"After Game 1 of the Knicks series, I had to cuss him out": Drew Hanlen on driving Tyrese Haliburton to unlock his potential (Exclusive)

While walking toward the hotel entrance with his luggage, Tyrese Haliburton’s trainer received a cold greeting.

The source? None other than Haliburton’s dad, John, who realized Drew Hanlen arrived in New York City following his son’s struggles in the Pacers’ loss to the Knicks in Game 1 of their second-round playoff matchup.

“‘I hate seeing you here, but I love seeing you here,’” Hanlen recalled John saying. “‘I hate seeing you here because that means Ty needs you here. But I love seeing you here because I know that you’ll get him going again.’”

Consider it done. After laboring with six points on 2-for-6 shooting in the Pacers’ Game 1 loss to the Knicks, Haliburton responded in Game 2 with 34 points on a 11-for-19 clip. Though Indiana also lost that game, Haliburton’s improved aggressiveness partly led to the Pacers overpowering the injury-riddled Knicks in 7 games.

If the sixth-seeded Pacers have any shot in overcoming a 0-1 series deficit against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, it will likely start with how well Haliburton complements his superb playmaking with additional scoring punch.

Drew Hanlen on training Tyrese Haliburton (Exclusive)

“We know that being the best passer in the league is what makes him special,” Hanlen told Sportskeeda. “But him being the best passer in the league and being an aggressive scorer – that combination is what has made him an All-Star starter.”

Hanlen spoke to Sportskeeda on numerous topics about Haliburton. That included the dynamic he has with training both Haliburton and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum during their respective playoff matchup, Haliburton’s journey with playing more aggressively and why he might be the biggest star to draw prospective free agents.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

To what extent did you work with Tyrese and Jayson ahead of their East Finals matchup?

Hanlen: “I was able to do workouts and film with both of them. That’s what makes this time of the year both exciting and also tricky at the same time.”

What does that trickiness look like knowing you’re preparing two players to go up against each other and their teams?

Hanlen: “Everybody keeps asking me how I go about working with two star players that are competing against each other, especially in the playoffs when advancing is the only thing that matters. During the regular season, people can make a lot more sense of it because you’re just hoping that both guys perform well. But I take that same approach in the playoffs. I prepare Jayson like I would if he were playing against an opponent where I didn’t have another client. I prepare Tyrese just like I would if I was preparing him for an opponent where I didn’t have another client. I try to get both guys ready. I’ll be sitting courtside cheering for both No. 0s.”

What did that preparation look like for both?

Hanlen: “It’s typical preparation. A lot of times it’s film work. You rewatch all the games that you played against each other. You rewatch games against similar opponents. If you’re preparing for the Pacers, you would look at what are the rotations and schemes they tried to use to slow them down with guys like Jaylen Brunson and Dame [Lillard] and some of the other star players that they played against in the playoffs. For Tyrese, you look at the past games against the Celtics and look at what they’ve done with ball-screen coverages on other players and how they have faceguarded guys in the past and have switched off of guys. How do you attack certain matchups? So that’s a lot of film work and then getting on the court and making sure that you’re comfortable and confident with the things that you’re going to have to be able to do. Then after each game, it’s about making adjustments and trying to win those little battles.”

With Tyrese and Tatum specifically, do you protect each of them by withholding information about the other? Or do you view it more as you’ll share everything you know, and they just have to figure how to execute it? How do you look at that?

Hanlen: “When I have two guys playing against each other, I stay out of practices and I don’t look at scouting reports. I don’t look at anything that the team prepares or does because I don’t want any conflict of interest. The only film work that I’m doing is the film work that I do on my own. I don’t look at scouting reports. I don’t ask any questions because I want to be as fair and as ethical as I possibly can be.”

Do you have the same philosophy on sharing individual tendencies with Tyrese and Tatum about each other?

Hanlen: “I’m mainly helping both of those guys on offense. I’m not telling Tyrese how to stop Jayson. I’m not telling Jayson how to stop Tyrese. I’m telling Jayson how to score and play against the Pacers. I’m telling Tyrese how to score and play against the Celtics. I work with the majority of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, which means this time of year is always tricky when they’re competing against each other to try to represent the East in the Finals. But the biggest thing that I’ve learned over the years is you can do a good job with helping your guys without crossing any lines.”

