`There's beauty in the struggle' -- Tyrese Haliburton looks for a way out of his recent slump

The Pacers guard hasn't been the same since the All-Star break; now, with 12 games left in the season, it's time to find his game.

Twelve hours earlier, Tyrese Haliburton was somber, sitting in front of a microphone in the Pacers’ press conference room, his head resting in his left hand. He was looking at the post-game box score and he wasn’t liking what he was seeing. That night, during a Monday night loss to the Cavaliers, Haliburton, who is in the worst shooting slump of his life, went 1-of-9 from 3. These days, he can’t find the ocean from the edge of a pier.

“When I play better, we win, so I’m just trying to figure it out right now,” he said Monday night. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. I never went through a slump like this in my life, but it’s all part of it, figuring it ou. Yeah, this fucking sucks. Everybody’s got the fucking answer, but it’s about me figuring the shit out. I’ve just got to be better. And I will be better moving forward…”

Now, a day later, Haliburton was on the practice floor, getting up 3-point shot after 3-point shot, staying late along with T.J. McConnell. Then he started attempting trick shots from the deep corners of the practice facility, a smile finally creasing his face.

He didn’t have to talk to the media Tuesday; at one point, the Pacers PR man told a reporter that Haliburton had spoken his piece one night earlier and likely wouldn’t make himself available. But nobody told Haliburton, who, if he was like most athletes, would have avoided the media during the worst shooting slump of his life. Instead, Haliburton finished up his extra work and walked over to the small media gathering.

Because he’s accountable.

Because he’s a leader, the face of the franchise.

And because – and I’m guessing here – he wanted to get some things off his chest, engage in something of a catharsis.

“Everybody’s answer to me right now is, `You need to smile and have fun more,’ “ he said. “Me being honest, it’s like, I’ve had these honest conversations, `What the fuck is there to smile about?’ Losing is not fun. Playing bad is not fun. You know what I mean? That’s been frustrating because that answer doesn’t help me.”