Tyrese Haliburton and his Pacers team are making noise early in the season, but not in the best way possible. One night they looked like Eastern Conference contenders, beating the Celtics, and then the next night they went down to the Magic. The biggest puzzle has been their inconsistent form so far, leading to a 2-4 record. Morning shows the day and if this is how the morning looks, there’s probably not much to look forward to for the Indiana fans. And that’s why Haliburton needs to step up big time. But for now, he’s facing all sorts of scrutiny over his game, with the latest one coming thanks to a former NBA guard.

On the latest episode of his “Off Guard with Austin Rivers” podcast, the host made critical remarks on Indiana Pacers and was brutal on Tyrese Haliburton. The 32-year-old claimed that diagnosing the team is difficult so is detecting who their best player is. “I don’t know who their best player is. They close games to Pascal. It’s not even a question. Halliburton can hit a big shot or 2, very capable, but he’s not a one-on-one guy.”

Rivers went ahead and stated that Haliburton “frustrates a lot of people.” He didn’t stop at that. Quoting Celtics’ assistant coach, Evan Turners, Rivers continued, “Maturing is understanding, Tyrese Halliburton’s mediocrity. And he doesn’t have a bag. Like, his ISO bag is really gross.” He pointed out Haliburton’s “crab dribbling” side-to-side, which weakens his case. Rivers acknowledged that the Indiana combo guard has talent and performs well in a fast-paced game, but he also admitted that he’s not Haliburton’s biggest supporter.

At this point, his co-host, Pausha Haghighi from The Ringer, reminded him that Rivers had been a fan of Haliburton last season, praising his 3-point shooting and significant involvement in the game. Rivers clarified that he wasn’t a huge fan but found Haliburton’s game intriguing. Rivers further criticised his “awkward” shots, “mediocre” handles and not-so-deep skill set. The 24-year-old is averaging 14 points per game this regular season with a shooting skill of 33.7% from the field and 24% from the deep. That’s definitely not enough for the ex-Clipper who confessed that he would rather choose LaMelo Ball over Halliburton. It seems the 2-time All-Star has a lot of work to do to elevate his standing in Rivers’ eyes.

Tyrese Haliburton’s solution to overcome mediocrity goes through Jayson Tatum

No matter the shades thrown at Haliburton over his bag, denying his talent is something totally different. His passing has improved (not like it was bad before), but his shooting needs more consistency. And he was told exactly what to do to overcome that challenge.

According to Lou Williams, he just needs to address his attitude issues and that’s not in a bad way. During a recent episode of ‘Run It Back’, Williams raised the question for Hali – “Where is your frustration, though?” Citing Jayson Tatum as an example who has been on fire this season following his supposed mistreatment at the Olympics.

“I want to see him be more aggressive and a little bit more pissed off at the early start because this thing can snowball in the wrong direction,” Williams said, a message that might help Haliburton raise his game to the next level. His early hiccups will surely be a part of ‘Starting 5’ season 2, where he is one of the five selected NBA stars.

However, to make his off-court venture a success, Haliburton surely needs to step up. Because let’s be honest, it’s a bad look if the Pacers finish outside the playoff spots and the rest of his co-stars make it. So, along with the performance, he probably needs to be cautious about the impending ratings as well.