Indiana Pacers: Can They Stay Ahead Of Brooklyn, Chicago?
By Shane Young
The Indiana Pacers have advanced their pursuit of the Miami Heat’s No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by picking up bench depth this offseason. The same starting lineup from the 2011-12 season will return for Frank Vogel’s group. With Indiana’s hype this season being even higher than the previous years, business has also picked up elsewhere in the Eastern Conference. The Chicago Bulls, with a returning Derrick Rose, and the Brooklyn Nets look to be on the hunt for Miami as well. Overtaking the Pacers as the No. 1 threat to the three-peat will be tougher than most think, however.
In Danny Granger’s return to the lineup, he will have his best chance at getting over the hump. Photo Credit: Yuan2003, Flickr.com
With the shocking offseason additions of the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, Nets’ general manager Billy King now has himself a team that can compete deep in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Watching Brooklyn play this upcoming season will almost be as fun as Miami’s Big Three debut in the 2010-11 season, but the same struggles may be apparent as well. Point guard Deron Williams will need to adjust, as this will be his first time playing with such an elite starting lineup. Additionally, the co-existence of Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce is on the list of things to watch as the season progresses. Depth from the bench is a component that will remain equal among the Nets and the Pacers, but the factors of age and athleticism will ultimately give Indiana the edge.
Leadership will be in the hands of many Nets players this season, but floor general Deron Williams will have to do the most adjusting. Photo Credit: Mark Runyan, Basketball Schedule
The Pacers’ starters are younger than people would guess, but also feature the perfect combination of youth potential and veteran guidance. The average age of Vogel’s starting five is 27.8 years. George Hill, Paul George, and Roy Hibbert continue to improve right before our eyes while Danny Granger and David West use their experience down the stretch to make this team grow.
As for Brooklyn, coach Jason Kidd will be working with an older lineup, the average age being 31.6 years. Deron Williams and Brook Lopez look to have many premium years ahead of them; however, I wouldn’t make any promises of Garnett and Pierce competing at superstar levels when the playoff intensity strikes in late April. The two primary weapons Brooklyn plans to use on the second unit, Terry and Andrei Kirilenko, are both older than 32 and we may have already seen their best days come and go.
With what was available to them in the free agent market, Brooklyn did a fantastic job in building a veteran squad. It is just more realistic that the Pacers utilize the chemistry they have built and retained, as well as their defensive identity to be the favorites.
Don’t forget, there is another team with more hunger than anyone in the conference. The Chicago Bulls have been through an incredible amount of ups and downs since Derrick Rose’s MVP season, which all seemed to end in playoff disappointment. From being eliminated by Miami in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals to losing their superstar for an entire year due to ACL recovery, the Bulls believe this is their best chance to reach the NBA Finals, a mark they haven’t reached since 1998. Rose claims he will be ready to go along with small forward Luol Deng, who played only five playoff games last season due to complications from a spinal tap examination. While they do have their heart and soul back on the court, overtaking Indiana, Brooklyn and Miami seems difficult unless Rose returns without missing a beat.
Reflecting on his tendency to be injury prone for the past two seasons (missing 27 games in 2011-12 and 82 in 2012-13), it’s unrealistic to think he will be healthy for an entire season.
If Derrick Rose is unable to return to the prolific scoring guard we seen in 2011, the Bulls don’t have enough offense to compete with Miami, Brooklyn, or Indiana. (Flickr.com/Keith Allison)
The frontcourt trio of Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah will continue to be one of their biggest strengths against tough competition and will allow them to have a top-three defensive team in the league. Defense has always been the Bulls’ strongest attribute, thanks to coach Tom Thibodeau. However, when comparing their chances against Miami to those of Indiana and Brooklyn, their lack of offensive answers are alarming.
Chicago finished 29th overall in points per game as a team last season (93.2), which was obviously a result of not having Rose. Nobody, including myself, is going to buy the idea of Rose returning to 25 points per game player until he gets on the court and we see how the downtime affected him. More issues arise with backup point guard Kirk Hinrich and the lack of strong perimeter scoring.
Hinrich has developed a recent reputation of being swarmed with injuries as well and the Bulls may regret letting go of Nate Robinson. In order for the Bulls to challenge teams in the postseason, Jimmy Butler and Mike Dunleavy are going to have to fill some scoring gaps in times of Rose’s struggles or missed games.
Out of anyone in the Eastern Conference that is rising as LeBron James’ biggest challenge, it has quickly become Paul George. Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
There is no doubting that competition is continuing to rise in the Eastern Conference, one that has recently been described as weak and inferior to the West. The defending champion Miami Heat always have that one team that gives them nightmares throughout the regular season and the playoffs. The Indiana Pacers will remain that team. With another year to learn from their mistakes, gain experience, and re-incorporate Granger into the lineup, Indiana is in better shape than the rest.
Brooklyn and Chicago just have too many questions on the table to be answered.
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