Here at Sparty and Friends, we have reached NBA preview time (again). There will be one team per work day leading up to the season opener (Celts vs. Cavs, October 27th at 7:30pm on TNT). The teams are ordered by record starting with last place and going up through the non-playoff teams, followed by the playoff teams in order of elimination (or lack thereof in the Lakers’ case). We’ve already grabbed a Sac(To) lunch, went off to see the Wizards, turned to JP and the Clips, visited a Grizzly veteran, played some Timber sports, found our inner Warrior, rolled with the Thunder, wonder ed why there exists in today’s hip-hop NBA a team named after a older than old school piece of clothing, shared the regret of naming a team after a popular movie, headed to Brooklyn Russia New Jersey, tried to Buck the trend, Bobbed for Cats, and now we try to keep the Pace…

The Pacers are quite mediocre. They are in the middle of the country, the middle of the standings, and the middle of nowhere when it comes to national consciousness. They are boring. Well, I take that back. They are boring if by “they” you mean all Pacers not named Danny Granger. He’s the real deal. The rest of his crew is a random group of NBA players. Well, they aren’t random. There are a few more white guys than the average. I wish I had more of an idea as to what this team is really about. They appear to be collecting ACC guys that I hated. Interesting move. Did I mention that I love Danny Granger? I did? Well, I guess we’ve come full circle. Oh, and we’re using my favorite logos from now on. Thanks for showing me the light, awful Bucks logo! Let’s jump to the stats then…

Last Year’s Record: 36-46 (2nd to last in Central Division, 7th to last in Eastern Conference, 13th to last in the NBA)

Last Year’s Prediction (GITC): 32-37 wins, 9-13 in the Eastern Conference

Coach: Jim O’Brien

Expected Starting Lineup: T.J. Ford, Dahntay Jones, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster

Expected Bench Contributors: Earl Watson, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Roy Hibbert

Well, I nailed the prediction pretty well from last season. That’s to be expected for a team with little chance of doing anything surprising. The team is virtually the same as last season with the exception that Dunleavy is on the bench and Dahntay Jones is starting. Of the eight players listed above, the only guy I like in college was Granger. I should mention that they also have Josh McRoberts, Tyler Hansbrough, and A.J. Price who I also disliked. I did like Travis Diener though. I feel the need to bring this up every time somebody mentions Granger, but does anybody else remember draft night that year? He fell like a stone for no reason. Some predictions had him at #6 after Bogut, Marvin Williams, Deron, CP3, and Felton. Then he went after Webster (not crazy), Villanueva (also not too crazy), Frye (nuts), Diogu (even crazier), Bynum (crazy at the time), Fran Vazquez (I might be the only one who even knows who this is), Yaroslav Korolev (Clippers with one of the biggest busts ever), Sean May (ludicrous), Rashad McCants (seriously?), Antoine Wright (come on), and finally Joey Graham (awful pick). If you think this is hindsight read this and you’ll remember.

So what about the Pacers is interesting? Not much. They are led on the floor by T.J. Ford. Ford loves getting hurt. Seriously. It’s his favorite hobby. In his first 5 seasons he’s missed 83 games. That’s not good. Other stuff? How about this: their depth chart at power forward lists their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stringers as Troy Murphy, Josh McRoberts, and Tyler Hansbrough. Seriously. Three white American power forwards on the same team. That’s impressive. They also all fall under guys I disliked-hated in college. Even more incredible. Luther Head is buried at third string shooting guard. That’s odd since he might be the fifth best player on the team. I’m not sure this team could be good even if they were coached well.

Video of the Day time! This is Danny Granger’s highlight reel from last year courtesy of Chris Paul’s company. I’m not sure why CP3 is doing this, but I’m in favor of it.

Best Comment From Last Season’s Preview of This Team time! This one goes to Sparty. His question is simple…

what happened to jonathon bender?

Glad you asked. He has a few companies (undoubtedly started with the money from the insurance policy) that are helping rebuild New Orleans. A non-profit that fixes schools and a construction company that rebuilds the destroyed neighborhoods. Good for him.

Where do I think these guys finish? Just above last year as they’ve grown together and Granger is still getting better.

Prediction: 34-39 wins, 7-11 in the Eastern Conference

Guyinthecorner is an author here at spartyandfriends.com. He writes the NBA section, X-Games section, and contributes to College Basketball and MLB. He doesn’t watch hockey except when the circumstances are dire. He’s not sure how to rate Michael Phelps on the scale of athletes not only because he doesn’t directly compete against people, but because he is a fish. He doesn’t understand the hate for the 2002 National Champion Maryland Terrapins and wishes everybody would just shut up by now. He is known for having statistical formulas and might be Bill James or Joe Lunardi depending on who you ask. His identity is as hidden as many times over as the number of internet memes he employs in his comments. Some have called him “The Riddler.” He can be reached at gitc@spartyandfriends.com. “GITC” is an acronym for guyinthecorner in case you aren’t that perceptive.

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