Indiana Pacers

Miami Heat

4. Orlando Magic

5. Chicago Bulls

6. Atlanta Hawks

7. Toronto Raptors

8. Indiana Pacers 

The turnover from last year is small with the Suns replacing the Rockets in

Continue reading "NBA Playoff Predictions"

As writer and editor of this blog I am going to be referring to the upcoming season as "the nine.ten" for obvious reasons. The Pacers appear to be ready to make another pretty good step towards respectability and perhaps the even the playoffs. With the waiving of Jamal Tinsley it seems they are finally putting the past behind them and with a few notable additions it seems that a leaf which was partially overturned last year is fully flipped for the nine.ten.

Continue reading "The Indiana Pacers and the nine.ten"

I was blogging like crazy until I got a full time job which exhuasted me and took up all my time. But, I am back to take a look at the Pacers again.

What did I miss?  The Pacers have perfor

Continue reading "Lockout"

Wednesday will be a big day for the Pacers and guard Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy, after a 34 game absence, will be making his '08-'09 regular season debut against the Suns. After a 135-115 shelacking at the hands of the Nuggets, the Pacers are looking to Dunleavy to provide a spark against Shaq, J-Rich, and the rest of the Suns. Though he will be limited in minutes, his value to the team will be immense on the offensive end and can not hurt on the defensive end, which has been porous for the Pacers.

Continue reading "Dunleavy Returns Against Phoenix...So?"

With enough of the season having passed to make an evaluation on the state of the Pacers, I feel I must.

After a busy offseason, the year which seemed somewhat promising at the start has quickly turned into a lottery quest. (A 20-20 to Andrew Bogut, REALLY???) Will the Pacers be the next team that beats the odds to grab the number 1 pick away from the Oklahoma City Loss Columns? And, if that happens who will the Pacers take? Blake Griffin from Oklahoma? I would rather have him in a heartbeat than Roy "I'm not athletic" Hibbert or any of the Pacers "we're big but not athletic" frontline. But enough about next summer. How are the Pacers right now, and why are they 3rd from the bottom of the Eastern Conference? What's that? Certainly! I would love to give my opinion...

Continue reading "Pacers trades paying off...NOT"

After a thrilling game-winning tip in by Troy Murphy that gave the Pacers an 118-117 win over the Lakers, Indiana had to travel to Boston the following night for a rematch with the defending NBA champion Celtics. Did they have enough in the tank to defeat Boston again? In a word, no. 

Continue reading "How Legitimate Are The Pacers?"

Ok so half the losses the top two teams in the NBA have suffered have come against the Pacers. What does this tell us? Are the Pacers on their way to the top? Are they an elite team and just trying to fly under the radar? WRONG. The Pacers are simply a team that loves to tease. The Pacers have many of the components needed to compete on an elite level every night but they don't get pumped up for every game. How easy is it to get pumped up for a home game against the Western Conference champions? Probably about as easy as it was to get pumped up for a home game against the Eastern Conference champions. Do you catch what I'm saying? The Pacers are close, they just need to learn to want it every night. Do you think Danny Granger was motivated to play well against the reigning league MVP? OF COURSE! And if you're looking for hope, he actually did outscore Kobe and, more importantly, Granger's team got the win! After last night Granger is currently 5th in the NBA in scoring which is impressive but doesn't solve the Pacers problem of why they can't win consistently.

Continue reading "WARNING PACERS FANS!"

Pacers 118 Lakers 117.

 Last night was certainly one of the most exciting nights to be a Pacers fan in the last few years, when the Pacers came from down 16 in the 4th quarter to stun the 14-1 Lakers at the buzzer. Considering the way 4th quarters have treated the Pacers all season this was especially rewarding.

Continue reading "A Winning Attitude"

So the Pacers aren't winning...who cares? They are playing hard and competing which is a giant step in the right direction. We haven't seen a Pacers team playing hard and somewhat cohesive in quite a few years in my opinion. The Pacers are young and just getting to know eachother which obviously shows up in the standings as we are losing close games but there is hope. HOPE. Not a lot of that going around Indy before this year. The last few years the only thing we had to hope for was that no one on the team would shoot anyone else on the team or around town. During the last several years the Pacers were old enough to understand that they weren't an elite team and had been together long enough to not like each other and destroy any chemistry they may have shared. This year however, while their record isn't something to blog home about but their level of play IS! As a Pacers fan this is the one thing I can hold onto and find excitement in.

Continue reading "Is this the best year to watch the ..."

