Announcement

Collapse

The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
See more
See less

HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

    http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/1/9...e-team-profile

    Paul Flannery
    |
    January 9, 2014

    HOOSIER HYSTERIA

    HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA


    The Pacers were angry. Two nights earlier, they had blown a fourth-quarter lead and lost in Miami against their nemesis. Two nights before that, they'd dropped a game at home against Detroit, which is the kind of thing that happens during the NBA season as one game blends into the next. Not to this team, however.
    "Every night we're playing for home-court advantage," Indiana coach Frank Vogel told me as we walked down the hallway following his pregame media scrum, not long before his team took on the Houston Rockets in late December.
    I asked Vogel if he had any worries about how his team would bounce back from that Heat loss, a crushing three-point defeat that ended with Paul George howling about an uncalled foul from LeBron James on the game's final play. George may have had a case, but he wasn't getting that whistle against LeBron. Not in King James' building, anyway. Get Miami in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in a Game 7 in front of an Indiana crowd, and who knows what might happen?
    "WE REALLY FEEL LIKE EVERY NIGHT WE'RE PLAYING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP."


    Vogel looked at me like I was crazy. That play was the whole point of the Pacers' season. Losing two in a row wasn't just poor form. It was a refutation of everything they wanted to stand for as a team.
    "We really feel like every night we're playing for a championship," Vogel said. "A lot of teams can't say that about their regular-season nights. There's a lot of ‘Just Another Night's' in the NBA. But not with our team."
    * * *
    Immediately after losing Game 7 in Miami last spring, the Pacers started talking about home-court advantage. They talked about it in Los Angeles over the summer during informal team workouts. It was the first thing they talked about publicly when they returned to Indiana for training camp. It was almost a dare.
    "It's something that we feel that this group is mature enough to handle," said power forward David West, who doubles as the team's conscience. "From day one."
    And so the pissed-off Pacers took the court against the Rockets in front of a raucous sellout crowd -- their seventh in 13 games -- and won by 33 points. Their defense was impenetrable and George took over in the third quarter; he also helped harass James Harden into a 3-for-14 shooting night. "It's a good feeling," George said. "Because when we're at our best, we feel like we're unstoppable."
    For most of this season the Pacers have been unstoppable. They opened with a nine-game winning streak, then reeled off seven more. At the rejuvenated Bankers Life Fieldhouse, they ended 2013 with a 15-1 record and an average margin of victory of better than 14 points a game. Attendance is, quite reasonably, booming.
    That last part is important. Because while it's a common complaint among the Pacers that the national attention they've earned has been woefully late in coming -- they were, for instance, not one of the 10 teams featured on Christmas Day -- they had to get their own fans back first.
    "Winning back our city and our fans and our state is as much a part of our goals as winning basketball games," Vogel said. "This is a Pacers town and there was a time they cared less about the Pacers, for good reason. A lot of our goals were centered around delivering to our fans a team they could fall in love with."
    After years of neglect from a basketball mad community, the Pacers are once again a beloved institution. Season ticket sales are up 34 percent from last year, the second straight season they have enjoyed a better than 30-percent rise. Over their first 16 home games, attendance has increased by more than 3,000 per game. They had already matched last season's sell-out mark with 10 before the calendar had even flipped to 2014.

    TV RATINGS ARE UP EVEN MORE. THEY'VE IMPROVED 141 PERCENT FROM LAST SEASON, THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE JUMP IN THE NBA.


