This is new it really is a 2006-7 preview. The date at the top is merely an illusion you can have the date reflect whatever today's date really is. I hadn't posted for years, this was my little blog before there was such a term, I think. Anyway this predates Pacers digest, really great forum, for any NBA fan, the last time I wrote Al was with the team....the first time. To start off I'll steal Bill Benners concept he used to do when he wrote for the Star. So here goes.... Two guys Bill Pollyanna and Mike Chickenlittle meet at a bar as the Pacers season is about to start. Bill: I can't wait for the season to start they completely changed the team. Mike: Completley changed the team? They have Marquis and Al who will even see the court. It's more of the same and Al is the best player from one of the leagues worst team in ATL, didn't we already take their best player in Stephen Jackson and you can see how that worked out. Bill: STephen Jackson put up very good numbers last year. Mike: Ya, if you keep the stat for most times not getting back on D and crying to the refs while your man scores. Bill: Well he's been here two years and has never been used as he was intended. Mike: He thought he was the man last year, do you think he's gonna be happy being the 4th option? Bill: STephen Jackson will be fine, he just needs parameters and Carlise/Bird will provide that this year. Mike: I bet Carlise is gone before Jackson and Bird will be in Europe when it happens, it what I guess. Bill: Jackson will be fine, and its Granger's break out year, your new starting SF. He has one of the best all around games in the league. Mike: So let me get this straight, Granger starts at Small Forward and to do this you play Al at PF and J.O. at Center which if I googled J.O. and Center you'd probably get 100 hits for articles that all say he doesn't want to play Center. Bill: No, what you get is an Allstar Center, two guys that can merge to be the 3/4 for the starting line up in Al/Granger. Mike: Well it won't matter, because it sounds like Carlise is going to have Al be a 6'9" center defensively, this isn't the 70s, Wes Unseld isn't playing anymore. Bill: No the one good idea Isiah ever had has come to pass, you have basketball players, not positions. Mike: Zeke the profit, wow. Bill: Heres the thing, have you ever seen the Suns play or for that matter Detroit, it's about team? Mike: It's about talent, take this into consideration. The best player, every year, EXCEPT for both detroit teams, have alway won the Championship. Bird, Magic, Jordan, Hakeem, Jordan, Duncan, and D Wade. Where's J.O. rank. Bill: Right there with them. D Wade wasn't THE best player last year, he was one of the best players, and there still the Big Fella own there in Miami. I think he had something to do with that. It's not THE best player, its one of the best players, and yes J.O. is one of the best players. Mike: Well this is all fine and dandy, but answer me this. How do the Pacers touch the playoffs without a PG?? And don't tell me Tinsley, when does that 1 month from his rookie seaoson not carry him, when is the last time he's played CLOSE TO A FULL SEASON, WHEN IS THE FIRST TIME HE WAS HEALTHY FOR THE PLAYOFFS???. Bill: Two things, I'll be right back I'm getting another beer, and two you're a dick. More on this when I get back. ......................................................................................................................(This is my previous post, I think I'll keep it to keep things in perspective) This years version of the Pacers holds an interesting mixed bag of potential.....and potential reality. You don't have Big Smooth veterans to lean on and you have a 3rd year 20 year old vet coupled with a rookie 23 year old. A second year coach who has an uncoventional style and a roster that matches that unconventional preconception. Who is the point guard, who is the Center, who is guaranteed anything, but Jalen, Reggie, and J.O.? One thing is somewhat clear if an NBA Championship was decided on potential it would be another Indiana v. L.A. final, but not the Lakers.......instead......the Clippers.

Chemistry: What is chemistry? It amounts to the realization of an old cliche "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts". The Pacers were much better than .500, last year, if you counted vertical leap and athleticism, but the all important familiarity and chemistry reared it's ugly head to discount this theory. What makes it so obvious was the previous Pacer teams of the recent past and how they were the epitome of this. Youthful enthusiasm is nice to watch and entertaining on ESPN SportsCenter, but it doesn't put W's on the board. Crazy/Mad love must go to Reggie Miller as he could only watch and shake his head after coming from a TEAM that was much less talented that went to the Finals the previous year and conducted himself as a leader and true HOF pro, while suffering through a, hopefully, transition year without so much as a sigh, publically. The Pacers are talented, skilled, and very very young, relatively. Basketball is a team game and highlight dunks don't win games. A.I. learned it last year...Kobe the year before...Jason Williams was a staple in the highlight films two years ago and now he is an after thought. It comes down to substance over style. It may fly in Memphis this year, but in the Hoosier State, that dog don't hunt. Ever seen Gene Hackman...Jimmy Chickwood....in that movie....you know what I mean.

Youth. Ahhh, the pitfalls and exhuberance of youth. Gotta love it or love to hate it. It applies to all walks of life. If I knew then, what I know now. You can't have it both ways. Youth means inexperience, just by the very nature of the definition. This directly leads us to Donnie Walsh. He thinks you can have both. Jonathan Bender is in his 3rd year, but should be Junior in College. Primoz Brezec and Jamison Brewer, too. Al Harrington a Senior. Jermaine O'Neal a 2nd year pro player, but he is a 6th year pro. Can you have your cake and eat it too? We will see. Harrington trained like a decathalete and by all accounts (mine too) J.O. was the best player on the floor at the Goodwill Games and is on the verge of an AllStar caliber seaon. Bender put on 20 pounds of upper body strength, but still seems to be a really really tall Micheal Jacksonmorph body type. Bender, also, needs to prove his toughness, in that he was only able to play 1, count it 1, summer league game because his ankle had a boo boo. I don't doubt the severity of his injury, but it comes down to this. You MUST play in the NBA when you are hurt. No, not when you are injured, but, YES, when you are hurt. Back to JB later. The stark reality is that you can gauge it two ways, when judging youth, which directly correlates to sucess. One is experience, which includes ON COURT experience. Two, is age. In regards to age let me settle this in September, Norm Richardson will be the 15th player on this team. He is the only other, Reggie, shooting guard on the training camp roster beside Galen Young and he is better. Like I said, more on JB later. With this bold, tongue firmly implanted in cheek, statement I offer this......10, yes ten, of the 15 players who will comprise the Pacers this season will be under 26 years of age. You then have Reggie and McKey 35 or over and 3, Travis Best, Jalen Rose, and Carlos Rogers in the 27 to 34 range. Three players in their prime or at least typically what most would consider their prime. Add 2 cloves of Garlic, Basil, and some essence of Walsh and BAM!!!!, you have.....what? I'm not sure. It goes against convention because within this young team, you have experience and LOADS of talent.