2017-2018 Indiana Pacers and Everything NBA Thread

[Jules]

2 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If the Rockets cant get by the Warriors this season I bet LeBron considers going to the Rockets strongly.

 

I have a few random Lebron thoughts. I doubt he goes to Philly like some hype up, he won't play with a bunch of kids IMO. He also won't move his family to Philadelphia. 

 

If he goes to Houston it would be going to a veteran team so he would just kinda slide in there easy and be homies with them. That team could win it all.

 

If he goes to the Lakers.......I think PG goes too. And then here is where I get scared. What if Lebron tells Magic to trade some of the young guys to say the Pelicans for Anthony Davis or to the Spurs for Leonard? That Lakers team could become UNBEATABLE and the league LOVES to help out the Lakers.

 

I think so much for this coming offseason depends on what happens with Lebron and if he stays or goes.

 

I could see Lebron staying but he won't want to keep losing in the finals.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Jules said:

Miami could blow it, they did last year. Still weirdly too many games left. Miami has been very solid this season though so I almost hate to see them blow it again.

 

Washington is the team I can't figure out. They love to beat the good teams and lose to the bad ones. And they always seem to play Boston and give them fits or rage. They seem better without John Wall too, will him coming back hurt them? No idea.

 

I still cringe at last years Celtics/Wizards 7 game playoff series. That was PHYSICAL and brutal. It was the series I think that ended the career of Isaiah Thomas sadly. He got a tooth knocked out and his hip knocked out and everything.

I think the refs swallowed their whistles a lot in that series to make it more exciting.

The Wizards are the strangest team out there no doubt! They beat the Cavs the other night too in Cleveland. Without Wall one would've thought they would go way down. If we lost Dipo it be a nightmare as proven, 0-6 without him.

[Jules]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Last I looked he had one foot in the grave . He may be a huge wasted #1 pick.

 

With Fultz he got hurt and they said a lot of his problems are now mental. It's so very very odd.......I hope he can work it out for next season.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I have to be honest if I was LeBron I would join the Rockets next season. Might as well at this point in his career. Assuming the Rockets do lose to the Warriors. He can then say without me the Rockets couldn't win a Championship if they did win it. That would give him 4 Rings only 1 behind Magic and Kobe. LeBron joined Wade and Bosh, Durant then went to the Warriors so why not? LeBron won it all in Cleveland so he did what he needed to do in Cleveland.

[Jules]

 

 

 

If true and he does come back, the Spurs suddenly could jump into contending status again possibly.

 

Also if Leonard hates it there that much and wants to be traded, it is a good time to show he is still healthy enough to potential suitors.

 

Brad Stevens said this past week that Gordon Hayward is NOT returning this season. I wanted him back lol but I approve of the decision not to rush him either. I would rather him be good to roll for next year since I like him a lot and want him to have a good career after a horrifying injury.

[jshipp23]

7 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

Glenn Robinson making a difference for us....up now 63-59

..I know hes on limited minutes....

....but his game does not seem limited

Yeah....He looks good, once he gets gets acclimated he is gonna help us ..I am pleasantly surprised..I didn't think he would be as athletic right out of gate, he looks as good as ever health wise...

[jshipp23]

5 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I have to be honest if I was LeBron I would join the Rockets next season. Might as well at this point in his career. Assuming the Rockets do lose to the Warriors. He can then say without me the Rockets couldn't win a Championship if they did win it. That would give him 4 Rings only 1 behind Magic and Kobe. LeBron joined Wade and Bosh, Durant then went to the Warriors so why not? LeBron won it all in Cleveland so he did what he needed to do in Cleveland.

He almost has to go to Houston in order to beat Golden State...Golden State is ruining the NBA..I hope Houston knocks them out this year somehow, they are the only team who can, and it's still only a small chance..

[crazycolt1]

23 minutes ago, jshipp23 said:

He almost has to go to Houston in order to beat Golden State...Golden State is ruining the NBA..I hope Houston knocks them out this year somehow, they are the only team who can, and it's still only a small chance..

