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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.

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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.
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An objective non partisan review of the Pacer vs Knicks 2024 series

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  • #1

    An objective non partisan review of the Pacer vs Knicks 2024 series

    Okay my title was a complete and utter lie. Look normally I am a Sith Lord when it comes to the dark side of Pacers fandom, but for today's post just consider me Vader fighting the emperor when he turns to the light.

    Let me start it out like this. There is no next year, this isn't the beginning of something because none of us know what next year will bring. IT DOES NOT MATTER!!! Why does it not matter? Simple we are here now. That's right folks we are about to enter into game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Why is that important? I'm glad you asked. It's important because we are ALREADY at a place where many of us would have been happy to be 2-3 years from now. So in other words don't look towards the future, appreciate the here and now.

    Did we get lucky to be here? Who gives a ****. We ARE here. I will be in Toronto in a couple of weeks, should I drive over to Scotiabank Arena and rip down their championship banner because Kevin Durrant and Klay Thompson were both injured in the finals they played in, or do the Raptors get to celebrate their championship? I can absolutely recognize that the Knicks had injuries and understand that it impacted their play. I don't care. Do you think they feel bad about playing us in the second round by beating the 76ers with a one legged Embiid? I doubt it. Besides when it comes to injuries long term I don't really care to listen to anyone because I can't think of many, or frankly any, franchises that have had as many star players be taken out with either injury or ailment than us. Many of you, actually most of you, are way to young to remember Clark Kellogg but for 3 seasons the man was a near 20 & 10 player, taken out with knee issues at age 23. Rik Smits had a long career but it was cut short and ended our 90's teams with foot pain. Jermaine O'Neal had a knee injury at age 28 that took him from a 20 & 10 to a 13 & 6 and then moving on to 5 teams in 6 years. Danny Granger at the age of 28 diagnosed with a knee ailment that he never recovered from and went from a 19 ppg scorer to about an 8 ppg scorer ending his career at age 31. Paul George snapped his leg and ended a team that had gone to back to back E.C. finals (only losing to the Heat). We all know what happened with Olidipo and let's not pretend that T.J. Warren wasn't averaging 20 ppg at the age of 26 when he had foot issues that he has never really recovered from.

    So in other words I don't really give a rats *** about teams and their injuries beyond just recognizing that they do exist and that yes I'm sure we had some benefit.

    Let's take this moment to tip our caps to the Knicks. Well coached team, very enjoyable (for me anyway) style of play to watch and yes they have talent and never gave up. I have no idea what the future holds for them, just like none of us do about us either, so I can't speculate about what they will be next year. But for this year, they gave it their all and left it all on the floor. That's all anyone can ask.

    But enough talk about other teams or what the national narrative is.

    I'm here to proselytize to all about not just Pacers basketball but for those of you not from here, Indiana basketball.

    I don't know what it is or why it is but for the most part many of us from here that are of my generation and older, and quite a few younger as well, tend to gravitate towards a style of play that is not star driven. While all of us would gladly take a LeBron James type player, we never get that kind of player. But secretly, or not so secretly, most of us root for team basketball. Sure every team, just like any organization, has a hierarchy but the star in our hearts isn't so far above and beyond his team mates. That is why some of us deeply loved our 90's teams. Yes Reggie was clearly the best scorer on our team but he wasn't really that far above and beyond the 4 other starters on the club. Even the Paul George teams were really 4 very good players that surrounded him. He was better than they were but they each played a massive role on the floor and that team was built on smash mouth toughness (that was for V to enjoy if he bothered to read this far).

    So I bring you to our current set of Pacers. Yes Haliburton is the star player but while he is good he is not head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Just look at this scoring from a game 7.

    Nesmith 19
    Siakam 20
    Turner 17
    Nembhard 20
    Haliburton 26

    It doesn't get more team oriented than that and yes that tends to warm the hearts of those of us from the Hoosier state and I'm sure it makes all Pacers fans world wide happy as well.

    So what do you do when you have an overall team win? Well of course you have to acknowledge the players, they had to play the game and contribute to the win. But we do that all the time.

    Today we are going to focus on two things.

    Coaching and management. Typically two things that I criticize and I'm sure in the future I will continue to do so. But for today with my revival of spirit I am going to break Kayfabe and shower praise on both.

