2017-2018 Indiana Pacers and Everything NBA Thread

[oldunclemark]

Fans want different things.

Some want a competitive team that plays hard and is in the playoffs every season.

Some fans want a star. The 'stud'  who has a 'brand' and does GatorAde commercials.

That's fun, too.

Some fans just want to complain about all the mistakes players and coaches and management makes.  And how they know better. It makes therm feel good.

Some fans feel that if you aren't competing for the league championship, you are a loser. In the overall sense,. that's true.. Only Golden State won last season.

 

I just want to see a good team wearing Indiana uniforms...winning more than they're losing and acting like they want to be here.

for 2018...be better than 42-40....For me, that's the goal

Edited July 10, 2017 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

On ‎7‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 5:28 PM, RockThatBlue said:

The T wolves are close to signing Jamal Crawford. Wow, Minnesota is building themselves a team. 

This is a big signing..They want to challenge GSW....and they're not joking

[Myles]

8 hours ago, akcolt said:

 I get it you think the Pacers need to tank despite the fact that we have been contenders without it. Yoiu keep showing everyone how smart you are maybe KP or the Simons will hear you. 

 

Do you know Vic and Sabonis are lottery picks? This might keep you busy for a minute How many top 10 picks are there every year? Shoes on. How many Magic Bird and MJ's are there in a draft?  You can take them off 

Nowhere have I said they should tank.  I have actually said they should not.  Nice try though

[Jules]

On 7/8/2017 at 8:35 AM, Chrisaaron1023 said:

lol I don't want Lonzo to be a bust... that's too easy.. I just hope he's one  of those guys who plays the last 2 mins when a team is up 20.. one of those guys who wins a championship and is spraying champagne all over his.. clean jersey lol.  

 

 

 

On 7/8/2017 at 1:39 PM, oldunclemark said:

By the way..just saw Brandon Ingram's summer league highlights...from Friday..

Magic was/is never going to deal that kid

 

Magic can't deal Ingram. Ingram will be mainly responsible this year for most of their scoring. The bean pole is gonna have to work his butt off. 

 

I still want to see Ingram bulk up a bit too. And good thing they held him out with cramps.

 

 

On 7/8/2017 at 2:06 PM, 2006Coltsbestever said:

A lot of people may say why aren't you giving D'Angelo Russell the benefit of the doubt as he is young. 2 reasons why there, 1 he was a bad locker room guy and that is per several of his teammates and Magic Johnson saying this being around the team, 2 he lacked Leadership to be a true Great Point Guard. He is more of a shooting Guard. Magic wanted a guy that can run the Point, Pass first type of a guy. So I understand why LA traded Russell. They got rid of Mozgov's contract too and picked up a Good quality Center in Lopez.

 

I think LaVar Ball is the bad locker room guy for the Lakers. Oddly enough last night I was even getting into watching Lonzo's award winning universally praised passing until big mouth does another interview and declares that the torch has been passed from Magic to Lonzo and Lonzo is going to go down as the best PG of all time.

 

People can say to ignore that psychopath all they want, but you can't. He is the loud mouthed father of a kid that looks like Screech from Saved by the Bell now.

 

 

23 hours ago, Synthetic said:

 

Tatum had 27 points and looked a lot better, but all the spotlight goes to the kid with the big mouth dad and insane hype. 

 

Tatum has looked pretty good in summer league. Some in Boston are prematurely calling him "Paul Piece 2.0" but it's premature. 

 

But tonight Tatum didn't score as much, he reached Lonzo Ball territory sadly. A bad night for Tatum is Lonzo like scoring. A good night for Lonzo is Lonzo like scoring.

 

I feel sorry for Fultz spraining his ankle. But thats the Philly way too.....nothing comes easy for them.

 

I want to see Fultz show up sometime this year with cornrows and say "Practice? Muh ankle hurts.......PRACTICE?".

 

 

57 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Fans want different things.

