Pacers Wing Ben Sheppard Balancing Improvement And Mistake-Free Style

INDIANAPOLIS – Ben Sheppard tries to play the right way every second he’s on the court. The Indiana Pacers second-year wing goes hard without exception, battles on defense, moves the ball, and generally does things that give him a designation of good teammate.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has always admired what Sheppard brings. Often, Carlisle has praised Sheppard’s ability to master his role – the Belmont product does what he is asked and never takes plays off.

“Every time he goes in any game, whether it’s a Mad Ants game or a Pacers game or a pickup game somewhere in Nashville, the guy plays the same way,” the head coach said last season. “He’s a relentless competitor. His energy is boundless. He brings an exuberance to the game that helps a team.”

Anyone who can be described using those words is going to be popular with their teammates and coaching staff. Sheppard turned heads during training camp this season and started the campaign hot – the Belmont product made 42.6% of his outside shots across the first two months of the season.

In that span, Sheppard had just five turnovers total. He started a few games and took shots when he was open, and his defense is better than his offense. His style of play doesn’t feature many errors, and that’s how the young wing has been described by his teammates throughout his career.

“It’s a skill,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. Those two align off the bench often. “He’s a guy, like I said, it doesn’t look like he makes very many mistakes. The guy plays incredibly hard and is a great teammate.”

What makes Ben Sheppard a low mistake player for the Pacers?

Sheppard is one of 11 players with 1,200 minutes played this season that has a turnover rate less than seven percent. He’s second among that group of players in free throw percentage and defensive box plus-minus. Those are some of the many things that put Sheppard in a class of NBA players that are considered to be low-error pieces.

“He’s just been very consistent. You look at the plus-minus every night, he’s usually a plus just simply because of how hard he plays, how he plays within our system, and he takes the right shots,” Carlisle said of Sheppard earlier this season. “And defensively, he really busts his butt out there. And he’s one of our better rebounders. That really helps us, too.”

In general, the type of player Sheppard is – and others in the league including Dean Wade and Sam Hauser – has a positive impact. Coaches and teammates know what they are going to get. But there’s more to it. Most wouldn’t consider missing just one shot a mistake, for example – only 31 players in the NBA make more than half of their shot attempts. But Sheppard has knocked down just 39.6% of his shot attempts since the All-Star break, including 27.7% of his three-point looks. At what point do the misses stack up to the point of becoming mistakes? That’s up to interpretation and varies by player.

For the Pacers, the missed shots have mattered based on their actions. Sheppard’s minutes per game have dropped by nearly a third since March 20 as Indiana has turned to Jarace Walker more often with largely positive results.

While Sheppard could just be slumping – that may even be likely given his college and pro track record – this stretch of play does lead to a bigger question about his trajectory. Where can a player so focused on avoiding mistakes find opportunities to develop their skills?

Sheppard rarely drives to the basket – he averages 0.7 per game, 12th on the Pacers. While he does keep the ball moving and gets off of it quickly, his potential assists per game ranks 12th on the roster. He isn’t someone who is setting up his teammates or creating opportunities.

There’s nothing wrong with getting the ball and then quickly getting rid of it. Sheppard’s average time per touch ranks 17th on Indiana’s roster – only five centers sit below him. Moving the rock is valuable, and Sheppard does it. But lineups involving him are thus more reliant on the other four players to create points. That’s especially true when Sheppard isn’t making shots, which has been the case of late.

Players on the Pacers have encouraged Sheppard to shoot the ball more often basically since his first day in the NBA. His teammates believe in his jumper, even now as he slumps. But for Sheppard to take the next step up as a low-mistake wing, he will need to explore the studio space on the hardwood and develop other useful abilities.

“I know what’s needed from me on the court, from my staff and my teammates. But I’m always just looking for more opportunities to be aggressive and just show my game,” Sheppard explained of that balance. “That just comes from being a player, growing your game, and taking each game day by day.”

Part of Sheppard’s value is that he doesn’t play outside of his strengths. But that leaves him limited when his strongest skills fade. He fits in any lineup thanks to his effort and defense, but the next step for Sheppard is growing in other ways so he isn’t too reliant on a low-error style.

That’s easier said than done. It’s not simple for a team that has postseason aspirations to find development opportunities. In many ways, the current way Sheppard plays is ideal – he does exactly what he’s asked to do and does it well. But the next stage of his career is building his game out from his usual tasks.

“I just think he’s kind of like our swiss army knife. He does a little bit of everything. He’s guarding the other team’s best player. He’s a ball mover. He’s making open shots and getting our pace going,” McConnell said of Sheppard. “A guy like him you don’t find very often, who can be plugged into any unit and not care about his role. That’s what makes him such a special teammate.”

Sheppard was the 26th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He already gave Indiana rotation minutes in the postseason and has proven to be a hit in that draft slot. For him to take his next step and grow with the Pacers, he will need to strike the balance of being who he is and developing into more. Once shots start to fall again, Sheppard’s development will feel different. In the meantime, it’s a line the young wing is walking at the end of year two.