    It is no secret that I have issues with Rick Carlisle. I have always acknowledged that he is a good coach, however I think he tends to be stubborn and overrated. However for this series I don't think I've ever seen a coach publicly perform in a more masterful series. Now notice I didn't say masterful coaching job, although I freely admit he did that as well. But I'm talking about how he handled the team, the press and ultimately the league through the media. After game 1, when the whistles were questionable, he could have publicly complained but did not. When game 2, which wasn't nearly as bad as game 1, also had unfavorable calls, he went scorched earth on the the refs and many people thought he went way over board with the "small market" talk. I will admit I cringed when he said that part, but you know what it was masterful because while N.Y. still got more whistles the rest of the series none were nearly as egregious as games 1 & 2. When the Knicks came into game 5 and destroyed the Pacers right after the game was over Rick publicly said he was embarrassed by our play. Then a day later when asked how to get Tyrese going he proceeded to let loose an expletive laced diatribe that basically called the guts of the players into question. Again, Rick is the absolute master of coach speak. In fact I typically don't listen to him because he likes to talk without saying anything and he always deflects blame from the players onto himself. So when he said this, he absolutely was doing it on purpose to send a message. That message was received loud and clear and the Pacers out rebounded the Knicks in both game 6 & 7.

    As to his coaching? Well let me take this time to eat crow. I am one of those who believe, or believed anyway, that you could not play fast and loose in the playoffs that you had to change your style of play to a slow tempo half court game. Rick Carlisle the Pacers just prove me wrong. Now in his post game press conference today he said words that provided me with even more euphoria than I had from the game itself. He said they determined early in the season that the style of play (fast offense but no defense or rebounding) was not sustainable and they consciously changed it up, which we all knew, but it was great to hear him say these words out loud. But he somehow did it without seriously impacting the pace of our offense and shockingly not changing the pace or style for the playoffs. This was even against a Thibs coached team that thrives on grinding out the game and making it a half court affair.

    Just and absolutely masterful coaching job by Rick for this series in particular but so far the playoffs in general.

    But a lot of this and I mean a LOT of this has to be credited to Pritchard and Buchanan. A few years ago it was reported that Pritchard wanted to tear it down and rebuild when Paul George demanded out and was denied by ownership because they did not want to go through years of rebuilding. So he strung together teams that were basically on a treadmill to nowhere. He also has to be blamed with colossally bad drafting early on. But it was further reported, by J.Michael of the star that the time, that KP knew that what they had was not going to go anywhere and knew he could not convince the Simons to change course. After a really bad coaching hire in Nate B. he turned to the one coach who he knew had the pull with the Simons to change course in Carlisle. They gave time to Rick to evaluate what they had but after a horrid start and a very embarrassing game at home (I think vs the Hornets) Rick with KP went to Herb and got permission to change directions. They immediately got to work getting younger. Youth has the problem of inexperience so losing ensues but with youth sometime you get more talent and that is what occurred here. We got younger, we got more athletic and yes ultimately we got more talent. We also got two lottery picks. Now what is odd about our recent drafting is that both of our lottery picks haven't been homeruns. Mathurin has talent and may still work out great but has struggled in a role here and Walker wasn't used really at all. Neither have contributed in this playoff run (we'll come back to this in a minute) but our lower picks have been nothing short of spectacular for where they were picked. Nembhard is a second round pick who already has a playoff game winning shot in his resume and as stated above scored 20 points in a game 7 road win. Shepard has provided solid defense, some occasional rebounding, high activity and good shooting as a low first round pick in his rookie season. Plus he has one heck of a mustache. Jackson was a low first round pick that is giving you something as well.

    Remember when I said we would come back to our lottery picks? Both could fizzle or be traded or something else altogether. But guess what? Both or maybe even just one, could develop into rotational or starting level players. Just imagine where we could be if Mathurin became a 20ppg scorer or Walker became a swiss army knife type player like Draymond Green? Either way both are already killer assets to add to a trade if we had to.

    Frankly I was completely onboard the Pacersgeek bandwagon of firing Pritchard until I hard that J. Michael interview and then once he was given the freedom to rebuild this team I now think he has done a great job. I've said all of this without mentioning the Siakam trade, which frankly was an absolute steal. I may hate losing that pick in 26 but I certainly don't care about the two picks we gave up this year.