Some want a competitive team that plays hard and is in the playoffs every season.

Some fans want a star. The 'stud'  who has a 'brand' and does GatorAde commercials.

That's fun, too.

Some fans just want to complain about all the mistakes players and coaches and management makes.  And how they know better. It makes therm feel good.

Some fans feel that if you aren't competing for the league championship, you are a loser. In the overall sense,. that's true.. Only Golden State won last season.

 

I just want to see a good team wearing Indiana uniforms...winning more than they're losing and acting like they want to be here.

for 2018...be better than 42-40....For me, that's the goal

 

Don't you worry oldunclemark.......the Pacers are gonna kick aazz and you will have been the first to have called it.

[oldunclemark]

      Ingram is so thin...I heard them talking about how they've tried to fatten him up and its not working yet.

But time will take care of that.

 

(None of us stayed thin too far into our 20s)

[oldunclemark]

  I wanted see the Pacers play more summer games but I'm probably wrong in that

 

TJ Leaf needs to get his skinny self to the weight room 8 days a week for the next 2 months.

 I saw a lot of skill in him but I also saw the body of a high school senior 

 

I hope the kid from Xavier can play at the start of the season but I'm reading that's doubtful

Edited July 10, 2017 by oldunclemark

[Bluefire4]

I like Cory Joseph and he really ticked me off in the playoff series a couple years ago with how good he was off the bench.

 

We're still not winning more than 30 games though,

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, Jules said:

 

 

 

 

Magic can't deal Ingram. Ingram will be mainly responsible this year for most of their scoring. The bean pole is gonna have to work his butt off. 

 

I still want to see Ingram bulk up a bit too. And good thing they held him out with cramps.

 

 

 

I think LaVar Ball is the bad locker room guy for the Lakers. Oddly enough last night I was even getting into watching Lonzo's award winning universally praised passing until big mouth does another interview and declares that the torch has been passed from Magic to Lonzo and Lonzo is going to go down as the best PG of all time.

 

People can say to ignore that psychopath all they want, but you can't. He is the loud mouthed father of a kid that looks like Screech from Saved by the Bell now.

 

 

 

Tatum has looked pretty good in summer league. Some in Boston are prematurely calling him "Paul Piece 2.0" but it's premature. 

 

But tonight Tatum didn't score as much, he reached Lonzo Ball territory sadly. A bad night for Tatum is Lonzo like scoring. A good night for Lonzo is Lonzo like scoring.

 

I feel sorry for Fultz spraining his ankle. But thats the Philly way too.....nothing comes easy for them.

 

I want to see Fultz show up sometime this year with cornrows and say "Practice? Muh ankle hurts.......PRACTICE?".

 

 

 

Don't you worry oldunclemark.......the Pacers are gonna kick aazz and you will have been the first to have called it.

Yeah I hope the Pacers somehow do good. That would be real cool.

[Jules]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah I hope the Pacers somehow do good. That would be real cool.

 

They may not be too bad.......the east has open spots at the bottom of the playoff ladder though......

 

At the very least the PG diva is gone as a distraction.

 

 

1 hour ago, oldunclemark said:

      Ingram is so thin...I heard them talking about how they've tried to fatten him up and its not working yet.

But time will take care of that.

 

(None of us stayed thin too far into our 20s)

 

Speak for yourself........

 

[Colts_Fan12]

30 minutes ago, Bluefire4 said:

I like Cory Joseph and he really ticked me off in the playoff series a couple years ago with how good he was off the bench.

 

We're still not winning more than 30 games though,

I really hope you are right

[Jules]

Pacers may suck next year, but there are only a few real contenders in the east anyway so it is not impossible to actually do a lot better then expected.

 

Everyone should be happy, it's fun to rebuild a bit at times. And Princess Paul Georgina is gone, this can only help the locker room mend and move on.

