Pacers
Season Preview
The season is upon us Posse.
It is here and it feels like it came so quickly. This time last year, the PacersPosse was only
a dream and the Pacers were set to put on a hell of a season. This is a new year, though, and game 1 is just
hours away.
So what’s different? Well,
let’s start off with a very brief synopsis of what last season was like. We had MANY ups and downs relative to our
bench, turnovers were plentiful and almost always proved to be costly, Granger
was out for most of the year, Larry’s back, LeBron flopped every chance he got,
and the Pacers lost in 7 against the defending and eventual World Champion
Miami Heat. Oh yeah, and I think David
West got poked in the eye somewhere in there.
We have addressed, or very diligently attempted to address,
most of these issues. Issue 1, the
bench, was attacked fervently by the organization and we have some very
interesting additions – including draft pick Solomon Hill. You can check out the other additions /
subtractions in the side by side below:
That big X-factor is Danny Granger. He missed the final two preseason games due
to a strained calf and the Pacers released today that he will be out an
additional 3 weeks to assure that the injury has subsided. Over that time span,
assuming that 3 weeks means November 20th, the Pacers will play
teams that were a combined 376-444 last season.
While these games do include your bottom feeders (Orlando, New Orleans,
Cleveland, and Detroit), it also includes Chicago, Brooklyn, and New York – all
teams that could pose issues in the months to come. If Granger is to be his former self, and IF
Danny must be injured, it really couldn’t have come at a better time. It would be nice, for both him and the team,
if he were healthy, but it’s always nicer to be healthy come April. Many ask, though, do we even NEED Danny to
win a chip? I guess the verdict may
still be out on that one, but last season may have been a solid indicator of
what we may have been capable of if Granger was part of the mix.
Issue #2 goes to turnovers.
We saw LOTS of sloppy, careless mistakes last season that led to some
real heartbreakers. My analysis - our
starters becoming severely overworked due to the lack of bench help and
production. When our starters were
resting, our bench couldn’t sustain for long, if at all. This clearly led to getting fatigued players
back on the court before they could rest and elevated anxiety for our starters
as they watched our bench players underperform.
You could see the frustration and it was uncomfortable. The turnover issue is never one that is to be
“resolved,” but I see great improvement on the horizon due to our significantly
beefed up bench. I ultimately think that
game in and game out our fans will notice the production and see immediate
results. We win those close games that
were just within reach in the past.
This season WILL be a great one. There are no doubts. Much like last season, it will be a season to
remember, but for different reasons. I
see PG being considered for MVP and Hibbert for DPOY. And I think this goes down as the first year
the NBA Pacers can call themselves champions.
We will grow tired of the “small-market-people-don’t-come-to-games-LeBron-is-flopping-again”
talk very soon, but our starting 5 are all back and healthy and we have some
very capable men that could be considered for 6th man honors. I believe that anything else than a
championship would fall short of the organizations expectations for this
season. The upside is that they are
poised and totally capable of doing so (even without Danny). 56-26 is the prediction, with playoff wins
over the Bulls and/or Nets, with a final East victory over the Heat to settle
ourselves into the Finals. This is our
year Posse. This is our year Pacers
fans. THE PACERS ARE GOING TO THE
FINALS, I GOT A FEELIN’!!!