RealGM

I recently made a bet with a co-worker (who is a Lakers fan) that the Pacers would finish as a 6 seed or better in the East. I think this is easy money, what say ye Pacer fans?

My expectations for this season are in the 3-6 range. Anything outside of that would honestly surprise me for the following reasons:

-The return of PG13 is not getting enough love in my opinion. This guy is a complete game changer, and outside of a freak injury, he has been very durable throughout his basketball career. I fully expect him to return to form and be a top 5 player in the East.

-Monta Ellis is an elite scorer and one of the best finishers in the NBA. That is one of the biggest things I miss about Lance. Having a player that can get easy buckets at the rim is not as common as you think. He's also a sneaky source of steals, which he usually turns in to easy buckets.

-In my eyes, George Hill fits absolutely perfect alongside Monta and PG. Hill is such an underrated defender...his D on pick n rolls is a thing of beauty and his wingspan affects passing lanes greatly. Him and PG cover Monta on that end.

-All the key role players are solid and each bring a valuable skillset. If Stuckey can duplicate last season, then he should be a serious contender for 6th man of the year. Although I was not high on Miles originally, the guy can get hot. Theres probably a dozen guys in the NBA that can win you games from the 3 point line, and he's one of em.

-Ah and now to why everyone poops in the Pacers cereal. People act like our frontcourt is taking a nosedive. I wholeheartedly disagree with this. Our slow as molasses frontcourt is what killed a promising season in 13-14. Those guys broke down and it was obvious. I will not miss the Hibbert disappearing act (all mental) nor the West whining at officials and walking back on D. I'm ecstatic that Myles Turner is our anchor moving forward. It's unbelievable watching interviews how mature and self aware this kid is at 19 (look at early PG interviews). We hit a home run at the 11th pick.

The big question is how will we gel? The pressure is on Frank Vogel. I think we have the talent and the pieces...but he's got to get the most out of the roster to land homecourt advantage in the 1st round.

I expect Cleveland to be better as they were slow out of the gate last year. Chicago is a major question mark. Will they be healthy? Was changing coaches a mistake? I can see a bunch of central division teams fighting for home court if they change the seeding. I think you'll win your bet.

Oh gosh. I just wouldn't make a bet either way. Honestly, I think we'll have much more than a hunch by Thanksgiving as to where this team is going this year. If they aren't gelling by then, it's going to be a 7-10 spot kind of year. If they are already gelling with a new system, and Vogel is showing he's comfortable leading a new system like this one by then? Holy crap. We could be a 2-4 seed, easy.

I say the over/under is 6.5

I was going to say 6.5, I'd take the under, I'm expecting the 7 seat.

I'll take the over. I'm looking for 5 if division winners still get preference and 3 if not.

If the front court works out, if the Bulls and Bucks drop games early season and if we stay healthy we are a top 4 team in the East. Quite a lot of ifs and the danger is that if it swings the other way we are looking at a mid-table finish that won't help us at all.

Still, putting money on over 6 is pretty smart at this stage I think.

I think 6.5 seems pretty agreeable among Pacer fans, but it's funny how 1 bad season makes us so forgettable among casual fans. I think this will be an exciting year, especially when we start to establish an identity.

I really like the make over of the team. It's been done in a way i haven't the team doing in a long time. I always thought we where way to passive with trades and signings. The last big make over in the offseason was in 2000 after reaching the finals. Smits retired, Jackson signed with Toronto and we send D. Davis to Portland for a young and unproveren J. O'Neal. That set us up with a core of veterans and young that that could compete for years, although it took a while before we climbed high up that ladder. And also we needed another trade for that (J. Rose for B. Miller and Artest). So, i like what we did, but i'm not sure if we will be competing for the top spots rigth away, but we will be in the playofss.

Also, i'm not sure what to think about our frontcourt, how many minutes will PG play at the 4 ? How will that work ? What are the rotations going to be at the 4 and 5 spots ?

At the 1, 2 and 3 spots i think we are really good and also with a good and deep bench on those positions. And very important we got an excellent 2nd scorer with Ellis.

So my prediction.... not sure yet, if we gel, we could be 3rd, but for now i'll go with 5th.

I think we are a little bit too optimistic we dont know yet what our front court Will look like (myles Turner Will surely strugle at first, Will they be able to score if the expériment of Paul George playing the four fail ?, we still dont know if we can rely on lavoy even if i think we can, Mahimi is garbage) we should clearly be better than last year (pg's return, good signings and re-signings) but what scares me the most is that a lot of team improved during the summer i think that Cleveland Chicago Miami (their starting lineup is just too good) toronto (caroll even if he is overpayed) Atlanta Washington (although they Will not be as good) will be better imo. It leaves us competing with Milwaukee (with Monroe), Boston (wich added David Lee and amir Johnson to a 42 Win team) and Orlando (witch to me is undervalued in terms of potential, olandipo Is a star in the making). The thing that conforts me a lot is that our défense Will allow us to compete again st pretty much Anyone.
I'll go with under

I say probably in the 7-10 range, and then next year in the 3-7 range