NBA Season Preview: Indiana Pacers vs Brooklyn Nets
This is the article I’ve been sitting on to fully think about and decide what I want to believe the Nets can do. With the moves they made, it’s pretty much all or nothing for this team this year. They’re not looking for a future, but a now. And in today’s sports world, that’s probably the best attitude to have. But I also see that adding Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, new first year head coach Jason Kidd, and with the already pieces of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez could end up in a big time failure. How do we even know what kind of head coach Jason Kidd will be? I think a few times these great players don’t necessarily translate into great coaches. I look right here in Indiana, and see Reggie Miller, who I always said would never be a head coach because that’s not in his personality. Now Kidd has always been that type of floor leader, so maybe it does all end up fine for him. At the same time, if this thing ends up in a big time failure, guess who’s the first one out?
Some of the matchups that come out this series are definitely intriguing. I have seen the Pacers and Nets in action, and I think this season, Roy Hibbert has to step up against Brook Lopez. Last season, Lopez got the better of Hibbert. But now that Hibbert should be playing with a much bigger confidence, it’s up to him to play up to that level. Both guys I think never get that attention as top centers, but this next season could change that.
How about Deron Williams and his ability to just play big whenever he plays the Pacers? They’ll have to be on their toes defensively to slow down Williams, especially with guys like Garnett and Pierce added to this arsenal. Then, you have Joe Johnson working another year with Williams, and that duo could be even better. I wasn’t too high on the pick up of Johnson last season, but he changed my mind as he was able to mesh with Williams most of the season.
David West got the best of Reggie Evans there in the power forward position, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Kevin Garnett there starting most of the way. That’s a great matchup as well with two intense veterans of the game going at it. West gets that look in his eyes at times, that you just know he’s ready to play. Kevin Garnett, if you’ve been following the game, you know has that game face on all the time. Granted, the Pacers don’t have Tyler Hansbrough here anymore, with the two mixing it up last season, but I think Garnett will be amped up just as much for these games.
These two teams along with Chicago will be right there battling for the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, so the Pacers have to take care of business the best they can. Last season, the Nets swept this season series, and look to have the Pacers’ number in that regular season. The Pacers have to change that this season, so they can fully establish themselves above the Nets as both teams are going to be there at the end of this season. I am really looking forward to this as I do think it will be such a competitive and fun series to watch. I can see a split happening, but wouldn’t be surprised if one team ends up winning the series and possibly facing each other somewhere in the playoffs.