Are the Pacers the favorites after Miami?

[Manning2Luck_uJelly]

lol @ heat fans getting insecure.

 

[Black Adam]

lol @ heat fans getting insecure.

GOTTA love it. hey, i have respect for what the Pacers have done(and that's coming from a Lakers fan). hope you light those clowns up in the coming season...

 

[Flauge]

I think the Pacers have overtaken the Heat as the best team in the East. A very good starting 5, and now, a very solid bench.

and there is a reason why youre not paid to think.

 

[Flauge]

While the Heat are the defending champs, with the moves that the Pacers have made, the better question may be Are the Heat the favorites behind the Pacers?

asking that question makes you a ra-tard. the pacers arent on the heat's level. the heat never trailed that series and took them out behind the woodshed in game 7. pacers are scrappy. i give them credit. they play hard. but they are not capable of beating miami when miami is facing elimination.pacers offseason moves are cute.. but not worth to much. only 5 can be on the floor.

 

[Black Adam]

asking that question makes you a ra-tard. the pacers arent on the heat's level. the heat never trailed that series and took them out behind the woodshed in game 7. pacers are scrappy. i give them credit. they play hard. but they are not capable of beating miami when miami is facing elimination.pacers offseason moves are cute.. but not worth to much. only 5 can be on the floor.

wait, hold on a sec. how do you KNOW that they're incapable of beating the Heat? taking them to 7 games PROVES they can, and who knows how the upcoming season is gonna turn out. looking at history is one thing, but not a full story of what's to come...

 

[OutlawImmortal]

In the Pacers' defense Flauge, Granger has always been the leader of that team.

 

[Am I Blue Through it All?]

Like someone else said above. Pacers basically traded Hansbrough, Plumlee, and Green for Scola, Granger, Solomon Hill, and CJ Watson. Also mentioned was Orlando Johnson, who is a combo guard, more of a 2 but very similar to Lance Stephenson. The one thing the Pacers are somewhat lacking is a true PG, because Hill isn't a true PG, but they can make it work fine because of their defense and the ability of George/Stephenson to bring the ball up court.

If Hibbert is the same Hibbert we seen in the playoffs and not the first 40 games of the season, I could see the Pacers being the 1 seed. Even former D-MVP Chandler got abused by him, not to mention Andersen/Bosh. His improvement, along with George's improvement, then you add Granger to the mix with a very solid bench, and the Pacers could dominate the league.

The scary thing with the Pacers is that their offense just got a whole lot better while the defense didn't really suffer too much. If they start putting up 100+ ppg, this team will be a nightmare to play against with the level of intensity their defense plays with.

I realize I am a homer. Saw the very first Pacers game as a wee lad. But still, if they get help at the point, they will lose a game here and there, but no one will be able to beat them in 7 games.

 

[shitsho]

I realize I am a homer. Saw the very first Pacers game as a wee lad. But still, if they get help at the point, they will lose a game here and there, but no one will be able to beat them in 7 games.

You guys have a problem that I am surprised you havent spotted yet. West is related to Chris Webber and you guys resigned him. He gets that deer in the headlights look when the pressure is on. He is a big part of your team so I can see the Pacers losing because of him.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Hibbert has emerged, George is emerging and Granger is coming back. I've predicted this team to beat the Heat for like 2-3 years now, this feels like the year!! Lol.

After last seasons playoffs, it sure seems to look that way. His regular season averages last year don't look that great though for a guy his size and a max contract. 28.7min, 11.9ppg, 8.3 boards and 2.8 blocks, .448 FG%. He doesn't get the minutes like most would as the starting C but is kind of a good thing which means less chance of injury.

In the playoffs though his avg minutes went up (36.5) PPG went up (17.0) and his FG% went up (.511). If you're a coach, that makes you very happy.

As a G'town fan, I root for Hibbert (and Greg Monroe) to have a great career, but as a Knicks fan I 'd rather he be in the West or any other team in the East besides the fucking POS Pacers.

 

[Flauge]

In the Pacers' defense Flauge, Granger has always been the leader of that team.

if granger doesnt get injured paul george never gets his shot. granger wont make them better. if he comes back then someone.. either paul george or if the want to go insanely small david west goes to the bench. neither moves makes them better.. it just doesnt.

 

[Heatles84]

While the Heat are the defending champs, with the moves that the Pacers have made, the better question may be Are the Heat the favorites behind the Pacers?

I still think the Heat are the favorites, you have to consider the health of Wade (will he be healthy come playoff time, etc.). However, and I've stated multiple times, the Pacers are the one team in the East that concerns me. Miami has already beaten a Derrick Rose Bulls team and the Nets have little athleticism and sound defense on their end. Indiana beats you up with brute strength in Hibbert and West, and has the best perimeter defense in the league - which is Miami's specialty.

My only question mark for the Pacers is how they put all these new pieces together. I guess I'm in the minority that thinks Paul George is better than Granger. But George and Hibbert were the catalysts for the ECF going 7 games. Granger will essentially take touches away from Paul George. It's a long way until May.

But Indiana has the Heat's full attention.

 

[Flauge]

wait, hold on a sec. how do you KNOW that they're incapable of beating the Heat? taking them to 7 games PROVES they can, and who knows how the upcoming season is gonna turn out. looking at history is one thing, but not a full story of what's to come...

