| | By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
No, the Indiana Pacers did not win the NBA title. But they got farther than any other team in franchise history, even taking a few games from the big, bad Lakers in the Finals. So what's next? Do you disband and start over, or do you go for it again? Tough call? Not really.
|  | | Jalen Rose should get a chance to blossom more this season. |
Pacers management made the right decision to bring much of the team back -- not only Jalen Rose and Austin Croshere, but Sam Perkins, of all people -- and there will be a run for another chance to win it all. But seeing as this group is now a year older and no new help is likely to be brought in, are the Pacers still good enough to hold off the improved teams in the East, like Orlando and Miami, or a healthy New York?
With that, here is our 11th offseason team spotlight, the Indiana Pacers. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also thank you for yours. Check out the comments ESPN.com users had on the Pacers by clicking on the page to the right.
Why the Pacers were 56-26: This was the best team in the East all season long. But even as the Pacers were winning ballgames, there remained doubters as to whether the team was really any better than it was all those years when the season ended in the conference finals. It happened more than once. So why did the Pacers, who had won 58 games in 1997-98 and 52 two other times in the '90s suddenly put it together?
While Reggie Miller, Rik Smits and Mark Jackson have slipped from past seasons, they still performed up to reasonable expectations. Miller didn't lead the team in scoring average for the first time in 11 years, but nobody complained about his play. Smits managed to show up for 79 games and Jackson held off Travis Best as the starter at the point and produced another top-notch assist-to-turnover ratio.
The credit goes to Jalen Rose.
All Rose did was up his scoring average from 11.1 points to 18.2, his rebounds from 3.1 to 4.8 and his assists from 1.9 to 4.0. In fairness, Rose had never been given a chance to play as much, but he finally showed he was worthy. And putting up those numbers didn't hurt when it came time to negotiate. Had Rose not performed well, it's reasonable to think he would be playing somewhere else. But now he's the Pacers' future (for a cool $93 mil), along with Austin Croshere and Jonathan Bender.
Add up the work the veterans did with the improvements made by Rose and Croshere and the fact there was a beloved lame-duck coach pretty much daring the troops to take that next step and -- presto! -- you have the makings of an NBA Finals participant. Just remember, expectations will be higher this time around. Just winning the East shouldn't be enough anymore. Just ask fans in Utah and New York.
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Current projected top 6
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PG
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Travis Best
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SG
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Reggie Miller
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SF
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Jalen Rose
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PF
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Dale Davis
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C
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Rik Smits
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6th
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Austin Croshere
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Team MVP: Rose was one of the most improved players in the league. Now let's see him lead. Team LVP: This team went to the Finals. Hard to find negative things to say. Surprise! While Rose was expected to assume the role of bigger scorer and better all-around player, where did Croshere come from? Croshere scored a total of 168 points his first two seasons. But the Antonio Davis trade opened things up for Croshere and Dale Davis, another surprise. In the Finals, the Pacers had no better inside player than Croshere. Up and comer: Bender isn't just a guy who can rain three-pointers in practice with the coach. If you saw the kid (he's only 19, by the way) play in the summer league, you could tell he has game. He may not get the same upgrade in minutes that Croshere did, but he's 6-11, can handle the ball and has range. Watch out.
What they need: We don't want to minimalize the job that Larry Bird did, since he did get this bunch over the hump and to the Finals, but how much help does a veteran team like this need? Now we'll find out. Bird is gone, and so is key assistant Rick Carlisle, an underrated tactician who has served his time as an underling and deserved better than to be strung along for a month by the Isiah Thomas saga. (And the saga still may not be over.) Let's remember that Thomas has never coached before. The Pacers will still win their 50-plus games, but if there's one thing this team needs it's for the players to still believe in their Hall of Fame leader. Now it's just a new leader.
The young Pacers also need to remember that there are still some pretty valuable old Pacers in town vying for time. Rose was every bit the team player last year despite the fact he led the team in shots and continued to whine about playing point guard. Now that he makes the big bucks, will he be happy sharing the ball as much and thus not upping his all-around numbers to what, say, Scottie Pippen used to do? Same with Croshere, who deserves to start (probably at small forward) but can't unless Rose moves to a guard spot. Best is probably better than the since-departed Jackson, but do you risk team chemistry by altering the point guard order and playing Rose there? All good questions, so get ready Isiah. It's not a gimme that this team wins the East again. Team chemistry is always a tricky thing, even with a veteran group.
What the plan is: The starting lineup won't stay the same now that Jackson was offered insane money (for an aging point guard who doesn't score) to go to Toronto. To replace Jackson the Pacers can simply move Best into the lineup and just find another backup or give Rose some time there. Both are likely to happen. Meanwhile, Croshere played as many minutes as Smits did last year anyway, so it probably won't become a big issue. The Pacers will go two deep at each position and fully intend on being in the East finals again when all is said and done. There's just not a lot GM Donnie Walsh needs to do, other than stroke a few egos into playing another year of team ball and holding Bender and fellow kid Al Harrington back, which is what the return of some of the old guys essentially does. Sit back and enjoy more success, Indy.
And get ready to enjoy it for awhile. While Bender should move more into the rotation this year, Harrington and Jeff Foster probably won't. But these guys can play. Foster, for example, put on a big-time show in the summer leagues. But if Indy decides to go with these guys and present matchup problems for opponents, especially if Smits' role gets even more reduced, it can.
Direction heading: Pretty much the same direction as last year, though we wouldn't be surprised if a trip back to the Finals gets derailed. The East is looking better this season, especially in Florida.
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ALSO SEE
ESPN.com's Offseason Spotlight Index
Offseason spotlight: Pacers users comments
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