Pacers G Victor Oladpio ready to bring ‘killer instinct’ to game
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — With Day 1 of training camp in the books, the Indiana Pacers said they feel like most teams on the first day: optimistic about the upcoming season.
“I think these guys are hungry, and we need to be hungry. We talked about that in our meeting last night and today before the start of the first practice. Last year, we were a hungry team,” said coach Nate McMillan.
The Pacers will return the same core group this season, so expect the chemistry to stay the same. But, what has changed this offseason? Guard Victor Oladipo’s approach. His coach and teammates have taken notice.
Forward Doug McDermott said, “Just his leadership, you can tell he’s got a different swag about him. He knows he was just the Most-Improved Player in the NBA and he’s got a chance to be an All-Star for years and years. He’s carrying that a little more. In OKC, there’d be a day or two where you could tell he wasn’t being himself. So far, since I’ve been around him here, he’s had his shoulders up, just a lot of confidence. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve been seeing.”
McMillan said, “He’s very hungry to get out and prove himself again.”
Oladipo said, “Just working on being a killer, working on killing. That’s all it is, every day, no matter what I’m doing, I want to win. I might not have had that killer instinct in the past, but you better believe I got it now. I’m going to keep it and keep feeding it. Actually, I’m going to keep starving it. We’ll see.”
Watch out, Eastern Conference, Victor is coming for you.