Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005
I am, dare I say it, optimistic about the Pacers’ prospects this season. Here’s why:
Ron Artest was having an MVP year last year before the, um, “altercation.” If Rick Carlisle can keep him in check, I think we have the best all-around one-two punch in the league. O’Neal and Artest could easily put up 45 points between them, and could both make the first team all-defensive squad.
The one positive from last year’s suspensions and endless rash of injuries is that they provided lots of court time for David Harrison and Fred Jones. We now have the deepest, most experienced bench in the league, despite the fact that it’s also one of the youngest.
We won an absolute steal in the draft with Danny Granger, a guy some projected in the top five. He’s expected to contribute immeidately.
We also signed Sarunas Jasikevicius, thought by many scouts to be the top player in the world outside the NBA. Word out of Indy is that he’ll play sixth man. That means backup for Stephen Jackson at shooting guard, but it also means he’ll provide some needed competition with Jamal Tinsley at point guard. Tinsley shows flashes of brilliance, but always seems to make a key mistake at the worst possible time. Jasikevicius’ scouting report says he can score or he can run the offense.
Prediction: 60 wins. Top seed in the East. Probable loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. But this team is young. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have a title or two before O’Neal and Artest retire.
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on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 pm by Radley Balko
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