2011-2012 NBA Season

[imb]

Sheesh, Rubio is so fun to watch.

[UMFan83]

The TWolves are becoming my 2nd favorite team to watch. So much to like about them, and they all look like they like each other and are building a chemistry.

[Guest]

Love!!

[17 Seconds]

melo is killing the knicks

[JimSorgi]

Damn, I love this Pacers team.

[tfarks]

Damn, I love this Pacers team.

 

Yeah certainly, and Roy Hibbert, wow. Thoroughly outplaying Bynum with a broken nose was beyond impressive. He should make the All-Star team.

 

Also, love when Granger plays D, and he's returning to that this year after an extensive layoff.

[Exile on Waveland]

Damn, I love this Pacers team.

 

Yeah certainly, and Roy Hibbert, wow. Thoroughly outplaying Bynum with a broken nose was beyond impressive. He should make the All-Star team.

 

Also, love when Granger plays D, and he's returning to that this year after an extensive layoff.

 

Yeah, it's been a really fun year so far. Pacers are quite enjoyable to watch, lots of good players, but no super star. Also thrilled for Roy Hibbert; I've been probably the biggest proponent of Hibbert since he was drafted. Nice to see him doing well -- and, selfishly, proving me right, ha.

[CubColtPacer]

Damn, I love this Pacers team.

 

Yeah certainly, and Roy Hibbert, wow. Thoroughly outplaying Bynum with a broken nose was beyond impressive. He should make the All-Star team.

 

Also, love when Granger plays D, and he's returning to that this year after an extensive layoff.

 

Yeah, it's been a really fun year so far. Pacers are quite enjoyable to watch, lots of good players, but no super star. Also thrilled for Roy Hibbert; I've been probably the biggest proponent of Hibbert since he was drafted. Nice to see him doing well -- and, selfishly, proving me right, ha.

 

My worry about Hibbert was always how he was going to fit in that run and gun offense. Now that O'Brien is gone, he is really blossoming. And his biggest improvement is on the defensive end. You could see the skills from his rookie year, but he was a foul machine back then.

 

The Pacers not finding a backup scoring wing has hurt a little bit, and with Foster out backup C is a little bit of a concern. But this team doesn't have very many holes, and they should keep getting better as the season goes along (as players like George/Collison/Hansbrough get more experience and West's knee continues to get stronger). The next few weeks could be pretty bumpy though before a soft March/April schedule.

[ChiCubsFan]

Just curious, but what are your guys' expectations/goals for this season? And how do you plan on becoming a championship caliber team? From an outsiders point of view, it appears you guys are going to be trapped in that Atlanta Hawks mediocrity of hell for the foreseeable future.

[Theo]

The Pacers have beat two teams with winning records all season. We can count the Celtics as a dogshit NBA team now, right?

[CubColtPacer]

Just curious, but what are your guys' expectations/goals for this season? And how do you plan on becoming a championship caliber team? From an outsiders point of view, it appears you guys are going to be trapped in that Atlanta Hawks mediocrity of hell for the foreseeable future.

 

Expectation level: 4th/5th seed. Optimistically hoping for the 3rd.

 

As for championship, who knows. Probably either somehow convincing someone like Howard/Williams to come to Indy, or having George or Stephenson develop into a star. Both of those are possible but neither very likely. Signing/trading for Eric Gordon to add to the team has been talked about on Indiana boards ad nauseum as he might be the one decent star who would want to come to Indiana. Or they could try to luck out and win one like the Pistons did with no stars. The scenarios aren't great, but that's about the only ways they could go rather than try to get the #1 pick on the right year.

 

They've done everything right so far-they have a young, deep team with lots of cap space. But their market is going to hold them back from so many options, so they have to tread carefully. I do think the current core as constructed has better potential than the Hawks ever did (more like the 90's Pacers level of potential) but even that team didn't win a title even after getting to the ECF 5 out of 7 years.

[CubColtPacer]

The Pacers have beat two teams with winning records all season. We can count the Celtics as a [expletive] NBA team now, right?

 

I would agree the schedule hasn't been great so far. But they are beating these mostly bad teams on the road (10 road games vs 5 home), and they've played decently against the good teams so far (beat LA at LA, blew out shorthanded Atlanta at home, got blown out at Miami, lost shorthanded at Philly). So I think the expectation level is that they won't get trounced by the good teams when they start coming around more.

[SouthSideRyan]

If the Celtics are healthy for the playoffs, I'm going to have a lot of fun around here.

[Theo]

"Being Old" isn't the same thing as "Being unhealthy"

[SouthSideRyan]

You mean experienced.

[Exile on Waveland]

Just curious, but what are your guys' expectations/goals for this season? And how do you plan on becoming a championship caliber team? From an outsiders point of view, it appears you guys are going to be trapped in that Atlanta Hawks mediocrity of hell for the foreseeable future.

 

My goal would be to have homecourt advantage in the first round and win a playoff series (obviously the latter is more important). That would be very good progress for this team. Oh, I suppose I should add that they aren't embarrassed in the second round (if the second round was something like last year's first round against the Bulls I would be quite happy).

 

In a way, I think the Hawks are an apt comparison. The Pacers look like a team that probably peaks at 50ish wins and second round playoff losses. However, they don't have a Joe Johnson-level contract and therefore have more cap space*. This is a subjective opinion, but they also seem a more likable team than the Hawks (the Hawks are a bad word for NBA fans, but I don't t hink that's only because of their ceiling).

 

*As CCP said, in the NBA, they'll be held back by their market. A super star free agent is almost certainly never going to sign in Indianapolis. Because of that, the Pacers best bet is to build a deep quality team like they have now. That's the best a market like Indianapolis can hope for without lucking into being bad, winning the lottery, and having that year come in a very specific year when a superstar is available.

