Pacers' David West: "Nobody's Afraid Of Us"

EuroPacer · Post #22 » by **EuroPacer** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 8:14 am

It is a worrying trend, I watch every game and have seen some disturbing trends (I won't point them out here) and we are looking unbalanced at the moment. West is doing what he has to do and that is to point out it isn't good enough.

havoc33 · Post #23 » by **havoc33** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 9:07 am

I think much of it has to do with the uneven offensive game of Paul George. The Pacers were betting on him to carry the load offensively, but unfortunately at this stage in his career, he's just not cut out for it. I'm beginning to think he's more like a Pippen type player than MJ. Pippen also could have huge scoring games, but he was streaky, just like PG is. And PG does not have the same playmaking skills as Pippen, so when his shot is off, the offense of Indiana is struggling big time. When your go to guy can't make a single field goal (0-9 last night), yeah, then you know it's gonna be a struggle. I worry about his performance in the inevitable matchup with Miami.

Their D has also slipped considerably, maybe due to fatigue. It might come back to haunt them they way they came out guns blazing early in the season. We've seen it before how dangerous it is to peak too early.

BieberLUV · Post #24 » by **BieberLUV** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 9:09 am

well the important thing is that they're not scared of the heat

at least lance stephenson isn't:

winter_mute_13 · Post #25 » by **winter_mute_13** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 9:22 am

Palmeirense wrote:I'm sorry, but that phrase by West imo is one of the pacer's problems: they shouldn't worry about whether the other team is afraid of them or not, they should worry about executing their gameplan.

What I understood from West's phrase is that opponents aren't just going to lie down for the Pacers, that they have to go and execute their game plan to actually win games. Which is kind of what you're saying. You're ignoring the part where he says "we've got to regroup, we've got to get back to basics".

xBulletproof · Post #26 » by **xBulletproof** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 9:52 am

If by basics he means making more than one pass per posession I'm on board. It was like they thought there was a pass limit. Paul was killing it when he played within the offense. He did so well he decided he was Durant and can force 1 on 1 plays. He isn't and he can't. Not well anyway.

Gwynplaine · Post #27 » by **Gwynplaine** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 9:58 am

BieberLUV wrote:well the important thing is that they're not scared of the heat

at least lance stephenson isn't:

They folded like a house of cards in that series. Physically, mentally and every other way they were beaten up bad after going up 1-2 and the choke sign display. You can also look up Larry Bird's quote about his team's play towards the end of that series.

They learned from it and rightly avoided the shenanigans the next year round.

Anyway, coming back to topic at hand. West is the leader of that group. Their voice. Not just that, he has bailed them out innumerable number of times this year with timely buckets, not to mention the toughness and other intangibles he brings to the court. He's just doing what a leader would do in this situation: Trying to motivate them and get them going.

Also, Paul should learn/get back to play/ing within the offense. He's not a superstar. At-least not yet. It looks like he let success get to his head with all the quotes and actions. Young buck though and he will learn.

One thing that other poster's touched upon I agree with. It will be demoralizing for them if they don't get the first seed what with that being their primary goal and the much touted acquisitions.

jowglenn · Post #28 » by **jowglenn** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 10:55 am

The Pacers are suffering a bit of a slump at the moment; I think trading Danny hurt morale.

That said, I'd rather they suffer a bit of a slump with 20 games left than with 2 games left. Hopefully they'll turn it around by the playoffs. Especially PG and Roy.

MillerTheKiller · Post #29 » by **MillerTheKiller** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 10:58 am

Baiting

BKing10 · Post #30 » by **BKing10** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 11:49 am

They haven't been playing with the same energy since about a month before all star break. It's like they lost the chip on their shoulder and bought their own hype.

Shuttlesworth34 · Post #31 » by **Shuttlesworth34** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 12:47 pm

I'm sorry, but the pacers team we have seen over the past 1-2 months is not good enough to knock the heat off. It's pretty telling that at this point in the season both teams have the same amount of losses even though one of them is treating the regular season like the playoffs and the other is treating it like a glorified pre-season. Obviously things can change, but I don't think the pacers can get over the hump this year

Tave · Post #32 » by **Tave** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 1:14 pm

winter_mute_13 wrote:
Palmeirense wrote:I'm sorry, but that phrase by West imo is one of the pacer's problems: they shouldn't worry about whether the other team is afraid of them or not, they should worry about executing their gameplan.

