tkf wrote:smackeddog wrote:If JR, Tyson and Melo were healthy in the playoffs we would have beaten the Pacers even without Amar'e. though I've noticed history has been re-written to make out the Pacers were vastly superior to us. And all that 'straight up' nonsense about Hibbert has been forgotten too. The fact is the nba blatantly change the way the game is called to make Hibbert into a star- it was pathetic!
so what if george hill were healthy, and what if granger was healthy and playing?
pacers were just better, bigger, stronger, faster, younger.... the end...
Also the pieces to that team fit.. a healthy amare is still oil and water with carmelo.... doesn't really matter if they are healthy, they both were healthy vs boston a couple of years ago and we damn near got swept...
pacers have a very good TEAM... that is on the rise.... they didn't win because we had injuries, they had injuries as well. they won because they are built better with better pieces and their best player George is the best all around player in the series and he impacts both ends, pretty much a game changer..
Granger takes minutes from Paul George (who is a much better player)- a healthy Granger would have meant poorer defense and more chucking. Pacers are a good team, and I like their defense, but I still think we could have beaten them if healthy.
This Melo/Amar'e talk was relevant 2 years ago. Now Amar'e is a bench player (20mins if that) and has a post game- it's not an issue anymore.
This myth that the Pacers were light years ahead of us, simply wasn't true- we had a better season record, and our series was pretty close considering our main players were ailing.