    Local TV ratings are up even more. They've improved 141 percent from last season, the highest percentage jump in the NBA, according to figures supplied by Fox Sports Midwest. The team's ratings in November and December were the best since the 2004 season, and their home game against the Heat in December at a sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse drew the team's highest rating in more than a decade.
    This has not been an overnight success. It took years of patient building by team president Larry Bird, perhaps the one man in Indiana who could absorb the high-volume criticism and insult -- or, perhaps, the one man who could be spared the full force of their impact -- that came with the Pacers' painful process. Considering their market and draft position over the years, the Pacers qualify as a minor basketball miracle.
    Locally, they have become something else. They are, in Indiana, the very embodiment of the Hoosier ideal: tough, unselfish, unglamorous and defensive-minded with a fierce and familial esprit de corps to rival any of the college teams that dot the state's landscape. They are a throwback to the great Pacer ABA teams, powered by players plucked from relative obscurity who are beloved in the community and retain various personalized chips on their respective and collective shoulders. All of that matters in Indiana, where history and tradition are inescapable.
    "That was really the first step, was to get the city back behind us," George said. "We have all good guys in the locker room, we're in the community and I think they understand that. None of our guys are knuckleheads now. Sweeping the whole locker room and getting guys with a lot of upside and potential. The Hoosier Nation is back."
    * * *
    From the beginning the Pacers have been a locally-run organization that was smarter, sharper and savvier than the competition.
    Created in 1967 by a group of local businessmen as an ABA franchise, the first player in franchise history was Roger Brown, who was playing in a semi-pro league in Dayton when the Pacers called. Blacklisted by the NBA and NCAA for having once met notorious gambler Jack Molinas, Brown became such a beloved local figure that he later served four years on the city council. He was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame in 2013.
    Mel Daniels

    Their anchor was Mel Daniels, a rugged big man who was all substance and zero flash. The team signed George McGinnis after his sophomore season at Indiana, daring to risk the ire of the Hoosier faithful by poaching from the state's true favorite team. They unearthed gems like Bob Netolicky, Billy Keller and Freddie Lewis. They were ably coached by Bob "Slick" Leonard, a one-time Hoosier hero whose folksy front masked a fierce competitor. After games, they all hung out at Neto's bar.
    The Pacers were Indiana's team, and they won three ABA championships while playing to sell-out crowds. They were also the closest thing the league had to stability and tradition, which allowed them to enter the NBA along with the Nuggets, Nets and Spurs in 1976 when the leagues finally merged. But the terms were harsh -- a $3.2 million entrance fee and no cut of TV for four years -- and the Pacers had to shed salaries and talent. It would take years for them to recover.
    Eventually, they did. Reggie Miller arrived in 1987 and center Rik Smits was drafted the following year. The Davis boys -- Antonio and Dale -- arrived in subsequent seasons, and formed one of the league's toughest frontcourts. Mad genius Larry Brown coached them to the conference finals and then gave way to Bird as coach, who guided them to two more conference finals and finally an NBA Finals appearance in 1999-00 in which they lost to the Lakers.
    It was those teams' eternal regret that they peaked during the second Michael Jordan era and then ran into the dawn of the Kobe/Shaq Lakers. Still, they remain as beloved in town as the Pacers' great ABA squads. During the team's pregame video, the sight of Miller curling off a screen and burying a jumper still draws the loudest reaction from the crowd.
    An argument can be made that the best NBA team Indiana had until now was actually the 2004 Pacers that won a franchise record 61 games and took the eventual champion Pistons to six games in the Eastern Conference finals. That team had size, scoring, toughness and a solid mix of young stars like Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest (before he found World Peace) to complement Miller's veteran savvy.
    And then, on the night that went on to define the team in an entirely different way, they went to Detroit. It wasn't the brawl that did them in; that's what everyone here wants you to know. While the aftermath of the Malice in the Palace was devastating -- Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, Stephen Jackson (30 games) and O'Neal (15) also served long suspensions -- the moment that locals point to as the tipping point in the team's long descent from civic institution to object of scorn was Artest's trade request the following year.
    After he was banished and finally traded for Peja Stojakovic, more problems arose. Miller retired and injuries robbed O'Neal of his prime. Then, the arrests started.
    In October of 2006, Jackson was charged with criminal recklessness after a fight at a strip club resulted in Jackson firing a gun into the air and getting run over by a car. Later that year, Jamaal Tinsley faced charges from a bar fight and was later involved in another late-night altercation that ended when someone shot up his car outside a downtown hotel at 3 o'clock in the morning.
    "WHEN I CAME HERE IN THE '08-09 SEASON, THE ARENA WAS EMPTY. YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP."


