Revised opinion of Hawks in Pacers series

[NBASupes]

I don't see Lance leaving especially if they raise the salary cap. Indy is starting to sellout the arena again.

I really don't see nothing available in FA other than C+ players unless we land Lebron or Melo which is unlikely.

[Buzzard]

I don't see Lance leaving especially if they raise the salary cap. Indy is starting to sellout the arena again.

I really don't see nothing available in FA other than C+ players unless we land Lebron or Melo which is unlikely.

I don't think you have a clear picture of how bad Indy's cap situation is next season. Even if they cut Turners 8.7 Cap Hold/QO loose, they are setting at 57 Million in guaranteed contracts; and that is only for nine players. 63.2 million is the estimated new cap. There is no way Indy can stay under that number if they sign Stephenson and field a legal roster right now.

links to cap figures:

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/indiana.htm

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24533195/nba-cap-projected-to-increase-more-than-anticipated

Edited May 18, 2014 by Buzzard

[Jody23]

The Pacers will lose this series.

[DrReality]

Pacers rose to the occasion

[Endy9]

I agree Hotlanta. We had them beat. A couple of good bounce our way and we would have beat them. Encourages me. Now if the Pacers were so down and losing faith in each other as some would have us believe the Wiz would have pushed them at least harder. It was us that made them look bad not Bynum.

[AHF]

I don't think you have a clear picture of how bad Indy's cap situation is next season. Even if they cut Turners 8.7 Cap Hold/QO loose, they are setting at 57 Million in guaranteed contracts; and that is only for nine players. 63.2 million is the estimated new cap. There is no way Indy can stay under that number if they sign Stephenson and field a legal roster right now.

links to cap figures:

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/indiana.htm

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24533195/nba-cap-projected-to-increase-more-than-anticipated

Indy has no intention to stay under the cap. They just want to stay under the luxury tax line.

[Buzzard]

Indy has no intention to stay under the cap. They just want to stay under the luxury tax line.

That's a good thing because Hibbert and George stand to make 32 million combined by themselves in 2015/16. Then Hibbert is a free agent again. If what they want is a core of Hibbert, George, and Stephenson they can make that work. But finding productive players on the cheap in future years will prove a tough task. West will eventually have to be replaced.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Buzzard

[Plainview1981]

I agree Hotlanta. We had them beat. A couple of good bounce our way and we would have beat them. Encourages me. Now if the Pacers were so down and losing faith in each other as some would have us believe the Wiz would have pushed them at least harder. It was us that made them look bad not Bynum.

That three minutes eats away at me every time I think about it.

[Plainview1981]

The thing is... Miami has not been battle tested in this playoffs, and so this was really the first time that they have been smacked in the mouth this post season.

[Diesel]

Its only the first game. I put some money down on Miami in six. We will see how things go in game two....

The refs will be involved. You basically heard Lebron asking for the refs to give them more FT shots.'

[macdaddy]

I agree with those that said Miami will win the series. There is no doubt in my mind. I wouldn't say that the nba is fixed but it's definitely ref'd in favor of certain players and teams. You know at the beginning of the year probably 8 of 10 people would have said miami, indy, okc, sa as the final four teams. How sad is it that we can play a whole season and playoffs with no big surprises. Try to pick the final four teams in any other sport at the beginning of the season and 95% of the time you'll be wrong. Why is the nba different?

[AHF]

I agree with those that said Miami will win the series. There is no doubt in my mind. I wouldn't say that the nba is fixed but it's definitely ref'd in favor of certain players and teams. You know at the beginning of the year probably 8 of 10 people would have said miami, indy, okc, sa as the final four teams. How sad is it that we can play a whole season and playoffs with no big surprises. Try to pick the final four teams in any other sport at the beginning of the season and 95% of the time you'll be wrong. Why is the nba different?

In addition to the reffing, which is certainly a factor, basketball is the most predictable sport because stars have the most influence. Football and baseball are games where you can legitimately have the best two players in the entire league and not come near the playoffs if the rest of your team is riddled with holes. You put the best two players in the league on the same team in the NBA and you almost have to try to construct a terrible roster to keep them from making a serious playoff run. You give me KD and Lebron and then take the next 150 players off the board and let the league then draft the rest of the rosters and I will definitely take my chances at a championship. It isn't a coincidence that 2 of those 4 teams feature the best two players in the league; SA features a couple HOFers, a HOF coach, and superbly balanced role players so they are always elite; and Indy was the obvious favorite for runner-up in the East after last year. The Pacers are the only one of those teams who aren't talented enough to be highly predictable to make the conference finals but the East is so bad this year that it gives them quite a margin for error.

[rd79]

I agree with those that said Miami will win the series. There is no doubt in my mind. I wouldn't say that the nba is fixed but it's definitely ref'd in favor of certain players and teams. You know at the beginning of the year probably 8 of 10 people would have said miami, indy, okc, sa as the final four teams. How sad is it that we can play a whole season and playoffs with no big surprises. Try to pick the final four teams in any other sport at the beginning of the season and 95% of the time you'll be wrong. Why is the nba different?

In sports many points/goals/touchdowns per game means bigger chance for the favorite team to win. In most cases favorits are winning at all sports but at soccer or hockey you can win a game by a good goalkeeper and one single lucky goal. At basketball a buzzerbeater may be lucky, but you won't get the chance for a buzzerbeater if you are the worse team he whole game...

Nevertheless a weaker team can beat a better one in the nba, but you have to do it four times out of seven if you want to reach the next playoff round. And if you want to make it to the Conference finals you have to do that twice in a row...

