2017-2018 Indiana Pacers and Everything NBA Thread

[oldunclemark]

Bucks are fading.......Bojan with 27 .....and 'home court' Lance is playing tonight.....88-82 with 5:30 left

[oldunclemark]

Bledsoe thinks he's Rick Mount...They've got 84 and he's got 26

[oldunclemark]

When we the last time we were 10 games over .500?   2014?

[oldunclemark]

Uh oh 90-88 with 2:00 left...Vic has 8 turnovers

[oldunclemark]

90-89...loose ball...'jump ball'   No way. Come on ref..

 

:08 left

[oldunclemark]

 No. No.

You cant send a call to the replay center and have it come back as a jump ball.

Make a decision. Otherwise....just shut down the replay center

Edited March 6, 2018 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

Giannis misses a '3' at the buzzer...Pacers win 92-89....3 in a row..10 over .500

[oldunclemark]

Cavs 112, Detroit 90..

 

.looks like the Pistons (29-35) have taken that long walk up to boot hill

[akcolt]

It wasn't pretty but with Vic playing poorly Bogy and the rest of the Pacers find a way again.  We made it harder than it had to be missing free throws and getting beat on the boards. I thought Nate should've went to Bogy more down the stretch, He keep going to Vic even though it was obvious he was exhausted and struggling to even maintain possession of the ball.It almost cost us. We get the W behind some big plays from Bogy 

 

Bogy played a fantastic game. He led all scorers with 29 but his hustle and high IQ plays you won't see in the stats were just as important. Another huge W securing the tie breaker vs another team we are battling for seeding. 

 

We hold tie breakers with the Cavs and Bucks and willl decide it w/Sixers the middle of the month. We are at 1-1 with the Wiz and will square off two more times. 

 

Great win to start the home stand We remain in 4th a 1/2 game behind Cleveland for 3rd and a full game up on the Wiz. The Jazz are next

[RockThatBlue]

Man Bogy is so up and down lol but when he brings it he really helps the Pacers out a lot.

[oldunclemark]

3 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

Man Bogy is so up and down lol but when he brings it he really helps the Pacers out a lot.

When he makes a couple, his teammates sure start to look for him

[akcolt]

38 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Uh oh 90-88 with 2:00 left...Vic has 8 turnovers

That second half was as poorly as I've ever seen Dipo play. I know he was tired. I thought Nate should've went to Bogy more down the stretch. We really ask a lot from Vic and he almost always delivers it was good to see Bogy step up and take some pressure off him. 

 

Thats 3 big time wins in a row. The Jazz are no joke Nate has to make sure we are ready to go a full 48.  You know Utah will be. We need every W going forward if we want to stay in the top 4.

[oldunclemark]

7 minutes ago, akcolt said:

It wasn't pretty but with Vic playing poorly Bogy and the rest of the Pacers find a way again.  We made it harder than it had to be missing free throws and getting beat on the boards. I thought Nate should've went to Bogy more down the stretch, He keep going to Vic even though it was obvious he was exhausted and struggling to even maintain possession of the ball.It almost cost us. We get the W behind some big plays from Bogy 

 

Bogy played a fantastic game. He led all scorers with 29 but his hustle and high IQ plays you won't see in the stats were just as important. Another huge W securing the tie breaker vs another team we are battling for seeding. 

 

We hold tie breakers with the Cavs and Bucks and willl decide it w/Sixers the middle of the month. We are at 1-1 with the Wiz and will square off two more times. 

 

Great win to start the home stand We remain in 4th a 1/2 game behind Cleveland for 3rd and a full game up on the Wiz. The Jazz are next

For us to beat good teams...we need 18-20 from Bogdonavic.

Otherwise, we don't have enough offense.  

      But we have to go to Vic at the end of games....that's our creator...especially with Collison out

 

I agree though..Victor is tired. He's doing what Russell Westbrook does..all over everywhere..making steals... diving tot he hoop..

He isn't a rookie but this is his first time doing what he's doing. There's some concern there...

 

 

 

[oldunclemark]

The question still stands....when was the last time the Pacers were 10 games over .500??