    All this happened as Peyton Manning transformed Indianapolis into a football town. From 2006-10, the Pacers were a nondescript, capped-out team in a small market with unfavorable draft picks and little hope of getting better. Attendance dropped each year before bottoming out in 2008, when they averaged only 12,222 fans, dead last in the NBA. "When I came here in the '08-09 season, the arena was empty," Hibbert said. "You could hear a pin drop."
    The story goes that it was during this fallow period that Bird "changed the culture," which is somewhat loaded shorthand for getting rid of troublemakers and bringing in good guys. It's not that simple, naturally. The Pacers may have stayed out of court, but they weren't much good on it.
    But Bird stayed patient and hit big with Hibbert and later George and Lance Stephenson in the draft; none were considered sure things. He removed Jim O'Brien in the middle of the 2011 season and elevated Vogel, who had no prior head coaching experience, and they made the playoffs. They lost to the Bulls in the first round when more than half their building was wearing Chicago Red. Things were still moving slowly.
    That offseason, Bird signed West and traded for George Hill; they went on to take the Heat to six games in the second round. The next year, they went all the way to Game 7 of the conference finals. But it wasn't until this season that the crowds truly came back.
    "When I got here, we had some conversations that we had to get the city back involved in Indiana Pacers basketball because they've been down for so many years," West said. "My response -- I think everybody's response -- was they'll come back if we're playing well and give them a reason to come to the arena."
    The Pacers believe that it's not only their success on the court that has won back the city's love, but their involvement in the community, coupled with a genuine team bond that's rare in the transient world of professional basketball. The core of the team is their starting five, plus longtime fixture Danny Granger, who recently returned to the lineup after missing 102 games with a knee injury. This is that team's story.
    AREA 55


    DRAFTED 17TH OVERALL IN 2008, ROY HIBBERT WAS ACQUIRED BY THE PACERS IN A DRAFT-DAY DEAL THAT SENT JERMAINE O'NEAL TO THE RAPTORS. SIX YEARS INTO HIS CAREER, HIBBERT HAS EMERGED AS A SOLID LOW-POST THREAT AND ONE OF THE BEST DEFENDERS IN THE LEAGUE. HE'S ONE OF THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE NEW PACERS, AND ALSO KIND OF A GOOFBALL.

    Heather Denton is the Pacers director of player relations. She has been with the team for 17 years. It's the first job she had after college and never saw any reason to leave. Denton's approach is to meet with each player individually and craft a community relations program that fits with their personalities.
    "It's not going to be one-off," she told me. "It's not forced. It's something that they really want to do. It's a really good group. They care. They want to come up with new ideas and they're always like, ‘How can we help people?' That's a constant theme in this locker room with these guys."
    In 2009, Denton went to Hibbert with an idea. Attendance had sunk and the building was in need of an energy lift. They saw the success Andrew Bogut had in Milwaukee with Section 6, a block of seats that he purchased and gave out to rabid Bucks fans. "If you want to do this," Denton told Hibbert, "You have to own it."
    No problem, Hibbert said. He held American Idol style auditions and selected 55 winners whose mission was to attend every game and make as much noise as possible. The effect of Area 55 is something like a student section at college games. Old-school chants like, "You can't guard him," mix with banners, painted faces and a drum section. Area 55 even spawned a companion group, the G-2 Zone, which was started by Paul George and George Hill.
    True to his word, Hibbert made it his own. He organized a Gangnam Style dance at a local mall, busting his moves in a jumbo white tuxedo and garnering a half-million views on YouTube. There are annual dinners for Area 55 members and regular get-togethers. When he signed his extension before last season, he played laser tag with his cheering section.
    What has emerged is a weird, loud, little family. One couple met and started dating at the Gangnam dance. Another got engaged. One member even donated marrow through a bone match program, which affected Hibbert deeply. In August of 2012, a young fan named Lee Eddins died from leukemia. Hibbert flew out to Sacramento with Denton for the funeral. To him, the community outreach efforts and the success on the court go hand in hand.
    "We have not only good players, we have good people on the team on and off the court," Hibbert said. "It's brought the community back. It's been a long process, but it's one that we worked for and we earned it. How you go about your business on the court reflects how people look at you. You can give out as many turkeys as you want, but people read you're late to practice or you're late to games or acting a certain way, they aren't going to buy into it."
    PG TAKES FLIGHT


    WITH THE 10TH PICK IN THE 2010 DRAFT, LARRY BIRD HAD A DECISION TO MAKE. HIS CHOICES INCLUDED ED DAVIS, A REBOUNDING FORWARD WITH A NORTH CAROLINA PEDIGREE, OR GEORGE, A LONG-LIMBED SEMI-UNKNOWN FROM FRESNO STATE. HE CHOSE POTENTIAL.