    So for today we will celebrate both Pritchard and Buchanan.



    Now is the time in our program where we dance with fruit.



    I can't step away without talking about one player.

    I have had a love hate relationship with Aaron Nesmith all year. I have always loved the fire and passion that he plays with. I really appreciate the defense that he bring every night. I acknowledge his catch and shoot ability. But I also hate when he plays against taller wings who can just pull up and shoot over him and his inability to do almost anything offensively other than the catch and shoot. His dribbling often times gives me heartburn .

    But not today. 8 for 8 from the floor. Are you kidding me? I think he might have had 3 layups and none of them were wide open that I can remember. While he didn't shut Brunson down in this series, he certainly made life miserable for him. When Aaron focused on attacking the glass he was highly effective, while he only had 4 today (no pacer had more than 5) each of these boards were done with effort and a mental wherewithal that was second to none. I know he is going to struggle with Brown, but man was this guy ever something in this series.

    I am sorry this wasn't more of an in depth review of the series but for today I just want to celebrate where we are and where we have come from.

    I've been here for them all. The only NBA pacers playoff series I have not attended was the 1980-81 year and that was before I ever had tickets and I can tell you that you need to appreciate every single time you get to the final four teams playing no matter the circumstance because you have no idea how long it may be before you ever get back there. Nothing is guaranteed.

    These are the series that makes new fans. How many people became fans of the team from that first 94 run to the E.C. finals? How many again became new fans in the 04 run? How many in the 13 season?

    I'm telling you that there is a 10-13 year old out there right now who just fell in love with the Pacers and 10-20 year from now will be the old heads reminiscing about the great 24 season to the new younger generation.

    Last edited by Peck; 05-20-2024, 05:43 AM.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13
    Tags: None
    • 22 likes
  • #2
    It was a historic moment and I'm also super excited about this team reaching the ECF.
    I didn't post anything because we're now facing the Celtics and I don't want to celebrate anything just yet.
    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"
    • 1 like

    Comment

    • #3


      Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk
      Last edited by BillS; 05-20-2024, 08:01 AM.
      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...
      • 1 like

      Comment

      • #4
        This is everything I ever wanted playing the Knicks and more.

        Think about this - if it had been the Pacers vs. Philly, we'd have been lucky to be even mentioned by the national media, even in a win. Every story, every interview, every comment during a game would be about Philly, the Process, the quest to finally reach the Conference Finals, Embid, Embid, Embid, Philly win, Philly loss, and maybe, just maybe, someone would note they were playing against another team.

        The history we have against the Knicks, which this series cemented as one of The Rivalries in the NBA, guaranteed we would be noticed. Sure, we still had to deal with ESPKnicks, but the past was such an integral part of how fans of both teams approached this series that it was impossible to ignore.

        While this is gratifying as a fan, of course, I think the most important thing is how it put pressure on the team. It's one thing to be the team of first-time-playoff-appearances, but being able to bury the jitters under the media Invisibility Cloak would make it so much easier to just be happy to be there and hope no one noticed. By being solidly in the spotlight of the history between the two teams there was no way they could duck the pressure - and pressure matures teams. It's the Instapot of Development.

        Sure, the Knicks had major injuries. Cry me a f-ing river. Never mind that no one has ever given the Pacers a pass for being hobbled; the players who stepped up for the Knicks were not just some scrubs who only looked good because they were playing against bums. DiVincenzo and Hart are in their prime, and McBride ain't nothing to sneeze at at 23. Were they as much of a test as a fully healthy team would be? No - but if you get the fully healthy Knicks then we get a Haliburton with no back spasms and a healed Benn Mathurin.

        We have one day where we don't have to look ahead. Forget the ******** of "don't celebrate" and "act like you've been here before" - as a fan you HAVE TO REVEL in these kinds of victories, because this journey is exactly why we are fans. Remember the words of John Hume:

        Don't forget where you came from
        Don't forget what you're made of -
        The one's who were there
        When no one else would care.
        Don't be afraid to cry, now,
        Even when the world comes crashing in -
        DON'T FORGET TO SING WHEN YOU WIN
        Last edited by BillS; 05-20-2024, 09:18 AM.
        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...
        • 5 likes

        Comment

        • #5
          You are spot on with the here and now.

