Poor Pacers...

[Darrin]

It's no fun hating a team that is playing this badly. I had them winning the Championship this season in early September.





(Ron Artest in blue, Pacers in yellow)
:vomit:

[boutons_]

worst Rick season in years, quite a challenge for he and Larry to fix.

[Darrin]

worst Rick season in years, quite a challenge for he and Larry to fix.

2001-02: 50-32
2002-03: 50-32
2003-04: 61-21
2004-05: 44-38
2005-06: 34-39

Yeah, I'd say this is his worst coaching job of his career. So far, I don't like Larry Bird as a GM. Trading Harrington, not trading Ron Artest, signing Jasikevicius, etc.

[Winnipeg_Spur]

The Pacers are a perfect example of how quickly that championship window can shut on you. Even when they had the best record in the league and ended up getting beat by Detroit, it seemed like that they were on the right track and they had as good a chance as anyone to win one in the next couple years. That completely fell apart on them (mostly because Artest in a nutcase).

A similar thing happened with the Kings, after a hard-fought series with the Lakers, even though they lost, they looked so good in that series I thought for sure they'd get a championship in the near future. Some injuries (particularly to Webber) really hurt their cause and even though they've stayed in the playoff picture they haven't made it back to the WCF.

I think the next team to find this out could be the Miami Heat. They gave the Pistons a tough series but then took some big risks in the off-season and if those risks don't pay off this year (they certainly haven't so far), they may find themselves far from truly competing for a championship. Shaq isn't getting any younger and while Wade will keep them in the playoffs I'm not sure it'll enough to contend.

[T.F. Storm]

Jasikevicius is such a scrub.

[Obstructed_View]

Jasikevicius is such a scrub.
But there were a lot of people that thought he was going to be Manu X 2. I think he refers to Beno as "the glove". :lol

[Darrin]

I think the next team to find this out could be the Miami Heat. They gave the Pistons a tough series but then took some big risks in the off-season and if those risks don't pay off this year (they certainly haven't so far), they may find themselves far from truly competing for a championship. Shaq isn't getting any younger and while Wade will keep them in the playoffs I'm not sure it'll enough to contend.

I think the next team isn't the Heat; they are relatively old, especially when considering Shaquille O'Neal. I think they are aware it's probably over by 2007-08, and that's being generous.

I think Phoenix is that team. Steve Nash isn't getting younger; he's like the 2002-03 Jason Kidd. Everyone wants him on their team, but wait 2 years from now. A guy with his history of injuries? And without a point guard, the most entertaining team in the league is suddenly a 20-30 win team.