    As Paul George's star has risen, so have the demands on his time. Still, after every Pacer home game, George sits patiently at his locker answering questions until longtime PR chief David Benner calls it a night. He does not seem burdened by the responsibilities or annoyed by the steady barrage. He is, in other words, too good to be true: A 23-year-old, self-aware superstar who is engaging, thoughtful and secure.
    From his silky jump shot to his lockdown defense, George makes everything about the game look easy. Yet he struggled with the demands that were placed on him after Granger went down with a knee injury early last season. During the playoffs, George told West that he couldn't wait until the summer to work on his game, because he hadn't prepared enough for the role.
    George retreated to his California home and worked on his off-the-dribble skills, a major weakness for a player who was now expected to create his own shot. The results have been dramatic and terrifying for the rest of the league. George is now legitimately in the conversation as one of the top-five players in the world, and he is no longer unsure of himself or his role.
    "The biggest thing for Paul, not only does he have confidence in himself, he's got this air about him," West said. "He's just got this confidence about him, this attitude about him where he feels like he can get it done. You can't really do some of the things that he does. His ability to guard a guy three, four, five dribles, pick his pocket and then get down the floor with a spectacular finish. And then get on to the next play and get a defensive stop. All of that is what makes him him."
    About an hour after the Pacers had finished practice, George was still on the court getting up shots. The court is in the arena's basement and there's a window where fans can peer in on their heroes. A group of kids waved frantically as he finishes his workout. George waved back, making their day.
    He has become the most popular player on the team and is in line to start the All-Star game for the first time in his career. The max contract extension he signed during the offseason will keep him in Indiana through his prime. On a team of earthbound grinders, George's talent is ethereal and that marks him as a separate among equals. But he doesn't see it that way.
    "Everybody's on the same page," George says. "On the court, we understand that it's a group effort. We don't care who's shooting the shot. Most teams play for highlight plays and stuff like that. We play the right way and we play to win. That goes with sharing the ball, helping one another on the defensive end and giving credit where credit is due. We don't like to accept credit alone, because we built something here. A real togetherness. Teamwork. Everything that we do, we know that we don't do it alone."
    HE'S A BAD MAN


    DURING HIS EIGHT SEASONS IN NEW ORLEANS, DAVID WEST WAS REGARDED AS THE CONSUMMATE PRO'S PRO. A PICK-AND-POP SHOOTER AND RUGGED REBOUNDER, WEST AVERAGED 16 POINTS AND SEVEN REBOUNDS. BUT LATE IN HIS FINAL SEASON WITH THE HORNETS, HE TORE THE ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT IN HIS LEFT KNEE. HEADING INTO FREE AGENCY, WEST CHOSE THE PACERS OVER THE CELTICS, WHICH HELPED LEGITIMIZE THE TEAM.

    If you were making a list of the people in the NBA that no one messes with, David West would be the captain. A 10-year vet with a deep baritone and broad shoulders, West is as likely to drop a well-timed elbow in his opponent's stomach as he is to step out and drain an 18-footer, and he makes a lot of jumpers. He's a tough guy in the classic sense, a no-nonsense badass who handles his business and doubles as a big brother for his younger teammates.
    "There's a seriousness to his approach that resonated among everybody in the locker room," Vogel said. "It's not by anything he says or does, but by his mere presence. Very few players in the NBA or pro sports can do that with just their presence, but David West does."
    Hibbert is the anchor of the team's signature top-rated defense. George is the emerging superstar and the biggest reason why the Pacers are legitimate contenders. But this is West's team, and everyone knows it.
    "David is the real reason why this locker room is the way it is," George said. "The second he came here he had everyone playing as a team and giving himself and sacrificing himself for the betterment of the team. That just flew throughout the whole locker room. He's so wise. It's beyond basketball, some of the conversations that we have."
    In the locker room, his voice is the unquestioned authority. He's the one who decides when the joke has gone too far or whether the music should be turned down. "When he speaks," Hibbert said, "you listen."
    Naturally, West shrugs off the suggestion that he is the team's de facto leader.
    "We don't walk around labeling, you're this or that. Everybody's got a voice in the locker room because everybody's got to be held accountable," West said. "We're asking you to do a job defensively. That's what we expect of you. Our coach will go off and get mad when he has to, our assistants the same way. But first and foremost it comes from us. We police each other so we make sure we're holding each other accountable. Everybody has a voice. Everybody can say what needs to be said so when we get out there to play we're all on the same page."
    THE HOMETOWN HERO


