RealGM

THE `BURBS – People say Indiana is a basketball state.

At this point, however, people are better off calling it a high school and college basketball state.

Butler had its incredible run in the NCAA tournament last season. IU is in a rebuilding mode, but everybody still loves the Hoosiers. Purdue is a top-25 program.

Then there’s the Pacers.

The Pacers have had four sellouts this season. The first sellout – Philadelphia – was because it was the home opener.

In three of those sellouts – Boston, Lakers and Chicago – a large portion of the crowd was decked out in the visiting team’s colors and there was a lot of support for Kobe, D-Rose and Garnett and Co.

Kobe and Rose were welcomed with “MVP” chants.

You would have thought Friday’s game against the Bulls was played at the United Center because the crowd gave Chicago a standing ovation as Rose held the ball out front as the seconds ticked away.

On a side note, I give the peeps in Area55 credit, they were in the game. I got a kick out of the Rose “SAT” chant.

Here’s a comment I got from @anthonyholds on Twitter after the game.

“Thank God for Area 55. Other than them, are the fans in Indiana the worst in the NBA? Such front-runners. So fair weather.”

Ouch.

There are 10 teams who have fewer wins than the Pacers, but still average more fans than them.

The Pacers went into Friday 28th in the league in attendance at 13,815 fans a game.

So here’s my question to you guys: How come fans haven’t embraced the Pacers again?

A number of fans are unhappy with coach Jim O’Brien, but why should that stop you from supporting a team that’s cleaned up its image and stayed away from trouble for the most part.

ADD ON: I got an email earlier today from a fan saying the talent “stinks” on the Pacers. That’s why he’s not showing up. For the past few seasons, though, a lot of fans said they wanted a team that stayed out of trouble and at least tried despite their lack of talent. The Pacers have stayed out of trouble (we’ll see what happens with Lance Stephenson) and they put forth a better effort now than they did a few seasons ago. The Pacers are still SEVERAL pieces away before they become a regular in the playoffs again.

FreeRon wrote:I was at the Chicago game. There were a lot of Bulls fans in the cheap seats with Jordan and Rodman jerseys. One obnoxious kid kept puffing his chest out and doing a....unique....dance every time the Bulls as much as hit a free throw. What do they want us to do though? We shot under 33% and were never really in the game. Do they want us to get up and yell and scream for a team that's down double digits and doesn't appear to care?

Grang33r wrote:Relying on away fans to sell out and still only selling out 4 times and being 28th in the league in attendance makes your post totally irrelevant to the topic. It's not a one game problem, it's years of problems. People always used the excuse that the team was too ghetto or thug, but now? They've cleaned their image and are actually fun to watch, yet, nobody goes still.

PR07 wrote:The team's not winning consistently, and the team doesn't have a superstar player to put fans in the seats otherwise. People were cheering for Rose because he's a superstar, and they'll come to see him.

FreeRon wrote:Is that like saying, "You didn't raise your hand, therefore your heinous comment will be removed from the record?" My post was totally relevant to the topic. A couple of years ago, I went to a lot of games to watch us lose. At least we were going after loose balls, running somewhat of an offense, and looking like we gave a care. Last year, I still went to a lot of games and started watching a few guys really hustling and going after it and getting benched so we could get more guys in that were willing to chuck a 3. This year, this is the first game I've been to and it was much of the same. The longest we held the ball was when TJ dribbled around for 23 seconds and then threw up a shot that I am equally capable of missing. If we're not actually going to play like we care, people will stop showing up. How is that irrelevant to the topic?

Indy2thaWindy wrote:

PR07 wrote:The team's not winning consistently, and the team doesn't have a superstar player to put fans in the seats otherwise. People were cheering for Rose because he's a superstar, and they'll come to see him.

But he didn't pass the SAT, so he's gotta be a thug. We can't have that, or that's what it seems like around here.

Scoot McGroot wrote:Slippery slope, dude.


Because Pacers fans don't want a guy who's still being investigated for running a large drug ring in Indy (Zach Randolph), a guy who shot up a strip club parking lot (Stephen Jackson), or a guy who bailed on the team multiple times (Ron Artest), you don't think we'd want an MVP caliber PG like Derrick Rose? All because he was dumb? Because his college coach likely arranged for someone else to take the SAT's so that he could get into school? A kid who otherwise has no other black marks on his record?

I don't think it's ridiculous at all. I think you're simply arguing that anyone who disagrees with you on character is wrong. However, there is a middle ground; a gray area per se. Some common sense goes along way to understanding people in all areas and cultures, even Indiana.

8305 wrote:I wouldn't say Pacer fans stink. There just aren't enough of them. Double the population of the Indianapolis metro area and you would probably have twice as many die hard fans. The Pacers are experiencing what just about every small market team experiences when they are bad for an extended period of time. In the NBA you are bad if you don't make the playoffs and even the last couple of years they did make the playoffs it was a difficult group to like.

Miller4ever wrote:^^I wouldn't say TJ Ford and James Posey are fun to watch.

Grang33r wrote:

8305 wrote:I wouldn't say Pacer fans stink. There just aren't enough of them. Double the population of the Indianapolis metro area and you would probably have twice as many die hard fans. The Pacers are experiencing what just about every small market team experiences when they are bad for an extended period of time. In the NBA you are bad if you don't make the playoffs and even the last couple of years they did make the playoffs it was a difficult group to like.

Very true and well said. Now, can basketball be viable for the future in Indianapolis?