Tonight’s matchup with the New York Knicks holds a lot of significance. Not because the 2-6 Indiana Pacers need to show that they can compete with with playoff teams from the Eastern Conference (side note: how is 1-6 against teams from the East not a bigger story). No, this game isn’t important because the Pacers home game attendance has been worst in the league and they really could use a boost with stringing together some wins. Also, it’s not because we need to see if the Pacers can respond with consistent effort after a great team effort over the Spurs.
This game on November 3rd vs. the Knicks is so important because, assuming Malcom Brogdon plays, we are going to see what will most likely be the starting five for this Pacers team moving forward. Barring any trades, this five of: Brogdon, LeVert, Duarte, Sabonis, and Turner will be the five that determine the Pacers future.
The Indiana Pacers will know more about their core sooner than later
For those of you still waiting for T.J. Warren to complete this starters group, Green Day wrote a fantastic song that I’d love for you to listen to. September is over, so wake up from your fairy tale because it’s time to realize we have been waiting for over a year for this ambiguous foot injury to heal.
I get it though, we are all excited to see “Bubble” T.J. Warren return. But the reality is, if Warren ever recovers from this injury, chances are slim, at best, that we will see that kind of performance again. Warren is a career 15 points per game small forward who had one year of solid defense, and he captured Indiana Pacers fans hearts with what will go down as a flash-in-the-pan stretch (think Linsanity if you will). I would love to see “Bubble” Warren be “Every Night” Warren, but I just don’t know if that is reality 1) based on his career performance and 2) based on his availability due to a career plagued with injuries.
So, for those who are ready to live and operate in the real world, this is it. Tonight we will get our first glimpse of the starting five that will ultimately determine whether this Turbonis duo is the right truck to hitch our trailer to moving forward. Some think the Turbonis question has already been answered, and I don’t disagree, but we are going to see for one more time, at least, if they can work together.
This group of starters is going to answer the question of whether Malcolm Brogdon SHOULD be the point guard of the future (I note “should” because they’ve already extended him and moving that contract won’t necessarily be easy). How this starting five begins to gel will show us which of these players the Pacers can start building around and whether the Pacers can actually be contenders with this funky roster.
Tonight gives us our first look, of hopefully this last look at the Indiana Pacers roster as it is currently constructed. If this roster, sans T.J. Warren, still fails to produce a playoff berth and some competitive postseason games, this front office has to realize it simply won’t work and give the fans the roster shake up we have all been dying for. So let’s take a glimpse into the future tonight, and see what our fortune holds. Go Pacers.