R-Star

So lets start discussion how the rosters shaping up.

PG: Hill / Augustin
SG: George / Johnson
SF: Granger / Green
PF: West / Hansbrough
C: Hibbert / Mahinmi


This is of course assuming we're letting Barbosa and Amundson walk.


Looks slightly more well rounded this year with Mahinmi being a bit of an upgrade. Augustin is a more than capable backup. I'd assume Green splits backup minutes between the 2 and 3 but I put Johnson there since I see him getting some minutes.

Looks like we're commited to Hill as our starting PG for the future. Gotta tell you, don't love it. He's a quality player, but we need a top notch assist guy manning that spot in my opinion.


Expectations? About the same as last year. Top 4 in the East, another guaranteed 2nd round showing with a respectable chance to upset anyone.

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TucsonClip

Solid team, but they really need a #1 option. 2nd round should be the minimum, but im not sure they have the horses to get past that without Hibbert developing even further next year.

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R-Star

Hibbert should take another step forward next year, but I don't see it being more than a 16/11 type of improvement.

Too many people score on this team for any 1 player to blow up.

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Luke

Exact same boat as last year. Pretty good team that has a solid regular season, advance at least a round in the playoffs, and then gets eliminated by Miami.

I don't think anyone except for a healthy Bulls team has a chance against Miami in the east.

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Formerly VanillaPrice

Pacers Fan

I don't think Orlando Johnson will play at all. If Paul George plays 30 mpg at SG, George Hill will probably play 8 mpg at SG with Augustin, and Green might play the other 10. Whatever Green doesn't play, though, will probably go to Lance. He must be ahead of OJ on the depth chart.

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Indeed.

R-Star

That's why I put that it will basically be Green as the primary backup for both the 2 and the 3. I gust had to put someone there as the backup SG to fill the roster chart.

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Knick Killer

If it wasn't for Miami, I'd be a lot more excited about this team. Another year together under Vogel with some solid additions is nice but at the end of the day, it's just not enough to get past a healthy Heat team.

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R-Star

We can play with anyone. While chances of beating the Heat are slim, I have no doubt we can make a series with them.

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Damian Necronamous

Hill...Augustin
George...Stephenson...Johnson
Granger...Green
West...Hansbrough...Pendergraph
Hibbert...Mahinmi...Plumlee

I like their moves this summer, I really do. Along with (obviously) their health, their success this season will entirely depend upon the growth of George and Hibbert. I'm of the opinion that neither of these players will ever blossom into a 18-20ppg perennial All-Star, but we'll see. Whatever happens, they should be a very deep and entertaining team to watch. I'm rooting for em.

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Chick Hearn: This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are gettin' cool, the butter's gettin' hard, and the jellooooooo's jigglin'!

RollWithEm

I also like the subtlety displayed by the Pacers this offseason. DJ is a slightly better playmaker and a much better shooter than is Collison. Gerald Green is just starting to harness his upside. Mahinmi is an upgrade over Amundsen. George and Hibbert should both improve incrementally this season. This team will certainly be in contention with the Nets for the 2nd seed in the East (with the 5th best record in the league overall). I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals this season.

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But that's just me.

Knick Killer

I think the Pacers in the ECF is realistic and anything less would be a disappointment.

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RollWithEm

That's if they stay out of Miami's side of the bracket.

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But that's just me.

clownskull

what i took away from the miami series was that even when they only had 2/3rd's of their big3, those guys were of a talent and ability that they could take their games to a level where they could overwhelm a squad of good and very good players.
we could use a big gun, a guy who is capable of putting up the big scoring numbers.
that being said- another thing i noticed was that even though our starting 5 lacked that big gun, our biggest weakness wasn't our starting 5 versus theirs- it was our bench. we supposedly had a deep bench but when those guys came in- they didn't carry their end.
i remember multiple times when the pacers had 7-10 point leads and vogel would make the mistake of subbing all the starters and put in a roster of all bench guys. that was when bad things happened every time. i didn't think lebron could go the series playing as many minutes as he did but- he did.
hansbrough and barbosa just didn't get the job done as the bench scorers we needed.

while roy needs to score more for the team to get to the ext level, having a good distributing point guard would really help. perhaps augustin will make a difference in that dept. hill is a good combo guard but not a great creator/distributor.

as far as miami- they are all but certain to make it to the finals again next year unless lebron gets hurt. he is easily the best player on the team as he can be a nightmare at multiple positions.
wade though- he can take over and stuff but, i really don't think he has much time left as an almost unstoppable guy.
he had his knee drained and worked on this off season and is out for the olympics not to mention he has been missing games the last several seasons and already is pretty high mileage. i think he has about another 2 seasons before he really starts falling apart although- it could happen sooner.

Knick Killer

Well I see us finishing Top 3 in the East so that would have us on the other side of Miami assuming they get the #1 seed.

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RollWithEm

Right. That's assuming they get the 1-seed.

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But that's just me.