After the loss to Orlando the other night, it’s nice to have a relative analysis-free piece to write about a Pacers game that was a butt-kicking in the other direction. Don’t be fooled by the final score — this was a 25-point rout. They were up 23 at the end of the third quarter and it would have gotten uglier if coach Frank Vogel didn’t call off the dogs somewhat. So there’s not a ton to say about a game that was this out of hand.

On defense, Indiana was stingy. Then again, it didn’t really look like the Blazers showed up either. Regardless, they only made 9 shots from the field in the first half, missing 21 of their 30 attempts for a hilarious conversion rate of just 30.0%. Somehow (we’ll get to that), it remained only a 10-point game at the break, but this was really only due to the fact that (1) they went to the 24 times and hit 19 of them (79.2%), and (2) they went on a little silly run to close the 2nd quarter.

This Indiana team hasn’t inspired a ton of confidence of late, however, so those numbers certainly left this watcher with a trace of nervousness that some epic collapse could be looming. But barely. The teams, at least on this night, were executing on completely different levels, with one looking like a squad that was trying to prove itself and the other looking like a “team” that knew it was about to be liquidated for parts at the trade deadline.

The result was the Pacers coming out in the second half and blowing the doors off the Trailblazers. Give Portland coach Nate McMillan some credit: even though the 2-3 zone defense he called for at times in the first half had gotten shredded routinely (on at least two occasions by masterful cuts into the lane by George Hill, who played great in his first game back from a shoulder injury), he got his guys to play with effort in a trap gimmick defense in the third quarter. It wasn’t effective by any means mind you (the Pacers out-scored them 27-14 in the period), but the guys were generally racing around out there — even if it was pretty evident they had no chance at flustering Indiana into turnovers and speeding up the game in a way that would benefit them. There’s something to be said for that, I guess. It didn’t ultimately matter as the Pacers just picked apart the trapping defenders, often passing off the open guy without even dribbling. There were more hockey assists than the 1987 Edmonton Oilers and everyone got in on the fun.

I’m not sure how much you can take away from a home team that badly needed a win smacking around an away team that badly needs some direction. But they team looked at its best and it brought back memories of the February days when these Pacers would go into good teams’ gyms, pass the ball to whoever was open and end up winning by 8 with a box score that had individual point totals of 19, 16, 14, 14, 11, 8 and 8.

Now let’s see if they can do that on a back-to-back against the league’s best defense when Doug Collins brings his Sixers to town tomorrow night.

Here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter. 

	David West, PF 27 MIN | 5-10 FG | 10 REB | 3 AST | 10 PTS Was wondering what happened to this guy. Used to see him all the time in those Hornets uniforms.
	Danny Granger, SF 18 MIN | 4-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 11 PTS Didn’t play much due to foul trouble but got his jumper going again, which hasn’t always been the case from deep of late.
	Roy Hibbert, C 25 MIN | 4-9 FG | 6 REB | 3 AST | 8 PTS Can’t complain, but still looking for a post-All-Star breakout game from the big fella. Still, with all the trapping and zone Portland was playing, he was being more of a facilitator in the ball movement than a finisher.
	Darren Collison, PG 25 MIN | 3-10 FG | 1 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS Played wy better than the missed shots might suggest to those scanning the box score. Was aggressive when needed and handled the trap well, even if it meant he was mainly giving up the ball early.
	Paul George, SG 21 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 11 PTS Still can’t get over how good he is at getting deflections. And given the fact that the knocks away so many balls that the passer seems to think will go through untouched, I’m not the only one.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 28 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1 REB | 4 AST | 4 PTS Good stuff.
	Louis Amundson, 23 MIN | 10-11 FG | 8 REB | 1 BLK | 21 PTS Amundsanity was in full effect as the big fella couldn’t miss. With only 1 missed field goal, he dropped a career-high 21 points and generally just embarrassed the Blazers up and down the court.
	A.J. Price, G 23 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 6 AST | 0 PTS This guy is running a nice offense again. The second unit lost nothing when he was out there. Him and George Hill went together likes peas and carrots out there at times.
	George Hill, SG 24 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 11 PTS Beast. Probably the game MVP, even with Lou going nuts, since it was he who came in when the starting wings got in foul trouble and made the team even better. There was a time when it looked like he and West were playing 2-on-5. And winning.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 15 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-5 FT | 7 REB | 8 PTS This is the type of numbers they need from him off the bench all the time. Better still, he got them in just 15 minutes on a night he wasn’t even hitting much. You can usually tell how well he played just by looking at FTAs.
	Jeff Pendergraph, F 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS 2 boards and didn’t miss a shot.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 6 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS Guess he played. Wasn’t really paying attention anymore.

