Team Preview: Indiana Pacers

Proverbial bad breaks in life.........can't be avoided no matter how well one tries and the same thing can be said about sports.  Sports, the first true reality entity to grip the minds of nations, to take its followers through the ebbs and flows of various emotions which includes the euphoria of the win and the agony of defeat.  The bad breaks can not be avoided and it highlights the "win now" culture that we inhabit but the reality is that everyone can't win now no matter how prepared they think they are, no matter how much the fan base feels entitled to it, no matter how far a team's franchise player has ascended.  Bad breaks in life, in sports.......happens.

Falls from grace can be monumental at times and also unexpected.  This time last year the Indiana Pacers were the darlings of the NBA and the heir apparent in the league’s Eastern Conference, the cool choice to be the team to dethrone the then two time defending champion Miami Heat.  Another deep playoff run and another loss to the Heat had the Pacers pondering if a rebuild would be necessary, should they attempt to keep then free agent Lance Stephenson or let him depart?  In a league were the usual suspects are crowned champion year after year, the hardest thing to do is for a contender to break free from the chains of being a pretender. 

If a team can possibly have the worst off season ever it was the Pacers.  Already in a state of flux, the franchise lost its brightest star when Paul George suffered his horrific leg injury during an exhibition game for Team USA months ago.  Despite the optimism from George that he may return at some point during the regular season, it’s best if he sits the season out. 

The loss of George for the season stings but the vain of G/F Lance Stephenson was a venomous strike.  Throughout last season it was evident that something was amiss in the Pacers’ locker-room as multiple reports detailed players calling one another selfish and a physical altercation between Stephenson and Evan Turner.  Roy Hibbert was quoted as stating the following after an ugly loss near the end of last season:

"Some selfish dudes in here,"  Hibbert said. "Some selfish dudes. I'm tired of talking about it. We've been talking about it for a month."

"We play hard, but we've got to move the ball," Hibbert said. "Is it obvious, or what? I don't know whatever our assist ratio, or whatever it is, is in the league, but it probably isn't up there. I'm really trying hard not to spaz out right now, but I don't know. We've been talking about it for a month. I'm not handling the rock. I don't know. I've made suggestions before and we do it for, like, one game, and then we revert back to what we are. I don't know. I'm not the one to answer that question. It directly affects me and the bigs. We're just out there and it makes us look bad."

The Charlotte Hornets made a bold move by signing Stephenson to a 3 year deal valued at $27 million.  A good offer for a player of his caliber but when one considers the Pacers offer of 5 years and $44 million the Hornets deal offered less security and slightly more money ($200,000 more per year).   Simply put Stephenson left the Pacers because he wanted to shine, something that he could have done in Indiana but Paul George was in his way.   Isn’t it ironic that Stephenson left just mere weeks before he would have been “the guy" in Indiana anyway?

Rodney Stuckey was the Pacers largest off season signing and he will have a chip on his shoulder this season due to flaming out as a member of the Detroit Pistons.  Stuckey has a career average of 13.4 points and 3.9 assists per game.  At only 28 years of age, Stuckey could prove to be an effective spark plug if utilized right by head coach Frank Vogel in tandem with George Hill.  

With that having been said, Vogel’s seat grew hotter as the Pacers had a disastrous second half.  Losing to the Miami Heat only magnified the situation and the displeasure was evident all over the face of Team President Larry Bird.  Bird indicated during the off season that Vogel’s job was not in jeopardy but the writing was on the wall as Vogel was never Bird’s first choice to coach the team.   Despite the fact that Vogel will be on the hot seat for the upcoming season, he will survive due to the injury to Paul George, it’s sort of a get out of jail free card if you will and it was that very card that allowed Vogel to agree to a multi year contract extension with the franchise.  

Expect the Pacers to be a competitive team but their run as contenders is over for the time being.  Roy Hibbert will have another All-Star season as he is the only consistent scoring threat that the Pacers have and veteran David West will continue to fortify the front court as long as he remains with the franchise.  There have been rumblings that the Pacers may look to move West at the deadline just as they did with Danny Granger this past season.   Despite maturity issues at times, the Pacers are a gritty bunch and will contender for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference. 

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NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals Preview

Indiana Pacers (1) vs Miami Heat (2)

The Pacers made it to the Eastern Conference Final to once again face the Heat after a victory in six games over the Washington Wizards. Indiana is by no means back to their best, but they did show signs of regaining the form that saw them top the Eastern Conference regular season standings.

Roy Hibbert needs to find
some consistency

Roy Hibbert showed signs that he was beginning to regain his confidence and form, with good performances in the first two games of the series, although in games three, four and six he was almost completely anonymous.

However, one team that Roy Hibbert has always played consistently well against is the Heat, so now is the time for Hibbert to break out of his slump. No-one on this Miami roster can match the size of the 7’2” Hibbert. The only player Miami has who could match the strength of Indiana’s center is Greg Oden but he has been on the Heat’s inactive list throughout the postseason and would appear to be unlikely to figure in this series.

