A Bandwagon Lament

Dear Pacers Fans,

This note is targeted to every "I haven't watched them since Reggie left" fan I've ever met in my life (there are A LOT of you). If you haven't checked out The Pacers Crate featuring Reggie, I'd recommend it...

http://www.nba.com/pacers/video/2009/12/15/crate091215reggiepart1wmv-1153495/index.html

Now, sit down, let's chat for a second.

One of the things they discuss in the second part of the Crate is how the fans who followed the team from the beginning had a much more intimate appreciation for the Finals, the Hicks beating the Knicks, Reggie trying to retire Michael, and Superman coming out in game 5 than the fans who decided they liked the Pacers when Reggie started hitting the big shots. I pride myself on being a huge Pacers fan, and even though I'm not old enough to remember the junk years of the Blue and Gold, they have returned. The unfortunate part for me has been Indianapolis' reaction. Reggie leaves and we throw him a party, retire his number, give him a Bentley. I cried my eyes out when Rick Carlisle took him out in the final seconds of game 6 of the Pistons series along with most of the city. We loved him, and we loved Pacers basketball.

Then what happened?

The city that I love abandoned the team I love because they weren't winning. It was hard to watch JO relaxed on the court as the team lost the intensity they once had, but I still watched it. People blame the brawl for the Pacers' self-destruction, but you HAVE to remember the game immediately following the brawl, when a total of six active players, most of whom had never started an NBA game, put up one of the most valiant efforts of the season.

Remember that?

This was also Reggie's last season. This season was supposed to be the year he finally won the big one. We were in a better position to go all the way than we ever had been before. The previous year, we had the best record in the East, Jermaine was third in the league for MVP voting, Ron-Ron was the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Tinsley was playing like an All-Star, Stephen Jackson was a strong sixth man, and we still had Uncle Reggie. This was our year.

Unfortunately, we still never won the big one. 2006 rolled around and without Uncle Reggie, all hell broke loose. Artest wanted a trade, Jackson and Tinsley started playing with guns at 3 AM outside of strip clubs, O'Neal and company started slacking on and off the court.

There go my beloved Pacers.

But Larry Legend remembers both playing against and coaching for this team. Reggie didn't transform this team overnight. When Reggie started in Indianapolis, there were curtains covering the upper deck of Market Square Arena. The Pacers were a joke among their division, and Chuck Person, the one shining light of the team, was getting old. Reggie came in and, slowly but surely, grew the team to a perennial powerhouse that was the '93-'05 Pacers team.

I remember the junk Colts. I remember pretty vividly the upset that goes along with a team that just can't seem to win. Then we drafted the greatest quarterback in NFL history, and guess what happened the next season? We went 3-13.

What?

Yes, 3-13. The next two years, we made the playoffs, but then in 2001, we went 6-10. Today, we're 14-0, we've won a Super Bowl, and we're the winningest team of the decade, and it's hard to come by a game that's not sold out the day tickets go on sale.

So what happened?

In both cases, the great teams take time. The great teams start out young, lose a lot of close games, and they fail far more than they succeed. So when you see the young Pacers losing close games and say they're no good, I say nay. I look at Danny Granger, who can play with the best in the conference and beyond and say that we have found Reggie's long-lost son. I look at Roy Hibbert who is just now starting to come into his own as a big man and say that he will one day make Alonzo Morning jealous. I look at Crazy T and I know that he is Larry's guy all the way. Face facts, folks, these Pacers are damn good, and given a couple years to mature, will be pulling miracles once again.

Who knows? Maybe in a couple years. we'll have Danny putting up last second shots on Lebron. Maybe we'll have Crazy T putting up 25 in the fourth quarter on Orlando.

All I know is that we need to rally around this team now, while they're still developing, because if you can remember the losses, the victories taste so much sweeter.

Live Hard, Laugh Harder.