Pacers' Miracle Season Thread

[Sticks33]

Originally Posted by Nomad

Theory: Pacers are just on the cusp of a run

I think that once again, with the Pacers' fluke wins and fluke game 7 loss (hadn't game planned for no Haliburton), people are writing the Pacers off too soon.

For one, the Furphinator has been understudying nearly all the team and meeting milestones on offense and defense. He could possibly take the Haliburton role for a year with his length.

For another, so many key role players are locked up on nice contracts, because they want to be here. You got Nesmith, Nembhard, TJ, and Toppin. Mathurin, because he will probably enjoy dominating with his Nesmith, Nembhard, Furphy/Walker, Jackson starting squad. Wow.
Oh and Myles takes a $22.5 mil haircut and anchors still the best bench in the league.

I really hope so. I enjoy Indiana’s style of play.

I still believe that they’re one, get-your-own-shot guy away. Like the end of game 4 when the wheels came off. They need a guy they can just go to to get a shot and calm the waters. Hali isn’t that, imo.

Also, don’t overlook the Cleveland series basically being served to the Cers due to injury. I think Indy may have struggled against a fully healthy Cavs squad.

That all being said, I like the approach Indy has. Much more reminiscent of an earlier time of nba ball

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by Sticks33

I really hope so. I enjoy Indiana’s style of play.

I still believe that they’re one, get-your-own-shot guy away. Like the end of game 4 when the wheels came off. They need a guy they can just go to to get a shot and calm the waters. Hali isn’t that, imo.

Also, don’t overlook the Cleveland series basically being served to the Cers due to injury. I think Indy may have struggled against a fully healthy Cavs squad.

That all being said, I like the approach Indy has. Much more reminiscent of an earlier time of nba ball

Indiana was a horrible matchup for Cleveland, healthy or not. Pacers murdered double big lineups all season in transition (why Dag benched Hartenstein), and their drop-coverages in half-court (see Brook Lopez, Jarrett Allen, KAT, Hartenstein). They had no point of attack defense with 2 smaller guards in Garland/Mitchell. Okoro’s shooting limitations lets Indiana pack the paint to counter Mitchell drives, and Hunter is a bucket but a highly overrated defender. Health certainly could have changed the competitiveness of the series, but I felt Knicks were a tougher matchup for Indiana based on their wing defense (picked Pacers to beat both in 6) [also thought GS would beat OKC so didn’t get it all right]. If Garland had played more, Indiana would have given him the Brunson treatment x10, putting him in every single action. Ironically, think the Cavs would have a better time against both Boston (with double bigs against unhealthy Porzingis) and the Knicks even though they were higher seeds.

Windhorst is on record essentially saying the Cavs didn’t want to play the Pacers and were hoping they didn’t win their way into the 4/5 seeds at the end of the season.

My big takeaway from this postseason is more than ever you just can’t have any liabilities on the court. Isaiah Joe is a great player—so are Hartenstein and Chet, but there were moments none of them could get on the court. The best teams are just relentless in applying pressure to the weakness points. It’s not surprising we’ve seen Simons, McCollum, Poole, Jalen Green all traded and Garland on the trade block. They’re all terrific basketball players but this finals has shown none of them are worth their contracts for a team hoping to make the finals. The NBA has gotten so good you just can’t get away with it anymore, unless the guy is making <8 million a year and can be rotated out.