You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast. Galen Clavio, Scott Caulfield joining you. Here it is someday. We just recorded a podcast. We're recording another podcast which won't come out till the next day. But Scott and I've been talking for like an hour straight now, but you're only hearing the second-half of it. But you can go and check the first half. We've already put that on the feed. Hopefully you're listening
sequentially. If you're listening to this out of order, I don't even know what to tell you at this point, but we. We all do a lot of inside jokes from the first hour. We'll keep it fresh, right? Yeah, We we used all those up. Last time, yeah. But anyway, we are here. It's great. It's a beautiful, beautiful day outside. Scott, how are you doing? It's good to see. I love the. Yeah. You were in Hawaii recently. I love the hoodie, Hawaii shirt. Got the gear. It's a good look for you.
I like that a lot. Thank you. No, no, I'm doing fantastic. The weather's the weather's awesome. We have a busy day going out to a graduation party. My son's doing a band thing at the high school. And then we have a birthday party and then another party. It's it's it's, it's May, man. It's busy. Well, I'm, I'm digging it.
I, I'm excited about just in general, what, what we're, what we're seeing in the state of Indiana right now is a lot of fun stuff going on. It's been like five years, like maybe 7 years. I every I get really close to this, like we're about to hit the the best run of Indiana sports we've had in a while. Like I was there with with the IU football in 2020 and then it didn't, didn't hang on. And then it was like, all right, Oladipo and the Pacers, like
we're going to be there. And then no, it's like, all right, Woodson's going to turn around. Like there's been these moments where it's like, all right now we got trace Jackson Davis back. It's like we can't get, you know, for me, it's the, you know, the the Colts, the Pacers and then IU basketball football. Can we get that 4 headed triumvirate go or quad umvirate going, but it's not there yet. It's 4 headed. It's a. Tetrarchy, yes, I think that's right.
Tetrarchy is fork. Let me let me look. Tetrarchy. I'm this is this is great radio Quad. Not I mean, quad is fork. No, no, The the tetrarchy was established in ancient Rome. This was Diocletian's effort to restructure the Roman Empire. For those of you who are, for those of you who claim that you're obsessed with the Roman Empire, if you don't know about the Tetrarchy, I would submit you're a fraud.
That's fair. So but this was where you had the 2 senior Caesars and you had the two junior Caesars and the idea was we need a succession plan for each end of the empire. And that worked until someone decided, you know what, I would just like to retain power for myself, which is essentially how the history of humanity has worked out across the board. But that would be a four headed monster at the Tetrarchy. OK. And that's kind of like what's happening in College Football Playoff.
We're doing. We're doing that. Kind of yes. I, I think that's, that's not wrong. Certainly we're, we're actually, you know what? It's funny you say that cause the power 4 will likely turn into a power too. It's very similar to what happened in the Roman Empire. Hopefully that doesn't end with college football being invaded by barbarian hordes, but you never know would. That be like Arena. Football or something that would be, I think that's like that's like the XFL would be the the
barbarian hordes at this. Point the last messages of Vince McMahon coming in taking it over. The enemy is the new commissioner of college. The Attila the Hun of football, right? Anyway, we're here to talk facers. This is why we don't have never mind, this is the best. I've had multiple people tell me like when you guys go off the rails, that's the most fun and people probably also think it's the worst. So exactly. But anyway, Home Field Apparel is our presenting sponsor.
I'm sure they're thrilled to have that be a lead in, but I'm going to show you all this. There until the hunset. This is new Home field Apparel Dr. Yesterday this thing was insane. If you can't see it, it says it's May in Indy on on the shirt and it's got an IndyCar with Boomer given the the the the high one in the cockpit. Very kind of retro ish looking shirt. This is awesome looking really celebrating not just the NBA playoffs and the Pacers, but also, of course, the Indy 500.
This is only available in the Cambridge team store. And I was there yesterday, Scott. I was there for the Fever opening game and I I couldn't find the shirt because I was on the wrong level. I didn't realize they were only down on the lower level of the team store. So when I go back to Gainbridge soon, I'm going to have to pick this shirt up.
It's awesome. One of the many amazing things on home field apparel.com that relate to both the Pacers and they have a ton of Pacers and fever stuff, some great Fever apparel. I did see that at the team store, but there's. Other stuff like the 8585 All Star game, stuff from Hope Field in the store. It's awesome, yeah. As well as a ton of IndyCar stuff. I don't know if you saw this, this was a great thing yesterday, but apparently Potto
award. This is according to Jenna Fryer. I'm going to call this tweet up and and share it on the, on the, the, the the video here if you're watching on YouTube, which you should be. But the the tweet fans have been raving about the Indy 500 merch from home field apparel and that includes Potto award who saw me wearing one of the jackets as he came off the track.
