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I know that the tone around here is usually negative, which is just a reflection on our team's play, but when you look at the franchise long-term, there are some things to look forward to. So, I'm going to start this in hopes that, whenever we lose another game and the "trade all, burn it all, fire them all" talk comes around (I'm getting sick of that more than the losses, mostly because, while reasonable to a point, some of this talk doesn't help) we can just look at this list and not feel so hopeless all the time. I'll kick it off with a few.

Copy and paste the list, and try not to add too much to it, for the sake of keeping it neat.

1. The Front Office-This is a difficult one for me to put here, but I know that they are definitely not purposely trying to screw us, and that they are doing their best for the good of the team. Everything that has gone wrong has been just a result of unforeseen circumstances.

2. Jamaal Tinsley-He's been really great at the beginning of the season. The percentage of Pacesetters that were given to him in the time he was playing was an outstanding amount, and he was on pace to be Pacesetter of the year. I do look forward to his return, and I want him to stay.

3. Danny Granger-Right now, he's on pace to become a great all-star support player (Antawn Jamison's practical role). At best, he will be the new face of the franschise.

1. The Front Office-This is a difficult one for me to put here, but I know that they are definitely not purposely trying to screw us, and that they are doing their best for the good of the team. Everything that has gone wrong has been just a result of unforeseen circumstances.

2. Jamaal Tinsley-He's been really great at the beginning of the season. The percentage of Pacesetters that were given to him in the time he was playing was an outstanding amount, and he was on pace to be Pacesetter of the year. I do look forward to his return, and I want him to stay.

3. Danny Granger-Right now, he's on pace to become a great all-star support player (Antawn Jamison's practical role). At best, he will be the new face of the franschise.

4. Shawne Williams - Only a couple years (or less) from becoming a real star in this league. His potential is sky high.

1) Danny Granger is nice. Good player. Seems to have a strong work ethic, which means he should continue to improve. Class act. What I like most is that he brings it on the defensive end as well.

2) Shawne Williams is very promising. He's hit a sophomore slump in his shooting, but you can see he has the tools to be a very good player.

3) We have our own 1st, and it should be the highest we've drafted in close to 20 years. As enjoyable as Danny is, there will be even better players available when we're up.

4) The seasons almost over, we can put this year behind us and look towards our future via the draft and another offseason full of J.O. trade rumors.

5) Mike Dunleavy went from negative trade value to positive trade value this season. Maybe Murphy will do the same next year? Yeah, I don't think so either.

I agree with most of the items posted above, and don't disagree with any of them enough not to say ^ what they said.

I also think we did a nice job on a shoestring budget of picking up Rush and Diener, who have been nice additions at their price.

I'm also relatively excited about our pick. I have been very pleased with Bird's choices of Granger and Williams, and think we have a good shot at picking up a good player in what looks like it could be anywhere from 6th (or so) to mid-teens.

M4E...I like your idea here. I'm going to ask that everyone honor the intent of the OP. We're not trying to be Pollyannas here. We just would like to take stock of what we have on the oft-neglected positive side.

The front office and Jamal Tinsley? Whoa, whatever makes you happy I suppose.

1. Playing in Conseco, that place is a palace

2. Granger- young and very talented

3. Jeff Foster- plays hard, unlike others on this team

4. Dunleavy- has had a great year

joew8302 wrote:The front office and Jamal Tinsley? Whoa, whatever makes you happy I suppose.

Everyone's entitle to their own opinion, but this thread isn't so much about debating if you feel it's correct or not. This is simply to state what you, personally, are optimistic about or like about this franchise.

1. Granger's Development
2. Williams' Upside
3. Dunleavy's Season
4. Our Draft Pick as we contine to move up the board
5. Murphy's play of late
6. Finding Rush

1. Dunleavy's turn into a legitimate piece for a championship team.
2. Granger's development
3. Williams upside
4. Foster's continued strong effort no matter what happens.
5. That we lose our draft pick last year in a bad draft, and not this year when we need it.

1. The on-court potential of both Granger and Williams, but especially the off-court potential of Granger.

2. Dunleavy's production has been amazing. Better than I ever hoped out of Jackson or Harrington.

3. Foster's constant production and professionalism

4. That we have our draft pick this year

5. That our front office is appearing to learn from our past mistakes. We're trying not to dig ourselves an even deeper hole, and apparently are starting to see the need to rebuild/retool.

