Pacers’ Pascal Siakam on team’s struggles: ‘It drives me crazy’

The losses are starting to weigh heavily on the Pacers, and the frustration is no longer being kept behind closed doors.

After Saturday’s loss to the Pelicans, guard T.J. McConnell openly questioned the team’s effort.

Tuesday brought a sharper response. Following a 17-point defeat to the Bucks, forward Pascal Siakam spoke for nearly nine minutes, delivering a blunt assessment of where things stand.

“We just didn’t play with any pace, any determination,” Siakam said, via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “It looked out there like we were just jacking shots sometimes. We played with no force.

“We just didn’t have it. It’s hard to evaluate our offense because it just looked like we didn’t try hard enough. We look slow. There’s no energy. It’s not fun to be around.”

The comments came after a sixth straight loss dropped Indiana to 6-24, a stunning fall for a team that was one game away from an NBA title just six months ago.

That slide began when Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7 of the Finals and has been compounded by injuries throughout the roster.

The Pacers have spent the past six weeks patching together lineups, signing players like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Garrison Mathews, Gabe McGlothan, and James Wiseman to hardship deals just to remain functional.

Long term, the picture is not bleak. Haliburton is expected to be fully healthy by next season, much of last year’s playoff core remains under contract, and Indiana is positioned to land a high draft pick.

None of that, however, eases the daily grind.

“I really care about it and I hate losing,” Siakam said. “It’s not fun. It drives me crazy. I’m trying to find solutions. I’m trying to get better. But it dictates my attitude. The product isn’t good.

“We’re losing games. We all have to ask ourselves, ‘What can we do?’ Everyone has to come in wanting to make a change.”

As Dopirak notes, tanking is far easier in theory than in practice. Losing wears on competitiveness. And right now, the Pacers are feeling every bit of it.