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0 Subject: Eastern Conference Finals

Posted by: Pacers Rule
- Leader [910311210] Thu, May 23, 2013, 18:10

Pretty good start to the series last night. West was pretty amazing. Hibbert looking pretty good as well. Hopefully George Hill can get it together. Stephenson is capable of better play as well.
1Seattle Zen
      ID: 3310162612
      Thu, May 23, 2013, 19:25
Last night was simply the first of four. David West is the perfect foil for this Heat squad, he could pour in forty if they kept feeding him the ball and he doesn't commit stupid offensive fouls. But even forty by West will not be enough.

The Heat will win one game simply by hitting the three pointers that they have been missing for most of these playoffs. They will win one game in a blowout because they have been blowing the doors off of everyone since Feb. And they will win another close game because they are now very experienced in the playoff pressure cooker.

The Pacers will probably win at least one.
2Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Thu, May 23, 2013, 20:29
Interesting. I'm concerned the Heat will win in 7. I think that game 1 was very important and the Pacers came up just short. I think both teams will defend their home court very well and Indy is capable of dropping one to this great team. I know they are capable of getting one on the road. The trouble is, are they capable of getting two on the road if they drop one at home.
These teams went 2-1 in the regular season in favor of the Pacers but in all three games, the home team won. Hibbert is playing way better again, and Paul George has evolved as the season continued to the point where he did everything to win that game last night except force Lebron to take a contested jumper in the final 2 seconds. His 3 free throws and big time three ball at do or die time were pretty impressive I thought. Barkley has picked the Pacers to win the series. I normally don't put a lot of stock in what he says. Pacers have some clear advantages, just like Miami does. I thought Indiana controlled the tempo even on the road in most of game 1. Miami went on one distinct run and I guess the question is can Indiana limit their turnovers and Miami's fast break points. Their advantage is in the half court.
3GO
      ID: 120252515
      Fri, May 24, 2013, 09:27
Heat in 6. Although I'll be pulling for Indy.
4Seattle Zen
      ID: 3603123
      Sat, May 25, 2013, 11:18
Great game, Pacers. This series is going to be intense.
5Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Sun, May 26, 2013, 20:46
I think Hibbert is showing folks why he was worth the big money. He is very underrated. We would not be even close to the same team without him.
6Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Sun, May 26, 2013, 21:03
I'm also enjoying how much sportsmanship is being shown by both teams in this series despite the physicality and intensity.
7twolves
      ID: 584502814
      Tue, May 28, 2013, 15:51
Hibbert has been impressive in the playoffs and has managed to stay out of foul trouble depsite how physical the series has been.

Big loss for Indy Sunday--they needed that game.

Looks Miami and SAS.
8Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Wed, May 29, 2013, 02:11
Yes, they did "need" to go up 3-1, but instead they gave back home court advantage and have turned this best of 7 into a best of 3 with 2 games at Miami. Anything can happen, but it's a tall order. Big game 5 coming up.

Hibbert three straight 20/10 games.
9Bean
      Sustainer
      ID: 49934911
      Thu, May 30, 2013, 14:36
As a previous season ticket holder for the Cavaliers, who got burned when LeBron left, would love to see Miami booted by the Pacers.

Is there a better true Center on the planet than Hibbert?

10Seattle Zen
      ID: 3603123
      Thu, May 30, 2013, 23:18
That second half was awesome. Unfortunately, I missed Game 3, the second half of tonight's game is what I imagine that was like.
11GO
      ID: 300542419
      Fri, May 31, 2013, 00:23
The Heat seem to make Hibbert look better than he really is. He did it last year too I believe. He had that big almost 20/20 game vs them in the playoffs last year.

