Sheppard knows when a good look and read falls into his periphery. This allowed him to succeed a lot in the NBA Summer League. He totaled 29 minutes on five games which were all very productive. Shooting is the first thing that he is good at on the offensive end. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-biggest-concern-jarace-walker-2023-nba-summer-league-performance" rel="noopener">The Pacers rookie averaged</a> 41.7% on his field goal percentage which netted him 10.6 points per game. His three-point shooting percentage of 38.7% was also on par with the league average.</p><p>Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers can use his presence to space out the floor. He could very well be the option after Buddy Hield and Bruce Brown such that they get better floor-spacing. His shot is butter and he could also hound defenders. Sheppard was good at on-ball defense as well. He can defend the point guard to power forward positions which is a good sign of versatility. This even rewarded him with 0.8 steals per game against the defenders he faced. His ability to be a serviceable three-and-d guard allows him to take the role Oshae Brissett left.</p><h2>Ben Sheppard’s drawbacks</h2><p>A lot of his weaknesses come from his lack of athleticism. Being an effective three-and-d player means being in front of the person that they are defending most of the time. The Pacers rookie still needs to improve on his shiftiness. He gets beaten by the opposing players because of his lack of agility. This allows him to be vulnerable when he gets blown by. Secondary defenders often need to help him recover else the other team gets an easy bucket. He has the ability to meet forwards at the rim but his vertical also holds him back. He only has a 35.5 maximum vertical which disallows him from playing above the rim. This is why he is often played to space the floor rather than be a slasher.</p><p>The Pacers are going to need a lot of help that they can get. However, most rookies often see their efficiency drop during the start of the regular season. Once defenders figure out that Ben can turn cold on some offensive stretches, they are able to slowly double-team his Indiana teammates. Efficiency and shotmaking is the main thing carrying his hopes to stay in the NBA or even just crack a rotation spot.</p><p>Learning to play through cuts and screens to get easy layups might be a good thing for Sheppard. This allows him to explore a possible explosive side of his game. It could also open up a higher vertical leap that may allow him to crash the boards better for his team.</p><p>Overall, Ben Sheppard is a good three-and-d player that can help Tyrese Haliburton. He can also fill the shoes of Bruce Brown when needed. Although his athleticism and defense on centers and fast wings need work, those are things that may come more easily once training with Indiana starts.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.7	2.3	1.1	0.3	0.4

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.7	2.3	1.1	0.3	0.4

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Pacers’ biggest concern about Ben Sheppard after 2023 NBA Summer League performance

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