16 games into the season and the Indiana Pacers have solidified their position in mediocrity. The blame can be spread around as to why this team is 6-10 rather than 10-6, but you'll have some difficulty putting blame on forward Danny Granger. He is off to an all-star caliber season and I'm here to make the case why and hopefully open some eyes to the talent that can be forgotten in Hoosier Land.

Continue reading "I Hope People Realize Danny Granger Is An All-Star"

Since the start of the 2004 season the Pacers have a combined record of 160-177. Seventeen games under .500 over the last 327 games. How does that make you feel about your favorite team? Ok so we haven't collapsed like the Timberwolves or the Knicks. We aren't at the bottom of the standings every year and in fact are usually in the playoffs or at least in the playoff race until the last few weeks of the season. Is this something that should be applauded or despised? Is Larry Bird doing such an excellent job that the Pacers aren't going to hit rock bottom? I have a hard time buying that. It's back to the biblical concept that it's better to be hot or cold than lukewarm. I think I could deal with the Pacers being terrible if I knew it meant that we were going to be getting high draft picks and therefore players good enough to take us back to the top! Instead I suffer through four years of winning then losing then winning then losing. Never having any hope of going far in the playoffs or getting a high draft pick. Instead we get players like Danny Granger who are good but not great and they lead us to another year of decent or good but never great.

Continue reading "Why are the Pacers Mediocre?"

Enjoy the second installment of the official NBA Shankster Rankings. Comments welcome, let me know where I am wrong!

1. Los Angeles Lakers - Pistons opened the door for doubters but they are still at the top.

Continue reading "The Second NBA Shankster Rankings [1-30]"

 The first installment of the official NBA Shankster Rankings. Enjoy.

1. Los Angeles Lakers -Won their first five games by an average of 22 points.

2. Atlanta Hawks - Gotta put them up here because they are only other undefeated team.

Continue reading "The NBA Shankster Rankings [1-30]"

If a person takes a quick look at the Indiana Pacers schedule, one might wonder if the NBA has something against them. They started the season against Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit, followed with the defending world champion Celtics, then the Phoenix Suns and will end with LeBron and his Cavaliers. They took it to the defending champs posting a 95-79 win, and were competitive against Detroit (100-94 L) and Phoenix (113-103 L). Quite frankly, with a team that introduced seven new players to the team and lost their only true franchise-type player with Jermaine O'Neal shipped to Toronto, I think the results are favorable.

Continue reading "After Three Games, Pacers Give Fans Hope"

I never thought I'd say it or that it would even cross my mind but after Wednesday's game vs. the Phoenix Suns I couldn't help but wonder, "Are the Pacers missing Jermaine O'Neal?" With Amare Stoudemire devouring the Pacers front line time and time again, ending with 49 points and 11 rebounds, and seeing Jeff Foster and Roy Hibbert combine for a stat line that read 7 points, 6 rebounds, 0 blocks, I couldn't help but wonder if it would have been different with Jermaine playing. For the most part Jermaine could be counted on to produce on the offensive end even if he wasn't shutting down players defensively he was able to neutralize them in some manner with his own scoring. Now don't get me wrong, it was time for Jermaine to move on; when you want franchise money but don't want to carry the franchise anymore it's time to go. However, all I had to do to remember that we made the right decision was look at Jermaine's stat line Wednesday night for Toronto against Detroit, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, and I was reminded that we didn't exactly give up a player in his prime. And with T.J. Ford contributing 23 points on 50% shooting what is there to complain about?  And we had Rasho out with his sprained ankle for tonight's game. Besides, a less than formidable front line isn't the only thing the Pacers have to worry about. We have a young team with new players jumping in the rotation at all different places. It will take time to find a rhythm and get in sync.

Continue reading "Do the Indiana Pacers miss Jermaine O'Neal?"

Don't be fooled by the title. No pun intended but the Indiana pacers were surely lucky to be in the receiving end of a sloppy Boston Celtics team. Turnover after turnover, the Celtic

Continue reading "Sloppy Celtics Lose to Lucky Pacers ..."

While I struggled with the concept of losing a team I had grown up with, I wondered what my options were. Was there a way to jeopardize my fanhood in this situation? I came across an article ("Rules for being a true fan," Feb. 2002), which, though dated, actually helped me immensely in my decision. A friend of mine, also a die-hard Sonic fan, decided he would join me in deciding where we should take our loyalties.

Continue reading "How I became a Pacers fan"