          No rebounds, no rings….

          Better take that attitude going forward
          {o,o}
          |)__)
          -"-"-
          • 1 like

          Comment

          • #6
            The effort put forth in game 6 and 7 was something
            to behold.
            {o,o}
            |)__)
            -"-"-
            • 4 likes

            Comment

            • #7
              Originally posted by Peck View Post
              Okay my title was a complete and utter lie. Look normally I am a Sith Lord when it comes to the dark side of Pacers fandom, but for today's post just consider me Vader fighting the emperor when he turns to the light.

              Let me start it out like this. There is no next year, this isn't the beginning of something because none of us know what next year will bring. IT DOES NOT MATTER!!! Why does it not matter? Simple we are here now. That's right folks we are about to enter into game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Why is that important? I'm glad you asked. It's important because we are ALREADY at a place where many of us would have been happy to be 2-3 years from now. So in other words don't look towards the future, appreciate the here and now.

              Did we get lucky to be here? Who gives a ****. We ARE here. I will be in Toronto in a couple of weeks, should I drive over to Scotiabank Arena and rip down their championship banner because Kevin Durrant and Klay Thompson were both injured in the finals they played in, or do the Raptors get to celebrate their championship? I can absolutely recognize that the Knicks had injuries and understand that it impacted their play. I don't care. Do you think they feel bad about playing us in the second round by beating the 76ers with a one legged Embiid? I doubt it. Besides when it comes to injuries long term I don't really care to listen to anyone because I can't think of many, or frankly any, franchises that have had as many star players be taken out with either injury or ailment than us. Many of you, actually most of you, are way to young to remember Clark Kellogg but for 3 seasons the man was a near 20 & 10 player, taken out with knee issues at age 23. Rik Smits had a long career but it was cut short and ended our 90's teams with foot pain. Jermaine O'Neal had a knee injury at age 28 that took him from a 20 & 10 to a 13 & 6 and then moving on to 5 teams in 6 years. Danny Granger at the age of 28 diagnosed with a knee ailment that he never recovered from and went from a 19 ppg scorer to about an 8 ppg scorer ending his career at age 31. Paul George snapped his leg and ended a team that had gone to back to back E.C. finals (only losing to the Heat). We all know what happened with Olidipo and let's not pretend that T.J. Warren wasn't averaging 20 ppg at the age of 26 when he had foot issues that he has never really recovered from.

              So in other words I don't really give a rats *** about teams and their injuries beyond just recognizing that they do exist and that yes I'm sure we had some benefit.

              Let's take this moment to tip our caps to the Knicks. Well coached team, very enjoyable (for me anyway) style of play to watch and yes they have talent and never gave up. I have no idea what the future holds for them, just like none of us do about us either, so I can't speculate about what they will be next year. But for this year, they gave it their all and left it all on the floor. That's all anyone can ask.

              But enough talk about other teams or what the national narrative is.

              I'm here to proselytize to all about not just Pacers basketball but for those of you not from here, Indiana basketball.

              I don't know what it is or why it is but for the most part many of us from here that are of my generation and older, and quite a few younger as well, tend to gravitate towards a style of play that is not star driven. While all of us would gladly take a LeBron James type player, we never get that kind of player. But secretly, or not so secretly, most of us root for team basketball. Sure every team, just like any organization, has a hierarchy but the star in our hearts isn't so far above and beyond his team mates. That is why some of us deeply loved our 90's teams. Yes Reggie was clearly the best scorer on our team but he wasn't really that far above and beyond the 4 other starters on the club. Even the Paul George teams were really 4 very good players that surrounded him. He was better than they were but they each played a massive role on the floor and that team was built on smash mouth toughness (that was for V to enjoy if he bothered to read this far).

              So I bring you to our current set of Pacers. Yes Haliburton is the star player but while he is good he is not head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Just look at this scoring from a game 7.

              Nesmith 19
              Siakam 20
              Turner 17
              Nembhard 20
              Haliburton 26

              It doesn't get more team oriented than that and yes that tends to warm the hearts of those of us from the Hoosier state and I'm sure it makes all Pacers fans world wide happy as well.

              So what do you do when you have an overall team win? Well of course you have to acknowledge the players, they had to play the game and contribute to the win. But we do that all the time.