 

[akcolt]

3 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

  I wanted see the Pacers play more summer games but I'm probably wrong in that

 

TJ Leaf needs to get his skinny self to the weight room 8 days a week for the next 2 months.

 I saw a lot of skill in him but I also saw the body of a high school senior 

 

I hope the kid from Xavier can play at the start of the season but I'm reading that's doubtful

I think  Sumner is a project. He has great size and is an explosive athlete. He can't shoot from anywhere His shooting is bad and we don't know how he comes back from the knee. I can't see him helping us this year. I don't think we expect him to. That is why we did a 2 Way contract. 

[Myles]

7 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

 

 

We're still not winning more than 30 games though,

I'd put us closer to 38 wins.  

[BullsColtsFan1]

On 7/7/2017 at 1:15 PM, 2006Coltsbestever said:

 

Why didn't they just trade us Bradley, Olynyk, and a 2nd Round pick for PG. I believe that was offered now. That would've been better than Dipo and Sabonis for us.

Olynk was a free agent.  I really think Pacers fans will come around to Olidipo.  I think Bradley is much better defensively but awful small for his position.  Olidipo is much better offensively then Bradley.  Oladipo and Turner are two good building pieces.  Only if the Pacers had accepted that crazy offer for PG before the deadline last year.  I want to say Denver and/or Atlanta threw out a crazy offer?

[21isSuperman]

18 hours ago, Bluefire4 said:

I like Cory Joseph and he really ticked me off in the playoff series a couple years ago with how good he was off the bench.

 

We're still not winning more than 30 games though,

In honour of PG13, I think we should aim for 13 wins.  Lock up that #1 pick!

[RockThatBlue]

11 hours ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

Olynk was a free agent.  I really think Pacers fans will come around to Olidipo.  I think Bradley is much better defensively but awful small for his position.  Olidipo is much better offensively then Bradley.  Oladipo and Turner are two good building pieces.  Only if the Pacers had accepted that crazy offer for PG before the deadline last year.  I want to say Denver and/or Atlanta threw out a crazy offer?

It was Atlanta. They offered 4 first round picks. Should've taken it. 

[crazycolt1]

17 hours ago, Myles said:

I'd put us closer to 38 wins.  

I was close. I said 37.

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

It was Atlanta. They offered 4 first round picks. Should've taken it. 

Using hindsight I agree but had we dealt PG at that time the fan base would have went crazy. PG said he was in if the FO brought in some better players and then he is the one who backed out before seeing what could be done.

I have no clue if Simon would do the spending to bring in high caliber players so there wasn't a lot of faith in that happening.

[HOFClipboardHolder]

On 7/9/2017 at 11:34 AM, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I'll keep this brief because I am already exhausted with the Lonzo back and forth with people. Sad because the season hasn't even started. Hibbert wasn't athletic at all, Lonzo can run the floor really well, Hibbert could not. Jimmer Fredette has stunk as an NBA player to keep it brief (Career Avg 6 Points/1 Assist/1 Rebound) and why are you putting so much emphasis on Summer League games? It's Summer League = meaningless, it's really for guys trying to make the Roster and for guys to get in shape or stay in shape. Rookies just traditionally play in it.

I literally put zero emphasis on summer leagues. none at all. I mentioned it once this whole time and only in response to you bragging about lonzo getting 11 points on 13 shots. Way to build a strawman argument

 

If you dont want to debate thats fine. But if you expect to keep making snarky comments filled to the brim with nonesense that you pulled out of your butt, youre going to get called out everytime.

[RockThatBlue]

Nate Taylor @ByNateTaylor

 

The biggest news this morning is Nate McMillan said Bojan Bogdanovic will be the starting SF when camp starts.

[Luck is Good]

3 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

Nate Taylor @ByNateTaylor

 

The biggest news this morning is Nate McMillan said Bojan Bogdanovic will be the starting SF when camp starts.

