Who could have imagined that Tyrese Haliburton was going to experience such a difficult month of December, on the evening of his 44-point, 10-assist game in Miami to close an exceptional month of November? Three weeks later, the findings and the figures are relentless. Not only is Indiana moving slowly with six losses in its last eleven games, but above all, its playing master is struggling, with individual statistics at half mast.
Particularly in scoring since he went from 28.6 points per match to 53.2% shooting success (46.7% at 3-points) in the month of November to 19 points on average in December, with skill percentages in free fall (44.9% success, 32.3% at 3-points).
“I also lose the ball more often. I don't know if it's the defense or myself.”, he also emphasized. Indeed, his average of lost balls has jumped over the past 15 days: 4.2 on average over the last seven matches.
There's probably a bit of both. The leader is perhaps paying the physical repercussions of an exceptional start to the season and has lost lucidity over tenths of a second which can make all the difference. Obviously, the defenses also opted for adjustments in order to complicate his life. The two combined cause its effectiveness to drop.
In the blizzard
His teammates have also noticed the drop in speed of their conductor, which is also detrimental to the collective. “Opposing defenses try to be more physical on him. They're trying to get into him.”noted Buddy Hieldwhile for Myles Turnerpart of the solution lies in its ability to “put your shots in” again.
For the main person concerned, what annoys him the most is when the opposing teams decide to blitz (go two on him in pick-and-roll situations) to force him to let go of the ball, or even to lose it.
“They force me to make decisions more quickly,” continued Tyrese Haliburton. “I’ve never been blitzed like that. This is new to me. I watch a lot of videos of different players getting blitzed on a regular basis. It's interesting. I think I just missed a lot of opportunities, a lot of shots. I'm just thinking, 'How long are they going to keep blitzing? Until I make the pass? Until I take the shot?' Everyone does this differently. If I hold out against the defense any longer, what will they do? (…) It’s interesting to see how the teams execute this differently.”
It will be up to him to make the right readings of the game to find the right pass or to read the situation early enough to trigger a shot, if possible with the skill that was his strength at the start of the season, far from his 2 /12 against Memphis on Thursday evening.
| Tyrese Haliburton | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2020-21 | BAG | 58 | 30 | 47.2 | 40.9 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 13.0 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 77 | 35 | 47.3 | 41.4 | 84.2 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 15.3 |
| 2021-22 * | BAG | 51 | 34 | 45.7 | 41.3 | 83.7 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 7.4 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 14.3 |
| 2021-22 * | IND | 26 | 36 | 50.2 | 41.6 | 84.9 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 9.6 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 17.5 |
| 2022-23 | IND | 56 | 34 | 49.0 | 40.0 | 87.1 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 10.5 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 20.7 |
| 2023-24 | IND | 24 | 34 | 49.8 | 40.9 | 86.7 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 24.3 |
| Total | 215 | 33 | 48.1 | 40.8 | 85.9 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 8.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 17.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