I’ve talked with you about Jayson in the past. So focusing more on Tyrese, how would you evaluate his postseason compared to the regular season and past years?

Hanlen: “It’s a funny story. After Game 1 of the New York Knicks series, I had to fly to New York and basically cuss him out for not being aggressive enough. I was walking with my luggage and got out of the car. His dad saw me outside of the hotel and said, ‘I hate seeing you here, but I love seeing you here. I hate seeing you here because that means Ty needs you here. But I love seeing you here because I know that you’ll get him going again.’ Isaiah Hartenstein was laughing when he saw me. I was on the court before the game watching Tyrese shoot. He was like, ‘Oh shoot, your boy is going to be way more aggressive because you’re here.’ I was just making sure that he realized that. The quote I keep using with him is ‘The most selfish thing you can do is to be too unselfish.’"

"When he’s aggressively looking to score, then it benefits his team. We looked [before Game 1 against Boston]. In the games that he shot 20 field-goal attempts this season, there weren’t many of them, but in the games that he did, every game he averaged double digit assists except for one game when he had eight (Editor’s note: This happened in a combined nine out of 11 regular-season and post-season games). The point was when he shoots more, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he stops getting assists. That just means it helps him get easier assists. A lot of our work has been film work and showing him where he can be more aggressive. That means reminding him before the game. [Before Game 1 against Boston], I had sent him a picture of the rim and said, ‘Look at the orange thing all night tonight.’ Then at halftime, I’ll make sure I give him screen shots of the film and show him where he could’ve been more aggressive.’ After the games, I’m showing more film with him and pointing out more places he could’ve been more aggressive. We knew all season that his ability to be aggressive takes the Pacers’ ceiling to a new level. My job has been not only to cuss him out when he’s not being aggressive, but also to show him where he can be more aggressive so he can apply that to future games.”

Ever since you’ve worked with him, you’ve been quoted about this ‘aggressiveness’ theme in various interviews and when Tyrese went on your podcast. What usually determines whether he’s aggressive enough or not?

Hanlen: “When I first started working with him, it was two years ago and he was averaging 12 points a game. Now he’s doubled that points per game production. That is obviously very uncommon. There were different skills that he’s added that we worked hard on, but there also has been a new mentality that we really focused on it. There’s a constant reminder for him to fight his natural passive play kind of style. We know that being the best passer in the league is what makes him special. But him being the best passer in the league and being an aggressive scorer – that combination is what has made him an All-Star starter. I think there has been more of an awareness and constantly bringing it to the front of his attention. There’s a shift in mentality that is progressive and is going to be something that I’m sure we’ll have to keep honing in on throughout the rest of his career until it finally clicks. And then it becomes more second nature of him.”

When you look at the differences between his shooting numbers vs Milwaukee and the Knicks in the playoffs, to what degree is that related to what you’re talking about with his aggressiveness?

Hanlen: “When Tyrese got hurt [with a hamstring injury], he had to come back before he was 100% healthy due to the dumb 65-game rule. People didn’t realize how much that injury impacted his ability to have a first step and his ability to have the power to the lift on his jump shot that he usually gets for him to be the Tyrese Haliburton that everyone saw pre injury. Being able to continue to rehab and treat that, it has progressively gotten better. That has obviously helped.”

How is he doing physically right now? I presume he’s still nursing back spasms?

Hanlen: “I don’t want to speak too much on his injury stuff. But I would say the only thing you can put on that is he’s not 100%, but it’s the playoffs.”

Respecting what you just said, what perspective can you give on how he plays through injuries?

Hanlen: “It goes back to that it’s the playoffs. He’s been waiting his entire career to have a playoff opportunity. Now that he’s here, he wants to capitalize on it.”

Knowing that you do a lot of film work when you work with guys, which players past and current does Tyrese study?