So he had me take him to the merch tent while in his fire suit, purchased the jacket, drew a crowd, signed merch in the tent and posed for every fan who asked. And you can see this incredible bomber jacket that they have created for this new Indy 500 collection. I mean, it's it's not Scott. I mean, I don't know that I could pull it off Potto award can certainly pull it off. But the thing he did, he did one thing wrong.
I'm pretty sure I'm not sure, but I'm I'm pretty sure he did one thing wrong, which is he probably didn't use promo code home 2320% off his first purchase. I should have told Jenna like hold on baby, I got to use the Crimson cast code home 23. Then that would have been the ultimate home field purchase by Paddo award. See he's close. We'll get him next time because it's that's why he's close to the 500. If he if he does that, he'll win one of these one.
Of these, we also know the home field is just going to drop stuff constantly and it's going to be amazing. This is another great example some great stuff wonderful trucker hat in this mix, which I'm a big fan of a couple of great T-shirts. There's a great checkered line snapback hat, a couple of tanks. Some unfortunately some produce stuff, but we'll we'll overlook that just because everyone has a
bad girlfriend in their past. Everybody looks fine, you know, but that but my favorite I think is that heavyweight T the black one, the Indian. I'm going to call this up. I need to show the people this. This is a great shirt. The hull field heavyweight Tees really are kind of the go to for everything. They're so good. But here we go that just that looks so classic like I'm not a I've gotten to the point in my life as you can see me wearing my Hoosiers connect. I'm insured.
I need simple patterns like you know, too many colors. It I just I feel like I'm 16 and then sadly I'm just not anymore. So I need something that says I am, I'm serious, yet I also am fashionable. And that shirt, that black IMS shirt with the with the wing wheel logo, absolutely perfect. So anyway, home 23 is the code. Go to home field apparel, follow them on socials and we appreciate their patronage and their support always here on the back home network.
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video this week. That's right right up Meridian suddenly springs back to life literally right up Meridian as Tony was driving to work. It was driving while we're doing it. Yes.
So here's so I want to start this pod with this question to you is kind of connecting racing and Pacers is 2 years ago you and I were at a practice for IndyCar 500 and we we just sitting there USB you and IBS in all kinds of different sports and and you had AI don't remember all the the the talk, but just kind of a 5 or 10 minute diatribe on the Pacers like just things they've been wrong and things why you weren't like super happy with where they're at or what they've done
over the past. And now we're at a point where I know you're a little more exciting and it had two really good seasons. We're doing a pod about it. I'm very fired up everything you said. I remember the time being like it. It's all true, but it was just what? What has changed in your mind over 2 years with this Pacers? Do you think they're more on the right path or is it just some of the moves they had made ended up working out?
Well, I no, I think so. I remember very well that that conversation that we were having, I think that was May of 23 that that we were meeting and. We could buy a new phone and you were 100% right about that. I, I mean, I'm not always wrong, but keep in mind at that point, like the Pacers had finished 35 and 47, They were tied for 11th in the conference. They missed out on the play in
games somehow that year. And you know that team, go back and think about how that team was constructed and, and who was on the team and who their statistical leaders were. Do you remember who the leading scorers on that team were? That was the year they traded for Halliburton. So I mean, like bonus still could have been up there. It probably was so Turner or so Halliburton and Turner were
still the two leading scorers. But like the third and 4th leading scorers on the team were Buddy Hield and Benedict Mathrin. And, but this was like a very embryonic looking team. You, you had a bunch of players on that team who are still on the team now, but we're very much in the embryonic stage of their careers.
And you know, my, my concern at that point with the Pacers and, and how things were going with them was that they didn't, they, they were kind of in that netherworld that we have seen a lot of teams struggle to get out of.
And the Pacers really were in for most of the post Paul George, Roy Hibbert era, which was not good enough to get talent at a level that would be commensurate with competing on, you know, at the at the top level of things, but also not bad enough to get draft picks that you could use and you think about at that point. Or not bad enough to not get the draft pick in the lottery. Well, there you go. Yeah. Get it.
But yeah, so again, at that point that we're having that conversation at the end of the 2223 season, this was the previous decade for that. OK, it's starting in 1415. Missed the playoffs, lost in the first round, lost in the first round, lost in the first round, lost in the first round, lost in the first round, missed the the playoffs, missed the playoffs that had been and and I'm sorry, missed the playoffs again.
