Posted:
#1
Got a lot of requests for another Pacers thread this year, and we had a lot of fun with the thread last year…so here we go for year two of the Pacers thread.
Last years thread started off with me being very certain about a lot of things with the Pacers, and it led to a lot of winning bets right out of the gate. This year is going to be very different.
There are more questions than answers with this team right now, but I will eventually make the case that it can be a good thing long term.
First, we will go over the obvious two things, and that's Paul Georges bad injury and Lance's departure.
Lance: Him leaving will hurt the team right now, but I thought the Pacers were in a no-lose situation with him. If he wanted to sign with the Pacers on their terms it meant he was in a "win-first" mindset, and he was willing to be coached and get better. If he left for more money on a worse team, it meant he was in a "get paid first" mindset, and he was not ready to mature and get better. Either way, the Pacers got their answer, and I liked the way Bird handled it.
FYI: For the life of me I cannot figure out why certain media members can't get the Lance situation. So let me clarify. The Pacers offered Lance more guaranteed years for more money. Charlotte offered him less money per year for less years. But here's what people don't get. Charlotte's offer will be over the exact year the NBA renegotiates their TV deal, and the cap on teams is expected to go up by $20 million. This means free agents that year will be getting massive contracts. So if Lance thinks he's really good, and he can be amazing for a few years at Charlotte, he thinks he will get a huge contract at the end of the Charlotte deal. The Pacers wanted to lock him up for more years, but Lance felt long term he would lose money.
Paul George: We all saw the terrible injury suffered by PG, and it was brutal for Pacers fans to watch. I believe that his lack of presence on defense is going to affect this team more than his lack of offense. Talented wing players are going to have field days on this team as it looks like Solomon Hill will be forced to try and lock down the wing. Nobody can truly stop Lebron or Durant, but you can try and make it difficult for them. The other night Solomon Hill tried to guard Lebron and it was embarrassing. On offense, I thought with Lance being gone there was going to be more pressure on him to flourish, but I thought it would be a good thing. I thought the offense got really stale last year, but with Lance out of the mix it would open it up for PG to do more ball handling and I thought that aspect of the Lance departure would help the Pacers. Now, I'm not totally sure where the wing production is going to come from.
We've gone over the bad things of the Pacers situation, now lets look at some of the good things.
George Hill- This guys is a scorer at heart, but his career in the NBA has been weird. I feel like he's been horribly misused, but here's his chance. They are going to give him the green light to create a lot of offense, and people that don't know his high school and college career are going to be surprised. He's capable of scoring on most guards, and I think we will see a lot of that.
Roy Hibbert- I've never seen a disappearing act like what Hibbert did last year. Completely baffling, and he took a lot of criticism, and deservedly so.
SIDE NOTE: There were lots of rumors about his fiance and PG, and Lance, and threesomes, and all sorts of things. I know people get excited about drama like that, and I'll be honest…I really thought they were true. However, I can burst the drama bubble by saying I have confirmed that they were nothing more than rumors. Hibbert, and PG are friends…nothing happened. Hibbert is a sensitive guy, and him and his fiance had problems, but they worked it out and got married.
Hibbert now seems to have his off the court issues behind him, and this year is make or break for him. We've seen him be a dominant force at times, but this is the year where he has to be consistent. He has progressed nicely from where he was when he entered the league, but it's time to take the next step, and consistency is the next step for him. Along with George Hill, this is Hibbert's chance to shine. He is going to get the touches and the chances, it's just what can he do with them.
Whenever there is a big injury, people tend to freak out, and for good reason. However, when there's an injury it opens up spots to see what other guys can do, and sometimes someone comes out of nowhere to be impressive, and then when your injured players comes back your team has improved. I'm hoping this happens to the Pacers, but I don't see who can be that difference maker who comes out of nowhere. However, I'm going to take a stab at it. My sleeper guy on this team is Damjan Rudez. He's 6'10", but only 210 lbs, however he is a sharp shooter from Europe. I don't know much about him, but anyone that is 6'10" who can drain threes all day has a place in the NBA. Just ask Kyle Korver. He isn't slated to be the starter right now, but he is going to get minutes and could earn the job if he plays good.
Chris Copeland- It's no secret that I was very critical of Vogel for not using Copeland early in the season, and not developing him at all, but Copeland is going to play this season, and if he can just be mediocre at defense, I think he can be a real nice weapon on offense.
Here's another good thing the Pacers have going for them. Their schedule isn't brutal to start off with. They have some ok teams to play, but they don't play a legit contender till November 15th, the 11th game in the season. That gives them time to mess around with lineups, and rotations without getting smashed by title contenders.
Best Case Scenario that is Possible: As disgusting that injury was to Paul George, I'm not convinced he's out for the year. Let's say the Pacers play slightly better than people think over the course of the year and look like they can be in position to grab a middle seed in the East. If Paul George heals up, and can come back by April and get 10 regular season games in and then is ready for the playoffs…they could be a team that a high seed wants no part of. As the year goes on, the Pacers are going to know who is a playmaker and who isn't. So let's say Hibbert and George Hill step up and play well. We know David West is a monster, and one other guy (Solomon Hill, Rudez, Copeland, etc) develops into a good starter over the course of the year. These guys look good and get wins for the Pacers, and then all of a sudden Paul George comes back. They wouldn't be in a position to be a title contender, but the East is wide open, and Cleveland is going to be good, but I don't think they are going to be as dominant as some think. They got some holes that will need to be filled over the next year or two. Chicago looks decent, but we never know with Derrick Rose. Who's left that's really scary? Toronto? Washington? Atlanta? Miami? Nobody stands out. A lot would have to happen, but it's possible the Pacers could come on towards the end of the year if PG comes back.
