Over the next month until opening night on October 31, I?ll be previewing one NBA team a day. Starting in the Eastern Conference, I?ll be starting with my lowest ranked team and continuing to the best, then switching conferences. Enjoy.
Pacers Should Reach Playoffs Despite Struggles
It’s hard to picture the NBA Playoffs without the Indiana Pacers. I struggled for awhile in what team I would leave out of the playoffs as the #9 seed in the Eastern Conference. I eventually chose Milwaukee to be left out for a simple reason: Indiana has made the playoffs in 16 of the last 17 years. However, the Pacers have lots of improvement to do if they want to avoid a decline in wins for the 3rd straight season. A big key to that is avoiding the injuries, suspensions, and arrests that have plagued this team the last couple of years. It might be wise to stay away from strip clubs as well.
Overview
Rick “Lazy Eye” Carlisle has lots of new faces to work into the team and a good start to the year will be important to keep the fans off his back and to stay alive in a difficult division. The core nucleus is still intact and for the meantime, not suspended. Stephen Jackson’s latest incident should carry well into the start of the regular season and give the Pacers the controversy they seem to crave. They might want to try improving that scoring ranking too. The Pacers 93.9 PPG ranked 23rd in the league.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG: Jamaal Tinsley
SG: Stephen Jackson
SF: Danny Granger
PF: Al Harrington
C: Jermaine O’Neal
Three Questions about the Indiana Pacers
1. Is this the season everything blows up? The Pacers thought they had rid themselves of controversy after trading Ron Artest to Sacramento. But luckily for all of us, Stephen Jackson decided to pick up the slack and get into trouble before the season even started. And now Reggie Miller has criticized the entire team for standing by Jackson after “shooting it [the strip club] up like it’s the Wild, Wild, West.”
2. Is the Pacers frontcourt the best in the Eastern Conference? I’d put it right up there with Chicago and Detroit. Certainly, it’s the most athletic. Reacquiring Al Harrington was huge, he’ll put up close to 20 points a game if he’s healthy. Pair him up with 2nd year guy Danny Granger (8 points, 4 rebounds) and center Jermaine O’Neal (20 points, 9 rebounds) and you have the reason why I’m putting Indiana in the playoffs.
3. Can everyone stay healthy? O’Neal, Harrington, and Tinsley missed a combined 77 games due to injury last season. If the Pacers avoid injuries, they could potentially challenge for a 4 or 5 seed in the playoffs. But they’re full of injury/suspension-prone players so don’t hold out hope for everyone staying healthy. I think the Pacers squeeze into the playoffs.