What I understood from West's phrase is that opponents aren't just going to lie down for the Pacers, that they have to go and execute their game plan to actually win games. Which is kind of what you're saying. You're ignoring the part where he says "we've got to regroup, we've got to get back to basics".

His comment was in response to the Bobcats dropping 110 on them (including almost 50 points in the paint) and in general the spike in opponents' scoring averages since the All-Star break.

West is implying that the Pacers need to kill teams on defense to win. And they do, but they also have a tendency to fall in love with their tough-guy persona and focus more on beating up the other team than winning the ball game. I agree with winter_mute, West's casual statement was a microcosm of the Pacer's issues.

Albanian Damien · Post #33 » by **Albanian Damien** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 2:44 pm

The only reason I haven't been soo quick to pencil in the Pacers like everyone else has is because TBT they haven't been tested.. Now I already know hordes of Pacers fans are going to come here shouting "7 GAMES" !! However the reality of it is that they were the underdog that entire series. They had nothing to lose and everything to prove. The playoffs are a whole different monster when the shoes on the other foot... Also, as much as I love Lance I just dont think he's to be a championship SG. He plays like he would on the courts back home in NYC and I love him for showing out for our City. However, that style of play hasn't always been conducive to winning in the postseason. This playoffs will be the Pacers first test, and I'm really interested to see how they do...

Hoopstar23 · Post #34 » by **Hoopstar23** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 2:50 pm

I think the Pacers will be fine, they still need Turner to be intergrated and Bynum too. I think they are just coasting right now

DanTown8587 · Post #35 » by **DanTown8587** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:03 pm

The Pacers problem is their offense most nights. They have a historically bad offense when you compare their offense to the rest of the league. Now, their starting five has a much higher offense rating than the rest of the team, but I don't compare one team's five man unit against overall teams, it's not a fair comparison.

It's a shame that Brooklyn (Lopez) and Chicago (Rose) aren't healthy because I feel like those teams would give Indiana a great run in a seven game playoff series.

aol4532 · Post #36 » by **aol4532** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:16 pm

Shuttlesworth34 wrote:I'm sorry, but the pacers team we have seen over the past 1-2 months is not good enough to knock the heat off. It's pretty telling that at this point in the season both teams have the same amount of losses even though one of them is treating the regular season like the playoffs and the other is treating it like a glorified pre-season. Obviously things can change, but I don't think the pacers can get over the hump this year

Miami treating it like a preseason, is that why they're playing a guy with no meniscus, and Wade himself quoting that they want to win every game, to try to get HC?

Post #37 » by **PaulieWal** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:28 pm

The Pacers have really put themselves in a bind here. They have made HCA a public and vocal goal. If they don't get it now they will definitely be negatively impacted. Psychologically imagine making your entire season about HCA and then starting the ECF in Miami. They may still get HCA since there are a lot of games left but they need to fix their issues soon. Both PG and Hibbert have struggled lately.

mademan · Post #38 » by **mademan** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:38 pm

aol4532 wrote:
Shuttlesworth34 wrote:I'm sorry, but the pacers team we have seen over the past 1-2 months is not good enough to knock the heat off. It's pretty telling that at this point in the season both teams have the same amount of losses even though one of them is treating the regular season like the playoffs and the other is treating it like a glorified pre-season. Obviously things can change, but I don't think the pacers can get over the hump this year

Miami treating it like a preseason, is that why they're playing a guy with no meniscus, and Wade himself quoting that they want to win every game, to try to get HC?

Quote? The heat constantly say that they don't care about the standings and just want to get better every game. Their primary goal is to be healthy and playing their best basketball at the end of the season. It's the Pacers who have been quoted again and again that their goal is the 1st seed and that HCA is important to them.

To the thread though, the Pacers just don't have championship level offense. They may beat the Heat, because their team offense goes through the roof against their small FC, but they'd lose comfortably to any team out West that can match their size. They wouldn't be able to keep up, offensively, with the Thunder or Spurs.

aol4532 · Post #39 » by **aol4532** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:52 pm

The quote is in the Heat's message board

mademan · Post #40 » by **mademan** » Thu Mar 6, 2014 3:58 pm

aol4532 wrote:The quote is in the Heat's message board

You make a claim, get asked for evidence, and you tell the other person to go and find it. And this is like the 5th time you've made this claim. Strong trolling.