[2006Coltsbestever]

Bogey stepped up big time tonight. Dipo looked tired tonight. We got a solid win with him playing his worse game of the season. This is the first time we have been 10 games over.500 in 4 years  since  April of 2014. We needed these 3 wins badly after losing to the Mavs and Hawks. Pistons lost again as well. Our chances of making the Playoffs is at 95% IMO. We still may end up in the 3rd spot!

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

The question still stands....when was the last time the Pacers were 10 games over .500??

See above

[akcolt]

4 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

The question still stands....when was the last time the Pacers were 10 games over .500??

I'd have to look it iI but I'm guessing 31 was still playing. 

[akcolt]

16 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

For us to beat good teams...we need 18-20 from Bogdonavic.

Otherwise, we don't have enough offense.  

      But we have to go to Vic at the end of games....that's our creator...especially with Collison out

 

I agree though..Victor is tired. He's doing what Russell Westbrook does..all over everywhere..making steals... diving tot he hoop..

He isn't a rookie but this is his first time doing what he's doing. There's some concern there...

 

 

 

Vic is the creator and he's our leader but I still would have went to Bogy tonight. It was obvious Vic was exhausted and Bogy had it going. 

 

 

 

[oldunclemark]

34 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

See above

???

[oldunclemark]

23 minutes ago, akcolt said:

Vic is the creator and he's our leader but I still would have went to Bogy tonight. It was obvious Vic was exhausted and Bogy had it going. 

 

 

 

I hear you but he cant create his shot..he needs to be set up.

That's where we miss Collison...

 

There's nobody to get the ball to anybody if Collison or Lance isn't on the floor

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, oldunclemark said:

???

My Post above = April 2014 was the last time.

[oldunclemark]

35 minutes ago, akcolt said:

I'd have to look it iI but I'm guessing 31 was still playing. 

I;m guessing it goes back to the year when we won the conference...

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, oldunclemark said:

I hear you but he cant create his shot..he needs to be set up.

That's where we miss Collison...

 

There's nobody to get the ball to anybody if Collison or Lance isn't on the floor

When Collison comes back we will even be better. We may actually end up 3rd or 4th but our schedule is brutal so logic says we wont. We will make the Playoffs though.

[oldunclemark]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

My Post above = April 2014 was the last time.

Sorry....I didn't see that....

To be absolutely honest with you...I still don't see it..

 

But I'm sure you're right.

[oldunclemark]

4 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

When Collison comes back we will even be better. We may actually end up 3rd or 4th but our schedule is brutal so logic says we wont. We will make the Playoffs though.

Looks like we're in....

......but we have the most difficult schedule of any of the 30 NBA teams remaining...

I dont know who we offended in the league office but we have 10 very difficult games in the final month and 'sure wins' like Atlanta...are few and far between...

 

...But as of tomorrow we'll have a 10-man veteran rotation.  I dont want to burn anybody for 40 minutes the rest of the way....Lets use the bench and ease on down the road.

  

Detroit has smoked their last cigarette....and the Governor isn't going to give them a reprieve...

Edited March 6, 2018 by oldunclemark

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Sorry....I didn't see that....

To be absolutely honest with you...I still don't see it..

 

But I'm sure you're right.

Yeah we finished 56-26 that season and went to the ECFinals.

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Looks like we're in....

......but we have the most difficult schedule of any of the 30 NBA teams remaining...

I dont know who we offended in the league office but we have 10 very difficult games in the final month and 'sure wins' like Atlanta...are few and far between...

 

...But as of tomorrow we'll have a 10-man veteran rotation.  I dont want to burn anybody for 40 minutes the rest of the way....Lets use the bench and ease on down the road.

Yeah we are a whopping 8 games ahead of the Pistons. They are now 29-35 and we are 37-27. I think the Pistons have mailed it in for the season. They are toast.

[oldunclemark]

10 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah we finished 56-26 that season and went to the ECFinals.

I was thinking today...(its a rare occurrence)

I wish we still had Paul George, I admit.