Then the regular season comes and teams with legit centers slow him down to shoot 44% like he did this year. And how the heck does a guy with is size only get 8 RPG? Heck, thats what Lebron averages.
12Frick
      ID: 432501512
      Fri, May 31, 2013, 10:16
At least the conspiracy theorist Pacer fans have no more ammunition after the Hansborough/Anderson shove. As a number of Pacer's media people were saying on twitter, how was Anderson shove any different then the Mohammed shove? Except for one was against Tyler Hansborough and was was against LeBron James.

I have thought that the Heat were going to win the series from the beginning, but I didn't see the Pacers getting swept. LeBron is the best player on the court and is basically carrying the team just like he did in Cleveland. Honestly, has his supporting cast in this series been that different from his Cleveland days? Wade has been a nobody. Bosh is a 7 footer who likes to shoot 3s. LeBron was amazing last night.
13Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Sat, Jun 01, 2013, 17:12
Wade isn't right. That's the only explanation for him being such a non-factor. He was missing layups that he normally makes all day. [10]...that's pretty much right.

I expect us to defend our home court tonight and take this back to Miami...where anything can happen. I feel right now Indy has a 25% chance still of taking the series. If we win tonight, I give us at least a 40% shot.

Part of me feels these game have been officiated very differently. Pacers could not get to the line at all in game 5.
14Seattle Zen
      ID: 4811181319
      Sun, Jun 02, 2013, 11:57
I agree, I think the Pacers have a 40% chance tomorrow night. Donde esta Wade? Chris Bosh is being neutralized by the Pacer D which is living up to its billing. It has been gut wrenching watching how inconsistent the Heat can be, just look at the 3rd quarters of the last two games. Paul George... wow, I had no idea.
15Pacers Rule
      Leader
      ID: 910311210
      Sun, Jun 02, 2013, 18:25
and he's so young. It's been a beautiful thing watching him develop not only the last two years but even during the course of this season. He is hard working and the growth in his game has been phenomenal.
16Seattle Zen
      ID: 3603123
      Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 00:45
I was wrong, the Heat won their final three by blowouts and the Pacers won the close ones.

Yes, the Pacers matched up very well against the Heat and punched them in the mouth in Game 6. Why had the Heat not put forth the effort they showed tonight all series long? The onslaught of slashes to the basket were the perfect answer to Roy Hibbert's dominance on the glass. Vogel outcoached Spolestra by a long shot. Why did it take until Game 7 to put LeBron on Paul George? Just what exactly was Spolestra thinking during Game 6? They were such a mess. That won't work against the Spurs.

Vogel didn't do anything right in the second half tonight, he left Hibbert in too long after his fourth foul and when he picked up his fifth, it was over. Paul George did not adjust to adversity well at all tonight.

I felt that Hibbert made a huge mistake on Saturday during the press conference - not making the slur, but basically saying, "Hey, we have arrived, pay attention to us." Obviously he was satisfied with what they had accomplished.

The last two games show just how important Chris Andersen is to the Heat and just how bizarre would that sentence have sounded in October? Seriously, they are 49-5 with him. That can't be a basketball team's record, that sounds more like skeet shooting.

I'm sure that the blowout loss was easier to take than a close one, Pacers Rule. Should be a very interesting squad with Granger back next season, maybe they will trade him away like Memphis did with Rudy Gay, they seem to be pretty damn good without him.
17Seattle Zen
      ID: 3603123
      Fri, Jun 21, 2013, 02:00
What an amazing NBA Finals!!!
18Swish City
      Dude
      ID: 0931275
      Mon, Jun 24, 2013, 04:30
I just watched a re-run of Game 7, and i have to say how much i enjoyed it. LeBron and Wade were something else, but i have to say that even in defeat, the player that impressed me most was Kawhi Leonard.

He played some excellent defense, and i had no idea how well rounded a player he already is. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on him for my pre-draft boards for next season.
19Seattle Zen
      Leader
      ID: 055343019
      Sat, May 31, 2014, 10:58
Rereading this thread, what a difference a year makes. If you didn't understand basketball, you could say that the Pacers simply won one fewer game than last year, that they are going into this off season much like last, but that's not the case at all.