Because they lost game 7 in blowout fashion. 23 point behind the woodshed old fashion ass kicking. if they were capable of beating miami when miami absolutely had to win.. it wouldnt have been only an 8 possession game. they cant beat miami when miami has to win. it's like the knicks and pacers of the 90s vs the bulls.. sure they may force a game 7. but they aint winning it.

miami has a weapon of mass destruction.. the pacers dont. i hope they get used to runner ups in the east because that's all theyre playing for.

 

[Jims_Doors]

I still think the Heat are the favorites, you have to consider the health of Wade (will he be healthy come playoff time, etc.). However, and I've stated multiple times, the Pacers are the one team in the East that concerns me. Miami has already beaten a Derrick Rose Bulls team and the Nets have little athleticism and sound defense on their end. Indiana beats you up with brute strength in Hibbert and West, and has the best perimeter defense in the league - which is Miami's specialty.

My only question mark for the Pacers is how they put all these new pieces together. I guess I'm in the minority that thinks Paul George is better than Granger. But George and Hibbert were the catalysts for the ECF going 7 games. Granger will essentially take touches away from Paul George. It's a long way until May.

But Indiana has the Heat's full attention.

Does Indiana want to somewhat focus on Hibbert's emergence and get him the ball more to polish his game more? Or does he get less touches with more weapons on offense?

 

[OutlawImmortal]

if granger doesnt get injured paul george never gets his shot. granger wont make them better. if he comes back then someone.. either paul george or if the want to go insanely small david west goes to the bench. neither moves makes them better.. it just doesnt.

I'm not sure how much I agree with that. George is still a young guy who I think would prefer to shy away from a big shot for at least another season or two, Granger has more experience and was their go-to-guy and leader before he got hurt. Paul George didn't crack 15 points in 3 out of the 7 against the Heat. With another offensive option who can create his own shot ( a healthy Granger > George ((for now)) > Stephenson ) the Pacers should look pretty formidable. Just my opinion though, things could shake up a number of ways but I don't see why they would be required to go small since IMO George is a better SG than Stephenson and I think Granger is better defensively at the 3 than George is.

 

[Black Adam]

Because they lost game 7 in blowout fashion. 23 point behind the woodshed old fashion ass kicking. if they were capable of beating miami when miami absolutely had to win.. it wouldnt have been only an 8 possession game. they cant beat miami when miami has to win. it's like the knicks and pacers of the 90s vs the bulls.. sure they may force a game 7. but they aint winning it.

miami has a weapon of mass destruction.. the pacers dont. i hope they get used to runner ups in the east because that's all theyre playing for.

"a weapon of mass destruction". lol, so basically they can't because you say so. got it...

 

[trojanfan12]

I still think the Heat are the favorites, you have to consider the health of Wade (will he be healthy come playoff time, etc.). However, and I've stated multiple times, the Pacers are the one team in the East that concerns me. Miami has already beaten a Derrick Rose Bulls team and the Nets have little athleticism and sound defense on their end. Indiana beats you up with brute strength in Hibbert and West, and has the best perimeter defense in the league - which is Miami's specialty.

My only question mark for the Pacers is how they put all these new pieces together. I guess I'm in the minority that thinks Paul George is better than Granger. But George and Hibbert were the catalysts for the ECF going 7 games. Granger will essentially take touches away from Paul George. It's a long way until May.

But Indiana has the Heat's full attention.

I know this and you know this. You might want to explain it to Flauge, so he doesn't have to hear it from a ra-tard like me!!

As for Granger taking touches from George, since when is having multiple good players shooting the ball a bad thing? Granger taking touches means that the Heat can't concentrate on stopping George, they have to pay attention to Granger too!!

What makes the Pacers dangerous, in my opinion, is that they have shown that they have the defense to cause major problems for the Heat and now they look to actually have an offense to go along with that defense. They also are now a deeper team as well!!

The worst of it for the Heat though is that the Pacers strength happens to be where the Heat are most vulnerable. Also, don't underestimate how difficult it is to make it to 4 straight finals. There is a reason that it hasn't been done since the early 80's Showtime Lakers!!

No question that the Heat are the favorites. They are the defending champs and while they haven't necessarily improved, they haven't gotten worse either and they have the best player on the planet!!

I'd take that all day long and go into any season confident. But some of your Heat brethren who seem to think that the rest of the East (and league) aren't making moves to catch and surpass the Heat are apparently new to basketball!!

 

[Jims_Doors]

[email protected] always cries about non threads or teams that never get talked about (other than the Lakers or Heat). Here's a thread talking about his team and he hasn't chimed in after 76 posts.

#pussy

 

[bksballer89]

If the Heat sign Greg Oden or a big man similar to his size, they will match up much better w/Indy than they do now.

 

[Jims_Doors]

If the Heat sign Greg Oden or a big man similar to his size, they will match up much better w/Indy than they do now.

Oden's knees are roached. There's a very good chance he won't be available for the playoffs.

There's no big available right now that can match up with Roy.

 

[Flauge]

I'm not sure how much I agree with that. George is still a young guy who I think would prefer to shy away from a big shot for at least another season or two, Granger has more experience and was their go-to-guy and leader before he got hurt. Paul George didn't crack 15 points in 3 out of the 7 against the Heat. With another offensive option who can create his own shot ( a healthy Granger > George ((for now)) > Stephenson ) the Pacers should look pretty formidable. Just my opinion though, things could shake up a number of ways but I don't see why they would be required to go small since IMO George is a better SG than Stephenson and I think Granger is better defensively at the 3 than George is.

okay that's fair. maybe the slide george to sg. didnt think of that.. not sure why. i think the pacers are formidable.. i respect them. im really not trying to be a douche. i just dont think they are on Miami's level.