By Justin Albers
INDIANAPOLIS- The Indiana Pacers come into this season with a new roster, and plenty of questions. The Pacers had a disappointing season last year, a season filled with injuries and under achieving. After being sent home following the first round of the playoffs, Larry Bird expressed how upset he was.
"There is no reason in the world for us to play like this," Bird said. "If I don't see an improvement in the attitudes of these guys, there will be a change in atmosphere next season."
And a change there is. The Pacers have acquired 5 new players, but the 2 guys everybody thought would be gone are still around, Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley. Nobody wanted to take on either of their contracts, and after what happened the week before the preseason I can see why. Tinsley and Jackson of course were involved in the incident outside of Club Rio in October.
Indiana has started the regular season with a 3-2 record, and have shown signs of being really good, but also signs of being really bad. The Pacers beat the Bobcats, Sixers, and Knicks by an average of 11 points per game, and lost to the Wizards and Hornets by an average of 22 points a game. This is a team that could be streaky, but I tend to believe they won't be as streaky as a year ago considering the deep bench that they have. Marquis Daniels, Darrel Armstrong, Sarunus Jasekevichus, David Harrison, and Rawle Marshall will all continue to come off the bench this season. And after regaining Al Harrington, the Pacers look to have a powerful inside combo of power and touch.
It seems like an exciting team to watch, and should be. Once this group of youngsters has a chance to play with each other for a period of time, they should have a solid season and be a playoff contender. I have them going to the Eastern Conference Finals and then losing which might be a stretch but it is what I believe. This team is for real.
THE NEW MEN IN BLUE & GOLD
Darrel Armstrong 2.1 ppg 1.4apg 1.3rpg
Marquis Daniels 10.2ppg 2.8apg 3.6rpg
Al Harrington 18.6ppg 3.1apg 6.9rpg
Orien Greene 3.2ppg 1.6apg 1.8rpg
Rawle Marshall 3.1ppg 0.4apg 1.3rpg
Josh Powell 3.0ppg 0.2apg 2.2rpg
Shawne Williams (rookie)
Maceo Baston (rookie)
No comments:
Post a Comment