I relocated to central Indiana during the summer of 2006. At that point, the Indiana Pacers were coming off a 41-41 season and a first round playoff exit, but had still made the postseason an astounding 16 of the past 17 years.
With an Opening Night starting lineup in November 2006 that included Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and a 2nd year player named Danny Granger — who I had seen outplay Wake Forest’s all-American Chris Paul two winters prior at The Pit in Albuquerque — we all had reason to believe the Pacers would be back in the playoffs come springtime.
But the same Chris Paul, now with the New Orleans Hornets, rolled Granger and the guys that night in front of a rare sell out crowd at Conseco Fieldhouse, and the Pacers floundered their way to an abysmal 35-47 record that season, trading Harrington and Jackson before the All-Star Break. Tinsley and O’Neal would soon be gone too, leaving Granger and 34 year-old Jeff Foster as the only current remaining pieces from my first Pace
rs season.
Despite naive renewed hope each fall, things got worse during the next three seasons in Indianapolis. The Pacers won 36 games in 2007-2008; 36 again in 2008-2009; and just 32 last season to go alongside an appalling 50 losses. During that time, they’ve fired two coaches: Rick Carlisle and Jim O’Brien.
In the final days of January 2011, after a decent November, Indiana was 17-27 and potentially headed for another embarrassing 50 loss season. They fired the aforementioned O’Brien, and promoted a 37 year-old assistant named Frank Vogel to interim head coach.
Vogel is not necessarily Brad Stevens, but he is young, calm, creative and well-prepared. The day he was hired, he declared, “I fully expect us to make the playoffs.”
The Pacers responded to him initially, winning seven of their first eight under the new coach, then promptly slumped, but managed to get on track — often led by the underrated Tyler Hansbrough (in his first full season), underappreciated Roy Hibbert, and unheralded rookie Paul George —  enough to win 6 of their last 9.
And after last night’s 136-112 steamrolling of the Washington Wizards, at 36-43 overall, the Indiana Pacers are back in the playoffs at long last.
Frank Vogel’s record (19-16) is nothing spectacular, but the players generally play hard for him, and have beaten the Bulls, Celtics and Knicks (twice), among others, with him at the helm. (Indiana also beat the Lakers and Heat on the road back in November.)
And Coach Vogel’s January 30 prediction was intrepid and correct.
Pro basketball is more predictable than baseball, so few expect too much when the Pacers take on the Bulls in round one of the NBA playoffs next week, but it will be great to have postseason basketball back at Conseco. I’m looking forward to attending a game with a raucous crowd for the first time since Opening Night way back in November 2006.
About AJ Kaufman