    IN DESPERATE NEED OF A POINT GUARD TO STABILIZE HIS TEAM, BIRD TRADED THE DRAFT RIGHTS TO KAWHI LEONARD IN 2011 FOR A CAREER BACKUP NAMED GEORGE HILL, A LOCAL PRODUCT WHO PLAYED HIS HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE BALL IN INDIANAPOLIS.

    George Hill does nothing spectacular. He shoots well from the outside, but will never be mistaken for Steph Curry. He's a willing passer, but not a playmaker on the order of Rajon Rondo. He's a hard-nosed defender without flashy statistics or accolades to back up the claim.
    All of that makes him the perfect point guard for this team: selfless, tough and relatively anonymous. Even calling Hill a point guard is a misnomer, since the Pacers offense tends to start with either Stephenson or George. Hill is a guard. Period. End of sentence.
    "Our egos need to be out the door when we get here," Hill said. "It's not about you, it's about the team. That's how we took it since Day One. Everybody's personality clicked. It just makes us a better team."
    If there is a criticism of Hill, it's that he's not assertive enough. This has been an ongoing conversation between Vogel and Hill, and every time Hill has a strong game, the topic gets brought up again. It's startlingly easy not to notice Hill at all, in fact, unless he has one of his periodic scoring binges, or conversely, when things go wrong. Not coincidentally, his name is often floated in trade rumors, which are just as quickly shot down.
    Yet Hill stays above the fray. For such a low-key figure on the court, he is one of the most visible Pacers in the community.
    During the offseason he traveled to Haiti, conducting basketball clinics on dusty courts, playing soccer and distributing food for a group called Kids Against Hunger. It was a life-changing trip, and the NBA honored him in November with their Community Assist Award. On a team of adopted favorites, Hill is the true son of Indianapolis.
    THE EDGE


    A PLAYGROUND LEGEND FROM THE SAME BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL THAT PRODUCED STEPHON MARBURY, LANCE STEPHENSON PLAYED ONE YEAR OF COLLEGE BALL AND FELL ALL THE WAY TO THE SECOND ROUND, WHERE BIRD GRABBED HIM WITH THE 40TH PICK IN THE 2010 DRAFT. IN FOUR YEARS WITH THE PACERS, HE HAS DEVELOPED FROM LITTLE-USED RESERVE TO FULL-TIME STARTER. MERCURIAL EVEN AT HIS BEST, STEPHENSON IS HAVING A CAREER YEAR.

    Will you say something to him?
    That was the question that hung in the air after Lance Stephenson dropped a triple-double in a 27-point win over the Celtics that was punctuated by the player known as "Born Ready" showing off some dance moves at midcourt in front of the visitor's bench.
    Vogel deflected the question. George suggested in his light-hearted way that Lance should be on Dancing With the Stars. So it was left to West.
    "That stuff doesn't bother me," West said. "I don't know how people will take it, but that's Lance. You just got to expect it sometimes."
    Few people expected much of anything from Stephenson in his first two seasons in the league. He played less than 600 minutes and gained notoriety for flashing a choke sign at LeBron James during the 2012 playoffs and then nearly getting decapitated by Dexter Pittman during garbage time.
    Yet, Stephenson has flourished in recent years, emerging as a starter late last season and averaging almost 14 points a game this year; he already has three triple-doubles on the season. His style is hectic and herky-jerky, a tumble of manic energy streaking down the court, bound for either a spectacular finish or a head-scratching failure.
    Against the Celtics, that meant a ragged triple-double that included 12 points on 15 shots and some aggressive stat padding in the fourth quarter of a blowout. The next night he poured in 26 points on only 16 shots in a brilliant performance against the Nets.
    The Pacers give him a lot of latitude to make plays, and are willing to take the good with the bad because of just how good Stephenson's "good" can be. For better and for worse -- mostly better, these days -- Stephenson gives them an unpredictable edge.
    "Obviously we give him a lot of room to go out and play his game," West said. "But he knows that every single night we're depending on him to play well for us. He knows we need him to be successful."
    THE UNLIKELY SIXTH MAN


