In fact I really like the way he spells out why the crowd was the way it was and properly put's it in perspective why the locals didn't just flock back in. Doesn't make anybody happy for sure, but what he say's makes sense.
In fact I don't judge Bob articles because I know that Bob's job is to make us talk about Bob, which he is very good at doing. But in this case I think Bob is on the money here.
http://www.indystar.com/article/2011...d-expectations
Written by
Bob Kravitz
CHICAGO Sorry. My mistake.
INDIANAPOLIS
Maybe there will be more Indiana Pacers fans in the house for Game 6 on Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
What? You don't think that's possible?
The Pacers were supposed to get run out of United Center in Game 1 of this playoff series. Didn't happen. The Chicago Bulls were supposed to wake up and slap some sense into the Pacers in Game 2. Didn't happen. The Bulls were supposed to lay down the law in Game 3, show the world why they're the No. 1 seed. Didn't happen.
Everybody outside the Indiana locker room seems to think there will be a Bulls coronation Tuesday night after the Pacers' 89-84 Game 4 victory Saturday, but after four copycat games, it's abundantly clear there's not that much difference between these teams.
"We know (no NBA team has ever come back) down 3-0, but we know it's going to happen at some point, and we're trying to make it us, be that team,'' Indiana interim coach Frank Vogel said. "This is still a series.''
Whatever happens Tuesday night in the Madhouse on Madison -- as opposed to the Madhouse Near Meridian, as was the case Saturday afternoon -- this was a victory the Pacers absolutely deserved. They've done too many good things, played the Bulls too tough in every game, to have history remember them as the victims of just another first-round sweep.
The Bulls won the first three games by a total of 15 points. The Pacers won Saturday by five points. This thing isn't in the same area code as over. Though, just in case, Pacers president Larry Bird might ask commissioner David Stern to reduce the length of games to, say, 45 minutes the rest of the playoffs.
"Let's face it, even though we were up 3-0, we are not playing good basketball,'' Chicago's Kyle Korver said. "Maybe it's time for a reality check.''
Reality? Here's the reality: For all the grousing in Chicago about how the Bulls have "played down'' to their competition, these Pacers have come of age and are a whole lot better than most of us believed.
There was so much good stuff Saturday -- for 45 minutes again -- it's hard to know where to start:
Danny Granger continued to quiet his critics. Is he an alpha-dog superstar who's going to be Indiana's version of Derrick Rose? No. But when he's eventually surrounded by more scoring threats, he's going to be a special player.
Jeff Foster forgot to check his birth certificate and acted like he was 25 years old again. It's not often a player scores two points and has that kind of impact on a game. And he didn't even maim Rose this time around. The Pacers' bench, which has been good all year, outscored Chicago's reserves 30-17.
Roy Hibbert got mad and played mad, producing 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Somebody in the Pacers organization has got to be responsible for firing up the big man every night with a well-timed insult. Maybe get an intern on it.
For the first time all series, they shot more free throws than the Bulls. They didn't turn the ball over, except for the last few minutes -- and how often have I written the phrase, "except for the last few minutes'' in this series? The Bulls had no fast-break points.
The only disappointment came not on the floor, but in the stands. What do you say? Sixty-forty Bulls fans? Sixty-five, thirty-five? At one point, I thought, "Wow, it'll be nice to leave the game and go hit the bars on Rush Street.'' The biggest surprise is we didn't see Oprah in the fieldhouse. This might have marked the first time the home team tried to shut up its home crowd.
Embarrassing? Sure. Unexpected? Not really. (For Chicagoans who pay two months' mortgage for a seat at United Center, the fieldhouse is a bargain.) Disgraceful? Not in the least.
During the first half, Pacers executive Rick Fuson angrily walked over to some reporters and, noting the sea of red, said, "I hope Indiana learns.''
Please.
You can't field a lousy and thoroughly irrelevant team for four-plus years, then have a decent two months and expect the entire city to reach for its wallets. It's like the Colts playoff game in 1999 when Tennessee Titans fans filled the RCA Dome, before the Colts really became the Colts. This is a small market, really a soft market, and you can't undo years of mediocrity and worse overnight, especially during these harsh economic times.
Vogel, by comparison, had it right. When asked about the crowd, he smirked.
"I only heard Pacers fans,'' he said. "I didn't see any red, only yellow and blue. I only heard Pacers chants. That's all I heard.''
We keep waiting for the Bulls to look like the 62-victory team that rolled through the regular season. And it isn't happening.
We keep waiting for the Pacers, who won just 37 games and only became better-than-average the last half of the season, to fall to pieces and look like they don't belong on the same court. And it isn't happening.