I thought that was already known. He's instantly the best SF on the team

[aaron11]

So paul did an an si article.  Says he thought our title window was gone and didnt want to wait around for a rebuild

 

Pretty much stating the obvious, but im still upset the team refused to belive it and didnt trade him sooner.  Guys like KP, bird and simon say they need to be a step ahead of everyone else due to our market,but when they have a chance to actually do that they sit on their hands and blow it

 

We have an owner, coach and gm that are all bad at their jobs.  Should be an interesting rebuild

[21isSuperman]

 

 

 

This is why LA and Boston should have been more aggressive in their pursuit on George.  Last year's OKC team was a 47-win team.  Now add Paul George and I think they can get 55 or more wins.  I don't think they have enough to beat the Warriors, but they could certainly make the Western Conference Finals

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

 

 

 

This is why LA and Boston should have been more aggressive in their pursuit on George.  Last year's OKC team was a 47-win team.  Now add Paul George and I think they can get 55 or more wins.  I don't think they have enough to beat the Warriors, but they could certainly make the Western Conference Finals

I agree 100%. My early projections looking at the Rosters has the Thunder winning 55-57 games, PG will add 8-10 wins on that team. I see them at a 3 Seed, only behind the Warriors who will be the 1 and the Spurs who will be the 2. Rockets I have as a 4, I am not sold they will be better than last season because of picking up CP3. That chemistry looks iffy and I am not a big D'Antoni fan. I would rather have Westbrook/PG than Harden/CP3 + the Thunder Big's are better than the Rockets have. If the Thunder make the 3, they would stay out of the Warriors bracket and they match up well with the Spurs now. They could definitely make the WCFinals and win a couple of games vs the Warriors. All early projection talk though. It wouldn't shock me at all if the Wolves were a 5 Seed to finish out that top 5. Wolves look good on paper and with the Clippers, Grizz, and Jazz losses in Free Agency that isn't a stretch. Wolves now have Butler, Wiggins, KAT, Teague, and Crawford.

[buccolts]

41 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

 

 

 

This is why LA and Boston should have been more aggressive in their pursuit on George.  Last year's OKC team was a 47-win team.  Now add Paul George and I think they can get 55 or more wins.  I don't think they have enough to beat the Warriors, but they could certainly make the Western Conference Finals

 

I'll take this with a grain of salt.

He indicated he wanted to remain a Pacer once, too, you know.

He also knows he's got to face their fans until, at least, the trade deadline. This'll help the relationship until then.

 

I'm not sure PGs word means much, at this point.

[21isSuperman]

19 minutes ago, buccolts said:

 

I'll take this with a grain of salt.

He indicated he wanted to remain a Pacer once, too, you know.

He also knows he's got to face their fans until, at least, the trade deadline. This'll help the relationship until then.

 

I'm not sure PGs word means much, at this point.

Fair point

[PrincetonTiger]

1 hour ago, buccolts said:

 

I'll take this with a grain of salt.

He indicated he wanted to remain a Pacer once, too, you know.

He also knows he's got to face their fans until, at least, the trade deadline. This'll help the relationship until then.

 

I'm not sure PGs word means much, at this point.

Agreed

[aaron11]

Who cares if he stays in okc or goes to la?  

[Colts_Fan12]

1 hour ago, aaron11 said:

Who cares if he stays in okc or goes to la?  

I sure don't lol 

 

Actually I take that back if he extends then the return we got for him becomes even worse lol

[dgambill]

On 7/9/2017 at 8:12 PM, PrincetonTiger said:

Nicely put

 

just hope that the top bigs for the Pacers stay healthy 

We definitely have issues with the bigs. Turner is a poor rebounder and Young is too. That is a huge issue for us. Especially since we got worse at pg, sg,sf as far as shooting percentage goes. Honestly we have a vision for Ike and Sabonis I believe because they are the types of bigs we need to play next to Myles because let us say he is such a finesse big. He can block shots but he just can't muscle the boards like we need and obviously he spends a great deal of time shooting on the perimeter. You are exactly right we have an issue with the bigs. 