Last years thread started off with me being very certain about a lot of things with the Pacers, and it led to a lot of winning bets right out of the gate. This year is going to be very different.
There are more questions than answers with this team right now, but I will eventually make the case that it can be a good thing long term.
First, we will go over the obvious two things, and that's Paul Georges bad injury and Lance's departure.
Lance: Him leaving will hurt the team right now, but I thought the Pacers were in a no-lose situation with him. If he wanted to sign with the Pacers on their terms it meant he was in a "win-first" mindset, and he was willing to be coached and get better. If he left for more money on a worse team, it meant he was in a "get paid first" mindset, and he was not ready to mature and get better. Either way, the Pacers got their answer, and I liked the way Bird handled it.
FYI: For the life of me I cannot figure out why certain media members can't get the Lance situation. So let me clarify. The Pacers offered Lance more guaranteed years for more money. Charlotte offered him less money per year for less years. But here's what people don't get. Charlotte's offer will be over the exact year the NBA renegotiates their TV deal, and the cap on teams is expected to go up by $20 million. This means free agents that year will be getting massive contracts. So if Lance thinks he's really good, and he can be amazing for a few years at Charlotte, he thinks he will get a huge contract at the end of the Charlotte deal. The Pacers wanted to lock him up for more years, but Lance felt long term he would lose money.
Paul George: We all saw the terrible injury suffered by PG, and it was brutal for Pacers fans to watch. I believe that his lack of presence on defense is going to affect this team more than his lack of offense. Talented wing players are going to have field days on this team as it looks like Solomon Hill will be forced to try and lock down the wing. Nobody can truly stop Lebron or Durant, but you can try and make it difficult for them. The other night Solomon Hill tried to guard Lebron and it was embarrassing. On offense, I thought with Lance being gone there was going to be more pressure on him to flourish, but I thought it would be a good thing. I thought the offense got really stale last year, but with Lance out of the mix it would open it up for PG to do more ball handling and I thought that aspect of the Lance departure would help the Pacers. Now, I'm not totally sure where the wing production is going to come from.
We've gone over the bad things of the Pacers situation, now lets look at some of the good things.
George Hill- This guys is a scorer at heart, but his career in the NBA has been weird. I feel like he's been horribly misused, but here's his chance. They are going to give him the green light to create a lot of offense, and people that don't know his high school and college career are going to be surprised. He's capable of scoring on most guards, and I think we will see a lot of that.
Roy Hibbert- I've never seen a disappearing act like what Hibbert did last year. Completely baffling, and he took a lot of criticism, and deservedly so.
SIDE NOTE: There were lots of rumors about his fiance and PG, and Lance, and threesomes, and all sorts of things. I know people get excited about drama like that, and I'll be honest…I really thought they were true. However, I can burst the drama bubble by saying I have confirmed that they were nothing more than rumors. Hibbert, and PG are friends…nothing happened. Hibbert is a sensitive guy, and him and his fiance had problems, but they worked it out and got married.
Hibbert now seems to have his off the court issues behind him, and this year is make or break for him. We've seen him be a dominant force at times, but this is the year where he has to be consistent. He has progressed nicely from where he was when he entered the league, but it's time to take the next step, and consistency is the next step for him. Along with George Hill, this is Hibbert's chance to shine. He is going to get the touches and the chances, it's just what can he do with them.
Whenever there is a big injury, people tend to freak out, and for good reason. However, when there's an injury it opens up spots to see what other guys can do, and sometimes someone comes out of nowhere to be impressive, and then when your injured players comes back your team has improved. I'm hoping this happens to the Pacers, but I don't see who can be that difference maker who comes out of nowhere. However, I'm going to take a stab at it. My sleeper guy on this team is Damjan Rudez. He's 6'10", but only 210 lbs, however he is a sharp shooter from Europe. I don't know much about him, but anyone that is 6'10" who can drain threes all day has a place in the NBA. Just ask Kyle Korver. He isn't slated to be the starter right now, but he is going to get minutes and could earn the job if he plays good.
Chris Copeland- It's no secret that I was very critical of Vogel for not using Copeland early in the season, and not developing him at all, but Copeland is going to play this season, and if he can just be mediocre at defense, I think he can be a real nice weapon on offense.
Here's another good thing the Pacers have going for them. Their schedule isn't brutal to start off with. They have some ok teams to play, but they don't play a legit contender till November 15th, the 11th game in the season. That gives them time to mess around with lineups, and rotations without getting smashed by title contenders.
Best Case Scenario that is Possible: As disgusting that injury was to Paul George, I'm not convinced he's out for the year. Let's say the Pacers play slightly better than people think over the course of the year and look like they can be in position to grab a middle seed in the East. If Paul George heals up, and can come back by April and get 10 regular season games in and then is ready for the playoffs…they could be a team that a high seed wants no part of. As the year goes on, the Pacers are going to know who is a playmaker and who isn't. So let's say Hibbert and George Hill step up and play well. We know David West is a monster, and one other guy (Solomon Hill, Rudez, Copeland, etc) develops into a good starter over the course of the year. These guys look good and get wins for the Pacers, and then all of a sudden Paul George comes back. They wouldn't be in a position to be a title contender, but the East is wide open, and Cleveland is going to be good, but I don't think they are going to be as dominant as some think. They got some holes that will need to be filled over the next year or two. Chicago looks decent, but we never know with Derrick Rose. Who's left that's really scary? Toronto? Washington? Atlanta? Miami? Nobody stands out. A lot would have to happen, but it's possible the Pacers could come on towards the end of the year if PG comes back.
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Glad to see this back up again this year. Thanks Allen
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