    DANNY GRANGER WAS BIRD'S FIRST BIG DRAFT COUP. A TALENTED SCORER FROM NEW MEXICO, HE FELL ALL THE WAY TO THE 17TH PICK WHERE BIRD SCOOPED HIM UP AFTER SUCH IMMORTALS AS IKE DIOGU, YAROSLAV KOROLEV AND ANTOINE WRIGHT HAD ALREADY BEEN SELECTED. IN 2009, GRANGER AVERAGED 26 POINTS PER GAME AND MADE THE ALL-STAR TEAM. AS THE PACERS BEGAN THEIR ASCENT, HE WAS STILL THE FACE OF THE FRANCHISE. THEN HE GOT HURT.

    Danny Granger's return caused quite a bit of anxiety among the Pacer faithful. While he was recovering from knee and calf injuries, George flourished and Stephenson emerged as a standout. How would he fit in? A local media member asked, partly in jest, "How long until we can have a Lance vs. Danny starting lineup debate?"
    So, it was with some trepidation that Granger made his return to the Pacers for their Friday night game against the Rockets. He looked rusty, missing six of his seven shots, but he recorded a weakside block against Dwight Howard and received numerous ovations from the sell-out crowd.
    Internally, the Pacers were delighted that Granger was back. Vogel feels that he is the final piece to a revamped second unit that includes C.J. Watson and Luis Scola, Bird's two summer additions. The players scoffed at the notion that Granger would disrupt their chemistry.
    "It's only going to make us that much stronger," West said. "We don't see that from the inside. We're a tied together group. When Danny was hurt he wasn't away from us. He's been around us the whole time."
    The next day, Bird pulled Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz aside and left no doubt about Granger's place with the team, telling Kravitz that Granger wouldn't start and that his time with the franchise was likely over when his contract expires after this season. For good measure, Bird got in a shot about Granger's conditioning.
    This was a reminder that time is fleeting in the NBA, even on a team that successfully locked up its young stars with contract extensions. The Pacers won't go over the luxury tax line and there will be tough decisions to make this summer when Stephenson becomes a free agent. This may be the only chance this group has to win together. Two nights later against the Celtics, Granger hit four of his five three-pointers, and the questions took on a different tone.
    "I've known Danny Granger a long time," Vogel said. "He's been waiting for -- how long has be in this league? Ten years. He's been a waiting long time to get on a team like this. He's going to play the right way."
    POST SCRIPT

    The Colts were playing and patrons filled Kilroy's dressed in their blue and white finest. The Pacers were also playing later that night against the Celtics and another sell-out crowd was expected. This would have been unthinkable last year, but as the Colts built a big lead over the Chiefs, the bar began to fill with Pacers fans in Paul George jerseys.
    Across the street from the arena, ticket scalpers were doing solid business. Boston is always a decent draw here and some fans came to applaud Brad Stevens, the former Butler coach returning to his Hoosier homeland as coach of the Celtics. By and large, the ticket buyers were Pacer faithful. "Business is good," one of them said with a smile. "It's always better when you're winning."
    MORE FROM SB NATION

