Tonight is a must-lose game

[Boneman2]

Exactly! I'd be more than willing to bet money that a large majority of the "fans" who want to tank (or even think that tanking is acceptable) aren't PAYING fans. They most certainly probably aren't season ticket holders, and more than likely the main thing they look at are the box scores and highlights. Any REAL fan of a sports team will never advocate losing games intentionally. I'll root for a team that busts their asses and comes up short, but I'll never root for a team that doesn't give a damn about their performance and have no pride in the franchise that they represent

True Pacer fans are the ones who want the franchise to remain in Indy. I remember awhile back their was a thread claiming the franchise might relocate to Vancouver. Quite a few regulars on here basically said oh well. Try that on the Boston/LA/Spurs/etc... and you'll see true fans step up. I would look up the thread but that function is disabled... Can a mod unlock it?

Regardless, true fans shouldn't have to spend money to be considered legitimate enthusiast. Your logic is definitely flawed in this case.

What is more stomachable, watching experienced losers or inexperienced losers? This team is an afterthought, the core unit won't even exist beyond next season. Dwayne Wade was a very nice fifth pick.... Can anyone produce a 10-13 list, to see what we can look forward to.

[Dunthreevy]

Exactly! I'd be more than willing to bet money that a large majority of the "fans" who want to tank (or even think that tanking is acceptable) aren't PAYING fans. They most certainly probably aren't season ticket holders, and more than likely the main thing they look at are the box scores and highlights. Any REAL fan of a sports team will never advocate losing games intentionally. I'll root for a team that busts their asses and comes up short, but I'll never root for a team that doesn't give a damn about their performance and have no pride in the franchise that they represent

True Pacer fans are the ones who want the franchise to remain in Indy. I remember awhile back their was a thread claiming the franchise might relocate to Vancouver. Quite a few regulars on here basically said oh well. Try that on the Boston/LA/Spurs/etc... and you'll see true fans step up. I would look up the thread but that function is disabled... Can a mod unlock it?

Regardless, true fans shouldn't have to spend money to be considered legitimate enthusiast. Your logic is definitely flawed in this case.

What is more stomachable, watching experienced losers or inexperienced losers? This team is an afterthought, the core unit won't even exist beyond next season. Dwayne Wade was a very nice fifth pick.... Can anyone produce a 10-13 list, to see what we can look forward to.

Really? Because MONEY is what's going to keep the team in Indy, and since you seem to agree with that, why wouldn't a "true fan" do what they had to do in order to keep the team here? Instead it's acceptable to claim to be a true fan, yet never put your money where your mouth is and back the team, even when the chips are down and it's actually conceivable that the team may be re-located if they don't start making some money?

Paul Pierce was a pretty nice 10th pick too...

[Reginald Wayne]

I'm a true fan...


and I don't think I've put a dollar into keeping the Pacers in Indy. Never been to a game in Indy, never bought memorabilia. If the Pacers moved to Vancouver I'd be a Vancouver Pacers fan. No big deal. It's unfair to judge one's fandom by the money they contribute to a team.

Also, I don't believe in tanking. It won't happen. No legitimate basketball player will try to lose on purpose. That **** doesn't even go down in street games.

[glasket]

Spending money on a team should not be the requirmeent of being a fan.
I'm a pacers fan and I've never bought a ticket. I've never even been to an NBA game (kind of hard when I live in Australia). I do own a few Pacer jerseys but that's not the point.

Also there is a fine line between outright tanking and giving your young guys playing time.
Having Watson, Murphy, Dahntay and Mikey D on the court gives us the best chance to win games.
However what most fans want to see for the remaining games is extended time for AJ, McBob, Solo. If these guys put us in a position to win games then so be it, all of us would be happy but if we lose with these guys getting the majority of the minutes I don't think our fans would mind either.

[Miller4ever]

There is more than one way to be a "true" fan.

Whether it's the logo that you support, or the cheerleaders, or the players, it's all good.

Me? I support the players that play for professional Indiana sports franchises, two of them. No matter who wears the jersey, I may want another player instead of them playing (Watson and Price over Ford), but when they step onto the court or field, I will be rooting for them all the way.

Bad fans? The ones who booed Derek Anderson when he injured himself on the home field.

Money has nothing to do with it.

I just don't think tanking is the answer. Tanking is losing on purpose. I don't mind if we LOSE. I mind if we TANK.

[Pacers2013Chmps]

this season has sucked and a few weeks ago we had one bright spot on the season. we were sitting in the number 3 draft spot for a good percentage to get solid pick and now even that bright spot is gone...hopefully we run good in the lottery

[Miller4ever]

Nice! A new board member despite the suckiness of the season. Welcome. I like the name.

[Pacersike]

I don't really want this team to lose games, but I have to admit that I want this this team to be the worst of the losing teams. There isn't so much difference between the Pacers and teams like Detroit, Philly, NY, Sacto, Clippers. So it would suck if we ended up as the best team in the rankings. Definitely now that we had the 4th worst record of the league ofr a while.