 

The defense at the 3 is not ideal....that said Young moves well enough to help on many threes. He actually looked ok against Lebron in the playoffs. It is clear we have some nice role players on this team...we just lack a couple more lead dogs next to Myles. Who knows....next year we can have 50 million in cap space if we want to move some things around so who knows....I doubt we get the elite of the elite but maybe we sign away a young and up and comer RFA or two and make this team back to a final 4 type squad.

[dgambill]

On 7/9/2017 at 9:31 PM, Jules said:

 

 

 

 

Magic can't deal Ingram. Ingram will be mainly responsible this year for most of their scoring. The bean pole is gonna have to work his butt off. 

 

I still want to see Ingram bulk up a bit too. And good thing they held him out with cramps.

 

 

 

I think LaVar Ball is the bad locker room guy for the Lakers. Oddly enough last night I was even getting into watching Lonzo's award winning universally praised passing until big mouth does another interview and declares that the torch has been passed from Magic to Lonzo and Lonzo is going to go down as the best PG of all time.

 

People can say to ignore that psychopath all they want, but you can't. He is the loud mouthed father of a kid that looks like Screech from Saved by the Bell now.

 

 

 

Tatum has looked pretty good in summer league. Some in Boston are prematurely calling him "Paul Piece 2.0" but it's premature. 

 

But tonight Tatum didn't score as much, he reached Lonzo Ball territory sadly. A bad night for Tatum is Lonzo like scoring. A good night for Lonzo is Lonzo like scoring.

 

I feel sorry for Fultz spraining his ankle. But thats the Philly way too.....nothing comes easy for them.

 

I want to see Fultz show up sometime this year with cornrows and say "Practice? Muh ankle hurts.......PRACTICE?".

 

 

 

Don't you worry oldunclemark.......the Pacers are gonna kick aazz and you will have been the first to have called it.

About the summer league....yes it's just summer league but we know Myles impressed and look how he has done but the guy I've really been impressed with and had wished we got in the draft....Donavon Mitchell. Dude just looks a level beyond anything out there right now and would pick him for my rookie of the year if he wasn't going to be limited in playing time and role on a better team...probably be Fultz or Fox but don't sleep on this cat...down the line I like his potential.

[PrincetonTiger]

15 hours ago, aaron11 said:

Who cares if he stays in okc or goes to la?  

Not me 

[PrincetonTiger]

The Rockets are trying to acquire Melo from the Knicks

[akcolt]

17 hours ago, dgambill said:

We definitely have issues with the bigs. Turner is a poor rebounder and Young is too. That is a huge issue for us. Especially since we got worse at pg, sg,sf as far as shooting percentage goes. Honestly we have a vision for Ike and Sabonis I believe because they are the types of bigs we need to play next to Myles because let us say he is such a finesse big. He can block shots but he just can't muscle the boards like we need and obviously he spends a great deal of time shooting on the perimeter. You are exactly right we have an issue with the bigs. 

 

The defense at the 3 is not ideal....that said Young moves well enough to help on many threes. He actually looked ok against Lebron in the playoffs. It is clear we have some nice role players on this team...we just lack a couple more lead dogs next to Myles. Who knows....next year we can have 50 million in cap space if we want to move some things around so who knows....I doubt we get the elite of the elite but maybe we sign away a young and up and comer RFA or two and make this team back to a final 4 type squad.

I think we improved defensively especially if we count Lance as an addition to this years roster. PG was a solid two way guy no question. When you look at who else is gone on the wings and at pg. Teague, Miles, Ellis Stuckey and Brooks none of these guys scream D. 

 

We added Lance at the end of last season. I think counting him with new additions this season is fair. We add Vic, Joesph, and Collison. The backcourt should be much improved defensively and we are bigger and stronger.

