by kibaxx7 on Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:15 pm
In early 1967, a group of six investors (among them attorney Richard Tinkham, John DeVoe, Chuck DeVoe, sports agent Chuck Barnes and Indianapolis Star sports writer Bob Collins) pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association. For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum -- now called the Pepsi Coliseum -- and in 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they stayed for 25 years.
Early in the Pacers' second year, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob "Slick" Leonard became the team's head coach, replacing Larry Staverman. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut -- his teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Jimmy Rayl, Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. The Pacers were -- and ended -– as the most successful team in ABA history, winning three championships in four years. In all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the league's nine year history: a feat that was never bettered by any other ABA franchise.
The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger in 1976: for the 1976–77 NBA season, they were joined in the merged league by the ABA's New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs. Financially, the Pacers were by far the weakest of the four ABA refugees -- their financial troubles dated back to their waning days in the ABA. They already begun selling off some of their star players in the last ABA season and they were further weakened by the price required to join the NBA; a $3.2 million dollar entry fee to each former ABA team. As a result of the steep price they paid, the Pacers were in a dire financial situation -- it took a $100,000 contribution from a group of local businesses to keep the franchise going through June 1977.
The Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a 36-46 record. Pacers Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game -- however, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers' first 13 years in the NBA, as they had only three non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances during that time. A lack of a continuity plan became the norm for most of the next decade, as the team traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started, acquiring Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight -- but Dantley (who was averaging nearly 27 points per game at the time) was traded in December, while the Pacers' second-leading scorer, John Williamson, was dealt in January.
The early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history: in 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire George McGinnis -- McGinnis was long past his prime, and contributed very little; English, in contrast, went on to become one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. The next year, they traded a 1984 draft pick to Portland for center Tom Owens. Owens only played one year for the Pacers with little impact; the Blazers would famously use the pick to select Sam Bowie while Michael Jordan was still on the board. As a result, they were left as bystanders in the midst of one of the deepest drafts in NBA history.
Clark Kellogg was drafted by the Pacers in the 1982 and showed tremendous promise, but the Pacers finished the 1982–83 season with their all-time worst record -- 20–62 -- and won only 26 games the following season. After the 1985-86 season, Jack Ramsay replaced George Irvine as coach and led the Pacers to a 41–41 record and only their second playoff appearance in the NBA in 1986-87. Chuck Person, nicknamed "The Rifleman", led the team in scoring as a rookie and won NBA Rookie of the Year honors.
Reggie Miller was drafted by the Pacers in 1987, beginning his career as John Long's backup -- many fans at the time disagreed with Miller's selection over Indiana Hoosiers' star Steve Alford. After missing the playoffs in 1987–88, the team drafted Rik Smits in 1988, but suffered through a disastrous 1988–89 season in which coach Jack Ramsay stepped down following an 0–7 start. Mel Daniels and George Irvine filled in on an interim basis, before Dick Versace took over, finishing with a 28–54 record. In February 1989, the team did manage to make a trade that would eventually pay its dividends, dealing veteran center Herb Williams to Dallas for future NBA 6th Man-of-the Year Detlef Schrempf.
Larry Brown was brought on as Pacers' coach for the 1993–94 season, and Pacers' general manager Donnie Walsh completed a highly-criticized (at the time) trade, sending Schrempf to Seattle in exchange for Derrick McKey and little known Gerald Paddio. But the team kicked it up a notch and won their last eight games of the season to finish with an NBA-era franchise-high 47 wins. In the postseason, they stormed past the Orlando Magic in a first-round sweep to earn their first NBA playoff series win, and pulled off a tremendous upset by defeating the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Semifinals. Finally, it was during the 1994 East Finals that the Pacers -- particularly Miller -- became a household name. With the series tied 2–2 going into game 5 in New York and the Pacers trailing the Knicks by 15 points early in the fourth quarter, he scored 25 points in the last twelve minutes, including five treys. The Knicks ultimately came back to win the next two games and the series, but Reggie became an NBA superstar overnight.
Mark Jackson joined the team in an offseason deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, giving the team the steady hand at the point guard position that had been lacking recently. With a 52–30 campaign in 1994–95, the Pacers clinched their first Central Division title and their first 50+ win season since the ABA days. The team swept Atlanta in the first round, before another meeting with New York in the semifinals. Once again, it was up to Reggie to provide the fireworks. With the Pacers down six points with 16.4 seconds remaining in game one, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to help secure the two point victory. The Pacers ultimately won in seven games and pushed the Magic to seven games in the East Finals, but fell.
In 1997–98, the Pacers selected Larry Bird to coach the team, under whom they posted a new franchise record, finishing 58–24 -- a dramatic 19-game improvement from 1996-97. Chris Mullin joined the team and immediately became a valuable part of the lineup -- their starting small forward. Assistant coaches Rick Carlisle -- in charge of the offense -- and Dick Harter -- coaching the defense -- were key in getting the most out of the role players in the team. Miller and Smits both made the All-Star team, and in the playoffs, the Pacers breezed past Cleveland and New York before falling to Chicago in an epic seven-game East Finals.
In 1999-00, after a 56–26 regular season, the Pacers survived the upset-minded Milwaukee in round one, handled Philadelphia in the second round and finally broke through to the NBA Finals by virtue of a six-game East Finals victory over New York. Their first NBA Finals appearance was against the Los Angeles Lakers, who proved too much for them to handle as they ended Indiana's championship hopes in six contests. In the midseason of 2001–02, the Pacers made a blockbuster trade with Chicago, acquiring Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Kevin Ollie and Ron Mercer from the Bulls in exchange for Jalen Rose and Travis Best. In the next couple of years, Miller and Artest would go on to be All-Stars for Indiana. Jermaine O'Neal also made the first of what would be several All-Star appearances in 2002, erasing any doubt that trading Dale Davis to Portland for him was a good idea.