So they had missed the playoffs 4 times, and they had lost in the first round five times and the the. There was also a lot of Lance Stephenson in those years as well. Yeah, well, right. And, and look, they had they, you had, you had Oladipo that you, I mean that here's their leaders in wind shares during that stretch, OK, George Hill, Paul George, Jeff Teague, Victor Oladipo and then Demontis Sabonis 4 times.
And then that was the first year 2223 that Halliburton had led them in wind shares, but it was one of their lower wind share leader totals of that period. And so the reason I say all of that is a lot of people have rightly been giving Kevin Pritchard his flowers for how the Pacers have looked over the course of the last two seasons. I would submit at this point that the experiment has been successful and it took a long
time to get there. And it is certainly an argument in favor of a long tailed developmental plan if you believe in who you've got. And I think Sam Viceni on their podcast, I think it was Sam Viceni on game theory was talking about the Pacers and how impressed he was with, with Pritchard and, and his assistant and, and how they had put this
team together. Because you know, what really did solidify it was the Halliburton trade where, you know, they get, they get Therese Halliburton and it's, you know, it's one of those things as, as Viceni pointed out, that is still a, an outgrowth of the Paul George trade, right? And you know that the idea that they trade George, they get Oladipo and Sabonis, and then Oladipo ends up getting traded.
And you know, all of these things lead to this situation where they get Halliburton. And this is where, again, the best GMs generally are able to continue to turn those trades over and continue to get assets. And then you hit on one and they clearly have hit on one with Therese Halliburton. I don't know that it was necessarily really visible at the time that they were going to be able to do that.
I'll I'll be the first to say, look, I should have, you know, maybe I was wrong, but up to that point, I hadn't seen a ton there that told me that that process was going to be successful. I take my hat off to the Pacers for making all these moves and doing so. And again, this was something that was pointed out by by Viceni despite not really hitting on their lottery picks.
You know, you look at what's going on in the series so far, their top two highest drafted players are Ben Mathurin, who has been a bit player in the Eastern Conference playoffs so far, and Jairus Walker, who has barely even been a bit player.
Like, I mean, Thomas Bryant has had more of an effect on games than Jairus Walker. So the fact they've done all this with bits and pieces that have come from various other parts of the NBA, whether it's, you know, whether it's me, Smith, or whether it's TJ McConnell, who was picked up as a free agent, it's really impressive. They've cobbled together A-Team that's so interchangeable and plays at such a consistently high level despite going 10
deep. But I don't know that it was really readily apparent when you and I were standing in Gasoline Alley in 2023. Agreed. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not picking on you. I 'cause I, I was probably more positive in the fan perspective, just like, yeah, but still like, yeah, but because I, I like them. I was, I saw something and how I'm not going to say I saw like, I just was like Halliburton's interesting. Like I was excited for that.
But I, I was thinking about this question to me where things changed even for me, where I'm like the Pacers are, because everything you said at that time was, and it was, you know, your, your point that I remember was just about, you know, we can't get free agents. Like it's always going to be a problem. Like your David West is probably the best free agent. And they don't make trade.
You don't make big trades. The thing that changed was the next season the Pacers went out and got Pascal Siakam, which is really just an UN very UN Pacers like trade to go out and get one of the top free agents. And that wasn't at the trade deadline, but it was, you know, mid season trade, you know, close to the deadline. That's something the Pacers just haven't done in the past and they don't normally do. And I will give Kevin Pritchard credit.
You go back and look at that trade and you start talking about all of these trades where, you know, people are giving up five 6-7 first round picks. You know, look at what the Knicks gave up for Mikhail Bridges and he's playing well, but they gave up a ton for Mikhail Bridges. The Pacers gave up Bruce Brown, who's on an expiring contract. He had one year left. It was a team option, so it was
expiring contract. You know, Kyron Lewis, Jordan Noira, just two kind of not nothing, not nothing, but just not impactful players. 2 first round picks from 2024. So they're already got like that was that season. They're already gone in a conditional 2026 first round pick. That's it. And they get Pascal Siakam, a guy who who wants to be here and plays perfectly with with Halliburton. So to me that was a that was a future piece that hadn't happened yet. And that was just something the
Pacers hadn't normally done. And they did it in a very Pacers way where they went out and got somebody that was really a second All Star, didn't pay an All Star price and they still have all their powder dry if they they happened to want to go and do it again. So to me, that was a piece that kind of changed it and it did solidify all the pieces around it and everybody, you know, kind of grew up, grew up to what the
team is now. Yeah, no, I'm look, it's, it's one of those things it was hard to say last like what was last year for the Pacers because on the and it's kind of how I feel about talking about IU football to some degree. You can look at IU football season this year or just this past season and say, wow, 11 and one in the regular season, best regular season, you know, in in team history.