              Today we are going to focus on two things.

              Coaching and management. Typically two things that I criticize and I'm sure in the future I will continue to do so. But for today with my revival of spirit I am going to break Kayfabe and shower praise on both.

              It is no secret that I have issues with Rick Carlisle. I have always acknowledged that he is a good coach, however I think he tends to be stubborn and overrated. However for this series I don't think I've ever seen a coach publicly perform in a more masterful series. Now notice I didn't say masterful coaching job, although I freely admit he did that as well. But I'm talking about how he handled the team, the press and ultimately the league through the media. After game 1, when the whistles were questionable, he could have publicly complained but did not. When game 2, which wasn't nearly as bad as game 1, also had unfavorable calls, he went scorched earth on the the refs and many people thought he went way over board with the "small market" talk. I will admit I cringed when he said that part, but you know what it was masterful because while N.Y. still got more whistles the rest of the series none were nearly as egregious as games 1 & 2. When the Knicks came into game 5 and destroyed the Pacers right after the game was over Rick publicly said he was embarrassed by our play. Then a day later when asked how to get Tyrese going he proceeded to let loose an expletive laced diatribe that basically called the guts of the players into question. Again, Rick is the absolute master of coach speak. In fact I typically don't listen to him because he likes to talk without saying anything and he always deflects blame from the players onto himself. So when he said this, he absolutely was doing it on purpose to send a message. That message was received loud and clear and the Pacers out rebounded the Knicks in both game 6 & 7.

              As to his coaching? Well let me take this time to eat crow. I am one of those who believe, or believed anyway, that you could not play fast and loose in the playoffs that you had to change your style of play to a slow tempo half court game. Rick Carlisle the Pacers just prove me wrong. Now in his post game press conference today he said words that provided me with even more euphoria than I had from the game itself. He said they determined early in the season that the style of play (fast offense but no defense or rebounding) was not sustainable and they consciously changed it up, which we all knew, but it was great to hear him say these words out loud. But he somehow did it without seriously impacting the pace of our offense and shockingly not changing the pace or style for the playoffs. This was even against a Thibs coached team that thrives on grinding out the game and making it a half court affair.

              Just and absolutely masterful coaching job by Rick for this series in particular but so far the playoffs in general.

              But a lot of this and I mean a LOT of this has to be credited to Pritchard and Buchanan. A few years ago it was reported that Pritchard wanted to tear it down and rebuild when Paul George demanded out and was denied by ownership because they did not want to go through years of rebuilding. So he strung together teams that were basically on a treadmill to nowhere. He also has to be blamed with colossally bad drafting early on. But it was further reported, by J.Michael of the star that the time, that KP knew that what they had was not going to go anywhere and knew he could not convince the Simons to change course. After a really bad coaching hire in Nate B. he turned to the one coach who he knew had the pull with the Simons to change course in Carlisle. They gave time to Rick to evaluate what they had but after a horrid start and a very embarrassing game at home (I think vs the Hornets) Rick with KP went to Herb and got permission to change directions. They immediately got to work getting younger. Youth has the problem of inexperience so losing ensues but with youth sometime you get more talent and that is what occurred here. We got younger, we got more athletic and yes ultimately we got more talent. We also got two lottery picks. Now what is odd about our recent drafting is that both of our lottery picks haven't been homeruns. Mathurin has talent and may still work out great but has struggled in a role here and Walker wasn't used really at all. Neither have contributed in this playoff run (we'll come back to this in a minute) but our lower picks have been nothing short of spectacular for where they were picked. Nembhard is a second round pick who already has a playoff game winning shot in his resume and as stated above scored 20 points in a game 7 road win. Shepard has provided solid defense, some occasional rebounding, high activity and good shooting as a low first round pick in his rookie season. Plus he has one heck of a mustache. Jackson was a low first round pick that is giving you something as well.

              Remember when I said we would come back to our lottery picks? Both could fizzle or be traded or something else altogether. But guess what? Both or maybe even just one, could develop into rotational or starting level players. Just imagine where we could be if Mathurin became a 20ppg scorer or Walker became a swiss army knife type player like Draymond Green? Either way both are already killer assets to add to a trade if we had to.