 Ruining the NBA?  Nah, not having a hard cap ruined the NBA long ago.

[Chrisaaron1023]

2 hours ago, jshipp23 said:

He almost has to go to Houston in order to beat Golden State...Golden State is ruining the NBA..I hope Houston knocks them out this year somehow, they are the only team who can, and it's still only a small chance..

Not yet.. give em a couple more years.. the Spurs have still had what, 20 straight 60+ win seasons..Ginobli could be my father.. and Lebron has been to 10298392749 straight finals. The Warriors have been good for 4 years..

[jshipp23]

5 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

Not yet.. give em a couple more years.. the Spurs have still had what, 20 straight 60+ win seasons..Ginobli could be my father.. and Lebron has been to 10298392749 straight finals. The Warriors have been good for 4 years..

Man I hate to admit it, but I don't even think Michael Jordan would have been able to beat Golden State...It was hard enough before Durant, now it's just ridiculous...

[Chrisaaron1023]

2 minutes ago, jshipp23 said:

Man I hate to admit it, but I don't even think Michael Jordan would have been able to beat Golden State...It was hard enough before Durant, now it's just ridiculous...

Lol they get lazy at times. Though..it's very hard to compare the different eras. And I barely even got to see Jordan play. But I felt the 2000-2002 Lakers were pretty unstoppable, they could've beaten the Warriors haha. 

 

But I think they are fun to watch, as of right now. Like I said in 3 more years if it's the same story it might get a little tiring

[jshipp23]

36 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

Lol they get lazy at times. Though..it's very hard to compare the different eras. And I barely even got to see Jordan play. But I felt the 2000-2002 Lakers were pretty unstoppable, they could've beaten the Warriors haha. 

 

But I think they are fun to watch, as of right now. Like I said in 3 more years if it's the same story it might get a little tiring

They haven't even had to try yet..They have been in cruise control all season..

[akcolt]

1 hour ago, jshipp23 said:

Man I hate to admit it, but I don't even think Michael Jordan would have been able to beat Golden State...It was hard enough before Durant, now it's just ridiculous...

I'd have to see it to believe it. Those Bulls teams were more than just Jordan. They had bigs in Horace Grant Cartwright, King, Salley and later Rodman and Longley. They always had shooters BJ Paxton Kerr Buechler even Harper. They had Toni Kukoc at 6'11 coming off the bench. The 6th man of the year in 95/96 he was one of the first versitale Euro bigs that could handle and shoot the 3  Oh and Scottie Pippen riding shotgun. 

 

I have never seen anyone want to win like MJ and I can't remember him not delivering  I can't  assume any team is beating the Bulls when really no one did. 

[jshipp23]

2 minutes ago, akcolt said:

I'd have to see it to believe it. Those Bulls teams were more than just Jordan. They had bigs in Horace Grant Cartwright, King, Salley and later Rodman and Longley. They always had shooters BJ Paxton Kerr Buechler even Harper. They had Toni Kukoc at 6'11 coming off the bench. The 6th man of the year in 95/96 he was one of the first versitale Euro bigs that could handle and shoot the 3  Oh and Scottie Pippen riding shotgun. 

 

I have never seen anyone want to win like MJ and I can't remember him not delivering  I can't  assume any team is beating the Bulls when really no one did. 

If anyone could it would be this Warriors squad...

[akcolt]

10 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

The Wizards are the strangest team out there no doubt! They beat the Cavs the other night too in Cleveland. Without Wall one would've thought they would go way down. If we lost Dipo it be a nightmare as proven, 0-6 without him.

There is a big difference for the Wiz his name is Bradley Beal. We don't have a 1 and 1A. When Dipo isn't there to get us throw our funks we have problems. That was part of the problem last tonight. When we broke down Dipo wasn't there to get it going. The team never seemed comfortable. I think working GR3 back in had us out of sync. Sabonis being saddled with fouls only added to the uncertainty. 

