For the month of October, Mitch Pratt, Andrew Kasmarek and Charlie Tritschler will be previewing the NBA teams for the exciting 2013-2014 season.
What I know (I am stealing this from Kazz because I like it a lot and wish I thought of it myself, Kazz is a smart cat folks.)
- Indiana took the Miami Heat to seven games and honestly felt like they were going to beat them at different times of the series. They had an issue scoring off the bench and they added three strong bench players.
- Paul George will develop in a top flight superstar this year. George is on the fringe right now and we start to see him bud into one in the playoffs last season. He will be the one guy getting robbed out of starting the All-Star game in February.
- Indiana's fans are comparable to Tampa Bay's in baseball and no one seems to give them any shit because they have a great arena.
The X-Factor: SF Danny Granger - I have a ton of questions about the former Olympic team member. Granger is coming off another knee injury and George took his spot in the rotation. George will probably play the proverbial two while Lance Stephenson will play the three or Granger. It sounds like once Granger gets back to full strength he will be starting and then you have two wings who can both score 20 a game. Granger's numbers have decreased since the 2009-2010 as he peaked at average 24.1 a game going all the way down to 18.5 for the 2012 season. The biggest thing for this team is the chemistry between George and Granger. If the New Mexico product thinks he is the go-to guy at the end of the fourth, that will be a major problem going forward. I could honestly see a situation where the Pacers deal Granger if he does not fit with what the team trying to replicate the 2012 success.
The Big Question: How intense will Chicago-Indiana be all year? - Oh man, this could be the biggest rivalry in the Eastern Conference next to Chicago-Miami (Chicago takes their lesson from Drake with no new friends). There has not been a ton of animosity between these two teams... yet. I feel like this rivalry will be intense all four times these two meet this season. I also see both teams fighting back and forth for the first spot in the Central Division. My big question out the gate for these two squad is who is guarding Derrick Rose? No way can Paul George keep up with him nor George Hill who would probably look as bad as Nick on New Girl trying to talk about his feelings. .
Key Additions: PF Luis Scola, F Chris Copeland, G C.J. Watson - Big time bench additions for this team. They add Scola who I do not know is washed up. He still feels like a flopping wizard able to give you 10 to 12 points a game. Copeland had a breakout year in New York last year and hopes to duplicate it with Indiana. Watson never gets enough credit for being a solid backup point guard. Indiana vastly improved their bench from last season.
Key Departures: PF Tyler Hansbrough, SG Gerald Green PG DJ Augustin - The Pacers lost a bit off their bench losing Green and Augustin. Head coach Frank Vogel deserves a ton of credit for restoring both of these fairly young players' careers. Green's dunking antics will likely be missed. I also missed Hansbrough no longer with the team. Thanks to Bradley for pointing that out to me. I need a better editor (Me.)
Pacers Draft: SF Solomon Hill, PF/C Colton Iverson - Reading about Hill via Indy Cornrows, it sounds like they might have a steal in Hill. He seems like a true practice player, gritty, the type of guy who does all the little things that do not show up in the box score. Iverson is a big boy who can give a team five fouls on a regular basis along with five points, not bad. Apparently he is in Turkey playing ball and got traded to the Celtics, damn you Basketball Reference (Thanks Jake.)
Prediction: Everyone and their mother will be predicting Chicago to win the Central but I have Indiana being the two seed of the Eastern Conference. Love what they did in the offseason and George will make a legitimate case for MVP this year.
-Charlie.
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