Indiana Pacers
2008-09 Record: 36-46
Anticipated Starting Five
PG- T.J. Ford
SG- Mike Dunleavy Jr.
SF- Danny Granger
PF- Troy Murphy
C- Roy Hibbert
Key Reserves: Earl Watson, Brandon Rush, Dahntay Jones, Tyler Hansbrough, Jeff Foster, Luther Head
Biggest Strength: Three point shooting
- Troy Murphy – 45% (last season)
- Mike Dunleavy Jr. – 42.4% (last full season)
- Danny Granger – 40% (last season)
- Luther Head – 39.2% (career)
- Travis Diener – 39% (last season)
- Brandon Rush – 37.3% (last season)
I think you get the point. At any given time Indiana will have 2-4 high quality shooters on the floor. O’Brien’s offensive system is designed for the three point shot and he has plenty of players to execute it well.
Biggest Weakness: Starter defense/bench scoring
I am looking at this roster and they have very few two-way players. Meaning they have scorers who can’t defend and defenders who can’t score. SO how will O’Brien balance these differing players in his rotation? More on this in my outlook.
Key Player: Roy Hibbert
Let me start by saying I no longer despise Roy Hibbert. While I still think he is soft I believe he can be a quality starting center in a league that lacks quality starting centers that are legit 7-footers. As I mentioned above outside shooting won’t be a problem for the Pacers. What could really take this offensive to another level is some consistent scoring inside. Hibbert needs to be the guy. Given 30 minutes per game I think Hibbert could be a 13-15ppg scorer, 50% from the field, 7-9 boards per game and 2 blocks. The kicker: if he does that teams MIGHT decide to help down a little on him and that just makes it easier for other guys to jack up threes.
Biggest Question: How will Psycho-T be as a pro?
In the last decade or so, any time there is a tremendous white college basketball player – it sparks furious and hilarious debate about his pro potential. Redick and Morrison were recent examples, but Tyler Hansbrough is probably the biggest. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve debated what he would be like in the pros. Everyone plays the “un-athletic” card, which isn’t true of all us white guys (see: Joe Alexander, BJ Mullens and Jason Smith in recent years), but is somewhat true with Tyler. Every one counters with the “grit and determination” card, which is similar to being told a girl you are being set-up with is “really nice” by one of her girlfriends. The bottom line? Hansbrough is big enough, athletic enough and tough enough to play in the NBA. I think he can be a quality starting PF, about a notch below an all-star.
Best Individual Season of All-Time: Reggie Miller, 1990-91
22.6 ppg, 4.0 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 3P/G, 51.2 FG%, 91.8 FT%
Surprisingly, the Pacers haven’t had all that many great individual seasons. In fact, their highest PER season since they moved over from the NBA was Danny Granger last season. I couldn’t give it to Granger, so I went with Miller, who in 1990-91 became the only player in NBA history to average 22 ppg, while shooting 50% from the field, 90% from the line and hitting 1.4 3-pointers a game. One of the best shooting seasons ever.
Pete’s 2010 Outlook: 4th place, Central division / 11th place, Eastern conference / 22nd place, NBA
This squad is definitely in contention for the most boring team in the NBA. Their most exciting player is a PG that can’t stay healthy and after that, it’s probably Hansbrough. Granger will probably make a couple all-star teams, but he needs another star on this team for them to go anywhere. Lots of quality role players on this team, unfortunately, a bunch of them are actually starting.
Dannie’s 2010 Outlook: 4th place, Central division / 11th place, Eastern conference / 22nd place, NBA
Indiana isn’t horrible and their ceiling is probably just missing the playoffs. If I was the coach of this team I would try to balance my line-ups with scorers and defenders since overall they have very few guys that do both. I would start Ford-Rush-Granger-Murphy and Hibbert. That way you have a shot blocker in there and a good wing defender who can also shoot a little bit in Rush.
