***Official Pacers Playoff Thread***

[Bigman38]

I don't want to jinx it but if Indiana pulls off an upset in the ECF, we'll have a year where an ISU QB and ISU PG play for championships in the same year. It's not long ago when I just wanted to see some ISU guys in the NFL/NBA, never dreamed of seeing them star for championship level teams.

 

[NorthCyd]

Tyrese just gets it. Iowa st/sacramento/indiana. He just gets how to endear himself with the franchise

And he's smart. That will sell a lot of t-shirts and hoodies.

 

[NATEizKING]

Love seeing this for Pacers where the mens and womens have sucked forever, kind of why I pulled for the Lions. Just takes a Cyclone for those franchises to turn it around.

 

[CoachHines3]

The Pacers need to keep up the D.

cc: @CoachHines3

ur mom

 

[RING4CY]

Dan Patrick absolutely throwing ESPN under the bus for clearly being Knicks biased.

"I don't need a Stephen A. Smith arrival video."

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Talk about the Pacers

Dan Patrick just singled this out on his show this morning. Called them the ESPN New York Knicks and called the coverage both game and studio embarrassing.

 

[nfrine]

Dan Patrick just singled this out on his show this morning. Called them the ESPN New York Knicks and called the coverage both game and studio embarrassing.

The same ESPN backing SEC/B1G succession? Impossible.

 

[MeanDean]

The same ESPN backing SEC/B1G succession? Impossible.

It started 40 years ago with basketball on the (Big) East Sport Promotional Network.

 

[flynnhicks03]

I've been told there's no such thing as an "east coast bias". You're all out of line.

 

[Cychl82]

Id love to see Monte and Tyrese in the Finals, that'd be amazing!

 

[ScottyP]

Dan Patrick just singled this out on his show this morning. Called them the ESPN New York Knicks and called the coverage both game and studio embarrassing.

You could hear it in their voices at ESPN. They sounded like they were crushed that Indiana was winning/won.

 

[HFCS]

I don't want to jinx it but if Indiana pulls off an upset in the ECF, we'll have a year where an ISU QB and ISU PG play for championships in the same year. It's not long ago when I just wanted to see some ISU guys in the NFL/NBA, never dreamed of seeing them star for championship level teams.

Home court will make it tough, but I don't think Boston is some impossible task for them.

Dan Patrick absolutely throwing ESPN under the bus for clearly being Knicks biased.

"I don't need a Stephen A. Smith arrival video."

Glad I’m not the only one who thought the whole thing was gross and absurd. Wilbon and so many others on the network were also just openly cheering for New York.

When I watched the TNT show and highlights that were not this way it became even more glaring.

 

[cyfanatic]

Indiana vs Minnesota would make for a lot of "indifference" toward the Finals from the coasts for sure!

 

[ScottyP]

Indiana vs Minnesota would make for a lot of "indifference" toward the Finals from the coasts for sure!

If that is the finals matchup, I expect to hear about complaints on how the ratings would have been better if there were teams from larger markets.

 

[HFCS]

If that is the finals matchup, I expect to hear about complaints on how the ratings would have been better if there were teams from larger markets.

I’ll never understand this. I’ve lived in Chicago and La for 25 years but to me I tune out teams like Lakers and Celtics and tune in to see teams like pacers and twolves. Underdogs or young/exciting players is what I want to see, unless there is some player assaulting historical records (LeBron, MJ, woods, etc)

This Boston team is among the most boring imaginable to me if they weren’t playing a team I had been pulling for in the pacers.

 

[IASTATE07]

Home court will make it tough, but I don't think Boston is some impossible task for them.

How many games do you have Indiana winning?

 

[Saul_T]

How many games do you have Indiana winning?

Maybe they'll take 2 of them? Boston is really locked in right now.

 

[HFCS]

How many games do you have Indiana winning?

I don't think they'll win the series but I think 2 or 3 wins for the Pacers is more likely than 0 or 1. Probably 4-2 Boston if I was forced to bet.

If they had home court I might give them a coin flip chance. They've been very tough at home and played well against Boston in regular season (Hali was injured the one game Boston killed them). Tyrese seems to finally be getting healthy, he was inconsistent against New York but had games where he looked "back to normal". The last month of the regular season and against Milwaukee he really didn't look like he had previously.

There was a stretch in the regular season before the hamstring game where he was as lethal on offense as anybody other than maybe Joker and Luka. He was shooting it like Dame or Steph but also the best in the league at running tempo offense. If he's like that and McConnell as the perfect second guard to push pace, their offense creates real problems. Turner can be a matchup nightmare when he's on, a guy who shoots high % 3s but also effortlessly throws down dunks from 8 feet away. Siakam adds some toughness and experience they really need. Their young guys including Tyrese are rapidly getting experience. Nesmith is really improving by the week, Matherin was showing tons of promise before injury.

Nesmith might have been the hidden MVP of the New York series. He left Boston where he barely played and is blossoming with Pacers, should be highly motivated. Playing with Tyrese and McConnell really helps him on offense I think. It's really only his second season of being a heavy rotation player.

 

[cdface]

Dark Reggie

 

[NATEizKING]

Love seeing this for Pacers where the mens and womens have sucked forever, kind of why I pulled for the Lions. Just takes a Cyclone for those franchises to turn it around.