 

Our rebounding with this group should be improved as well. Vic and Lance are two of the better rebounding G's in the league. 

 

The loss of Georgie at the 3 is going to show. There is no way around it. We will lose D when Bog is in and lose scoring when we go to GR3. It will take a team effort here. That's expected. 

 

We really didn't lose rebounding from our bigs. Myles(7.5) and Thad(6.1) were our top rebounders.. We lost Allen and Christmas both good rebounders but neither played meaningful minutes.

 

We added Sabonis who was a banger in college. Unlike his time in OKC he will spend his time on the blocks for us. That should help him feel more comfortable and help our rebounding and interior D 

 

We may not be done with our bigs. We have been tied to bigs still available. I think we eventually add one. We are sitting at 14 rostered players with between 5M-6M dollars cap space. 

[Luck is Good]

19 hours ago, dgambill said:

About the summer league....yes it's just summer league but we know Myles impressed and look how he has done but the guy I've really been impressed with and had wished we got in the draft....Donavon Mitchell. Dude just looks a level beyond anything out there right now and would pick him for my rookie of the year if he wasn't going to be limited in playing time and role on a better team...probably be Fultz or Fox but don't sleep on this cat...down the line I like his potential.

Donovan Mitchell is a balla. Dude is gonna be a real good player 

[21isSuperman]

7 hours ago, PrincetonTiger said:

The Rockets are trying to acquire Melo from the Knicks

Harden and Melo playing with each other might drive them both crazy

[RockThatBlue]

13 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Harden and Melo playing with each other might drive them both crazy

Yeah, I don't see that working out. Both are ball hogs, Melo is especially bad at it. Good scorer, but he will hold the ball for entire possessions sometimes

 

[HOFClipboardHolder]

11 minutes ago, 21isSuperman said:

Harden and Melo playing with each other might drive them both crazy

Chris Paul too. You have three ball dominant players that struggle off the ball. I cant imagine three stars that fit worse together

[HOFClipboardHolder]

I imagine the pitch to get Carmelo on board was similar to this 

 

 

"Half the defense, double the offense"

[dgambill]

2 hours ago, akcolt said:

I think we improved defensively especially if we count Lance as an addition to this years roster. PG was a solid two way guy no question. When you look at who else is gone on the wings and at pg. Teague, Miles, Ellis Stuckey and Brooks none of these guys scream D. 

 

We added Lance at the end of last season. I think counting him with new additions this season is fair. We add Vic, Joesph, and Collison. The backcourt should be much improved defensively and we are bigger and stronger.

 

Our rebounding with this group should be improved as well. Vic and Lance are two of the better rebounding G's in the league. 

 

The loss of Georgie at the 3 is going to show. There is no way around it. We will lose D when Bog is in and lose scoring when we go to GR3. It will take a team effort here. That's expected. 

 

We really didn't lose rebounding from our bigs. Myles(7.5) and Thad(6.1) were our top rebounders.. We lost Allen and Christmas both good rebounders but neither played meaningful minutes.

 

We added Sabonis who was a banger in college. Unlike his time in OKC he will spend his time on the blocks for us. That should help him feel more comfortable and help our rebounding and interior D 

 

We may not be done with our bigs. We have been tied to bigs still available. I think we eventually add one. We are sitting at 14 rostered players with between 5M-6M dollars cap space. 

I agree the defense is something that can be masked and I think certain matchups like when Lance, dipo, Cojo are on the floor our backcourt should improve. But you just posted the issue in rebounding...13.5 rebounds from your starting 4/5 combo is not good...not good at all. It's a team sport I get that but we ranked at the bottom of the league last year and I while we got Ike in the draft and added Sabonis I still think rebounding a post defense will be a weak spot. Not because of what we have done but it just already was before and drafting Leaf and starting Bogs and DC aren't going to really help that. It will still be interesting to watch this team...at least I think they will play harder than the one we watched with PG every night but we will likely end up with the very same outcome come next June.