That opens up Dunleavy to provide the scoring off the bench (if he can stay healthy). My second team would be Luther Head – Jones – Dunleavy – Hansbrough and Foster. This is certainly a more defensive oriented line-up but with Head and Dunleavy on the perimeter it’s more scoring than it would be if you started Mike and had Earl Watson as the back-up point. Hansbrough is an unknown offensively right now.
Another East team that is not quite good enough but not vying for the a top draft pick either.
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O nce Hansbrough measured out well for the draft I felt his chances of being a good pro increased immensely. I still think he will have trouble scoring in the post but his jumper is very efficient. I will be curious to see who will be the better pro, he or Marreese, 2 completely opposite personality!s. This is one team who might benefit from playing a zone defense, their footspeed is terrible up front.
Greatest strength(s):
-Perimeter shooting (You have to in O’Brien’s system)
-High scoring (last year one of the highest in the East)
-Quickness
-Potential
-Good pieces (Granger, Dunleavy)
-Confidence in beating elite teams at home
Greatest weakness(es):
-Removing the bad contracts and bad seeds (Foster, Tinsley, Ford)
-Jim O Brien’s system (bad shot selection, no defense)
-Interior scoring
-true PF’s and C will be in the doghouse!
-Too much competition in the East
-Toughest division in the East
-Youth
-Disorganized roster
-Health
-Consistency in coaches
1993-97 Larry Brown
1997-2000 Larry Bird
2000-2003 Isiah Thomas (who did a “good” job than in NY)
2003-2007 Rick Carlisle
2007-? Jim O Brien
This team has too many missing pieces especially in the frontcourt and have too many guards. This is similar to Golden State’s style of play playing small ball and having no conscience on offense. This team still has to remove the headcases and clean their organization similar to what Portland did. Indiana is a place for basketball (Hoosiers especially) and deserves better!
It is amazing what the Pistons-Pacers brawl in 2004 did, it really changed the team, the culture, and to some extent the game. Artest, Jackson, O’Neal, Harrington– even though they were volatile, they had skills as players especially on the defensive end.
The Pacers need to find their identity and build on that!! Only one playoff appearance since Reggie Miller retired in 2005.
With that said, the Pacers will be 4th in the Central, 11th in the East.
(On a side note, the Sixers will split the season (2-2) with the Pacers with each team winning one at home and one on the road. The Pacers perimeter shooting will make or break them against the Sixers (or for that matter any other team). If the Sixers frontcourt can dominate, look for the Sixers to win that series. )
Greatest strength(s):
-Perimeter shooting (You have to in O’Brien’s system)
-High scoring (last year one of the highest in the East)
-Quickness
-Potential
-Good pieces (Granger, Dunleavy)
-Confidence in beating elite teams at home
Greatest weakness(es):
-Removing the bad contracts and bad seeds (Foster, Tinsley, Ford)
-Jim O Brien’s system (bad shot selection, no defense)
-Interior scoring
-true PF’s and C will be in the doghouse!
-Too much competition in the East
-Toughest division in the East
-Youth
-Disorganized roster
-Health
-Consistency in coaches
1993-97 Larry Brown
1997-2000 Larry Bird
2000-2003 Isiah Thomas (who did a “good” job than in NY)
2003-2007 Rick Carlisle
2007-? Jim O Brien
This team has too many missing pieces especially in the frontcourt and have too many guards. This is similar to Golden State’s style of play playing small ball and having no conscience on offense. This team still has to remove the headcases and clean their organization similar to what Portland did. Indiana is a place for basketball (Hoosiers especially) and deserves better!
It is amazing what the Pistons-Pacers brawl in 2004 did, it really changed the team, the culture, and to some extent the game. Artest, Jackson, O’Neal, Harrington– even though they were volatile, they had skills as players especially on the defensive end.
The Pacers need to find their identity and build on that!! Only one playoff appearance since Reggie Miller retired in 2005.
With that said, the Pacers will be 4th in the Central, 11th in the East.
(On a side note, the Pacers will win the series (1-2) with the Pacers with each team winning one at home and one on the road. The Pacers perimeter shooting will make or break them against the Sixers (or for that matter any other team). If the Sixers frontcourt can dominate, look for the Sixers to win that series. )