Ugh...

That roadtrip was tough.  The last couple of games were uber-exciting; only to be eclipsed by the fact that the Pacers lost.  What's annoying about the losses, though, is that they were winable games with subpar officiating that ultimately may have cost the Pacers their most two recent games. 

However, the team looks great, despite a rocky roadtrip, with D.J. Augustin really stepping up and the ever-getting-better Paul George knocking down highlight reel shots.  There isn't much else to say about the out of town games.  During our live tweets, the moderator began drinking and had to stop tweeting due to the extreme frustration of what could have been two W's for Indiana.  If you follow Pacers basketball and you follow the PacersPosse, then you already know how those games went down - and you would like to forget them.

Those losses put Indiana at 2nd in the Central Division (behind Chicago) and back to 5th in the East (behind New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, and Miami).  With 10 of 12 home games in February, and one of the best home records in the league, the Pacers are poised to have significant momentum heading into March.  We don't want to be too bold, but we'd like to make the prediction now, that by March 1st, the Pacers are again leading the Central and are only 1 game back from first in the East (behind either the Knicks or Heat).

Tonight the Pacers are FINALLY back home against the Pistons.  7pm.

Are you kidding me?

Individually, the letters "O" and "W" don't mean much, but when you string them together and create WOW, you've got something.  There are a lot of words that could describe Monday's win over Memphis, but WOW kind of sums it up.  A nationally televised game on ESPN (which happens rarely for Indiana), undertones related to the city of Memphis and MLK Day, a hostile crowd, an away game, the league's top two defenses... we really could go on and on. 

The first quarter started out with two teams that appeared to be offense driven rather than defense minded.  The second quarter proved to be more of what we're used to seeing from Memphis and Indiana and the game was close at the half.  While the boat was rocky for both squads, and sometimes sloppy, the second half was all that we were asking for from two great NBA teams during a nationally televised game.  And then it happened... with the game tied, Paul George was fouled (which was questionable) during a drive to the basket.  With the rising star, averaging double-doubles over the last couple of weeks, at the line (and the Pacers with a foul to give), it kind of seemed like knocking down two free throws would put the "W" on the board for Indiana.  And then PG misses the first.  That's ok, hit the second and that great Indiana Pacers' Defense will do the rest.  PG knocks down the second free throw, Memphis calls a timeout, and we've got a last second shot for the game.

With everyone in the FedEx Forum on their feet, the ball is thrown inbounds to Rudy Gay with 1.4 seconds on the clock.  Gay shoots and banks in the jumper!  But, wait... EVERYONE watching this game knew immediately that Gay forgot that you have to shoot the ball BEFORE time expires.  Not to mention, Rudy, banks are closed on holidays.  Without the replay, spectators knew, the Indiana Pacers just went 10 games North of .500 for the first time this season.  While the Pacers have beaten what most consider to be the best in the league (e.g., Knicks, Heat) recently, we are calling this the best game of the season thus far. 

Make sure to catch Indiana as they take on Portland (1/23/12 at 10:00 p.m.) and Utah (1/26/12 at 9:30 p.m.) this week.

In case you read this...

We don't know how many people are actually checking out this blog, but we want posse members to know something.  We at @PacersPosse are dedicated to the Indiana Pacers and the fans that support them.  We do, however, also want you to know that our #1 moderator is married and has 3 children.  So, from time to time, some posts are delayed.  Some information may not be communicated immediately.  While the #1 moderator strives to live tweet during EVERY Pacers game, sometimes it's just not possible.  Last night, January 15, was a good example.  Come on, though, let's be honest... the Charlotte game?  The Pacers rolled over the Bobcats.  We watched the game on DVR at about 11:00 p.m. and had to annoyingly avoid all social media so we didn't see any scores or stats.  @Pacers tweeted this morning that Charlotte led for 18 seconds of the whole game.  If there was one to be late on, we suppose it wasn't too bad for it to be this game.  Good news though - tonight the Pacers take on the 13-24 Magic who got schooled on Monday by Washington.  Tonight should prove to be another fun evening for the "Blue and Yellow Menace."  For the first time this season, the Pacers could go 10 games up from .500. 

A little review...

Ok, so the #PacersPosse has been rolling for a little while now and we are garnering some definite interest in the movement.  That is to say, with the normal hiccups (we had a spelling faux pas that @KickaBaby75 was kind enough to point out).  We rely on the fans, like @KickaBaby75, to help us.  We are a movement and a posse, and sometimes the posse needs help.  We want to thank you @KickaBaby75 for continuing to follow us.  As we have now surpassed 100 followers and are looking toward 200 in the near furture, we can't help but look back at the last couple weeks of Pacers basketball.  What has happened?  It's been a very important few weeks.  The Pacers have won 10 straight at The Bank.  These wins include a night without Paul George (flu), a couple of games without George Hill (thigh contusion), and still no Danny Granger.  The Pacers have commanding wins against two of the league's best - Miami and New York.  Sam Young has been waived and Dominic McGuire is now on the squad.  Coach Vogel has agreed to a contract extension.  And maybe most importantly, the Pacers defense has been DOMINANT.  While most continue to say, "The Pacers are winning ugly." we just want to remind everyone that "Offense sells tickets; but defense win championships."  Looking forward to a great week of basketball as the Pacers take on Charlotte, Orlando, and Houston - with only the Houston game in Indy.

In the beginning...

We aren't going to bore you with details of WHO started the @PacersPosse.  The fact is, it doesn't matter.  The Pacers Posse is about fandom.  It's about being part of something.  It's about the Pacers.  Lots of teams have a "nation."  Hell, even Buffalo has a "mafia."  Indiana though, through the creation of this twitter account, has a posse.  Something unique.  Somthing we can call our own.  Something nobody has ever done before.

Social media has made it possible for people to come together in like no way before.  The whole idea around the Pacers Posse is for those that are part of the posse to communicate, rant, and celebrate just like they would if they were sitting shoulder to shoulder at Banker's Life Fieldhouse or on the couch together watching the game. And for the short time that @PacersPosse has been something, it has done just that.

Shortly before the new year in 2012, the moderators of @PacersPosse created the account and then went to work.  We tried to "promote" if you will; just to get the account off the ground.  In less than 24 hours, we had almost reached 100 followers, including Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, Pacer great Austin Croshere, "PacersWebMan" Jeff Tzucker, and a few local news celebrities.  Not to mention over 90 dedicated Pacers fans that wanted to become part of "the movement" or "the revolution" as we call it.  Then... twitter shut us down.  Twitter indicated that we had too many @mentions.  Essentially telling us that we were soliciting; trying to garner a following.  Well, yeah.  That's kind of the idea, isn't it?

In summation, we learned our lesson.  We are going to let @PacersPosse grow orgnanically.  We are going to let the fans, the posse, take over.  We are going to let this thing self-promote and become it's own monster.  @mitchbr2 (a posse member) put our goal into words before we could: "let's make this HUGE."

Hopefully we will.