Wow, Pacers got destroyed by the Spurs at HOME...i knew they were terrible on the road...but losing like this at home???
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hibbert said they’ve had plenty of player’s-only meetings, plenty of sit-downs as a team, & “we’ve had some upper-management in here also."</p>— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottAgness/statuses/450826621360951296">April 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yes and NO. IN the EAST no, but overall the NBA yes. Personally I think a lot of people are going to overlook Brooklyn who healthy would match up well with a semi YOUNG INDIANA PACERS squad (and they might if things happen that way), a squad that has some experience on them too. I'd enjoy that 2nd Round matchup if possible! I think the East has some great players...not great teams like Miami (The argument being the Pacers and of course since they are the HEAT's rival play them tough and have a SHOOTER in PG they are called a GREAT TEAM), and then compare some of the West, i.e. teams that have had over 10 game plus win streaks Rockets, Spurs, Thunder, Clippers have great teams with lots of great players, great depth, and they tend to have next man up attitudes as much as I hate to say some of these west teams do. Pacers overrated yes, only because they replaced the BULLS. The East always has and always will be about "2 teams fighting it out." (Go back to the Reggie Miller/Ewing days) The east just has always been about the 2 teams that can do it. Pacers find themselves with a good team, and a great player Paul George, but hey lack oh so many things. They lack the Point guard I always thought would be better, or show up eventually and he hasn't and he won't. They also do not have a Luis Scola that they thought they had at the beginning of the season. Haven't seen too much, but have noticed and heard enough that his stats are not great, and his shooting has slumped hard downwards. Let's face it they have a decent Center who can bang with the good BIGS of the NBA now a days, and then they live and die by Paul George, and that Defense. Are they overrated by the NBA yes! Are they a good basketball team YES! Are they a top 3-5 team in the whole ENTIRE NBA, I just don't think so thus, why I say overrated.
No they don't, and they never did. Hibbert shot 41% from the field in March and 45% overall, this season. Did I mention his pathetic rebounding totals? Even Yao didn't suck that bad on the glass. Dude is 7'2", cmon man <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Kwame Brown 2003-04: "Bust" 10.9 - 7.4 - 1.5 - 48.9% FG Roy Hibbert 2013-14: "All-Star" 11.1 - 6.9 - 1.2 - 45.5% FG</p>— Joe (@NBATalkJoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATalkJoe/statuses/450845140161404929">April 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> http://www.indystar.com/story/sport...ers-arent-slumping-theyre-collapsing/7144399/
I wanted to post this back when they signed Bynum, but never got around to it. I'm a believer in Karma and I was thinking that the Pacers would get what they deserved during the playoffs because they signed a guy who didn't respect the game that made him rich. Hope the Grantland guys will stop kissing Larry Bird and the rest of the Pacer's asses.
I never thought they were that good to begin with. They have too many alike players. Hibbert and Bynum are both plodding 7ft guys. Scola and west are both mid range 4s with foot speed defeciencies. They needed a guy like Beasley or Anderson more than a guy like scola or bynum. When teams reduce, they can't counter.
Since the All-star break, the Charlotte Bobcats have been playing better basketball since All-Star break and are the most likely matchup for the Pacers. Since Jefferson has been beasting, Charlotte has the only offensive weapon.
The Pacers can be a good team but they aren't in Miami's level out in the east. To me, they are more in the level of the Raptors and the Nets. Pacers are better than either of those teams but they lie closer to them than Miami. The Pacers rode a blazing start and easy competition out east to have that record. They are the defensive oriented Blazers; very good at one end but mediocre at the other. With a star who only excels at one side of the floor. Neither team is for real, I don't think. If I were to rank teams this year, it would go as so: 1) Spurs 2) Thunder 3) Heat 4) Clippers 5) Rockets 6) Warriors 7) Pacers 8) Portland
A little hyperbole. Hibbert is obviously better than Kwame. Hibbert's career Ortg/Drtg is 103/101. Kwame is 102/105. Drtg is a better measure than blocks, as NBA defense has changed ever since the adjusted hand-checking rules. Nobody in the league blocks shots the way Dream, Eaton, Bol, or Mutombo used to. Most NBA defenses don't really even try to. But yea, Hibbert's shooting is weirdly terrible for a big man. I had him on my fantasy team and had to dump him because he kept killing me in FG%.
It is arguable that Michael Jordan ruined Kwame's career. The dude could have been a decent defensive center many teams could use. He was drafted too early and too high. His confidence got shot in the most crucial developmental stage of his career.
A lot of truth to this. Kwame was very young and obviously a bit sensitive coming in. The Jordan way is put up or shut up, but you can't expect an 18-year-old to come in and lead the team. Kwame had the tools, just needed coaching.
-I am not sure whether we should blame Jordan for Kwame. Maybe Kwame just never was that into basketball and didn't have the kind of desire to work on the craft to achieve elite status. Is there any info as to what he was like before the NBA? It's just that a lot of big athletic guys got into basketball because people told them their bodies are made for the sport. These guys often don't put in 100% once they achieve some financial gains from the NBA. Eddy Curry is another example from the same era. - Hibbert's value is defense. He got recognition for anchoring what was a historically great defensive team earlier this year. Kwame never did that. Now that the Pacers are merely good on D, and not historically great, the shine has come off Hibbert (and every other Pacer). - I wonder how the rest of the year changes Lance Stephenson's free agency fate. Is he still a $13M guy? $10M? Do the Pacers have to rethink the whole construction of their team?
I remember when Kwame was drafted, they weren't even talking about him as a center. The talk was he was going to be the "next KG" - a face-up guard in a 7 footer's body. So many high schoolers were going to be the next KG in the early 2000's - Darius Miles (who?!), Tyson Chandler (yes, I said Tyson Chandler), Kwame Brown, etc. Those drafts (2000-2001) really, really sucked.
I don't know how you can call a team that got within one game of the NBA Finals and is the #2 seed in their conference "Overrated." Just because you guys crowned them something doesn't mean you should punish them for your mistakes or jumping the gun. Until they fall apart in the playoffs I say no, they're not.
Speaking of Kwame, it's interesting how we treat #1 picks these days: Anthony Bennett is a bust but no one is making a huge deal about it Even Bargnani got off relatively easy
Probably an indication of the lack of quality coming from college/Europe along with the general lack of quality in the NBA now.