    PACERS COMMUNITY



    That night the Pacers won again in a blowout, eviscerating the Celtics with one of their finest defensive performances of the season. It was three days before Christmas. A trip to Brooklyn beckoned before a long break. The only negative was cold water in the shower, but they bonded over that as well. "If you Tweet that," West said to one shivering player, "We all Re-Tweet it."
    Togetherness.
    That's the word that appears on the top of the Pacers whiteboard each and every game. It means everything from passing to the open man to talking on defense and being part of the community. It's quaint, really, that a team of professionals brought together from all over the country would feel this way about each other and their adopted home. But they also believe that it will give them an edge come playoff time.
    "We not only have good players we have good people on the team on and off the court," Hibbert said. "It's been a long process, but it's one that we worked for and we earned it."
    About 50 miles of Interstate 37 separates Indianapolis from Bloomington on the map. It's more or less a straight shot, with billboards advertising personal injury attorneys and the redemptive powers of Jesus Christ. In between, there are baskets tacked up on barns and in cul-de-sacs. It's the heart of Hoosier country and the Pacers are once again everything the faithful want in their basketball team.
    The radio is playing the postgame show and the true believers are calling in to defend Stephenson. "Lance was just having some fun," one of the callers said. "Ain't no thing." He gets no argument from the host.
    Another calls in to say that this is the best NBA Pacers team there's ever been, no offense to Reggie and Rik Smits. And, he adds, is there anyone who has done as much for Indiana sports as Larry Bird?
    These are happy questions, and it's a good time to be an Indiana Pacer. Maybe the best it has ever been, and maybe getting better still.
    Producer: Chris Mottram | Editor: Mike Prada | Copy Editor: Kevin Fixler | Photos: Getty Images

    [COLOR=#888888 !important]ABOUT THE AUTHOR


    [/COLOR]
    Paul Flannery writes about the NBA for SBNation.com and teaches journalism at Boston University. He lives in Cambridge, hates to drive and is probably waiting for the Green Line.
    www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/1/9/5289050/indiana-pacers-paul-george-team-profile
    Last edited by drewdawg; 01-09-2014, 02:27 PM.

  • #2
    Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

    That shot of BLF gives me goose-bumps.
    Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

      Originally posted by Since86 View Post
      That shot of BLF gives me goose-bumps.

      Yep, that's the first thing I thought when I started scrolling down. Beautiful HD shot. That in a nutshell captures how the community has fallen in love with the team again.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

        I gotta give alot of kudos to SB Nation's Website and how they format their feature articles now. From a design and layout standpoint I've not seen better. Really makes the article enjoyable to read its a nice presentation.
        You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

          EXCELLENT writeup.... One of the best I've read in awhile...
          "Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

            Originally posted by Since86 View Post
            That shot of BLF gives me goose-bumps.
            Aaaaaand I have a new desktop wallpaper.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

              I read the whole thing and the only negative thought I had was, "There's no interstate 37 in Indiana."

              If that's all I can think of during that much of a ride, it's awesome.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                Originally posted by Tron View Post
                I read the whole thing and the only negative thought I had was, "There's no interstate 37 in Indiana."

                If that's all I can think of during that much of a ride, it's awesome.
                I only found one other problem with the story ... Other than that.. like I said EXCELLENT from start to finish...

                here is quoted part..

                but as the Colts built a big lead over the Chiefs, the bar began to fill with Pacers fans in Paul George jerseys."
                uh... we never had a big lead over the Chiefs.. What he should have said was that the Chiefs built a big lead over the Colts...
                "Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                  Originally posted by Kemo View Post
                  uh... we never had a big lead over the Chiefs.. What he should have said was that the Chiefs built a big lead over the Colts...
                  He's referring to the regular season game in KC, where the Colts did build a big lead on the Chiefs.
                  "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

                  "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                    Originally posted by Kemo View Post
                    I only found one other problem with the story ... Other than that.. like I said EXCELLENT from start to finish...

                    here is quoted part..



                    uh... we never had a big lead over the Chiefs.. What he should have said was that the Chiefs built a big lead over the Colts...
                    The author is referring to when we played the Chiefs during the regular season. During that game, we had a big lead.

                    This is a great story about our rise to prominence over the last couple of years. The only thing I didn't like about it was it's mentioning of Bird's comments about Granger's conditioning. I don't know if it's just me, but the tone of the article at that says to me "Granger's time is done". I believe he deserves more respect than that.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                      Wow...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                        While reading this somebody came in my house and start cutting damn onions...I'm so proud of this team.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOW THE PACERS WON BACK THE HEART OF INDIANA

                          What a goosebump-ing article. All points considered, this must have been one of the best Pacers team and the most well-bonded at that.

                          Good times.
                          Pacers + Colts + Seahawks = Game mode on!

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X