But him leaving has set us up for the next 2-5 years.

If he had agreed to a contract.....we not only would not have Oladipo and Sabonis obviously..but we probably also would not have traded for Bogdonavic, a small forward who plays PG's position.

 

    We would have lost Teague to free agency so we still would have had to go get Collison.

But we probably would not have Cory Joseph...either. for salary cap reasons...because we'd have paid PG more than we are paying Vic, right?

 

Our best player leaving actually improved the team.

Edited March 6, 2018 by oldunclemark
spell

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

I was thinkinh today...(its a rare occurrence)

I wish we still had Paul , I admit.

But him leaving has set us up for the next 2-5 years.

If he agreed to a contract.....we not only would not have Oladipo and Sabonis obviously..but we probably also would not have traded for Bogdonavic, a small forward who plays PG's position.

 

    We would have lost Teague to free agency so we still would have had to go get Collison.

But we probably would not have Cory Joseph...either. for salary cap reasons...because we'd have paid PG more than we are paying Vic, right?

 

Our best player leaving actually improved the team

It has worked out like I have never dreamed. Bogdanovic really is a huge key to this teams success. He is the floor spreader every team wants. When he's making 3's which he does a lot, it opens everything else up. Dipo is playing as well as PG-13 played last season so that cancels PG-13 out, something I didn't see coming in a million years! Our 3 most important players and to build around are Dipo, Turner, and Bogdanovic. Lance and Sabonis are Great Role Players off the bench too.

[2006Coltsbestever]

As of March 5th, the Pacers currently have the 8th best record in the league. Here are the Top 8 teams:

1. Rockets 49-13

2. Warriors 49-14

3. Raptors 45-17

4. Celtics 45-20

5. Blazers 38-26

6. Cavs 37-26

7. Pelicans 36-26 .581%

8. Pacers 37-27 .578% (Pacers have tiebreaker over Spurs)

9. Spurs 37-27

-Just wondering what % everyone would give the Pacers as of tonight of making it to the Semis, or ECFinals, or winning the East, or the Championship?

 

-I think we have a 50% chance of making it to the Semis. I believe in this!

-I think we have a chance of making it to the ECFinals but I would only put it at 30%. Still not a Bad % but is a low one. This could still happen if we catch some key breaks.

-Winning the East 10%. Never know but it's highly doubtful.

-Winning the Championship 1% because there is always a chance  Warriors and Rockets are just so much better than everyone else though unfortunately.

 

-With less than 20 games to go a lot stands out to me. The Cavs and Spurs no longer being Top 5 teams record wise is one of them. Another is the Blazers at 38-26. We are them in the East at 37-27 surprising everyone. Also IMO if the Rockets get HCA, they have a legit shot of beating the Warriors. That would be a 50/50 series if the Rockets get HCA.

[akcolt]

3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It has worked out like I have never dreamed. Bogdanovic really is a huge key to this teams success. He is the floor spreader every team wants. When he's making 3's which he does a lot, it opens everything else up. Dipo is playing as well as PG-13 played last season so that cancels PG-13 out, something I didn't see coming in a million years! Our 3 most important players and to build around are Dipo, Turner, and Bogdanovic. Lance and Sabonis are Great Role Players off the bench too.

I've had an eye on Bogy since watching him play for Croatia in the Olympics. He was a do it all guy for the Croatian team and the tournaments leading scorer at 25.9ppg. He's been pigeoned hole as a 3pt specialist but he's more then that. He just needed an opportunity.

 

The silver lining of the GR3 injury was Bogy was handed his chance to start at the 3. That spot was an open competition prior to the injury. He had time to gain confidence and settle in without looking over his shoulder. We had no choice but to ride his slump out with him that only added to his confidence. We saw some of the pay off tonight.

 

I think Bogy is vastly underrated and I believe his best days as a Pacer are ahead of him. He is a good player but  I'm not sure he's a guy you build around at the 3.  

 

I think Sabonis is much more then a role player and may end up being better then Turner at C. This is only Domas's 2 year in the league his first playing his natural position. He is destined to be a starting C in this league. I believe he's a future All Star. 

