Well since it will become official today I thought I might as well go ahead & comment on the situation.
I held off of doing this yesterday because it wasn't confirmed yet & everybodys emotions were to high.
Needless to say I knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Actually a person I trust implicitly told me the day of the forum party that Dale wasn't coming back & the reason why was because Reggie was no longer going to be there. There were other bits of info that he said but to be honest when Dale started talking about wanting to come back I went ahead & hoped for the best.
The day that Saras was signed I had a gut feeling that was the deathnell. I still had a flickering of hope but I knew it was a long shot.
Now how do I feel about all of this towards Dale, the Pacers, etc.
Nothing really. This isn't like the Brad case for me with the Pacers (please don't turn this into a Brad debate I'm just using it as referance here) where I thought (right or wrong) that it was a collosal mistake by the club.
They chose to go with a point guard who can shoot from the outside. They may be right, I don't know. At the end of last season backup point guard wasn't top of my list of prioritys but if you will recall in my breakdown of players I did say that because of his injurys that it might be time to part with Jamaal. Who knows, this guy may have been brought in to do it.
I'm rambling there, so let me clarify.
I am NOT mad at the Pacers for making the decision to go after another player. They wanted him, the persued him & for once they got him. Good for them. We'll see if it was the right call.
Now how do I feel about Dale, particularly with him signing with Detroit.
First you have to understand one big differance between myself & most Pacers fans. I do not blame the Pistons for our troubles last season. I'm not going to go around & around about that either in this post because we've done it before. So in other words I don't consider the Pistons some barbarion horde the way many of you do. To me they are respected adversary's.
So Dale going to Detroit doesn't offend me any more or less than had Dale decided to go to Seattle or Toronto or whoever.
But now it's down to Dale himself. Had he signed for 300,000 more in Detroit than he could have here I would have had some problems & I'm not sure if they were with Dale or with the Pacers. As has been theorized, there may have been a handshake deal in effect & had Dale left for that kind of money I would have felt that was probably the case.
However it seems Dale left for quite a bit more money than we could afford. I don't like it, but I understand.
Do I think it's a mistake for Dale? Yes I do. But he didn't consult me.
He could have gone out a hero & I mean that a real hero here. Not Reggie hero but probably bigger than any other player other than Reggie since any of us have been around.
But now he will go out a villain. He will be boo'ed when he comes back & I think it's damn shame.
But he brought the boo's on himself so therefor he better not care because he chose the path of money & friendship over fan loyalty. It's not my place to judge him in this case but I can't blame any of you who feel betrayed by him.
I won't discuss the merits of Dale's skill because we will just disagree. I will just admit that I would rank him to high & some of you would rank him to low. The truth is somewhere in between.
Does Dale not being back here next year mean the end of any title hopes? Not at all. Dale would have helped but even I would be the first person to admit that if we were banking our season on a 37 year old center we were in deep crap.
However, my first call post the second coming of Dale is this. We need a banger, someone who can help Harrison out as the season goes on.
So let me summerize.
1. I understand the Pacers made a basketball decision & I am NOT mad or upset at them for doing it.
2. I do NOT hate the Piston franchise.
3. I do not blame Dale for taking a larger payday, still with a contender & with a close friend to boot.
4. I do NOT blame any of you for feeling betrayed. Because I don't care about the franchise here for a moment, but us the fans, yeah we got screwed. However I do NOT expect any professional ball player to ever do anything financially related based on fan expectation.
5. Yes, I do think Dale is worth the money he got. But that's just me (an admitted Dale Davis fan)
In closing I will say this. I thank Dale for his years of service to our club, the 90's teams would not have been what they were without him. I thank him for coming back & helping take Reggie out the right way.
I've loved watching him play, I truely cherished every moment he was a Pacer. But those days are over now. He is nothing but a Piston to me.
So in other words
The King is dead
Long live the king :harrison:
I held off of doing this yesterday because it wasn't confirmed yet & everybodys emotions were to high.
Needless to say I knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Actually a person I trust implicitly told me the day of the forum party that Dale wasn't coming back & the reason why was because Reggie was no longer going to be there. There were other bits of info that he said but to be honest when Dale started talking about wanting to come back I went ahead & hoped for the best.
The day that Saras was signed I had a gut feeling that was the deathnell. I still had a flickering of hope but I knew it was a long shot.
Now how do I feel about all of this towards Dale, the Pacers, etc.
Nothing really. This isn't like the Brad case for me with the Pacers (please don't turn this into a Brad debate I'm just using it as referance here) where I thought (right or wrong) that it was a collosal mistake by the club.
They chose to go with a point guard who can shoot from the outside. They may be right, I don't know. At the end of last season backup point guard wasn't top of my list of prioritys but if you will recall in my breakdown of players I did say that because of his injurys that it might be time to part with Jamaal. Who knows, this guy may have been brought in to do it.
I'm rambling there, so let me clarify.
I am NOT mad at the Pacers for making the decision to go after another player. They wanted him, the persued him & for once they got him. Good for them. We'll see if it was the right call.
Now how do I feel about Dale, particularly with him signing with Detroit.
First you have to understand one big differance between myself & most Pacers fans. I do not blame the Pistons for our troubles last season. I'm not going to go around & around about that either in this post because we've done it before. So in other words I don't consider the Pistons some barbarion horde the way many of you do. To me they are respected adversary's.
So Dale going to Detroit doesn't offend me any more or less than had Dale decided to go to Seattle or Toronto or whoever.
But now it's down to Dale himself. Had he signed for 300,000 more in Detroit than he could have here I would have had some problems & I'm not sure if they were with Dale or with the Pacers. As has been theorized, there may have been a handshake deal in effect & had Dale left for that kind of money I would have felt that was probably the case.
However it seems Dale left for quite a bit more money than we could afford. I don't like it, but I understand.
Do I think it's a mistake for Dale? Yes I do. But he didn't consult me.
He could have gone out a hero & I mean that a real hero here. Not Reggie hero but probably bigger than any other player other than Reggie since any of us have been around.
But now he will go out a villain. He will be boo'ed when he comes back & I think it's damn shame.
But he brought the boo's on himself so therefor he better not care because he chose the path of money & friendship over fan loyalty. It's not my place to judge him in this case but I can't blame any of you who feel betrayed by him.
I won't discuss the merits of Dale's skill because we will just disagree. I will just admit that I would rank him to high & some of you would rank him to low. The truth is somewhere in between.
Does Dale not being back here next year mean the end of any title hopes? Not at all. Dale would have helped but even I would be the first person to admit that if we were banking our season on a 37 year old center we were in deep crap.
However, my first call post the second coming of Dale is this. We need a banger, someone who can help Harrison out as the season goes on.
So let me summerize.
1. I understand the Pacers made a basketball decision & I am NOT mad or upset at them for doing it.
2. I do NOT hate the Piston franchise.
3. I do not blame Dale for taking a larger payday, still with a contender & with a close friend to boot.
4. I do NOT blame any of you for feeling betrayed. Because I don't care about the franchise here for a moment, but us the fans, yeah we got screwed. However I do NOT expect any professional ball player to ever do anything financially related based on fan expectation.
5. Yes, I do think Dale is worth the money he got. But that's just me (an admitted Dale Davis fan)
In closing I will say this. I thank Dale for his years of service to our club, the 90's teams would not have been what they were without him. I thank him for coming back & helping take Reggie out the right way.
I've loved watching him play, I truely cherished every moment he was a Pacer. But those days are over now. He is nothing but a Piston to me.
So in other words
The King is dead
Long live the king :harrison:
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