And looking and each teams schedule i fear it is gonna end like that. That we end up with the 10th worst record. But hey, that way Bird can draft his (and my) guy: Patie Patterson (without being critized for taking him so early).

On a side note, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised how well the Pacers have been playing as of lately. Granger looks to be his old self again, Rush has really come trough. If we can keep this up, I can definitely keep our draft odds in the back of my head.

[HookShotHibbert]

I think DunThreevy had a bad choice of words when speaking of 'True' fans....As a friend of Dun, I think I can speak for him in saying, you DON'T have to spend money on the team to be a 'True' fan....BUT the 'MONEY SPENDING TRUE' fans are the ones putting a little money back into Mr. Simon's pocket and those fans (myslef included) are spending the money to see an effort to win every night, not a team purposely tanking. And if those fans see a team beginning to purposely tank and develop a losing mindset, their money will begin to be spent on other endeavors.

[mizzoupacers]

If you're picking in the top 10, it's a crap shoot. You've got just as good a chance at landing a star with the 10th pick as you do with 5th, and the facts back that up.

At risk of sounding argumentative, you've left out a few people:

1998: Dirk Nowitzki (pick #9)
1999: Rip Hamilton (7), Andre Miller (8), Shawn Marion (9)
2002: Nene (7), Amare Stoudemire (9)
2003: Chris Kaman (6)
2004: Luol Deng (7), Andre Iguodala (9)
2006: Brandon Roy (6)
2007: Joakim Noah (9)
2008: Eric Gordon (7), D.J. Augustin (9)
2009: Stephen Curry (7)

All guys who were available at #5, but not at #10.

Sure, the draft is to some extent a crapshoot, and it is possible to get a bust at #5 and a Paul Pierce at #10. But you can pretty much count on there being fewer good options left at #10; getting a good player at #10 requires more luck than getting a good one at #5. That's just common sense.

I think it's in the Pacers' best interests to lose games at this point. But that doesn't mean I want to see Granger play poorly, or a guy like McRoberts not take advantage of opportunities to show what he can do. The Pacers have to play the games the right way and let the chips fall where they may. I understand that. As long as the young guys get opportunities to develop, there's really nothing to complain about.

[Dunthreevy]

I think DunThreevy had a bad choice of words when speaking of 'True' fans....As a friend of Dun, I think I can speak for him in saying, you DON'T have to spend money on the team to be a 'True' fan....BUT the 'MONEY SPENDING TRUE' fans are the ones putting a little money back into Mr. Simon's pocket and those fans (myslef included) are spending the money to see an effort to win every night, not a team purposely tanking. And if those fans see a team beginning to purposely tank and develop a losing mindset, their money will begin to be spent on other endeavors.

Way to clear it up for me. That's definitely what I was getting at. I don't think that it's not possible to be a true fan if you don't spend money on the team, but I definitely think that if it's within your means (you live nearby, you're financially capable to buy a ticket) to help the team that you love then you should do so if you really care about the team and their future. I would bet that if the fans around Indy were all paying for the tickets to the games (I'd bet 1/4 of the tickets used each game are given to the people in attendance for free) that they would definitely change their tune about tanking.

Again, I worded it wrong initially, and I don't think that you guys aren't TRUE fans. I just think that there probably aren't many paying true fans that are calling for the tank. That's not what we pay our hard earned money to see.

[Dunthreevy]

I think it's in the Pacers' best interests to lose games at this point. But that doesn't mean I want to see Granger play poorly, or a guy like McRoberts not take advantage of opportunities to show what he can do. The Pacers have to play the games the right way and let the chips fall where they may. I understand that. As long as the young guys get opportunities to develop, there's really nothing to complain about.

I agree 10000%

[HookShotHibbert]

I think it's in the Pacers' best interests to lose games at this point. But that doesn't mean I want to see Granger play poorly, or a guy like McRoberts not take advantage of opportunities to show what he can do. The Pacers have to play the games the right way and let the chips fall where they may. I understand that. As long as the young guys get opportunities to develop, there's really nothing to complain about.

With injuries to some of the veterans (Foster, Ford, Danny for a game) and vertans playing poorly (Dunleavy) AND the coach finally getting his head out of his @$$ or giving up on the season (not sure why his change of strategy) the young guys (Price, Hibbert, McRoberts, Rush) are getting those oportunities as of late. And you can see each of those guys confidence building more and more each game and the wins coming from that confidence (and a weak schedule).....To me that is way more enjoyable than watching a team tank for a higher pick and a 'chance' to win the lottery

[Reckless]

You guys are playing the way u should. Respect for not tanking like most teams do

[mizzoupacers]

If the season ended today, the Pacers would be in line for the ninth pick. Which is a lot like having the 11th pick or the 13th pick (like in the last two drafts). And all the result of late-season winning streaks after the playoffs had ceased to be a possibility. I've seen this movie before.

[Gremz]

If the season ended today, the Pacers would be in line for the ninth pick. Which is a lot like having the 11th pick or the 13th pick (like in the last two drafts). And all the result of late-season winning streaks after the playoffs had ceased to be a possibility. I've seen this movie before.

As have I, was reasonably upset with my rental choice.