On November 19, 2004, toward the end of a Pacers victory over the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Artest committed a hard foul against Ben Wallace. Wallace retaliated with a hard push, and the situation escalated to a full-scale brawl, with fans and several Pacers taking part. While Artest defiantly laid atop the scorer's table, Piston fan John Green threw a cup of beer at Artest, causing him to charge into the stands. Stephen Jackson followed him into the stands while O'Neal struck a fan who came onto the court. The game was called off with 46 seconds left on the clock and the Pacers left the floor amid a shower of beer and other beverages that rained down from the stands.
Several of the involved players were suspended by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Artest was suspended for the rest of the regular season and playoffs, a total of 73 games -- the longest suspension for an on-court incident in NBA history. After the brawl and suspensions that followed, the Pacers fell downward into the Central Division. They went from a legitimate title contender to a team that flew around .500% in winning percentage, and the Pistons eventually became the division champions. Despite the difficulties, the Pacers earned a sixth seed in the playoffs with a record of 44–38. Despite the adversity, the Pacers made the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years, defeating the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics in seven games. The Pacers then advanced to the second-round against Detroit, in a rematch of the previous year's East Finals. The series featured games back at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the scene of the brawl that many assumed at the time had effectively ended the Pacers' season. Indiana lost in six, and in his final game, Miller scored 27 points and received a huge standing ovation from the crowd, ending his 18-year career without a championship and having his No. 31 jersey retired by the Pacers on 2006.
The Pacers finished 2006–07 as one of the worst seasons in team history, ending with a 35–47 record -- nearly everything that could have gone wrong did. The turning point would be an 11-game losing streak that started around the All-Star break -- injuries to O'Neal and Marquis Daniels, a lack of a solid back up point guard, a blockbuster trade midway through the season that interrupted the team chemistry -- in a nutshell, Jackson and Al Harrington to Golden State for Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy -- poor defensive efforts, and being the NBA's worst offensive team were the main reasons. Losing to New Jersey on April 15 knocked the Pacers out of the playoffs for the first time since 1996–97. On May 31, Jim O'Brien was named Rick Carlisle's successor. O'Brien made it clear that he intended to take the Pacers back to the playoffs in the 2007–08 season, but he didn't, and didn't in his tenure.
Despite missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 80's, 2007–08 displayed many signs of growth, especially towards the end of the season. Off-court legal distraction from Daniels, Jamaal Tinsley and Shawne Williams in the middle of the season did not help, and injuries to Tinsley and O'Neal damaged the Pacers' already weak defense and left almost all point guard duties to recently acquired Travis Diener. Despite this, and a 36–46 record, the Pacers had a very strong finish to the season and dramatic improvement in Dunleavy and Danny Granger.
During 2009–10, forward Tyler Hansbrough (drafted in 2009) suffered a season-ending ear injury and without center Jeff Foster, the Pacers again fell into another season under .500% and missed the playoffs -- four years in a row. Despite another disappointing season, the team showed signs of life near the end, winning nearly all of their last 14 games. In May, after completing his rookie season, guard A.J. Price suffered a knee injury during a charity pick-up game that would require surgery. His expected rehabilitation was to last between 4–6 months, to be back just in time for training camp.
The 2010 NBA Draft brought in two new faces for the Pacers: guard Paul George out of Fresno State University in the first round and guard Lance Stephenson from the University of Cincinnati in the second. On August, the Pacers acquired guard Darren Collison and swingman James Posey from New Orleans in a four-team, five-player deal -- Murphy was dealt to New Jersey within that trade. The gain of Collison has been a sign that the Pacers' starting point guard dilemma has been solved for many years to come.
Adding to the already young core of Granger and Roy Hibbert, Collison added what will hopefully be the team's first stable point guard since Mark Jackson. On November 9, in a home game against Denver, the team scored 54 points in the third quarter alone, shooting 20–21 in the process. Despite all the progress, there has been speculation that O'Brien was not the coach to lead this team back to the playoffs. There has been a growing unrest, both in the locker room and in the stands that he was too stubborn about changing his system. His rotations have also puzzled locals, including beat writers. O'Brien's inability to try to develop young talent has also hurt his reputation. George and Hansbrough, who many think are two key pieces to the Pacers return to the playoffs, have barely gotten off the bench for the most of the season. On January of 2011, the Pacers relieved O'Brien of his coaching duties and named assistant coach Frank Vogel interim head coach.
With a victory over the Washington Wizards on April 6, the Pacers clinched their first playoff berth since 2006, and in the first round, they were defeated by the No. 1 seed and league-best Chicago in five games in what was a hard-fought series. Despite a lopsided comparison in terms of the two teams' win-loss records, three of the four Pacers losses were close, losing games 1–3 by an average of just 5 points, gathering praise from the national media for their play.
Last edited by
kibaxx7 on Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.
× Watching: X-Men: The Animated Series, Shōgun ×
× Watched: Honey Boy (2019), Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), The Fall Guy (2024) ×
Definitely no huge moves this time. I'll perhaps do a move or two in the deadline, but straight player swaps or signings, no multi-team deals or anything big. I'm in for the so-called "Three Year Project" (perhaps four) 
