Oladipo, Pacers Might Be Worth Watching
Two years ago, I got the NBA League Pass through our cable company. As the basketball season began last year, I had just transitioned out of the Army, and felt like we needed to be careful with money in my first year as a civilian since 1991. I canceled the automatic renewal of the NBA League Pass subscription, and it was a good call.
When I purchase the League Pass for our homestead along the Potomac, it is to see my home state Indiana Pacers, and their season ended with a whimper. The Cleveland Cavaliers swept Indiana out of the first round of the playoffs in four games. To make matters worse, the best Pacer player, Paul George, came up small in high-leverage situations.
During the offseason, George put a gun to the head of Pacers president Kevin Pritchard and demanded a trade while speaking openly about wanting to return to his southern California home. At that point, every team in the NBA knew Paul George (1) had one year left on his contract, (2) didn't want to stay in Indianapolis, and (3) most likely would bolt to Los Angeles by the end of his one year contract. The most ignorant basketball fan could see the Pacers would have had absolutely no leverage in the resulting trade negotiations with interested teams.
Pritchard ended up trading George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for G Victor Oladipo, who played at Indiana University in college, and F Domantas Sabonis, whose dad might have been one of the best basketball big men of all time. At the time, I wrote that the recovery from losing George was going to be "painful," but at least we "got something." Most of the real sports media believed the Pacers failed miserably in the transaction.
Zach Lowe of ESPN felt it was a "disappointing return for Indiana." Dan Feldman of NBC Sports saw the trade as only the beginning of a "pathetic Pacers offseason." The primary sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star, Gregg Doyel, questioned if the Pacers had to lose the trade so badly.
Media personalities like Doyel are now starting to question their initial assessments, if not admit being totally wrong. I think it is a little early to claim the Pacers "won" the trade, but they are playing well enough now for people to wonder. Beginning this past Sunday, Indiana -- the state, not the team -- looked like it might have won the trade.
Late Sunday, an Oladipo three-point shot splashed down in Indianapolis with 10 seconds remaining in the game to give the Pacers a lead they would not relinquish to the San Antonio Spurs. After the shot, Oladipo can been see pointing to the floor at Conseco Fieldhouse (just above Hoosier soil) and saying, "This is my city...my city!" The crowd was bonkers, and Oladipo looked pretty damn happy to be a Pacer.
When I purchase the League Pass for our homestead along the Potomac, it is to see my home state Indiana Pacers, and their season ended with a whimper. The Cleveland Cavaliers swept Indiana out of the first round of the playoffs in four games. To make matters worse, the best Pacer player, Paul George, came up small in high-leverage situations.
During the offseason, George put a gun to the head of Pacers president Kevin Pritchard and demanded a trade while speaking openly about wanting to return to his southern California home. At that point, every team in the NBA knew Paul George (1) had one year left on his contract, (2) didn't want to stay in Indianapolis, and (3) most likely would bolt to Los Angeles by the end of his one year contract. The most ignorant basketball fan could see the Pacers would have had absolutely no leverage in the resulting trade negotiations with interested teams.
Pritchard ended up trading George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for G Victor Oladipo, who played at Indiana University in college, and F Domantas Sabonis, whose dad might have been one of the best basketball big men of all time. At the time, I wrote that the recovery from losing George was going to be "painful," but at least we "got something." Most of the real sports media believed the Pacers failed miserably in the transaction.
Zach Lowe of ESPN felt it was a "disappointing return for Indiana." Dan Feldman of NBC Sports saw the trade as only the beginning of a "pathetic Pacers offseason." The primary sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star, Gregg Doyel, questioned if the Pacers had to lose the trade so badly.
Media personalities like Doyel are now starting to question their initial assessments, if not admit being totally wrong. I think it is a little early to claim the Pacers "won" the trade, but they are playing well enough now for people to wonder. Beginning this past Sunday, Indiana -- the state, not the team -- looked like it might have won the trade.
Late Sunday, an Oladipo three-point shot splashed down in Indianapolis with 10 seconds remaining in the game to give the Pacers a lead they would not relinquish to the San Antonio Spurs. After the shot, Oladipo can been see pointing to the floor at Conseco Fieldhouse (just above Hoosier soil) and saying, "This is my city...my city!" The crowd was bonkers, and Oladipo looked pretty damn happy to be a Pacer.
Oladipo has already said the city of Indianapolis, and the state of
Indiana are special to him -- like a second home. But to see him
emphatically and publicly state that while beating an NBA power house
makes me reassess some things too. Namely, I am going to see what sort
of deal I can get on the NBA League Pass.
I am not expecting a championship this year. I still think the Pacers would be very lucky to win more than half of their games (they are currently 4-3, just like the...Thunder). I am, however, hopeful that Pritchard has the aptitude to keep this team competitive and better than mediocre.
NOTE: So I mentioned that 1991 was the last year I was a civilian before retiring from the Army in 2016. You know what else happened in 1991? It was the only year I was able to attend a Pacer playoff game in person -- Opening Round, Game Three versus the Boston Celtics at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The symmetry of life can be downright spooky sometimes.
The sideline reporter mentioned to VO after the game "It looked like you said 'This is my city' after you hit the shot.".....to which VO replied "It is.".......B.A.L.L.E.R.
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