dwtaylor1055

15 hours ago, NotIThatLives said:

Who are you talking about?  Yogi' s number are all down across the board.  

Nemanja Bjelica.  Averaging 15.6 ppg, 6 rebounds, 59% FG% and 55% 3PT%.  I believe he comes off of the bench for the Kings, as what he would have been doing in Philly.  He verbally told Philly he was going to sign with them, but backed out and decided to sign with the Kings. 

12 minutes ago, ADegenerate said:

I wasn't thrilled about the extension either, but I think it had to be done unfortunately. We aren't exactly a hot spot for serious free agents so I think we have to lock down and make due with what we have. If it costs us with Sabonis in the long term then I'll be properly pissed because he's a monster.

I agree with you about something being off. I posted as such. I'm thinking it's just a slow start and trying to slightly alter our approach (vaugue but that's kind of the vibe I get). Vic seems to be looking to bring people in a little too much which is fine early season.

I'm ready to abandon that 3 seed shout. I think Mil has that locked down. We might end up the 5 and bounced by philly first round

Philly IMO is the weaker team out of Boston/Toronto/Bucks/Pacers/76ers(my predicted top 5 for the east).  Losing Marco Belinelli and Ersan IIyasova really hurt them and the guy that backed out of a deal during this past offseason is rolling in Sacramento.  I do agree that the Bucks are rolling and will be a tough out, the new coach seems to have really brought out another level of Giannis.  I think the Pacers get the 4 seed and beat the 76ers in the 1st round and face Toronto in round 2. 

1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

Was not a fan of extending his contract because I want to keep Sabonis long term over Turner.  They don't seem to be able to play together so to me they have to choose one or the other and that should be Sabonis.  To me Turner is not a tough enough player around the basket and can't rebound well enough because he can't hold his position.  If it was me in charge I would have tried to trade him this off season but maybe they can do it next off season.

 

Something just does not seem right with the Pacers and something is missing.  The last few games they are not moving the ball like they did earlier and VO is trying to do to much at times which is hurting the team.  Luckily last night VO picked it up in the 4th to seal the win against a bad Knicks team.

I could be wrong here but I think one big difference is that after last year where they took the league by surprise and many doubted them, they are expecting things to come easier to them maybe and settling rather than keeping their foot on the gas? 

Pacers 2017-2018 record through 8 games: 5-3 record with 4 home games and 4 away games.  111.5 points scored through 8 games, 107.75 points given up through 8 games.

Pacers 2018-2019 record through 8 games: 5-3 record with 3 home games and 5 away games. 108.75 points scored through 8 games, 102.65 points given up through 8 games. 

Saw an article that said Tyreke Evans left practice today with an executive from the teams community relations department.
That seems kind of odd. Also heard he was late/missed the flight for the Timberwolves game?

Before last nights game I believe I heard Quinn or Chris say our bench was ranked 4th so far.  We were 1st entering the Timberwolves game.

Just now, Hoosierhoopster said:

Agree, and note the balance again -- Vic took 12 shots, but Evans took 14, Young and Sabonis took 9, Turner and Joseph 8, and Bog, Collison, and McDermott 7. 

Compare the loss to the T-Wolves: Vic took 23 shots (and went 8 of 23), while closest other players (2) took 13. And they lost by 10.

I'm going back to what I said earlier, balanced scoring/distribution for this season's team is key. When Vic tries to do too much, they can struggle.

Def agree, there will be times that I feel like Vic will need to take over when he's rolling but not near as much as he did last year. 

2 hours ago, 5fouls said:

Giannis is good.  

Very good and easily in the MVP consideration(yes I know its only 5 games in but still).  Is this his last season under contract? 

Side note, Pacers took care of the Spurs which was nice considering their bad game against the Timberwolves, very good ball movement, very good bench play and for the most part very good shot selection.  Sabonis and Tyreke off of the bench is so lethal.  Could either one of these two win the 6th man of the year? 

