Posted:
#1
Saw several posts from local guys about their teams. Thought it looked like a good idea so I'll start the Pacers thread. I've lived in Indianapolis for a long time...I know this team really well. I won't be betting on them every night, but I do think there will be some good spots for them this year.
Team Overview:
This team is built to win a lot of regular season games. They had 2 weak spots on this team last year. Point Guard, and the bench. Somehow they managed to get rid of basically their entire bench, and replace it with some really good pieces. They have good depth most of the positions, and IMO I think Copeland was a huge signing. He's a 6-8 wing player that can shoot 3's...Pacers got him for $3 million. Vogul is a great coach and will be able to use these pieces to create some big time mismatches against other teams. He will get the most out of Copeland, Scola, and Lance Stephenson.
Point Guard is still an issue. George Hill has worked hard in the off-season to be "the guy", but he's too easy to guard. Bigger guys can disrupt his game, and he still can't penetrate like the good PG's in the league. This will be the position that will make or break this team in the post-season.
Granger is not the player he was. He's already out 3 weeks with a calf strain, and he's knee is still an issue. He might be good for 18-20 minutes a night. If he plays well at the beginning of the year, look for the Pacers to try and move him for a PG upgrade.
Hibbert has added muscle, and he got off to a bad start last year, but got much better as the year went on last year. This year I don't think there's a better C, PF combo than Hibbert and West. They will give every team problems, and I think these 2 guys will be able to dominate most teams at these positions. Everyone is looking at Paul George to be the exciting wing player that makes all the highlights, but make no mistake about it. This team goes as Hibbert and West go. If George takes the next step to elite player, This becomes a really difficult team to guard.
Betting Strategy:
It's going to be difficult to say whether or not this team will be good at covering spreads because I don't know what the public opinion is going to be, and I don't know what their spreads are going to be to start the year. I look for them to win a lot of games, but I also look for them to not cover some of the big spreads because Vogul will use this bench a lot...there could be a lot of backdoor covers against them. I'm not going to wager anything on them the first few games because I want to see how their rotation and bench looks.
I do like how they look on defense. If you're into betting individual team totals I would look at betting Pacers opponents to go under their team total. Especially on back2back's. Pacers have depth to keep everyone fresh, and this not going to be a fast paced offense. Lot of time used on shot clocks. Lots of low totals.
Total wins: Hard to predict injuries, but I like this team to get to 62 wins. Maybe even get to 64 if they stay healthy.
Post-Season: I think they matchup better against the Heat than they do the Bulls. I think if they play the Heat in the post-season they can get by them...if they play the bulls (with a healthy Rose, Joakim, etc) I think the Bulls take them out.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. I probably won't post many specific plays throughout the year, but I'll post local new tidbits, and anything I notice.
GL this year everyone
Team Overview:
This team is built to win a lot of regular season games. They had 2 weak spots on this team last year. Point Guard, and the bench. Somehow they managed to get rid of basically their entire bench, and replace it with some really good pieces. They have good depth most of the positions, and IMO I think Copeland was a huge signing. He's a 6-8 wing player that can shoot 3's...Pacers got him for $3 million. Vogul is a great coach and will be able to use these pieces to create some big time mismatches against other teams. He will get the most out of Copeland, Scola, and Lance Stephenson.
Point Guard is still an issue. George Hill has worked hard in the off-season to be "the guy", but he's too easy to guard. Bigger guys can disrupt his game, and he still can't penetrate like the good PG's in the league. This will be the position that will make or break this team in the post-season.
Granger is not the player he was. He's already out 3 weeks with a calf strain, and he's knee is still an issue. He might be good for 18-20 minutes a night. If he plays well at the beginning of the year, look for the Pacers to try and move him for a PG upgrade.
Hibbert has added muscle, and he got off to a bad start last year, but got much better as the year went on last year. This year I don't think there's a better C, PF combo than Hibbert and West. They will give every team problems, and I think these 2 guys will be able to dominate most teams at these positions. Everyone is looking at Paul George to be the exciting wing player that makes all the highlights, but make no mistake about it. This team goes as Hibbert and West go. If George takes the next step to elite player, This becomes a really difficult team to guard.
Betting Strategy:
It's going to be difficult to say whether or not this team will be good at covering spreads because I don't know what the public opinion is going to be, and I don't know what their spreads are going to be to start the year. I look for them to win a lot of games, but I also look for them to not cover some of the big spreads because Vogul will use this bench a lot...there could be a lot of backdoor covers against them. I'm not going to wager anything on them the first few games because I want to see how their rotation and bench looks.
I do like how they look on defense. If you're into betting individual team totals I would look at betting Pacers opponents to go under their team total. Especially on back2back's. Pacers have depth to keep everyone fresh, and this not going to be a fast paced offense. Lot of time used on shot clocks. Lots of low totals.
Total wins: Hard to predict injuries, but I like this team to get to 62 wins. Maybe even get to 64 if they stay healthy.
Post-Season: I think they matchup better against the Heat than they do the Bulls. I think if they play the Heat in the post-season they can get by them...if they play the bulls (with a healthy Rose, Joakim, etc) I think the Bulls take them out.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. I probably won't post many specific plays throughout the year, but I'll post local new tidbits, and anything I notice.
GL this year everyone
0
. At no time this year should the Pacers be +
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