It’s Not Our Fault the Indiana Pacers are Boring

“Y’all m————- don’t watch us play throughout the year to tell you the truth,” Hibbert said. “So that’s fine. I’m going to be real with you, and I don’t care if I get fined. We play and we’re not on TV all of the time and reporters are the ones that are voting and it is what it is. And I don’t make it, that’s fine. I’m still going to do what I have to do.”

Roy Hibbert (left) and the Pacers have proven themselves better than all but one Eastern Conference team. By Zach Primozic

(Before I get into the crux of the issue, I do want to point out that while Hibbert was outranked in DPOY voting by several more well-known players on higher-profile teams, he also received less points than the Pacers’ own Paul George as well as Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks, who isn’t even the most well-known person with his own name).

And he’s right, nobody watches the Pacers. Not their local residents — they have the 25th-best attendance in the league. Not San Antonio Spurs’ MVP Tony Parker, who admitted earlier last month to not watching any of the Pacers’ less-than-riveting first round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks. The truth of the matter is that the Indiana Pacers are, in fact, a little boring. As a die-hard NBA fan and League Pass subscriber, I watch at least a couple of hours and multiple games of basketball almost every day of the regular season. I don’t think there was even one point this season where I looked at the full offering of games on a given day and said, “You know, I’m really interested to see what the Pacers are up to today.”

Can you blame me? As much as they say that defense wins championships, the Pacers’ staunch defensive style (2nd in the league in opponent points per game) does little to make them inherently watchable to anyone other than that one tool some of us know who believes his superior appreciation of defense in the NBA makes him a better fan than us mainstream cretins who prefer to watch teams who score once in a while. The Pacers have been woeful in this regard, ranking 23rd in the league in points per game. Not only do the Pacers struggle to score, they struggle to score in ways that are fun to watch, ranking in the bottom five league-wide in categories like field goal percentage and assists per game. And while fundamentally, winning games only requires that you score more points than your opponent, winning games doesn’t necessarily translate to an enjoyable fan viewing experience.

Then there are the intangibles. While Frank Vogel is a gifted head coach who has led the Pacers into the elite of the Eastern Conference, whenever I see him, I experience an odd phenomenon. I’ve seen him many times before, but for a split second I’m surprised by what he looks like. He comes off as just kind of a nondescript type of guy. His Pacers take after him in this way. Although Paul George, Roy Hibbert, and the currently-injured Danny Granger have represented the Pacers in the All-Star Game in the past three seasons, none are the type of flashy offensive talent that inspires fans to go out and buy their jerseys–although it’s becoming apparent in these playoffs that Paul George may evolve into that sooner than anyone expected.

I don’t blame Hibbert for his apparent affliction with Jan Brady syndrome. In a league where respect can be measured by things like number of nationally televised games and jersey sales, Indiana is barely on anyone’s radar. However, he and the Pacers can do something about that. With a win tonight on the road against the defending NBA champions, the Indiana Pacers have a chance to not only advance to their first NBA Finals since 2000, but perhaps also to put us all on notice that they’re a team worth watching. Their prospective Finals opponents, the now very well-rested San Antonio Spurs, could teach the Pacers a little something about that. While also somewhat unfairly saddled with the “boring” label, they’ve proven their worth and earned their respect by winning multiple championships and being one of the most consistently elite teams in the last decade. You earn cred with people who love basketball through sustained excellence. You earn it by performing on the big stage. Now you have the opportunity tomorrow to come and get it.

And if Hibbert and the Pacers pull this off, I promise that once in a while I’ll choose their games on League Pass next season.