Indiana Pacers 2005-06 Preview Options

[khanouchi]

Starting Lineup: PG Jamal Tinsley
SG Stephen Jackson
SF Ron Artest
PF Jermaine O'Neal
C Jeff Foster

Key Reserves: PG Sarunas Jasikevicius
SG Fred Jones
SF Danny Granger
PF Austin Croshere
C David Harrison


The post Reggie Miller era starts this year and usually losing a future Hall of Famer has teams with not as bright of a future, but that isnt the case here. The Pacers get Ron Artest back and that makes the shooting guards and small forwards around the league very sad. Nobody wants Artest guarding them. The Pacers should be one of the best defense teams in the league with Ron back. They also added Danny Granger, who will be a good player and should be able to step in right away and give them productive minutes off the bench. Another addition is point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius. His team won the Euroleague Championship three years in a row and he was argueably the best player in Europe. Not the most talented,but the best. His defense isnt very good and he turns the ball over too much. However, he is a winner and will make alot of big plays for Indiana. His value will probably really be shown come playoff time.

An obvious question mark is if Artest can keep his cool all season. Everyone seems to have an opinion on this. If he does keep his cool, Indiana can be as good as anyone. Fred Jones is also someone to look out for. If he can become a consistent threat off the bench, this team becomes even more dangerous.

The Pacers won 44 games last year and are almost assured to win more than that. I expect them to win 56 games this year.

[GreggG.]

If I gambled, I'd plunk down some $ on the Pacers to win the championship. They'd get good odds and have a really great chance, I think.

Artest is a historically great defensive player. When his offensive game is clicking, he's an absolute force on the court. I think the reason he's on the Pacers is because they realize what an outstanding player he is and not that other teams were frightened by his insanity. It's too bad he's such a headcase and that him trying to work at Best Buy is the 9th most ridiculous thing in his career, because if he wasn't such a maniac people would talk about him as the truly fantastic player he is. Every year in the league, his numbers have improved. And his first ten games last year were insanely great. Like MVP great. He would probably cool off but I definitely see him at 22-24 PPG, 46-48% FG, 6+ boards and the best perimeter defense the league has seen since Andrew Toney was hawking dudes in the 80's.

O'Neal is a good post player. I think this year he might explode on the year -- he's just 27 now, he had a rough year last year with some of his numbers going down. I think the turmoil and injuries he suffered from are temporary and this year he's going to be an absolute beast, 1st Team All-NBA type.

I think Sarunas Jasikevicius replaces Tinsley by Christmas. Tinsley can't shoot, and has a horrible A/TO ratio for a PG. He's a good backup PG. Jasikevicius was a joy to watch in the Olympics and showed that the NBA is generally run by a bunch of nitwits who label players unfairly. The dude should have been in the league at least three years ago. He'll be a poor man's Steve Nash -- great control of the game, great outside shooter and he won't kill you. I've heard the defensive concerns but it's not like Tinsley is any good defensively.

Danny Grainger also really impressed me a bunch in college. He had a pretty brilliant all-around game while playing the four. He's got a rep as a great defensive player, also. I think he's going to be a great sixth man.

If Artest is as great as I think he's going to be, combined with O'Neal being the best post player other than Shaq in the East along with Sarunas and Grainger having superb years and everyone else just contributing... watch out.

[khanouchi]

Greg I could see Sarunas being the starting point by Christmas also, maybe even sooner than that. However, Tinsley is pretty good defensively. Actually one of the better defensive point guards around. I definitely think Indiana has a shot to win the title this year. They should be at the very least one of the top 4-5 teams around.