Pacers out of the Playoffs
After losing to the Atlanta Hawks, the Indiana Pacers are officially out of the running for an 8th spot in the 2007 NBA playoffs. The last time they failed to make the playoffs was in 1988. Boy, I sure do miss having Reggie Miller around.
I became a Pacer fan a year after I became an NBA Fan. Which was a few months after I became a basketball fan courtesy of my ex-girlfriend who was both UAAP and PBA crazy *snicker* After I saw them beating a far superior team in the form of Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magics in the first round then making it all the way to the conference finals before bowing out, I was hooked.
Ever since Reggie Miller retired, that team was never the same. It sort of lacked a calming and commanding voice in the locker room. Of course add to that the brawl with Detroit and the subsequent “thug” actions of some of the players. Boy I sure regret the day that Ron Artest ever entered the line-up, that was the start of the Pacers going downhill. Add to that the bad health of some of the players as they took turns going in and out of the injured list.
Next year there are talks of removing Coach Carlisle and most likely Larry Bird. There aren’t that much options for the Pacers because of a high salary cap and no draft options. Boy-o-Boy-o-Boy.
What is really needed anyway to make the team good? A star player? not really, it was proven before by Coach Brown that all they needed was a defense oriented team, a consistent scorer on the post (Rik Smits) and from the outside (Reggie Miller.) Of course they blossomed once a reliable quarterback came in in the form of Mark Jackson. But the main anchor was always defense, in the form of Derrick Mckey and the alternating Dale and Antonio Davis (not related.) I hope things work out well for them. Even though the team isn’t doing well I am still a fan.
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Tags: NBA, Indiana Pacers