 

We didn't make our FT's or show good bball IQ. I think the later was a product of being out of sync as well. It's tough winning on the road especially when shots you wouldn't expect to go start falling against us. Collison's leadership and shot making would have helped last night. The rotations will work themselves out. The good thing is GR3 looks ready to contribute as we'd hoped. We just need everyone on the floor playing together. 

 

We are sitting on 34 wins 1.5 games off 3rd and 6 games ahead of the Pistons in 9th. I think we are going to make the playoffs  It would be disappointing if we didn't close at least .500 in our last 20 games. I think we go 10-10 at least. The question is where does 44 wins put us. Let's hope it's good for at least the 5 seed. 

[Jules]

If somehow Detroit goes on a run in the final weeks, I apologize for jinxing it. I just hate how they have looked since the all star break and I am tough on them I admit.  But so many wide open 3's against them and Blake looks lost. They have had a tough schedule though lately.

 

Pacers schedule gets tougher though soon so you all got to hold serve here. The March schedules though for many of the teams in the east is going to be crazy, so........just hope for the best!

[2006Coltsbestever]

I would put the 1987 Lakers up against the Warriors. That team averaged 117.8 points a game and could run anyone off the floor. They would be a matchup nightmare for the Warriors because Magic was a 6'9 Point Guard and to me the 2nd best player of all-time. They wouldn't have anyone that could check Kareem down low either. Draymond Green would have to check Worthy and I doubt he could stop Worthy, Worthy is too quick. Worthy would get Durant in Foul trouble. The Lakers could also play the 3 point game with Scott and Cooper. Cooper once hit 7 3's in a Finals game vs Boston which was 1987. Scott shot 44% from 3 that season. Pat Riley is a better all-time Coach over Steve Kerr as well. 1987 Lakers would beat them JMO.

[oldunclemark]

10 hours ago, akcolt said:

There is a big difference for the Wiz his name is Bradley Beal. We don't have a 1 and 1A. When Dipo isn't there to get us throw our funks we have problems. That was part of the problem last tonight. When we broke down Dipo wasn't there to get it going. The team never seemed comfortable. I think working GR3 back in had us out of sync. Sabonis being saddled with fouls only added to the uncertainty. 

 

We didn't make our FT's or show good bball IQ. I think the later was a product of being out of sync as well. It's tough winning on the road especially when shots you wouldn't expect to go start falling against us. Collison's leadership and shot making would have helped last night. The rotations will work themselves out. The good thing is GR3 looks ready to contribute as we'd hoped. We just need everyone on the floor playing together. 

 

We are sitting on 34 wins 1.5 games off 3rd and 6 games ahead of the Pistons in 9th. I think we are going to make the playoffs  It would be disappointing if we didn't close at least .500 in our last 20 games. I think we go 10-10 at least. The question is where does 44 wins put us. Let's hope it's good for at least the 5 seed. 

No offense , ak...

..but the question is: can we go 10-10 in the final 20?

 

Still, 2 with Toronto, 2 with GSW, 2 against Washington...2 with Milwaukee...at Denver.....at Boston..at Philadelphia

You are right....we lack some direction on the floor without Darren Collison....

 

34-26 is strong...but we need this game Wednesday and the game at Washington Friday is now very big

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

No offense , ak...

..but the question is: can we go 10-10 the rest of the way?

 

Still, 2 with Toronto, 2 with GSW, 2 against Washington...2 with Milwaukee...at Denver.....at Boston..at Philadelphia

You are right....we lack some direction on the floor without Darren Collison....

 

34-26 is strong...but we need this game Wednesday and the game at Washington Friday is now very big

I think we can go 9-13 the rest of the way and still get in - don't even need to be near .500. I don't see Detroit going 15-7, they are crap right now. Hornets aren't going 16-6 either. I give us a 90% chance of making the Playoffs, that's how sure I am. The only thing that could derail us is, if Dipo gets a season ending injury and we lose almost every game. Pistons or Hornets would have to play around .700 basketball if we just go 9-13. Not going to happen.