What's to say they can't do this again in Game 6 at Chicago?
Who knows? Maybe more Pacers fans will show up next time.
In fact I don't judge Bob articles because I know that Bob's job is to make us talk about Bob, which he is very good at doing. But in this case I think Bob is on the money here.
http://www.indystar.com/article/2011...d-expectations
Written by
Bob Kravitz
CHICAGO Sorry. My mistake.
INDIANAPOLIS
Maybe there will be more Indiana Pacers fans in the house for Game 6 on Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
What? You don't think that's possible?
The Pacers were supposed to get run out of United Center in Game 1 of this playoff series. Didn't happen. The Chicago Bulls were supposed to wake up and slap some sense into the Pacers in Game 2. Didn't happen. The Bulls were supposed to lay down the law in Game 3, show the world why they're the No. 1 seed. Didn't happen.
Everybody outside the Indiana locker room seems to think there will be a Bulls coronation Tuesday night after the Pacers' 89-84 Game 4 victory Saturday, but after four copycat games, it's abundantly clear there's not that much difference between these teams.
"We know (no NBA team has ever come back) down 3-0, but we know it's going to happen at some point, and we're trying to make it us, be that team,'' Indiana interim coach Frank Vogel said. "This is still a series.''
Whatever happens Tuesday night in the Madhouse on Madison -- as opposed to the Madhouse Near Meridian, as was the case Saturday afternoon -- this was a victory the Pacers absolutely deserved. They've done too many good things, played the Bulls too tough in every game, to have history remember them as the victims of just another first-round sweep.
The Bulls won the first three games by a total of 15 points. The Pacers won Saturday by five points. This thing isn't in the same area code as over. Though, just in case, Pacers president Larry Bird might ask commissioner David Stern to reduce the length of games to, say, 45 minutes the rest of the playoffs.
"Let's face it, even though we were up 3-0, we are not playing good basketball,'' Chicago's Kyle Korver said. "Maybe it's time for a reality check.''
Reality? Here's the reality: For all the grousing in Chicago about how the Bulls have "played down'' to their competition, these Pacers have come of age and are a whole lot better than most of us believed.
There was so much good stuff Saturday -- for 45 minutes again -- it's hard to know where to start:
Danny Granger continued to quiet his critics. Is he an alpha-dog superstar who's going to be Indiana's version of Derrick Rose? No. But when he's eventually surrounded by more scoring threats, he's going to be a special player.
Jeff Foster forgot to check his birth certificate and acted like he was 25 years old again. It's not often a player scores two points and has that kind of impact on a game. And he didn't even maim Rose this time around. The Pacers' bench, which has been good all year, outscored Chicago's reserves 30-17.
Roy Hibbert got mad and played mad, producing 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Somebody in the Pacers organization has got to be responsible for firing up the big man every night with a well-timed insult. Maybe get an intern on it.
For the first time all series, they shot more free throws than the Bulls. They didn't turn the ball over, except for the last few minutes -- and how often have I written the phrase, "except for the last few minutes'' in this series? The Bulls had no fast-break points.
The only disappointment came not on the floor, but in the stands. What do you say? Sixty-forty Bulls fans? Sixty-five, thirty-five? At one point, I thought, "Wow, it'll be nice to leave the game and go hit the bars on Rush Street.'' The biggest surprise is we didn't see Oprah in the fieldhouse. This might have marked the first time the home team tried to shut up its home crowd.
Embarrassing? Sure. Unexpected? Not really. (For Chicagoans who pay two months' mortgage for a seat at United Center, the fieldhouse is a bargain.) Disgraceful? Not in the least.
During the first half, Pacers executive Rick Fuson angrily walked over to some reporters and, noting the sea of red, said, "I hope Indiana learns.''
Please.
You can't field a lousy and thoroughly irrelevant team for four-plus years, then have a decent two months and expect the entire city to reach for its wallets. It's like the Colts playoff game in 1999 when Tennessee Titans fans filled the RCA Dome, before the Colts really became the Colts. This is a small market, really a soft market, and you can't undo years of mediocrity and worse overnight, especially during these harsh economic times.
Vogel, by comparison, had it right. When asked about the crowd, he smirked.
"I only heard Pacers fans,'' he said. "I didn't see any red, only yellow and blue. I only heard Pacers chants. That's all I heard.''
We keep waiting for the Bulls to look like the 62-victory team that rolled through the regular season. And it isn't happening.
We keep waiting for the Pacers, who won just 37 games and only became better-than-average the last half of the season, to fall to pieces and look like they don't belong on the same court. And it isn't happening.
What's to say they can't do this again in Game 6 at Chicago?
Who knows? Maybe more Pacers fans will show up next time.
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