I love watching the Pacers. They beat the Lakers last night to win their 19th game of the season, but winning is only part of the work they have done to win my heart. In the star-driven NBA where brand value often trumps success in the eyes of fans, the Pacers are an anomaly. They excel without […]
The Indiana Pacers are 7-4, having won all seven during their latest eight-game stretch, and no one is talking about them. National media fawns over the crazy numbers posted by James Harden, star-driven teams in LA, and the nonsensical drama that the New York Knicks wear like their jerseys. Local media is so focused upon […]
Kevin Pritchard can’t run the Pacers basketball operation in the same way as the other 29 guys with his job and win a championship. Many of the other teams can lure Uber-talented free agents with bright lights, branding opportunities, and championship dreams. The Pacers are a small market team without a single NBA title in its 43 seasons. […]
When Victor Oladipo crumpled to the floor with 4:05 left in the first half of last night’s game against Toronto, fans wondered if this promising season crumpled with him. The rest of the Pacers continued to fight to earn the win against Toronto, but the question of what the ceiling is for the team minus […]
Gone are Paul George, Jeff Teague, Monte Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles, Lavoy Allen, Aaron Brooks and Rakeem Christmas. Those players represent roughly 75 points per game, and played more than half the minutes for the Indiana Pacers last year. Replacing them are players both familiar and not so much like Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bodganovich, […]
So often, the answer from Indiana fans when asked about Tom Crean’s leadership of the Hoosiers basketball program is, “Poor game coach, quirky guy, but great recruiter.” His rep as a challenged game coach is overblown, but so is the usual valuation of his recruiting process. We all agree on the quirks. Normally, I am not […]
Dreams are granted. Dreams are crushed. That’s the NBA Draft in a nutshell. Last night’s draft was filled with fun and surprises, as were the two days prior for fans of the Indiana Pacers. A trade sent one Indy native to Utah of all places, brought home another native, filled a gaping hole at power forward, […]
After losing to Wake Forest and UNLV in the Maui Invitational, it is even more important for Indiana basketball fans to remain positive – if only for their own sanity.. It’s a long season, and while that is not an item on this list of things for which Tom Crean should give thanks today, it should […]
by Kent Sterling When fans care more than the players, it’s time to re-plate the front page of our lives. Can’t people present an opinion anymore without those who disagree losing their minds? For whatever reason, recently I have been assailed for voicing a variety of opinions, and I just don’t get it. Because I […]
by Kent Sterling Before I even begin writing, I want you to be aware that everything I embrace in this post represents pie in the sky ideals from a time long past that cannot return. Tom Crean might as well submit a letter of resignation as adopt any of these philosophies. I know they are […]
