23 years ago today the Indiana Pacers won the last game that ever really mattered, so far, for the franchise in the NBA

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  • Peck
    Administrator
    • Jan 2004
    • 19955

    23 years ago today the Indiana Pacers won the last game that ever really mattered, so far, for the franchise in the NBA



    Honor and glory to those teams. In my lifetime they simply were the best team we ever had.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13
  • idioteque
    hopeful
    • May 2006
    • 11439

    #2
    94-2000 is my favorite era of Pacers ball by far, but they’ve played plenty of consequential basketball since then.

    Comment

    • Kstat
      Rebound King
      • Jan 2004
      • 34207

      #3
      Originally posted by idioteque
      94-2000 is my favorite era of Pacers ball by far, but they’ve played plenty of consequential basketball since then.
      I think the word "won" is doing the heavy lifting here.

      It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

      Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
      Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
      NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

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      • BillS
        Angry Old Poster
        • Mar 2004
        • 21660

        #4
        I never thought you'd buy into the "finals or nothing matters" culture. You might say it was the win that mattered most, but given the ECF runs under Frank and even the potential of the 2003-2004 team I can't say it was the last one that mattered.
        BillS

        A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
        Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

        Comment

        • Peck
          Administrator
          • Jan 2004
          • 19955

          #5
          Originally posted by BillS
          I never thought you'd buy into the "finals or nothing matters" culture. You might say it was the win that mattered most, but given the ECF runs under Frank and even the potential of the 2003-2004 team I can't say it was the last one that mattered.
          The other games mattered, but we didn't win them. We did win this one, so IMO, it is the most important and last time we won a game that mattered.



          Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

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          • BillS
            Angry Old Poster
            • Mar 2004
            • 21660

            #6
            Originally posted by Peck

            The other games mattered, but we didn't win them. We did win this one, so IMO, it is the most important and last time we won a game that mattered.
            Again, you're saying only getting to the Finals matters. Therefore, wins that end short of the Finals don't matter. Which I disagree with.
            BillS

            A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
            Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

            Comment

            • Phree Refill
              Member
              • Sep 2008
              • 849

              #7
              I understand the premise of the title (and I dont know that I disagree) but at the very least I'm throwing either game 6 of round 1 2014 when David West saved the entire season against the Hawks in the last 3 minutes -OR- game 6 of 2013 vs Miami in ECF when Lance went apeshit and hit a dagger to end the 3rd qtr that catapulted a blowout win on the way of giving the franchise its 5th "1 win away" game to reach the NBA finals.

              (Damn thats a long sentence)

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              • kent beckley
                Member
                • May 2012
                • 5029

                #8
                Does someone live near Peck? You might need to check on him…

                Seriously though, what is up with the melodramatic thread titles??

                Comment

                • Peck
                  Administrator
                  • Jan 2004
                  • 19955

                  #9
                  Originally posted by BillS

                  Again, you're saying only getting to the Finals matters. Therefore, wins that end short of the Finals don't matter. Which I disagree with.
                  Well that's not what I'm trying to say, although I obviously have written this very poorly. Winning is better than losing, can we agree on that? This was the last time we won a game that mattered to send us to the championship level playoff round. We have lost every other game that mattered since.

                  So I'm not sure we really disagree, I just have a poor way of explaining it I guess.


                  Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                  Comment

                  • natjjohn
                    Member
                    • Jan 2011
                    • 551

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Peck

                    Well that's not what I'm trying to say, although I obviously have written this very poorly. Winning is better than losing, can we agree on that? This was the last time we won a game that mattered to send us to the championship level playoff round. We have lost every other game that mattered since.

                    So I'm not sure we really disagree, I just have a poor way of explaining it I guess.

                    Still doesn’t make any sense. It’s retroactively making games that did matter that they won, into games that didn’t matter because of unknown reasons since you’ve now said games that get you to the finals aren’t the only games that matter.

                    So what defines a game that matters? Based on what you’re saying, almost none of the games matter for any franchise. If that’s the case, quit watching the NBA and sign off this message board

                    Comment

                    • yoadknux
                      Member
                      • Jan 2011
                      • 2117

                      #11
                      I would call it "The game that mattered most", but I agree. At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning a championship. If you don't win one, then it's about the game that is as close as possible to the finals.
                      As for the attitude, well, over the last 18 years we've only managed to make it out of the first round... twice? So what can you honestly do other than reminisce?
                      Originally posted by Piston Prince
                      Bobcat fans telling us to cheer up = epic fail season
                      "Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"

                      Comment

                      • BillS
                        Angry Old Poster
                        • Mar 2004
                        • 21660

                        #12
                        Originally posted by yoadknux
                        I would call it "The game that mattered most", but I agree. At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning a championship. If you don't win one, then it's about the game that is as close as possible to the finals.
                        As for the attitude, well, over the last 18 years we've only managed to make it out of the first round... twice? So what can you honestly do other than reminisce?
                        18 years is an interesting cutoff, since it is essentially "post brawl" and so includes everything done to try to recover from that without counting any previous success.

                        But the count is actually 3, not 2.
                        BillS

                        A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                        Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                        Comment

                        • Sollozzo
                          Member
                          • Jan 2004
                          • 27440

                          #13
                          The 04 team and the 13 & 14 teams certainly played important games. And I’d put 12 in there too since we did have a 2-1 lead over a Lebron/Wade/Bosh team in the semis. The problem is that we’ve done next to nothing for almost a decade. All of the accomplishments that you can list for the franchise are basically the same as they were in 2014.

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