2 hours ago, dbmhoosier said:

Good solid team as always but also as always never a serious threat to win anything.  Been that way for like 30 years.

So the team in 2013-2014 wasn't a threat, I would consider making it to the ECF significant?  The team in the early 2000s were not a threat? I know its early(only 1 game) but assuming the bench can play like this 75 or 80% of the games, I cannot think of a better bench over the last 10 years or so that the Pacers have had. 

Pacers are really deep

Giannis needs to fix his spot up jumpers and improve his 3 point shot, if he does this, then I will be more worried about them.  If he does not, force him to do that while defending and make others win the game for the Bucks

18 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I am pretty sure Evans will only come off the bench. Who do you think he will start over?

Evans is an upgrade over Lance, but he isnt going to play a ton more minutes. Lance played nearly 23 MPG last year and I'd think whatever Evans plays over that isn't coming at our best players expense. It will be at the expense of Bogey, Joseph and Collison IMO. 

I can see times Evans closes the game but again, not at Vic's expense being the go to guy. It's already reasonable to think Vic will be more efficient and Evans will only help that.

Evans will not start, unless Bojan gets hurt then Tyreke could slide into the SF position. 

Evans will push for roughly 24 to 27 mins per game IMO.  Since he does have a injury risk, I think we will see him playing longer stretches to end the first half and ending the game. 

The closing group will be Vic/Tyreke/Bojan/Thad/Myles with Collison or Cory in at some times depending on game flow and game planning.  This gives you three respectable 3 pt shooters in Vic/Bojan and Myles.  With Vic and Tyreke it gives you two legit playmakers.  With Vic/Tyreke/Thad/Myles this gives you good defense. 

7 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I really dont understand when people say Vic will score less because of who we brought in. We brought in bench players to shore up our second unit, not to change the dynamic of our starters. 

If anything, Vic will get more usage as he improves more and Collison keeps aging which means a slight increase in efficiency can push him over 25 ppg. 

 

Edit: do Steph and Boogie not exist? Ignoring two players when there are only 30 teams skews the numbers a lot. 

Yes they did bring in those guys for the bench, but I believe that Tyreke will play more times then not going down the stretch in the 4th quarter to prevent defenses from circling in on Vic.  This will make the defense respect Tyreke as opposed to Cory or Darren when they can sag off and stay closer to Vic.  I can see it going both ways with Vic getting more ppg but I could see it being under as well. 

2 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I think we might see Vic try to do too much early in the season.

I could easily see this happening, especially with the season he had last year.  I'm not so much worried about Vic, its Myles.  Yes I know Myles is still young, however I think this is a very big year for him, lots of money on the line for next offseason as well

3 minutes ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

It's definitely a good question. Can see it going both ways as Vic is the team's clear leader now and looks to be continuing to grow his impressive game, but I do think that the team will be more balanced with more scoring, and will be better off for it. P's lost every single game Vic missed last season. 

It def showed when Vic missed a game, the leadership wasn't quite their nor was the intensity or scoring.  I think if Vic misses any games(knock on wood) I think the team has a lot better chance in winning a few without him.  My top prediction for the east at the end of the year(#1 to #8): Celtics/Raptors/Pacers/76ers/Bucks/Wizards/Heat/Hornets

3 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

Over. I think we will be north of 25. 

really?  I would like that, any specific reasoning behind your prediction?

2 minutes ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

Good question, as he has more scoring help this season and the offense should be more balanced. Would expect Turner to turn it up a bit, Evans is going to add scoring, Bogdan will probably pick it up a bit and guys like Sabonis, though probably off the bench, will likely increase their scoring. 

For those reasons I'll say under. I'll go with 22 ppg.

I agree, I am going with under and I mean slightly under at around 21.6ppg.  I think Turner picks up a few more points(12.7 in 2017) and ends up around 15ppg or 16ppg in 2018, Tyreke adds legit scoring from the bench that this team has been missing for a few years(my guess around 12 to 13ppg, Sabonis will pick up a few more points. 

over/under Vic at 22 ppg this year.