[UMFan83]

If the Celtics are healthy for the playoffs, I'm going to have a lot of fun around here.

 

Yeah that will be a fun week for you.

[SouthSideRyan]

If the Celtics are healthy for the playoffs, I'm going to have a lot of fun around here.

 

Yeah that will be a fun week for you.

 

That'd be pretty immature of Tim to ban me just because the Celtics won.

[UMFan83]

Just curious, but what are your guys' expectations/goals for this season? And how do you plan on becoming a championship caliber team? From an outsiders point of view, it appears you guys are going to be trapped in that Atlanta Hawks mediocrity of hell for the foreseeable future.

 

Expectation level: 4th/5th seed. Optimistically hoping for the 3rd.

 

As for championship, who knows. Probably either somehow convincing someone like Howard/Williams to come to Indy, or having George or Stephenson develop into a star. Both of those are possible but neither very likely. Signing/trading for Eric Gordon to add to the team has been talked about on Indiana boards ad nauseum as he might be the one decent star who would want to come to Indiana. Or they could try to luck out and win one like the Pistons did with no stars. The scenarios aren't great, but that's about the only ways they could go rather than try to get the #1 pick on the right year.

 

They've done everything right so far-they have a young, deep team with lots of cap space. But their market is going to hold them back from so many options, so they have to tread carefully. I do think the current core as constructed has better potential than the Hawks ever did (more like the 90's Pacers level of potential) but even that team didn't win a title even after getting to the ECF 5 out of 7 years.

 

I have a lot of respect for this Pacers team. I definitely think they are legit. Not trying to be a homer, but I'm not sure I think they can win the Central over the Bulls this year unless the Bulls multitude of injuries continues and catches up to them, but they will be a solid top 5 seed, and a team that has the potential to make a deep playoff run. The future is even more exciting for the Pacers. If you guys can continue winning this year and make a playoff run to at least the 2nd round if not the conference finals, I could see them being attractive to the right type of star. I don't think you have any shot at all of Howard or Williams unless you trade for them this season and they somehow fall in love with the team or city, but there are other stars available for trade and or FA that would have interest in a young, good core with lots of flexibility.

 

The best thing about the Pacers situation is not only do they have the cap space, but they also have a lot of nice tradable assets to acquire a star player. Definitely more than the Bulls do. In terms of players that are cheap, young and are good with upside, the Pacers have the following at their disposal: George, Hibbert, Price, Collison, Stephenson, Amundson, Hansbrough, Hill. Depending on who they want to trade, each one of those players would entice a team looking to trade a star. Pretty nice setup for Pacers fans. Very interested to see how they build this team over the next year or two.

[ChiCubsFan]

Just curious, but what are your guys' expectations/goals for this season? And how do you plan on becoming a championship caliber team? From an outsiders point of view, it appears you guys are going to be trapped in that Atlanta Hawks mediocrity of hell for the foreseeable future.

 

My goal would be to have homecourt advantage in the first round and win a playoff series (obviously the latter is more important). That would be very good progress for this team. Oh, I suppose I should add that they aren't embarrassed in the second round (if the second round was something like last year's first round against the Bulls I would be quite happy).

 

In a way, I think the Hawks are an apt comparison. The Pacers look like a team that probably peaks at 50ish wins and second round playoff losses. However, they don't have a Joe Johnson-level contract and therefore have more cap space*. This is a subjective opinion, but they also seem a more likable team than the Hawks (the Hawks are a bad word for NBA fans, but I don't t hink that's only because of their ceiling).

 

*As CCP said, in the NBA, they'll be held back by their market. A super star free agent is almost certainly never going to sign in Indianapolis. Because of that, the Pacers best bet is to build a deep quality team like they have now. That's the best a market like Indianapolis can hope for without lucking into being bad, winning the lottery, and having that year come in a very specific year when a superstar is available.

 

Sounds like a very attainable goal. I agree that the Pacers are more likable than the Hawks. When comparing the 2, I think the Hawks have more top-end talent. I believe Horford, Smith, Johnson is better than any top 3 of the Pacers (Hibbert, George, Granger?) That said, the Pacers are much deeper, much younger, and aren't locked into bad contracts. I think your best bet to compete for a championship would be to have one of your young guys develop into a solid #2 option and then trade off some of the depth for a top player and have him fall in love with his teammates and the city. Obviously Eric Gordon would be a guy that comes to mind.

 

I definitely am enjoying that the Pacers/Bulls rivalry is somewhat back, and should continue to grow in the coming years.

[SouthSideRyan]

Purdue guys, with Rondo, Allen, and Pietrus out, E'Twaun Moore is actually getting playing time tonight. 3:30 in the 1st.

 

ETA: Jermaine O' Neal has 2 fouls, and Stiemmmmmmmmmsma has 1 already, so I imagine JJ will get some tick as well.

 

ETA: On NBATV

[imb]

How does a roster get as depleted as Detroit's? I like Monroe and I think Stuckey would be a good scorer off the bench. And Jerebko would be a good hustle/7th man (i admittedly don't know much about him)

[SouthSideRyan]

Commercial during the Celtics game:

 

Guys, pay attention! How would you like to have another 2 inches??

[imb]

Commercial during the Celtics game:

 

Guys, pay attention! How would you like to have another 2 inches??

 

Was it Jimmy Johnson?

[bcl412]

Commercial during the Celtics game:

 

Guys, pay attention! How would you like to have another 2 inches??

 

Well, who wouldn't want to be taller?