West and Stephenson have
stoked the fire in recent interviews

Lance Stephenson has added fuel to the fire that has been burning for a number of years between these two teams, stating that with Dwyane Wade guarding him, he intends to make Wade run around in the hope of making his problematic knee “flare up”.

David West has also chimed in, stating that the Pacers beat the one team that Miami did not want to play in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards, in a bid to further rile the Heat.

The Heat know better than to respond to comments like these and they have no reason to as they are the two time defending champions and have nothing to prove compared to the Pacers, who are playing with a massive chip on their shoulder.

Miami was able to advance to the Conference Finals for the fourth year in succession with a relatively comfortable series win over the Brooklyn Nets in five games. Paul Pierce stated prior to the series that the Nets were not afraid of the Heat. That may have been the case, but they did not have the talent to match up with the defending champions.

LeBron James was once again instrumental in carrying his team into the next round, especially in game four, where he erupted to match his career high for points in a playoff game with 49. James did, however, receive more help than he got from his supporting in the first round.

Dwyane Wade showed a “Flash” of the player he can be, above all in game five, where he scored 20 points just in the first half. This is an encouraging sign for Miami, as they will need more from Wade if they want to advance to the NBA Finals. It could be that Stephenson’s recent comments are just what Wade needs to revitalize himself, as not many players play better than Wade when they are trying to make a statement.

Ray Allen hits the three pointer

Ray Allen came alive in the series played against the two players that he joined forces with in Boston to make up the Big Three, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. With 19 points in game one, Allen scored more points than he scored for all four first round games combined. However, Allen’s biggest play came in the game five series clincher, where he knocked down a step back corner three (sound familiar?) with 32 seconds remaining to give the Heat a two point lead, capping a 12-0 Miami run which brought them back from the brink of defeat.

It is fair to say the Pacers have been doing a lot of talking in the build up to this series; however, it is about time that they started to let their game speak for itself after looking less than comfortable in the first two rounds. Indiana certainly have not been playing well enough to justify the comments they have been making, so perhaps they have been saying these things to fire themselves up rather than trying to unsettle the two time defending champions.

Haslem will refuse to back
down against the Pacers

The Pacers’ best chance of winning this series is if they can get Roy Hibbert to play as well as he usually plays when facing the Heat. Miami has not used Udonis Haslem much so far in the postseason, but expect him to get a lot more minutes and maybe even start, to try and slow down Indiana’s frontcourt of Hibbert and West. What Haslem lacks in size, he more than makes up for it with his strength and tenacity and in the past he has caused Indiana problems due to his defense.

Paul George has had a fairly inconsistent postseason so far, and Indiana will certainly be counting on him to try and match LeBron James’ output, or at the very least slow him slow. The match-up between these two players has always been exciting to watch, and we are almost guaranteed another exciting contest.

The Heat have not had to play at their best to progress through the first two rounds, and have still been able to get through comfortable, whereas the Pacers have been poor and managed to scrape through. It is hard to see Indiana suddenly finding their form and challenging Miami like they did a year ago. Expect to see Miami make their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Winner: Heat in 6

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Atlanta Hawks are showing that seeding is just a number

The Hawks-Pacers shifted to the Highlight Factory for Game 3; a venue where the Pacers would rather not visit due to only winning there two times since December of 2006. Entering tonight a Pacers win would add to the narrative of the rich getting richer but with the Hawks earning the victory the narrative of the Pacers was more like the worse growing even more worse and the collapse of the Indiana  pacers is a tale worth telling. Tonight the No. 8 seeded Hawks defeated the No. 1 seed Indiana Pacers 98-85 and Vogel said his team won't "quit" but have they mentally?

The game was the first aired tonight as it was featured on NBA TV.  One couldn't blame the NBA for airing the game there because it was something that would've put one to sleep through 4 quarters as both teams shot under 40% and a combined 27 turnovers.  The game did however pick up towards the end as guard Lou Williams hit a 3-pointer to close out the 3rd quarter to help the Hawks gain momentum into the most crucial quarter.  

But the shot of the game occurred when the shot-clock was winding and the ball was in Teague's hand.  He dribbled to the left (went out of bounds but wasn't called) went up and drained a 3-pointer over Pacers forward Luis Scola to increase the Hawks' lead to nine and caused the crowd to go berserk. After Teague made the incredible shot he jogged back on defense doing the "Jordan Shrug".

MVP: Jeff Teague controlled the game finishing with 22 points and 10 assists becoming the first Atlanta Hawk since Spud Webb back in 1986 to have a 20+ point and 10+ assist game.

Atlanta proved the doubters wrong......their Game 1 victory was no fluke and that they could come at the Pacers with all their might and they certainly did so.

All-Star forward Paul George and All-Star center Roy Hibbert combined for 5-20 shooting in game 3 combining for 16 points as their struggles were quite evident. The only player who showed up in the blue and gold was Lance Stephenson as he had a team-high 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Who said upsets only happen during March Madness? The Atlanta Hawks are three wins away from cementing their place in NBA history if they eliminate a No. 1 as the underdog

Game 4 is Saturday in Atlanta         

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