              Frankly I was completely onboard the Pacersgeek bandwagon of firing Pritchard until I hard that J. Michael interview and then once he was given the freedom to rebuild this team I now think he has done a great job. I've said all of this without mentioning the Siakam trade, which frankly was an absolute steal. I may hate losing that pick in 26 but I certainly don't care about the two picks we gave up this year.

              So for today we will celebrate both Pritchard and Buchanan.



              Now is the time in our program where we dance with fruit.



              I can't step away without talking about one player.

              I have had a love hate relationship with Aaron Nesmith all year. I have always loved the fire and passion that he plays with. I really appreciate the defense that he bring every night. I acknowledge his catch and shoot ability. But I also hate when he plays against taller wings who can just pull up and shoot over him and his inability to do almost anything offensively other than the catch and shoot. His dribbling often times gives me heartburn .

              But not today. 8 for 8 from the floor. Are you kidding me? I think he might have had 3 layups and none of them were wide open that I can remember. While he didn't shut Brunson down in this series, he certainly made life miserable for him. When Aaron focused on attacking the glass he was highly effective, while he only had 4 today (no pacer had more than 5) each of these boards were done with effort and a mental wherewithal that was second to none. I know he is going to struggle with Brown, but man was this guy ever something in this series.

              I am sorry this wasn't more of an in depth review of the series but for today I just want to celebrate where we are and where we have come from.

              I've been here for them all. The only NBA pacers playoff series I have not attended was the 1980-81 year and that was before I ever had tickets and I can tell you that you need to appreciate every single time you get to the final four teams playing no matter the circumstance because you have no idea how long it may be before you ever get back there. Nothing is guaranteed.

              These are the series that makes new fans. How many people became fans of the team from that first 94 run to the E.C. finals? How many again became new fans in the 04 run? How many in the 13 season?

              I'm telling you that there is a 10-13 year old out there right now who just fell in love with the Pacers and 10-20 year from now will be the old heads reminiscing about the great 24 season to the new younger generation.

              Specifically touching on your last point, we've heard Tyrese talk about being a teenager in Wisconsin and watching those Pacers teams take on the Heat. These are the moments we'll all remember. Enjoy them when we can.


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              • #8
                Brad Stephens should be fired for trading away Nesmith for Brogdon.
                Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel
                • 6 likes

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Pacergeek View Post
                  Brad Stephens should be fired for trading away Nesmith for Brogdon.
                  i agree and then he should come to iu


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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Peck View Post
                    I'm telling you that there is a 10-13 year old out there right now who just fell in love with the Pacers and 10-20 year from now will be the old heads reminiscing about the great 24 season to the new younger generation.

                    ONLY 10-13 years old?

                    I was one of those kids who got hooked in 94, and I was 7 at that time. There's gonna be a small army of 6 to 8 year olds that are getting hooked right now.
                    "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. "
                    • 2 likes

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Pacergeek View Post
                      Brad Stephens should be fired for trading away Nesmith for Brogdon.
                      Always in form. Gotta appreciate that.
                      Originally posted by IrishPacer
                      Empty vessels make the most noise.
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                      • #12
                        If the Pacers didn’t advance to the late stages of round 2, they wouldn’t have had the “safe” experience of the embarrassment of G5, Rick wouldn’t have had the opportunity to chew their asses out and expect more of them, and they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn what a next level response is. The G7 experience? Career changing most likely for many of these young players.

                        For them to get these experiences now? Invaluable.

                        We learned a lot about our players in G6 and G7, just as we will this next series. You simply can’t compare the in season play with these playoffs. Different world. So happy that the team gets these reps.
                        Last edited by docpaul; 05-20-2024, 03:45 PM.
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                        • #13
                          Got to add another example. Indy Colt fans (including me) celebrate the hell out of our championship. Others says it's tainted because the Chicago Bears had the worst starting QB ever in a Super Bowl and the Bears team as a whole got so lucky to be there. As stated above who gives a rat's @$$. Still feels great and I had the honor to actually carry the Lombardi one time. Bill Polian flew in on Irsay's hellicopter to the campus (Colts training camp during the summer) after winning since we (campus) were kind of family. Anyway I got to carry it from the chopper to the stage. Got some weight to it but not gut busting.
                          Last edited by RWB; 05-20-2024, 03:53 PM.
                          You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....
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