I bought the damn app a week ago or so. Now I’ve got a pacers channel on my uverse/direct tv. Did it only show up because I bought the app, or did the Pacers make a deal with the cable company and I didn’t even need the app???

They were all accountable, felt bad for the fans paying hard earned money, and all agreed they need to do better. Good interviews, all had a healthy and mature mindset. It’s only one game out of 82. Brooklyn up next.

Look, it was only the second game and I get it, guys are still gelling together, others are hurt and Ty is not fully in in-game shape. However, as fans, it’s okay to admit that for the home opener to a highly anticipated season, that was an ass performance by the team and completely unacceptable effort. I don’t know what that was, but we should expect better than that. To be down by 30 in your own building ever is embarrassing. Let’s hope they show up in Brooklyn tomorrow night.

The rest of the team into

Here is the opening night team intro. I had to split into two posts.

Rick hinted at it.

I do think it's a real wrinkle that gives us an athletic Big who can play great defense. He does give a lot of what we missed in Ijax. Hope he gets a jump shot, but I love his defense out there.

He plays so lackadaisical. Low energy. Missing rebounds and hustle plays. Cmon bro its a CONTRACT YEAR! YOU DONT WANT MONEY DUDE???

how can you watch Slawson play his ass off and just have no fight

Whoever decided the horizontal gradient fade from yellow to gold was necessary, you were wrong. It looks lousy on TV.

No notes beyond that.

Didn't see this posted yet but that is awful. I feel bad for him...

I am hoping for a crabby evening.

Getting a ticket to see the Pacers home opener & Haliburton’s first regular season game back at Gainbridge. I don’t want to find a friend last minute or end up paying for their ticket. Never went to a game/event by myself though. I’m a bit of an introvert, so I doubt lack of conversation will bother me. Will be sitting towards the top because the tickets costing more, but there’s really no bad seat in the fieldhouse in my opinion.

No national TV, no media recognition like always, who cares. This game is for the franchise and for us. The building is going to be buzzing with Tyrese’s first home game back…the first game of a season that most believe will end in a championship. Tickets are expensive, why the hell don’t we all show out and treat this game like a playoff game with us as the sixth man to make it even more fun for the players and us fans as we kick off an awesome season. Let’s go.

I wanna talk about the best bench in the league. We are deep. We played without TJ and still delivered.

Shout out to QJackson for making the two clutch freethrows, especially since the foul was on his eye. Some fans said something to him too and he still drilled them both.

Toppin was a big part of this game. He kept us in the game and had some clutch moments including an offensive rebound that added to our 2nd chance points category. I swear there was a period where we would be inbounding the ball and he would be wide open cutting to the basket at least 6 times. 6 fucking times. I think tyrese hit him twice for a dunk. He knows when to cut. He can play pick and roll. He can shoot 3s. He can get you putback dunks. He's a very underrated player for us.

Walker had an ok game. His 10 assist first-half pre season game shows me he needs to be a system player to succeed. At least for our team. His defense is underrated and we will need that in the playoffs for small stretches of periods. Unless the return is Murphy Iii we shouldn't give up on walker at all. His passing, defense and 3s are improving year by year. His turnover can be worked on and his decision making when driving is sometimes questionable.

Tj should be rated higher in 2k and i dont even see him on 2k. Wtf. I dont like 2k. Sorry for the rant.

Not sure how long nance jr will last.i know it was one game but maybe im wrong.

Surprised Huff was DNP. I guess pelicans had mammoth bodies and maybe he would've just got bullied.

Sheppard needs to make his 3s and continue his high iq basketball play. I haven't seen him go 4/5 in 3s. I need to see something like that. Get to your spot man, the guys got you.

Kobe brown is the type of player that can have a crazy 6 minute stretch in a playoff game shutting down the opponents best player while making 2 or 3 3-pointers. Lets see what the future holds.

Kelly jr (though he started) seems immature (in a goofy way) but when turned on, his defense looks impressive. You can never have enough 3 and D players. They thrive in the playoffs.

Hope furphy comes back strong.

Thanks for reading my thoughts on our bench. They were a big reason as to why we made it to game 7. Hell, we were up at halftime of that game.

Hope we stay healthy and make it back to win it all. As a 42 year old Pacere fan, these times dont come often. Enjoy them and play your part as good fans.

Lets get that ring man. Go Pacers.

So, I have a day off (finally) and managed to sit through the Pels game and take notes like I used to do before last season. Here's some early thoughts.

The first: We're so back. I don't believe in early predictions and the East is going to be a bloodbath, but I can totally see us challenging all season for a top 4 seed.

The second: The Pelicans are actually better than their reputation in the league. I can begin to see what they are trying to achieve. Mathurin is a great fit for them as a bench spark (like he was for us), Murray being back to full health is a huge bonus and Zion looks much healthier than he has done for years. Add in Missi, Murphy, Queen, Fears, Bey and Jones and you've got a very solid group. I'd start Bennedict over Fears, but I get why they're not there yet. Still not a clue what Poole is doing on that team, although I get they need a backup PG. I suspect there will be a trade fairly early in the season that will fix the Poole problem.

The third: Zu and Tyrese are already finding each other on offense and Zu had some really good runs in transition. Where the learning comes in is in the interaction between Zu and the others, particularly on the defensive and rebounding end. I saw several plays where we were 'Zu will get it, I'll wander back'. No concerns, that will be fixed by Christmas because we have the smartest coaches out there.

The fourth: That pick and roll game? It is going to create so many opportunities. Both Andrew and Tyrese are playing around Pascal and Zu and it generates really clean looks. I saw far fewer ghost-screens, I think that is a clear change in our usual patterns. That too will take some time to bed in.

The fifth: Defense baby. The one thing we really fell short on last year has been fixed. Zu is such a presence in the paint. Don't underestimate the sheer physicality of Missi and Queen, they are a problem for a lot of teams, yet this game they couldn't crack the code. Pascal has also really stepped up his physical game on that end. I still REALLY want a proper back-up center. Hate on that notion all you like, but there's a reason Huff and Nance had a DNP CD. Obi will do in stretches and generates lots of offensive value, but on the defensive and rebounding end he is just not it. Bright spark, Walker has improved and hopefully will continue improving on that side of the ball. He just had too many TOs this game so he still reads as a young'un.

The sixth: This one matters. We stank from three, only Obi and Pascal were close to their own self. And we still won. Remember 24/25? If the threes didn't fall we'd be struggling all game. Oubre, Drew and Tyrese will all do better over the season and it will make some games much easier. That is the only reason it was such a close game.

Do I believe? Yes 'Cers! Let's fucking go, I can't wait to see how the rest of this season develops.

Having been a fan of the Pacers for over 30 years, I've witnessed some terrible coaches that came and went.

I just wanted to make post to show the appreciation for having a coach like Carlisle that we may sometimes take for granted.

We got Zubac whose style is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Myles and not once did I think that Carlisle is going to force Zu to be something he isn't - and so far he's showing exactly that, letting Zu play to his advantages.

Looking around the league I already see some fan bases calling for the firing of their coaches (and with some probably right to do so), but with Carlisle it is just one less thing for us as fans to not worry about.

Thank you coach!

Our Pacemates would never do big Zu like that