Person, as Pacers fans have experienced first-hand, was one of the premier shooters of his generation, and so it is no wonder that when he was brought in last season as a special assistant, he did not disappoint. The beginning of his Laker tenure, however, is an interesting study in interpersonal relations.

Person knew that as a newcomer last season, he couldn’t simply walk in and tell players what they needed to work on. So at first he would simply observe during practice. Then, when he thought he could help, he would gently ask permission to voice his opinion.

Person carried himself this way at the advice of former Pacers President Donnie Walsh.

“I told him, ‘Chuck, I’ll tell you what you do. You go in there and don’t tell them anything as to what they should do because they just won the championship. You should just sit there and watch these guys for a while, because they’re really good. … You learn from them and then once you feel comfortable, you can add what you know,’” Walsh said.

In such a fashion, he made sure to not, in the words of fellow Laker assistant Brian Shaw, “overstep any of his boundaries.” Slowly but surely, Person was able to endear himself to the team, and as time passed, Jackson began to entrust more and more duties to him. This progression eventually culminated with the Lakers hiring him for the entire 2009-2010 season. Quite a turnaround for someone who was initially brought in to work just during training camp.

His biggest contribution to the team began in December 2009 after Bryant fractured his right index finger. Bryant had started to trust Person, and so when he offered pointers on how to adapt his shooting form due to the injury, he fully embraced Person’s advice.

Out of this came a one-on-one partnership with Bryant to improve his mechanics. The results were successful. By the end of the season, Kobe had increased his free-throw percentage to a career-high 88% — despite what should have been a devastating impediment to his shooting ability.

Bryant has relished their time working together.

“He has the same kind of attention to detail that I have. I enjoy being around that. I enjoy talking to him about it. I spend a considerable amount of time shooting with him and working on different things and just strategically how he sees the whole puzzle, not just pieces of the puzzle; he sees the whole thing as I do. It’s important for me to have another set of eyes that I can communicate with and kind of work on things with.

“He’s just a great Southern dude, man.”

All this being said, Person’s coaching skills are not restricted to just offense; he also aides players in improving their game on the defensive end of the court — even power forwards and centers. Last season, for instance, Person was one of the coaches who assisted pivot man Andrew Bynum develop as a player.

This has earned him the praise of Jackson.

“Chuck has an analytical eye,” said Jackson. “He’s always seeking answers and looking for reasons, so that blends in well with the kind of process we like to go through. I can give him something we need to work on defensively and he’ll come in with some exercises and things we have to do, and he works really well with our post players even though Chuck was one of the great outside shooters in the game.”

Furthermore, Person’s coaching success is not only a function of his basketball knowledge, but his ability to communicate well with today’s NBA players. Unlike some coaches and players, Person is very upfront, not hesitating to tell players what they need to do to improve.

Because of this, Portland Trailblazers Head Coach Nate McMillan has long-known that Chuck would make a good coach.

“I thought he was a coach when he played and I had the opportunity to work with him then … I just feel that the things that he brought to the floor, his communication skills with players not only players but the stars, he will approach any guy and work with him. You saw times last year when he and Kobe were communicating during the playoffs. Chuck is just that type of guy that will pull a guy to the side, star or best player [included], and talk to them about what they need to do and won’t be afraid or intimidated by that player.”

Even more remarkable, however, is the fact that Person has managed to stay humble despite his coaching success. With regards to his feat of helping improve the game of one of the the best players in NBA history, he notes with an air of humility that, “Kobe was a great player before I came and he’s going to be a great player after I leave.” Likewise, he hesitates to even take credit for what he has taught the star, adding that “all the things I told Kobe are things Jerry West told me.”

Indeed, such is this former Pacer — brilliant on the court, but just as inspiring as a teacher and as a person.

Jay Ganatra is a contributor to 8 Points, 9 Seconds who is currently studying accounting at the University of Florida. You can reach Jay at jay.ganatra@ufl.edu.