As the Pacers head to the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years, Sky coach Tyler Marsh will be watching with pride, knowing he was there at the onset of the journey.
Marsh never would overstate his role in where the Pacers are now, but his time as an assistant coach with them in 2020-22 was pivotal in their rebuild and in his own career. He worked with several key players who led them to the Finals this season, including Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, while working under coach Rick Carlisle.
‘‘The culture and the environment is exciting to see, from where it was to where it is now,’’ Marsh said after Sky practice Tuesday. ‘‘You can just watch the game and see how much they enjoy playing with each other. From a coach’s perspective, that’s what everyone should aspire to have. That oozes through the TV screen when you’re watching them.’’
The Sky don’t play again until Saturday against the Fever at the United Center. And with such a light week schedule-wise, Marsh almost certainly will be watching when his former team faces the Thunder in Game 1 on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
After playing at Alabama-Birmingham and Birmingham-Southern College, Marsh got his start in coaching as an assistant in the NBA’s G League. The Raptors hired him as their video coordinator in 2018 and promoted him to player-development coach the next season, and he was on staff in their 2018-19 championship season.
When the Pacers plucked Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren to be their head coach in 2020, he brought Marsh with him as an assistant. That was the start of a two-year period that Marsh considers ‘‘instrumental to my growth as a coach.’’
Even though Bjorkgren got fired after one season and the Pacers brought back Carlisle, Marsh had impressed enough to stay on staff. He was fortunate to work for a future Hall of Fame coach in Carlisle.
‘‘You could choose a ton of different areas coach Carlisle is great at, whether it’s in-game adjustments, attacking mismatches offensively, how he communicates with his players,’’ Marsh said. ‘‘For me, it’s more in the trust that I instill in our players. That’s what I tried to take from him.
‘‘He instills a belief in each player that they are beyond what they’ve always been. . . . I’m all for the growth of each of our players and how that fits into our grand team concept.’’
Marsh left after one season under Carlisle to join Aces coach Becky Hammon’s new staff, and they won back-to-back WNBA championships together.
Player development has been central to Marsh’s coaching philosophy, and that was a major factor in him landing the Sky job. During the interview process, he laid out his vision for broadening the games of players such as Angel Reese.
With Reese, for example, Marsh has sought to get her to play more like a small forward than to rely solely on playing in the post. Scoring at the rim and rebounding are what she does best, but he saw the makings of a player who could attack from the perimeter and even add a three-point shot.
As the Sky made plans to bring back veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot, Marsh thought she had the skills to be more of a scorer, which is something the team needed to add outside.
The equation is pretty straightforward, as long as everyone from the general manager to the coach to the players are on the same page: When a team has a sound blueprint for how to win and acquires players with the ability to fit within that, it’s able to put a program in place. The right players come in and grow into the right pieces for the coach.
That’s what the Pacers have done, and Marsh had a hand in starting that. Now he’s looking to put his own plans in place for the Sky.