Hanlen: “We have studied everybody. We’re obviously looking at all the top point guards. We are also stealing things from other top guards. But there are not many people that play like Tyrese, to be honest with you. He’s a unique player. So it’s more about fine tuning ways to improve his game. With other players, I have modeled their games after others. But with Tyrese, it’s about adding skills that take him to the next level. He’s looking at coverages and talking through scenarios and situations."

"One thing that we’re really focusing on this offseason is getting to the line more. He just doesn’t draw enough fouls and doesn’t get to the free-throw line enough. We’ll look at the top guys that draw fouls and are more physical with his drives. We spent a lot of time working on that herky-jerky and shifty isolation game that he has. It might be going back to guys like Jamal Crawford, who has a natural feel to him, and combine that with Kevin Durant, who is skinnier and a lengthy guy that doesn’t have a conventional cadence to him. But generally, there aren’t players he’s studying and that we want him to be like this player or that player. It’s more about adding little skills.”

What other things can help Tyrese’s odds to get to the foul line more, knowing that some of it is on the mercy of the whistle?

Hanlen: “Nowadays, you almost have to foul bait in the playoffs to get to the free-throw line. But it’s more so improving his driving angles and being more physical on his drives and playing off two feet more as well as stopping and starting more. A lot of times when he sees a rotating defender, his eyes are so trained to find the open passer. Sometimes, it’s splitting the gap to try to draw contact. All of those things will help him go to the free-throw line more.”

In your view, what makes Tyrese the best passer in the league?

Hanlen: “It’s his vision and his head is constantly on a swivel. He’s able to find passes at the last minute. He’s also a great jump passer. As a guy growing up with a bunch of fundamental coaches, they used to always tell us not to jump to pass. And especially don’t jump to find a pass. There are times he will jump up just to freeze the defenders and then pass. He also has the ability to make a variety of passes with his left hand and right hand. He can make scoop passes, push passes, over-the-head passes, behind-the-back passes and wraparound passes. He’s constantly reading not only where his teammates are, but where they’re going to be and where the defenders are. He’s able to manipulate the defense in a way that will open up just the smallest windows. He has the ability to hit those windows.”

In what ways do you think Tyrese makes his teammates better?

Hanlen: “He gets off the ball. It’s funny. When I talk to my other clients, they’re like, ‘There is no one we’d rather play with than Tyrese because he gets off the ball.’ As soon as he touches it, it’s then out of his hands. There are some guys that have a lot of assists because when they pass it, they can get assists. Tyrese isn’t like that. He’s constantly trying to get his teammates in better positions. He wants everybody to touch the ball and feel the ball. That’s why their offense is so good. Everybody feels involved. We always joke around. There was a game this season where there was a player that had 40 points and zero assists after the game. I said, ‘We would never have to worry about this with you. With you, it would be like 0 points and 40 assists.’ What truly stands out is that Tyrese really gets more excited about getting an assist and a teammate a bucket than he does himself with scoring. There are very few people that get more excited with creating an opportunity for their teammates than themselves.”

In your podcast, you shared that you decided very early on that you didn’t want to change Tyrese’s unique shooting form. How did you reach that decision?

Hanlen: “He’s shot well every single year of his career – high school, college and NBA. So what’s not broke, don’t break it. I know it doesn’t look pretty. But it goes in. That’s all that matters – the end result. But a funny part of it is he called earlier this season when he couldn’t make shots. He said, ‘I’ve never missed as many shots as I have in my life. I need you to come fix it.’ I said, ‘Ty, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that you’re a great shooter and the law of averages is always going to come back in your favor. You’re a 40% 3-point shooter, so you’re going to end up a 40% shooter if you keep believing in it. Great shooters always shoot themselves out of a slump. But the bad news is I don’t know what you do mechanically when you make shots. So I have no idea how to change it to get you to stop missing shots.’ He started laughing. He was like, ‘Your job is to fix my mechanics!’"

"We looked at the film side by side and we just started laughing. I said, ‘You just have such an unconventional jump shot. Now it’s just about really rehabbing and getting your legs strong enough to be able to resume getting the power from your legs that you usually generate.’ Once he got back to being healthy enough, that’s when we really started seeing the arc getting higher and seeing the flow getting better and the shots started dropping.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider with Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.