Here comes the obligatory article from a Pacers lover to Indiana readers hoping that the Pacers aren’t screwed after a run of poor performances. To tell you the truth, I don’t know if the Pacers will be ok.
The Pacers need a lot more from Roy Hibbert if they’re going to win a title this season
First thing’s first. We’ll know more about the Pacers tonight after they face a stern test in Dallas. If the Pacers win, everything goes back to being okay. If not, we get two more weeks of “Is it Time to Panic in Indy” talk on the web.
When is it time to panic? Would a team ever “panic”? Would that ever be an acceptable thing to do in the face of adversity? Just another slow day in the news industry.
Back to basketball talk. The Pacers troubles can be traced back to their calling card: defense. Usually, if the Pacers put up 86 points, one might think that they still have a chance of winning because of their suffocating defense. That hasn’t been the case recently, as the Pacers gave up more than 110 points on back to back outings in Charlotte and Houston. Couple this with the fact that the Pacers have always had difficulties putting the ball in the basket, and you have a problem.
Others might tie it to the Danny Granger trade, and the uproar it may have caused in the locker-room. While I don’t think that’s the case, whenever an established member of a championship caliber team, questions will be asked. Granger was a mentor to Lance Stephenson and especially Paul George.
Speaking of Paul George, the Fresno State alum has been way off recently, scoring a whopping zero points against the Bobcats last Wednesday. In the past, when George would have a bad night offensively, guys like Lance Stephenson and George Hill would pick up a piece of the load. Stephenson and Hill have been AWOL, and in turn the Pacers are losing ball games.
Roy Hibbert is another problem entirely. While the big man has arguably been the Pacers most important player due to his physical presence on defense, his offensive game has been cold for most of the season, with his recent performance alarming fans in the cornfield state. What’s worse is that his defensive impact has taken a hit in recent weeks. Hibbert was magnificent in last years postseason, and he will need to build on that in April and May (and hopefully June) if the Pacers want to get to the Finals.
The only Pacer playing up to par at the moment is David West. West is often overlooked in the debate of best power forwards in the NBA, but the big man is right up there with the best of them. West has a reliable long range jumper, and is a handful for anyone in the post. He’s also the leader of the Pacers locker-room as an 11 year NBA veteran.
I think the Pacers will snap out of their slump on their way to the number one seed in the East. That being said, if Indy fails to do so, and Miami ends up with home-court throughout the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Pacers will lose in the ECF again, and there will be hell to pay.
Bottom line, the Pacers need to up their game and start focusing on defense again. Indy has viable options all over the court with George, Stephenson, West and Evan Turner all proving to be valuable offensive weapons who specialize in creating their own shot.
The sky isn’t falling, and the Pacers still have a two game gap between themselves and the Miami Heat (who have now lost three in a row, time to panic!!!!!!!!!). That gap could grow to 2.5 if the Pacers win tonight in Dallas. Rest easy Pacer fans, it’s only March.