 

I think we will have to make a decision between Sabonis and Turner if we can't figure out how to play them together. The hurdle according to Nate is neither guy can guard 4's. We have some time to figure that out and it's not a bad problem to have. 

 

[oldunclemark]

5 hours ago, akcolt said:

I've had an eye on Bogy since watching him play for Croatia in the Olympics. He was a do it all guy for the Croatian team and the tournaments leading scorer at 25.9ppg. He's been pigeoned hole as a 3pt specialist but he's more then that. He just needed an opportunity.

 

The silver lining of the GR3 injury was Bogy was handed his chance to start at the 3. That spot was an open competition prior to the injury. He had time to gain confidence and settle in without looking over his shoulder. We had no choice but to ride his slump out with him that only added to his confidence. We saw some of the pay off tonight.

 

I think Bogy is vastly underrated and I believe his best days as a Pacer are ahead of him. He is a good player but  I'm not sure he's a guy you build around at the 3.  

 

I think Sabonis is much more then a role player and may end up being better then Turner at C. This is only Domas's 2 year in the league his first playing his natural position. He is destined to be a starting C in this league. I believe he's a future All Star. 

 

I think we will have to make a decision between Sabonis and Turner if we can't figure out how to play them together. The hurdle according to Nate is neither guy can guard 4's. We have some time to figure that out and it's not a bad problem to have. 

 

..and ak; here (in Bogdonavic) is another guy who 'wanted to' come here. he wanted his chance to start and be more than that '3 specialist'. I've only read that. He's not that talkative in the media.

I think when he plays both ends of his offensive game: Shooting the open '3' and driving tot eh basket and getting foued when they run him off the 3-line...

...that he's an 18-20 point scorer........That's why I was so disappointed in him over the first 40 games when he was averaging about 12.   He's showing he's better than that and when Collison gets back to distribute the ball, I think he's get that 'quiet' 18-20 every night.

And he's a better defensive player than I had read. Not great but he's twice the defender I heard he was.

 

..and if he can score 18-20 and play decent 'D', we pick up his option (it s a team option) for next year at $10.5 mil because he's a bargain...and he'd only be 29 .     Coach McMillan obviously has great faith in him..

 

But we're pointing towards a roster overhaul in 2 years (not this summer but next summer). A lot of our present contracts end then and we'd be in financial position to make a major move.

Edited March 6, 2018 by oldunclemark

[oldunclemark]

8 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

As of March 5th, the Pacers currently have the 8th best record in the league. Here are the Top 8 teams:

1. Rockets 49-13

2. Warriors 49-14

3. Raptors 45-17

4. Celtics 45-20

5. Blazers 38-26

6. Cavs 37-26

7. Pelicans 36-26 .581%

8. Pacers 37-27 .578% (Pacers have tiebreaker over Spurs)

9. Spurs 37-27

-Just wondering what % everyone would give the Pacers as of tonight of making it to the Semis, or ECFinals, or winning the East, or the Championship?

 

-I think we have a 50% chance of making it to the Semis. I believe in this!

-I think we have a chance of making it to the ECFinals but I would only put it at 30%. Still not a Bad % but is a low one. This could still happen if we catch some key breaks.

-Winning the East 10%. Never know but it's highly doubtful.

-Winning the Championship 1% because there is always a chance  Warriors and Rockets are just so much better than everyone else though unfortunately.

 

-With less than 20 games to go a lot stands out to me. The Cavs and Spurs no longer being Top 5 teams record wise is one of them. Another is the Blazers at 38-26. We are them in the East at 37-27 surprising everyone. Also IMO if the Rockets get HCA, they have a legit shot of beating the Warriors. That would be a 50/50 series if the Rockets get HCA.

Off topic: When I see what Toronto has done....CBE....you brought up our 2014 team that won the East in the regular season.Toronto seems like that team.  It matters to them to be the top seed. Now, that didn't get us to the finals.

 

I believe in matchups and its hard to put percentages on a matchup that is unknown..