[oldunclemark]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I think we can go 9-13 the rest of the way and still get in - don't even need to be near .500. I don't see Detroit going 15-7, they are crap right now. Hornets aren't going 16-6 either. I give us a 90% chance of making the Playoffs, that's how sure I am. The only thing that could derail us is, if Dipo gets a season ending injury and we lose almost every game. Pistons or Hornets would have to play around .700 basketball if we just go 9-13. Not going to happen.

Detroit wont, I agree,..

But we end the season with 2 against Charlotte....all they have to do is pull within 2 games of us. before that time.

That's another team we don't match up with.

On the good side...There's no guarantee Golden State will play everybody against us....They may have clinched the west or taken a nearly insurmountable lead over Houston.

..We might beat Milwaukee twice.....they are hard to predict..

..and I dont understand how Washington is still winning.

If we cant get to the 4th spot......6th-thru-8th is similar in the respect that you could draw the Cavs, Boston or Toronto in any of those spots.

 

But projections made when there's still 25% of the season left ...can easily be wrong.

I still cant believe we lost to Dallas

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Detroit wont, I agree,..

But we end the season with 2 against Charlotte....all they have to do is pull within 2 games of us. before that time.

That's another team we don't match up with.

On the good side...There's no guarantee Golden State will play everybody against us....They may have clinched the west or taken a nearly insurmountable lead over Houston.

..We might beat Milwaukee twice.....they are hard to predict..

..and I dont understand how Washington is still winning.

If we cant get to the 4th spot......6th-thru-8th is similar in the respect that you could draw the Cavs, Boston or Toronto in any of those spots.

 

But projections made when there's still 25% of the season left ...can easily be wrong.

I still cant believe we lost to Dallas

 

I don't see us losing to the Hornets twice. It's actually good we have 2 games left with them so we control our own fate in all likelihood. I think we smoke Atlanta tomorrow.

[oldunclemark]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I don't see us losing to the Hornets twice. It's actually good we have 2 games left with them so we control our own fate in all likelihood. I think we smoke Atlanta tomorrow.

How many did Kemba smoke us with last time we played..

.. Dwight Howard grabbed 15 rebounds....its not a good match for us...

 

..and yes, Thank God for the Hawks.....a team that knows how to lose

[akcolt]

23 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

No offense , ak...

..but the question is: can we go 10-10 the rest of the way?

 

Still, 2 with Toronto, 2 with GSW, 2 against Washington...2 with Milwaukee...at Denver.....at Boston..at Philadelphia

You are right....we lack some direction on the floor without Darren Collison....

 

34-26 is strong...but we need this game Wednesday and the game at Washington Friday is now very big

Here are our winnable games ATL x2 road games @ Sac Clips Hornets then home games vs Utah Lakers Clips Heat Hornets. I don't think we win all 10 but we aren't going to lose every game vs the playoff bound teams either. The Hornets are the last 2 games of the season they won't have much to play for. 

 

Why the so skeptical all of a sudden? We are a good team and have held our own vs everyone in the East all season. We are making the playoffs I don't think the 5 seed is a dream If you look at the other eastern teams schedules no one has a cake walk to close. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

How many did Kemba smoke us with last time we played..

.. Dwight Howard grabbed 15 rebounds....its not a good match for us...

 

..and yes, Thank God for the Hawks.....a team that knows how to lose

I still don't believe the Hornets can go 16-6 over the last 22 and we can go 9-13 at worse. I just think 43 wins will get us in. Yeah it's a guess on how many wins it will take but a pretty safe one.

[oldunclemark]

10 minutes ago, akcolt said:

Here are our winnable games ATL x2 road games @ Sac Clips Hornets then home games vs Utah Lakers Clips Heat Hornets. I don't think we win all 10 but we aren't going to lose every game vs the playoff bound teams either. The Hornets are the last 2 games of the season they won't have much to play for. 

