Apparently, our news is fit to print

[ajizzle]

The New York Times apparently has taken notice of the overall situation with the Pacers.

The Indiana Pacers

[Miller4ever]

Anything we've done since the brawl has always been a TRY, at least. It's always been something done with the brawl in mind. I am not overly concerned with the happenings, I'm not going to say that we are doomed and I think that we as fans are always going to be homeristic, but that doesn't mean that we can't use our brains to honestly assess a situation.

Honestly assessing a situation is also not demanding a complete do-over from the gut. The brawl put us in scramble mode, and to blow it all up takes more effort and energy and is WAY more risky than trusting the pieces that we have now and salvaging what we have now. Also, three years is nothing. Short term returns on moves keep pissing people off, but what was a bad trade for Dunleavy has given us as close to a floor leader as we've had, a 17th pick because somebody just HAD to make the playoffs gave us Granger, but the chips just simply haven't fallen our way on certain other moves.

Even with our missteps, we are looking in the right direction. The record may show us to be your average Eastern 9th seed, but we have GOOD talent assessment.

[mizzoupacers]

I'd like to be optimistic, but I honestly think things really are about as bad as they seem, other than the off-court stuff, which at least for this season has been overblown and played up mainly because of the cloud hanging over the franchise.

We already got rid of our worst behavior problems; the bigger problems now are injuries, a talent base that is too thin and doesn't mesh particularly well (how many small forwards do you really need?), and a horrendous payroll situation.

If next season we get a good NBA-ready draft pick, JO gets healthy, and Tinsley gets healthy and takes his head out of his ass, we plug them in with what we've got right now and probably have a chance to win 45+ games.

But as time goes by, the chances of JO and Tinsley helping to turn this team around seem dimmer and dimmer. And if those guys can't be part of the solution, then it is going to take the Pacers a long time to outlast the payroll problem, stockpile sufficient talent through the draft and whatnot, and regain legitimacy. Unless something damned lucky happens.

[PR07]

We just have to find a plan and stick to it, enough of this patch-work trying to fix our house. The foundation of this house isn't sturdy, and it's time to start from scratch. Unfortunately, our payroll isn't going to allow us to do a drastic overhaul in the short-term, so we need to accumulate young talent while also trying to increase our financial flexibility. Easier said than done, right?

The Pacers "cheated the system" after their NBA Finals run as they were able to build another Eastern Conference contender and a whole new young/talented core within a few seasons. That doesn't happen very often, and I think the whole "we don't rebuild" has finally caught up with us a bit. Eventually, you're going to have to rebuild, it's just that the Pacers were able to put it off much longer than most teams do. The previous core of JO, Artest, Harrington, Jackson, and Tinsley really could've made some noise, but the brawl stopped all their momentum and pretty much ruined the rest of this group's time in Indy.

I think a new core is slowly developing with Dunleavy, Granger, and Shawne Williams...perhaps JO can be a part of this core too (remains to be seen), but I think it will probably take two high draft picks (this year and next) before this new core really takes off and starts to make their own noise. At least, that's my hope. I just hope we take a franchise PG in one of the upcoming drafts.

[ajizzle]

Well, we all know that the NBA, moreso than any other team sport, is about stars and superstars. We have a star in JO, but honestly, he's missed a lot of time, whether it be for injuries, suspensions, whatever. YOU CANNOT SURVIVE IN THIS LEAGUE W/O STARS!!! If JO is healthy all year, we're probably a couple games under .500 rather than 10, and we're in the playoffs for sure.

The other thing this league is about is finding how to use your star effectively. JO, when healthy a perennial all-star and near 20-10-3 guys, has not been used correctly for a few years now, IMHO. I never liked seeing him as mainly an ISO-POST player, and I still don't. His skill set and his body type tell you that he should be used in many ways: ISO-POST (b2b and face-up), PickNRoll/Pop, High-Post passer, etc.

There have only been a handful of bigs who should be ISO Post as much as JO has been: Shaq, Wilt, Kareem, Mikan, Moses, Hakeem, McHale, just to name a few. But not JO!

The two guys I think are the most similar are Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone. Both guys used a lot of face up in the post. Both guys were great at PickNRoll/Pop situations. Both used the fake-and-go, much like Murphy has benefitted from recently. But they mixed it up... it wasn't just one thing most of the time. JO is more Ewing than Malone, but he would've been better if Carlisle had found a way not to pound him so much. The great thing about JO is that he's still relatively young, and he has about 3-5 years left, maybe 6-8 if he can add a 3-pt shot to his repetoire.

I know he has a lot of mileage, that's why I'd recommend he be used like CWebb in Sacto, Sheed/McDyess in Detroit. He'd have to improve his accuracy and range on his J, but that's easy, especially when you know how you're gonna be used and you can be 2nd or 3rd option sometimes.

I'm not against trading him, but it's not likely that we'll find a good deal for him, and I'm definitely not for blowing it up. JO can still be a star in this league, just not as a primarily POST player. He's gotta mix it up, and I think Obie can do that for him.