The Pacers (Part 1)

The Pacers….nothing has really happened when they were in the NBA except Reggie Miller (of course, they were good while in the ABA, but that’s for later….). Let’s get rolling!

(1) 2004 Indiana Pacers (61-21)

That’s right, the Pacers were pretty good in the early 2000s (making the Finals one year…though this is not it). This team faced the Pistons in the East Finals (which led to a short lived rivalry, until the league shut it down because of a fight the next year. You may have heard of it. Ron Ron decided to try to attack a fan…Smart decision making there…I blame Artest for screwing the Pacers ((actually, it was Wallace’s fault…why would you push him like that…that was a little foul. Nothing big, you made it big…then it’s also Ron’s fault, because he probably knew something was going to happen, and finally, I blame Reggie Miller for not stopping him…))) but lost the champs. This team isn’t really Reggie’s anyway. It’s Jermaine O’Neal’s (20-10). Artest had 18-5-4, and Al Harrington had 13-6. Reggie only mustered up 10-2-3…hey, he IS 38….

(2) 1998 Indiana Pacers (58-24) vs. (35) 1983 Indiana Pacers (20-62)

Let’s go Larry Legend! He led them to 58 coaching wins. Miller did the chunk of the playing, averaging 20-3-2 (I find it kinda bad how this is your best player….35 years, and Reggie is the best of the best…), and Rik Smits had 17-7. Chris Mullin was stolen from Golden State, and he had 11-3-2 this year. Mark Jackson had 8-4-9, and they got contributions from the two Davis’, Antonio (10-7), and Dale (8-8).

WHAT THE HELL?!?! Their leading scorer is CLARK KELLOGG!! Clark effing Kellogg! He had 20-10 a night! This world is screwed up! They got 17 points from both Billy Knight and Herb Williams. Mix that with a totally awful draft pick (someone Steve Stititititiovich or something at number two, over Byron Scott, and Drexler…..)

(3) 2000 Indiana Pacers (56-26) vs. (34) 1985 Indiana Pacers (22-60)

Here’s the early 2000s finals team, lost to LA obviously. Reggie had 18-3-2, and Jalen Rose had 18-5-4. Rik Smits played only 23 minutes a game, and managed to use that time for 13-5. Dale Davis had 10-10 and Mark Jackson added 8 assists. There really isn’t much to say…

Clark Kellogg (I still can’t wrap my head around him being good…) had 19-9 this season, and Herb Williams nearly equaled his production, putting up 18-9 of his own. Steve Stipanovich (previously referred to as Steve Stititititiovich) had 14-8…but still...over Drexler and Scott?

(4) 1999 Indiana Pacers (33-17) vs. (33) 1986 Indiana Pacers (26-56)

Not a great team…but not bad. Reggie had 18-3-2, and Rik Smits had 15-6. Jalen Rose added 11-3, and an old Chris Mullin had 10-3-2. Antonio Davis had 9-7, and Dale Davis had 8-8. Mark Jackson added 8-4-8. Don’t really think this team is that great….

But definitely better than this team…Herb Williams had 20-9, Clark Kellogg had 18-9, and Wayman Tisdale had 15-7. Vern Fleming had 14-5-6, and Steve Stipanovich had 14-8…

(5) 1995 Indiana Pacers (52-30) vs. (32) 1984 Indiana Pacers (26-56)

Half decent…It seems like the 50 winners aren’t as good as advertised…Reggie had 20-3-3, Rik Smits had 18-8, Dale Davis had 11-9, and Mark Jackson had 8-4-8. Ironically enough, Byron Scott had 10-2-1…you could have had him in his prime…Where is Steve now, anyhow?

These teams are…just so awful…it must have sucked to be a Pacers fan in the early 80s…Kellogg had 19-9, Herb Williams had 15-8, and Stipanovich had 12-7…Jerry Sichting put in 12-2-6.

(6) 1996 Indiana Pacers (52-30) vs. (31) 1989 Indiana Pacers (28-54)

I really just don’t like anything about these teams either…*sigh*…Reggie Miller had 21-3-3, Smits had 19-7, Dale Davis had 10-9, and Mark Jackson had 10-4-8. 

Year two of Miller wasn’t great…He had 16-4-3, and Chuck Person (22-7-4) was the leading scorer. Vern Fleming had 14-4-7, and Rik Smits had 12-6.

(7) 2003 Indiana Pacers (48-34) vs. (30) 1978 Indiana Pacers (31-51)

This is a half decent team…Jermaine O’Neal had 21-10, and Ron Artest had 16-5. Brad Miller (13-8) wasn’t a total stiff…Reggie Miller is become worse and worse, averaging only 13-3-2, I mean, Erick Strickland is shooting better threes than Miller…Al Harrington had 12-6, and Jamaal Tinsley had 8-4-8.

*Yawn*. Adrian Dantley (27-9) was traded. John Williamson had 19-3-3 in a half season, and Ricky Sobers added 18-4-7. Dan Roundfield had 13-10….

(8) 1994 Indiana Pacers (47-35) vs. (29) 2010 Indiana Pacers (32-50)

Ho-hum. Reggie Miller had 20-3-3, Rik Smits had 16-6, Derrick McKey had 12-5-4, Dale Davis had 12-11, and a 32 year old Byron Scott had 10-2-2 (bet you didn’t even know he played in Indiana…don’t worry, neither did I. This was his first year out of LA…he had two years here, and then one in Vancouver, then back to LA for a year…Another thing…when someone says Byron Scott, I never think of him as a coach….Never. You’d have to remind me. Kinda weird…).

Nothing much to see…Danny Granger had 24-6-3, and Troy Murphy was the leading boarder, with 15-10. That’s basically it…not much, but what do expect from 32 wins?

(9) 1981 Indiana Pacers (44-38) vs. (28) 2007 Indiana Pacers (35-47)

Slipped close to .500...but their matchup up slipped up a few wins too. Looks like we’ll be looking at average teams the rest of the way…This one has no one really noteworthy…Billy Knight had 18-5, and James Edwards had 16-7…

These guys were pretty average….Stephen Jackson was shipped out this year, as was Al Harrington, who was shipped out after 2004, then shipped back before the year, then sent with Jackson to Golden State…Jermaine O’Neal had 19-10, Jamaal Tinsley had  7 assists, and Danny Granger had 14-5.

(10) 2005 Indiana Pacers (44-38) vs. (27) 1982 Indiana Pacers (35-47)

Why is this year famous? Malice in the Palace. Ron Ron played only 7 games (guess why?), and was on an incredible 25-6 streak. Jermaine O’Neal had half a year, he had 24-9, Jackson played 50 some games, and had 19-5, Jamaal Tinsley played 40 games, and had 15-4-6, and Reggie had 15-2-2…and Fred Jones was the only non-fighter (though he was in the stands), and had 11-3-3…So many missing pieces…how’d they win this many…You should watch the video if you get a chance…it’s oddly mesmerizing…here’s a link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-169695640295285298 No one again…Johnny Davis had 17-2-4….