 

Why the so skeptical all of a sudden? We are a good team and have held our own vs everyone in the East all season. We are making the playoffs I don't think the 5 seed is a dream If you look at the other eastern teams schedules no one has a cake walk to close. 

ak;  'all of a sudden"??   I've been saying this for a month.

The final 1/4 of our schedule is an uphill climb...and if Charlotte is 2 behind us with 2 left..they have everything to play for.  Charlotte beat us earlier this month

Understand, I'm not predicting we'll suddenly start playing badly.

I'm saying that Toronto and Golden State and Washington can whip us even if we continue (other than Monday) to play well.

 

Our schedule in the final 22 games is much tougher than it has been in the first 60 and we enter that stretch without our starting lead guard. If you step back and look at it....we're not a lock to get in yet. Not even close..

 

Edited February 28, 2018 by oldunclemark

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

ak;  'all of a sudden"??   I've been saying this for a month.

The final 1/4 of our schedule is an uphill climb...and if Charlotte is 2 behind us with 2 left..they have everything to play for.  Charlotte beat us earlier this month

Understand, I'm not predicting we'll suddenly start playing badly.

I'm saying that Toronto and Golden State and Washington can whip us even if we continue (the than Monday) to play well.

 

Our schedule in the final 22 games is much tougher than it has been in the first 60 and we enter that stretch without our starting lead guard. If you step back and look at it....we're not a lock to get in.

 

That's why it is good we built a nice cushion, for the most part besides last night we have beat the teams we were supposed to beat.

[oldunclemark]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

That's why it is good we built a nice cushion, for the most part besides last night we have beat the teams we were supposed to beat.

Thank God for Atlanta.....

[akcolt]

1 minute ago, oldunclemark said:

ak;  'all of a sudden"??   I've been saying this for a month.

The final 1/4 of our schedule is an uphill climb...and if Charlotte is 2 behind us with 2 left..they have everything to play for.  Charlotte beat us earlier this month

Understand, I'm not predicting we'll suddenly start playing badly.

I'm saying that Toronto and Golden State and Washington can whip us even if we continue (the than Monday) to play well.

 

Our schedule in the final 22 games is much tougher than it has been in the first 60 and we enter that stretch without our starting lead guard. If you step back and look at it....we're not a lock to get in.

 

We've split with the Raptors and the Hornets so far. The Hornets needed 41 from Walker and franchise record 42 first quarter points to beat us. We played the Wiz to the final minutes without Dipo and split with the Bucks. We have lost on the road and won at home. 

 

We play good teams but we have shown we can beat anyone in the east. I think you are going to be surprised at how we close the season.  Did you see GR3 is back and looking pretty good

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, akcolt said:

We've split with the Raptors and the Hornets so far. The Hornets needed 41 from Walker and franchise record 42 first quarter points to beat us. We played the Wiz to the final minutes without Dipo and split with the Bucks. We have lost on the road and won at home. 

 

We play good teams but we have shown we can beat anyone in the east. I think you are going to be surprised at how we close the season.  Did you see GR3 is back and looking pretty good

Yeah I think worst case scenario is we finish in 8th but I honestly could still us in 7th. Miami isn't all that either.

[BleedBlu8792]

14 hours ago, jshipp23 said:

Man I hate to admit it, but I don't even think Michael Jordan would have been able to beat Golden State...It was hard enough before Durant, now it's just ridiculous...

 

Sure they would have.. Chicago knew how to play defense and prided themselves on playing D. Durant would have to go against one of best defenders in NBA history in Pippen. Pippen would frustrate the hell out of Durant. Jordan would have been matched up with Curry -  we know who would win that. Rodman with Draymond - I doubt Draymond makes it out of the first half before being thrown out due to Rodman. Harper would have been on Thompson, as Klay would be the guy Phil would make beat them - which wouldn't happen. Kukoc would force GS to play McGee/West more because Pachulia in no way could guard him. 