If we get to 12-over .500 this week (we need 2 home wins) I think we end up 6th (again, we have the toughest remaining schedule in the league and Oladipo seems a little tired) face Cleveland or Washington in the East quarterfinals.

If Golden State is locked into whatever position they're in and rest their regulars against us, we could pick up and extra win. We play them twice in the last 2 weeks..  If Charlotte has been eliminated BEFORE the final week of play, they might not play all their veterans in the final 2 games of the year (Pacers- vs. Charlotte is the final 2 games).

 

Bottom line: I think we end up as the '6' and the Cavs (regaining Kevin Love and playing together for a month), end up as the '3'. We were 3-1 against them during the season but they are not the same team now.  

 

Were we to win the 3 vs. 6 series and the other favorites (1,2 and 4) win, I believe we'd face the winner of the 1 vs. 8 series...which should be a '1' Toronto.

That's not good. I'd rather play Washington (even with John Wall) and Boston (to me, that means we'd have to be the '5' seed) than Toronto and Cleveland but accepting the premise you laid out and factoring in the predictions I'm making, I would guess that we have less than a 5% chance of reaching the East Finals.

Edited March 6, 2018 by oldunclemark
spell

[akcolt]

6 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

..and ak; here (in Bogdonavic) is another guy who 'wanted to' come here. he wanted his chance to start and be more than that '3 specialist'. I've only read that. He's not that talkative in the media.

I think when he plays both ends of his offensive game: Shooting the open '3' and driving tot eh basket and getting foued when they run him off the 3-line...

...that he's an 18-20 point scorer........That's why I was so disappointed in him over the first 40 games when he was averaging about 12.   He's showing he's better than that and when Collison gets back to distribute the ball, I think he's get that 'quiet' 18-20 every night.

And he's a better defensive player than I had read. Not great but he's twice the defender I heard he was.

 

..and if he can score 18-20 and play decent 'D', we pick up his option (it s a team option) for next year at $10.5 mil because he's a bargain...and he'd only be 29 .     Coach McMillan obviously has great faith in him..

 

But we're pointing towards a roster overhaul in 2 years (not this summer but next summer). A lot of our present contracts end then and we'd be in financial position to make a major move.

He's been engaging every time I've seen him interviewd. They had him on after the games last night. I'm a big fan of Bogy. 

 

We are still only a 1/2 game back of the Cavs. Did any one notice they switched up the starters vs Detroit? Nance Jr and Hood moved into a the starting line up. Nance Jr responded with 22pts and 15rebs  They are small but more athletic and Lebron has 3 guys that can hurt you from deep to kick to. I'm guessing Hood goes back to the bench when Love returns. 

[oldunclemark]

3 hours ago, akcolt said:

He's been engaging every time I've seen him interviewd. They had him on after the games last night. I'm a big fan of Bogy. 

 

We are still only a 1/2 game back of the Cavs. Did any one notice they switched up the starters vs Detroit? Nance Jr and Hood moved into a the starting line up. Nance Jr responded with 22pts and 15rebs  They are small but more athletic and Lebron has 3 guys that can hurt you from deep to kick to. I'm guessing Hood goes back to the bench when Love returns. 

Everybody's a big fan of Bogdonavic now that he's averaging 18-20 a game like he should.

He was mediocre the first half of the season,..and in the last 12-15 games,  he's shooting over 40% on 3s and averaging 19 a game. He has to keep that up. He's too good to be averaging 12 a game

Cavs didn't have a choice on the personell switch...Tristan Thompson is hurt and out 2 weeks.

I think eventually they'll start Larry Nance, George Hill and three forwards, Love, Hood and LBJ.

 

Love is one of the Top-25 players in the league....When he gets back, Cleveland will play well more often...

[oldunclemark]

 

If we want to keep teams from 'tanking' for the top draft pick, why now hold a lottery for the final 14 draft positions....but don't hold it until the season ends.?

 

The worst team could get the No.1 pick or the 14th worst team could get it but the big deal is: Teams would not know until after they played all 82 games.

There would be no more incentive to throw games late in the year.