This time a year ago, the Pacers felt that if they had home court advantage, they would have won the East and they made that their top priority for 13-14. What good did that do them, they lost as many playoff home games as they did regular season home games. If I were a season ticket holder, I, too, would have booed. Why spent thousands of dollars to watch them get blown out at home against the Al Horford-less Hawks, one of the worst playoff teams in many years? The Pacers' top concern is figuring out what the hell happened in March. They were the top NBA team going into March and then something happened. They played so poorly against the Hawks in the first round, one must admit that they would not have beaten a single Western Conference team in the playoffs this year. The young team that showed so much promise last season, what happened?

Enough has been written about Roy Hibbert, there is something going on in his gray matter that causes him to go from the guy PR describes in post 5 to a guy who doesn't score in four playoff starts.

There are other problems that don't get mentioned enough. I think David West is part of the problem. For a veteran guy who is an outstanding inside-out power forward, he has a terrible competitive ethic. He whines, bitches and moans when things go sour, he hangs his head and gives up in blowouts. Did he ever straighten Stevenson out? Does he have the leadership ability to convince Paul George to perform at a top level in each half of each game? Bottom line, he is an emotional guy who is very effective when things are going the Pacers' way, when they are not, he is a large part of the reason they get blown out. Don't think you can fix that.

The Pacers' bench is horrible. Bench play in the NBA has a minimal impact in the grand scheme, but in the playoffs in a close series, it can really hamper a young starting line up. That could be fixed.

Paul George must learn to impose his will at the beginning of important games. That could be fixed, I think very highly of George and his game.

Post six:I'm also enjoying how much sportsmanship is being shown...

Snicker. Lance Stevenson is lucky that he isn't drinking his meals out of a straw today. I can't remember a NBA player acting with such stupidity at such an important moment. The guy is an unrestricted free agent right now and his last two games of the year he went from a blithering moron right into f'ing IDIOT. When Larry Bird is your boss, he tells you to stop and you don't, you are an idiot. After the game where your team was curbstomped, down by 36 points in no small part because you so angered the Heat, you tell reporters that you have no regrets because you know what you are doing, you "know" how to get under your opponent's skin. No, you don't. All you have shown is that you are an immature, uncoachable clown. No winning team should trust you with the ball in your hands. You went from being one of the most improved players, a 23 year old unrestricted free agent with many, many suitors, to a guy who is likely to be shown the door. I hope you sign with Milwaukee.

Excited about the Finals, regardless of who comes out of the West, the Heat will be tested. Let's go HEAT!
20Seattle Zen
      Leader
      ID: 055343019
      Sat, May 31, 2014, 11:16
I had to vent. Game 5 was a horrible experience, I was furious with Stevenson and his antics. LeBron's foul trouble was the stuff conspiracy theorists love. And even with all of that, even with a superhuman fourth quarter by Paul George, Chris Bosh was just an inch from Damien Lillarding the Pacers.
21Pacers Rule
      ID: 47140819
      Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 22:40
Seattle Zen,
I think I just read your post (19) for the first time tonight. I think you know the Pacers about as well as I do. I finally noticed David West taking some plays off last year and it really hacked me off.

Something happened in that locker room and it wasn't the Danny Granger trade, though that certainly didn't help. Hibbert's comment that "there's some really selfish dudes in here" was terrible on many levels but also very accurate I'm sure. While I was very disappointed to see Lance sign with, who was it...the Bobcats?...(now that he's not a Pacer I don't give a rip about him) now I'm glad he's gone b/c you're right, SZ, he showed no class. He's a freakish athlete and an amazing basketball talent esp. on the break, but when it comes to being a teammate and a classy competitor, he's pretty close to a zero. Even before the PG injury this off-season was feeling a little bleak with no answers to the malaise that beset the Pacers starting in about February. Appreciate the commentary, SZ. I guess now the pain has dulled enough I'm able to come back on here and check these boards, lol.
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