 

I'd take that 95' Bulls team 10 out of 10 times in a series against GS. 

[jshipp23]

8 minutes ago, BleedBlu8792 said:

 

Sure they would have.. Chicago knew how to play defense and prided themselves on playing D. Durant would have to go against one of best defenders in NBA history in Pippen. Pippen would frustrate the hell out of Durant. Jordan would have been matched up with Curry -  we know who would win that. Rodman with Draymond - I doubt Draymond makes it out of the first half before being thrown out due to Rodman. Harper would have been on Thompson, as Klay would be the guy Phil would make beat them - which wouldn't happen. Kukoc would force GS to play McGee/West more because Pachulia in no way could guard him. 

 

I'd take that 95' Bulls team 10 out of 10 times in a series against GS. 

Yeah...probably right..I miss that era..

[akcolt]

10 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah I think worst case scenario is we finish in 8th but I honestly could still us in 7th. Miami isn't all that either.

I think we battle with the Wiz and the Bucks for positioning the rest of the way. The Cavs better be careful they could find themselves in that battle.  I don't see Miami or Detroit making up ground nor do I think Charlotte is going to start playing better than .500 ball. The Hornets play over half their games vs current playoff teams and 11/21 are on the road. The Pistons are in the same boat. Those teams would really have to pick it up.  They are 6 and 6.5 games back.  I don't see that happening 

 

We couldn't ask for a bigger opportunity. We play the Wiz 3x and the Bucks twice. Those five games will go a long way in determining seeding.  I feel good about this team. We can and have beat everyone in the East. We went into Boston and Cleveland and won when no one thought we could. We beat the Raptors at home then we ran Philly out of Indiana.  We are tied with the Cav's with 21 home wins one behind Boston at 22 The Raptors are top in the NBA on 26.

 

I don't see any reason we don't post a winning record this last run of games. I expect we will continue battling for the 4/5 game not fall back to a 7/8 seed.  The fun starts today with ATL then we wrap up this road trip with the Bucks Friday and the Wiz Sunday. The Bucks are in Indy Monday that's a busy six days. . It'd be nice to hit the home stand on a 3 game winning streak. Anyone know who's city this is? 

 

 

[oldunclemark]

20 hours ago, akcolt said:

We've split with the Raptors and the Hornets so far. The Hornets needed 41 from Walker and franchise record 42 first quarter points to beat us. We played the Wiz to the final minutes without Dipo and split with the Bucks. We have lost on the road and won at home. 

 

We play good teams but we have shown we can beat anyone in the east. I think you are going to be surprised at how we close the season.  Did you see GR3 is back and looking pretty good

Glenn looked very good/..  I hope you are right about everything else..

[oldunclemark]

We have signed Trevor Booker...a rebounding forward..who was cut loose Wednesday by the Nets..

Don't know much about him. A rebounder and not a scorer.  Long time veteran

Must be some connection. he did play with Thad Young in New Jersey. didn't he?

 

I'm glad that we' re doing what we can to add bench strength.....That's been  a weakness all year

Edited March 1, 2018 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

Down 28-27 at Atlanta (18-42)..after one quarter

Myles Turner drew two fouls in two minutes and sat out  most of the quarter but we seem to have survived it....

 

Needless to say this is a must-win..

Edited March 1, 2018 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

we are down 55-50 at the half....to the worst team in the conference

[oldunclemark]

Lakers release Corey Brewer.,..and word is he'll sign with OKC.

Good pickup

[Bluefire4]

We better win this game...

[oldunclemark]

..down 61-50..this is a little embarassing

 

Duane Dedmon looks like Mutombo out there..

[Bluefire4]

Oh Lord this is not good. And if we can't even beat the Hawks and Mavericks, I don't see how we beat the Wizards or the Bucks on the road. Then we come off of a back-to-back to play the Bucks at home on Monday which could also be a loss.

 

Just stay in the postseason Pacers...