[macdaddy]

In addition to the reffing, which is certainly a factor, basketball is the most predictable sport because stars have the most influence. Football and baseball are games where you can legitimately have the best two players in the entire league and not come near the playoffs if the rest of your team is riddled with holes. You put the best two players in the league on the same team in the NBA and you almost have to try to construct a terrible roster to keep them from making a serious playoff run. You give me KD and Lebron and then take the next 150 players off the board and let the league then draft the rest of the rosters and I will definitely take my chances at a championship. It isn't a coincidence that 2 of those 4 teams feature the best two players in the league; SA features a couple HOFers, a HOF coach, and superbly balanced role players so they are always elite; and Indy was the obvious favorite for runner-up in the East after last year. The Pacers are the only one of those teams who aren't talented enough to be highly predictable to make the conference finals but the East is so bad this year that it gives them quite a margin for error.

So why is the NCAA so much less predictable. You can take big time programs with far and away the two best players in the nation, good supporting cast and coaching and often they won't sniff the final four. Now, one explanation is a single elimination tourny but that can't be the only thing.

[MaceCase]

So why is the NCAA so much less predictable. You can take big time programs with far and away the two best players in the nation, good supporting cast and coaching and often they won't sniff the final four. Now, one explanation is a single elimination tourny but that can't be the only thing.

It's the most important thing. You can have your star have a bad game or some nobody from a mid-major blow up for 30 points or both at the same time and that spells the end of your season. Football suffers from the same but in the college game you can add lack of scouting, preparation and familiarity with your opponent to the mix to go along with one of the most important factors, experience/physical maturity. How often have you seen a team of upperclassmen just punk a squad of one and doners despite there being a gap in talent?

[JTB]

Yeah well I think it's weird that Miami took only 12 free throws in that game. Don't get me wrong I want Miami to lose but I don't really like the pacers either. But to see the refs only give Miami 12 free throws is huge!

I mean lebron has been avg 10 so far! I think refs give a lot of favoritism as we know and I'm sure next game free throws will be more even or more Miami probably.

Last thing....if bosh can hit his open 3s that will change this series big time! Bosh is the X factor...the pacers basically dared him to shoot and he didn't make them pay. I'm telling you guys...shooters vs the pacers equal disaster for the pacers. If I'm spoelstra I wouldn't worry about any inside shots when you have lebron and wade attacking the paint.

[Diesel]

So why is the NCAA so much less predictable. You can take big time programs with far and away the two best players in the nation, good supporting cast and coaching and often they won't sniff the final four. Now, one explanation is a single elimination tourny but that can't be the only thing.

Because the NBA is rigged. Basketball has been and will always be about coaching and matchups. Honestly, if Basketball were reffed correctly and AL Jefferson had not gotten hurt, Miami would have prolly lost to Charlotte. That said, reffed correctly, the Brooklyn series would have gone 7. I fear that what we will see is the refs getting involved as they always do in the Indy series. An uneven number of FT attempts for the King. Dumb possession calls. In the NCAA, you don't have motives that take away from the game. Teams that lose, do so because the other team beat them. Not because the refs did what they could to keep the game competitive.

College games have yet begun to worry about TV contracts. So in basketball, refs fix games...players and broadcasters are made to keep quiet about what is obvious to everybody watching. Is there another sport where the refs call can never be called into subjection? In basketball, a refs call cannot be called into subjection by players,nor by the broadcasters who cover the games.

This won't change until there is somebody with enough balls (prolly not connected to the NBA) steps up and gets the fans to call for fair play.

[Diesel]

Yeah well I think it's weird that Miami took only 12 free throws in that game. Don't get me wrong I want Miami to lose but I don't really like the pacers either. But to see the refs only give Miami 12 free throws is huge!

I mean lebron has been avg 10 so far! I think refs give a lot of favoritism as we know and I'm sure next game free throws will be more even or more Miami probably.

Last thing....if bosh can hit his open 3s that will change this series big time! Bosh is the X factor...the pacers basically dared him to shoot and he didn't make them pay. I'm telling you guys...shooters vs the pacers equal disaster for the pacers. If I'm spoelstra I wouldn't worry about any inside shots when you have lebron and wade attacking the paint.

I think it was 15 FTs... but to that point, Indy is a really good defensive team. They held opponents to 21 FTs per game. This is a team that doesn't foul much. Moreover, Miami wasn't being aggressive. Less drives to the lane. Indy had one of those magical games. I hate indy but I want them to win game 2.

[AHF]

So why is the NCAA so much less predictable. You can take big time programs with far and away the two best players in the nation, good supporting cast and coaching and often they won't sniff the final four. Now, one explanation is a single elimination tourny but that can't be the only thing.

Two things:

One is single elimination. Think of how big a factor this is by looking at Indiana:

Atlanta over Indiana

Washington over Indiana

Indiana over Miami

The second is the maturity of the players and the teams. NBA teams are much more well drilled and predictable. Younger players mean more variation as does the limited court time in college basketball compared to the NBA (both # of games as well as limits on hours in college versus unlimited training time in the NBA).

Finally, you rarely see the two best players in the nation on the same team. You are more likely to see the two best prospects on the same team but that is different than best players for that season.

[Diesel]

Finally, you rarely see the two best players in the nation on the same team. You are more likely to see the two best prospects on the same team but that is different than best players for that season.

As a Kentucky fan..... HOW DARE YOU!!!!