6. That we can apparently find solid bench rotational players for cheap like Rush and Diener.

1. Reggie used to play here
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10. Granger
11. Shawne's portential
12. Draft Pick that could be Beasly, or Rose
13. Potential trade bait for draft pick.
14. Front Office name's....Donnie and Larry have not done a great job as of recently, but they still have their names and past moves to go on as credentials.

Top Ten Reasons to Like the Pacers:

10. Good seats are easy to get
9. Shawne Williams--lookin' good for a #17 pick
8. Jeff Foster behaves like an adult
7. Dunleavy is GOOD...who knew?
6. Larry Bird's command of the English language
5. We're still better than the Knicks!
4. Only two more seasons to go until we can use the MLE again!
3. Kareem Rush is my Homeboy
2. Danny Granger--lookin' REALLY good for a #17 pick
1. Top Ten draft pick comin' right up!

mizzoupacers wrote:Top Ten Reasons to Like the Pacers:

10. Good seats are easy to get
9. Shawne Williams--lookin' good for a #17 pick
8. Jeff Foster behaves like an adult
7. Dunleavy is GOOD...who knew?
6. Larry Bird's command of the English language
5. We're still better than the Knicks!
4. Only two more seasons to go until we can use the MLE again!
3. Kareem Rush is my Homeboy
2. Danny Granger--lookin' REALLY good for a #17 pick
1. Top Ten draft pick comin' right up!

Candidate for post of the year right here....

I'll bring this thread around next season after this gets buried, although I do hope we can come up with enough good about the Pacers without repeating ourselves (this was supposed to be a copy and add dealy. Oh, well.)

I thought Troy looked good in the Raps game. It was a flashback to the kind of player he was right before the foot injuries happened.

1. Conseco Fieldhouse - The best arena in the league.

2. Despite Katrina in New Orleans and horrible management in Memphis, they still are outdrawing our Pacers by 600 fans a game. Just as Sampson was shown the door in Bloomington, management as well as the knuckleheads on the floor could soon be on the way out. I doubt the Simon's sit idle while this team continues to flounder.

3. Have enjoyed the play of Granger, Dunleavy, and Foster. To a lesser extent, Diener, Rush, Williams, and Murphy.

1. Didn't decide to trade JO for peanuts

2. A Full Season of Stability within the roster

3. SJax is still gone

4. Reduced amount of bad publicity (still a little, but no brawl atleast!!!)

5. Increased amount of PT for youngsters (come on OB, Diogu baby!!!)

6. Granger grows considerably

7. Still maintain a competitive record (atleast by the East standards) without JO at 100% for most of the season

8. Next year's pick is looking good

1. The legacy of Reggie Miller.
2. The promise and strong character of Danny Granger.
3. How Jeff Foster expends more energy and effort in the first quarter than most in an entire week of games.
4. The possibility that Shawne Williams will develop into a starter.
5. Our colors - hell, blue and yellow make a great combination.
6. How Mike Dunleavy has blossomed in Indiana.
7. Stealing a page from Char...Conseco Fieldhouse.
8. The Pacemates.
9. This board.
10. Did I mention that Reggie guy?

REGGIE MILLER IS NOT WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR

We only wish he was.

1. Danny

2. The record... I know it looks bad, but we're competing for a playoff spot w/o 2 of our 4 best players!!!

3. Getting Obie and not Boylan.

4. QB and Denari commentating... They do a great job, and are funny and respect other teams, even when they're pounding us.

5. The Law of Averages. We should be in the playoffs next year.

6. We play in the East! Woohoo!!!

7. Diener. He's gonna be our backup next season. I'll take that all day.

8. Possibility of Eric Gordon in Blue & Gold... Yikes!!!

9. As a footnote to #8, no NCAA/Myles Brand monitoring cell phones (Why Kelvin? Why?)

10. Larry w/ a lottery pick, a full summer to re-evaluate the team, successful picks and FA signings so far, and one trade under his belt from which he has learned something. I like our odds...

Oh, I forgot:

Mark & Slick...best radio team in the biz.