This would also allow .500 teams to get the No.1 pick once in awhile which means that teams would not necessarily be stuck in the 'mediocre zone' where they cant get worse and cant get better.

 

It would also stop teams from hording future draft choices

[2006Coltsbestever]

11 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

Off topic: When I see what Toronto has done....CBE....you brought up our 2014 team that won the East in the regular season.Toronto seems like that team.  It matters to them to be the top seed. Now, that didn't get us to the finals.

 

I believe in matchups and its hard to put percentages on a matchup that is unknown..

If we get to 12-over .500 this week (we need 2 home wins) I think we end up 6th (again, we have the toughest remaining schedule in the league and Oladipo seems a little tired) face Cleveland or Washington in the East quarterfinals.

If Golden State is locked into whatever position they're in and rest their regulars against us, we could pick up and extra win. We play them twice in the last 2 weeks..  If Charlotte has been eliminated BEFORE the final week of play, they might not play all their veterans in the final 2 games of the year (Pacers- vs. Charlotte is the final 2 games).

 

Bottom line: I think we end up as the '6' and the Cavs (regaining Kevin Love and playing together for a month), end up as the '3'. We were 3-1 against them during the season but they are not the same team now.  

 

Were we to win the 3 vs. 6 series and the other favorites (1,2 and 4) win, I believe we'd face the winner of the 1 vs. 8 series...which should be a '1' Toronto.

That's not good. I'd rather play Washington (even with John Wall) and Boston (to me, that means we'd have to be the '5' seed) than Toronto and Cleveland but accepting the premise you laid out and factoring in the predictions I'm making, I would guess that we have less than a 5% chance of reaching the East Finals.

Yeah it is tough putting a % on things, I agree. It was more out of fun and guesses. I really hope we don't play the Cavs in Round 1 mainly because of LeBron and the REFS. Toronto is deep and talented and would be tough matchup as well. We matchup better against the Celtics than we do Toronto but not sure we can beat them either. If they had Hayward I think they would've won the East this season the way things have played out so far. I think we can beat the Wizards, Sixers, Heat, or Bucks in Round 1 if it's a 3/6 or 4/5 matchup.

[crazycolt1]

1 minute ago, oldunclemark said:

 

If we want to keep teams from 'tanking' for the top draft pick, why now hold a lottery for the final 14 draft positions....but don't hold it until the season ends.?

 

The worst team could get the No.1 pick or the 14th worst team could get it but the big deal is: Teams would not know until after they played all 82 games.

There would be no more incentive to throw games late in the year.

This would also allow .500 teams to get the No.1 pick once in awhile which means that teams would not necessarily be stuck in the 'mediocre zone' where they cant get worse and cant get better.

 

It would also stop teams from hording future draft choices

If we want to make the whole league more competitive there needs to be a hard cap. As long as the NBA is paid money for teams to go over the cap it will be only those teams that choose to pay for the chance for a championship. IMO the NBA is a joke. I love watching me some basketball but it gets old seeing the same teams over and over competing for the crown.

[oldunclemark]

  Off topic again:

Kevin Love's revelation about what was actually wrong with him in that game he left early last month is a little scary.

He explains that he had a panic attack and he describes it.

 

I hope that what he believes it is actually is what it is.

Frightening.

[2006Coltsbestever]

12 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

Everybody's a big fan of Bogdonavic now that he's averaging 18-20 a game like he should.

He was mediocre the first half of the season,..and in the last 12-15 games,  he's shooting over 40% on 3s and averaging 19 a game. He has to keep that up. He's too good to be averaging 12 a game

Cavs didn't have a choice on the personell switch...Tristan Thompson is hurt and out 2 weeks.

I think eventually they'll start Larry Nance, George Hill and three forwards, Love, Hood and LBJ.

 

Love is one of the Top-25 players in the league....When he gets back, Cleveland will play well more often...

Every team needs a Bogdanovic because he spreads the floor and basically shoots 40% from 3 in doing so. In this league now days you need a guy like that or you will get nowhere. I actually think he might be our 2nd most important player behind Dipo.