There is a tough decision in people’s mind regarding the Pacers. Win and seek improvement or lose for the best possible lottery pick? The argument is valid considering the Pacers haven’t made the playoffs in four years, and haven’t been over .500 in five seasons. Fans and media alike are pushing for the Pacers to “tank” the remainder of the season in hopes for the best possible lottery pick.
In the summer of 2011, the Pacers will have the most free cap-space available of over $43 million. At that time, David Morway, Larry Bird and Coach Jim O’Brien’s contracts are up. There is a high possibility that not only will you see tremendous change of players on the court, but also in upper-management.
The Indiana Pacers have now won 5 in a row, 7 straight at home. They are improving their game on the court and also finally providing an interesting game for fans to witness.
Attendance has been pitiful at Conseco Fieldhouse this year, just like the last few years. Sure they’ll announce 15,000–in reality it may be just over 10,000. It’s only when the true NBA stars come to town like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Dwight Howard that the Fieldhouse is packed.
In regards to winning rather than tanking, how can you not support the players. The players are finally taking care of business and adding to the win total. I quote Coach Herm Edwards just as I did in my December column about the Colts thinking ahead to the playoffs, “you play to win the game.”
From a player’s perspective, you don’t necessarily care about the future because you may not be apart of it. The players want to go out and win every night possible. It helps with their confidence, morale and stock. While fans definitely want to tank the season and enter into the “John Wall Sweepstakes,” that’s not on the minds of the players in the Pacers locker-room.
The argument from the fan’s perspective is that they are tired of being a spot or two out of the playoffs. Either win enough to make a run to the playoffs, or tank and improve your draft position. The last two years the Pacers have been 1 spot out of the playoffs and had the 13th selection in the draft. Just over a week ago the Pacers would have drafted 4th in the upcoming draft. However because of their string of wins, at this moment they fell to 9th. As ESPN’s Chad Ford posted on his twitter, “That’s the difference between Favors/Cousins and Cole Aldrich.”
I for one, cannot picture Larry Bird coming into the locker room before the game saying, “Guys, try your best and give the fans something to cheer for tonight. But we must lose and tank the rest of the season.” That is not what a player wants to hear from management. Players demand full support from management. Keeping your players from winning the game would kill the integrity of the game and create problems in-house. It didn’t happen that way, nor could it ever happen.
The Pacers have nine games remaining—6 of which are at home. Only two of them are against powerhouse teams, Cleveland and Orlando respectively. The fans and media will continue to call for the team to tank it and lose every game. But the players must continue to do what they are paid millions to do, compete to win. The best scenario is for the team to keep every game close and competitive but fall short in the end. That way it provides an entertaining game for fans alike. This certainly will be an interesting development over the final two weeks of the season.
You play to win that game…and that’s just what the players have done in the last week.
Great article my friend. Enjoyed the perspective from both sides.
The pacers have been pathetic for years!!! please tank to help the rebuilding process.
My question is where has the play that the Pacers have shown the last few weeks been all season long? Why the heck do they wait to play like this until it is too late every season…
Please get a big name this offseason to help Granger.