They make the College Football Playoff and then people come in and say, yeah, but they played a really weak schedule. And you know, the two best teams they played against, they ended up losing by a pretty significant margin. And you can't really debate those facts. Last year's Pacers team, they they get some injury luck in the play offs. You know, they face the Bucks who are facing injuries. The Knicks are really injured. And then they run into the Celtics and they get blown up in
the Eastern Conference final. Although those games were all pretty close. This year they start off really poor and you're like, well, maybe last year was a mirage. And yet nothing about what's happened really since what, mid-december or the end of December has been a mirage like this has been consistently one of the most impressive teams.
Bill Simmons talks about them all the time, is like one of his favorite teams in the league 'cause they have an identity, they they know what they want to do and what is looked upon in many cases is a weakness in the NBA. Not having like a do it all superstar like a Jaylen Brunson or a Jayson Tatum is actually a strength for this Pacers team because of the way that their superstar and Tyrese Halliburton fits within the larger perspective of things.
And you know, I'm I'm fascinated because it two things fascinate me about this AI was trying to explain this to I was well, I was talking to to Grace Ybarra, who's over in Saint Louis right now, grew up in Indianapolis, Pacers fan. But I was like, this is kind of how the 90s Pacers felt where, you know, this was, you know, if you think about the way that all of the the teams in the NBA at that time, they were all built around like a bona fide superstar.
The Rockets were built around Hakeem Olajuwon. The Magic were built around 2 superstars in Shaq and Penny. The Knicks were like the one kind of exception, but they had Patrick Ewing who was clearly a bona fide superstar. The Bulls obviously had Jordan and Pippen. The Pacers like their biggest superstar, was the most unusual player at that caliber in the league. And Reggie Miller. Like a shoot first, you know, guard who had to run off screens and couldn't create his own
shot. Their second best player was Rick Smits, who again, was like, you know, not be a Lajuan or Ewing types. He was almost like almost gazelle like in the way he wasn't a banger in the traditional way, but he could score from a variety of different ways. And then they had a bunch of interchangeable parts. You know, whether it was Dale Davis or Antonio Davis or Jalen Rose or, you know, Derek McKee, any of those guys that made-up the core of that roster.
But they were a hard team for the NBA braintrust to get their heads wrapped around because they just didn't work the same way that the other teams that were at the top level in the NBA during that time period worked. And that's really how this Pacers team feels. You know, you've got Halliburton, who's an unusual star.
You've got Miles Turner, who's been around forever, and you know, he's kind of the one that fits the least within the team, but he provides so much spacing that it makes the whole team work. You've got Siakam, who really only works if he doesn't have another big clogging the lane. And then you've got all of these other pieces that can plug in. And some of them have great nights and some of them don't.
But it adds up because they go so fast and they have this pace that's really hard to keep up with. So that's the first thing I'm really fascinated by. It's like 25 years later, there's this duality to the way the Pacers have created a contender that is very unusual and feels very uniquely Indiana. It's a great comp I I completely agree with you The the the one difference and we'll see what happens with the the Thunder if the Pacers ever get that far.
The one difference is in that mid 90s to 2000 stretch. The problem the Pacers always had is they were running into generationally great teams. Like when they would have their, it's like, oh, we're good. It's like, oh, no, we're going to play a Knicks team that is like this is that their absolute apex? And they're going to keep
beating us down. And then, you know, once all the Knicks are fading off, oh, well, here's the second generation of the Bulls with Jordan. So we're going to bump into
that. And then, hey, we finally, you know, it was like, you know, the East used to be this thing where it's like the, you know, the Celtics had to get through the 76ers and the Pistons had to get through the Celtics and then the Bulls had to get the Pistons. And there was like, once you got through the East, like, oh, we we get to the finals, we win a title. It's like what happens to the Pacers? Oh, we meet maybe the apex of the Kobe Shaq Lakers and and take them to a pretty good
series. That's the thing that does feel a little bit different here is I don't see that big boss team out there. Maybe the Thunder will turn into that. Maybe it is the the Nuggets, but none of those have the feel of, you know, Jokic is really good and he's maybe one of the best players. He's not Jordan like he's just not running into a Michael Jordan team. So we'll see.
And especially in the East, as you mentioned, it does feel like we're we got to, you know, especially with Tatum down for a year, the Bucks, who knows what's going to happen there. It does feel like we might have a year or two where there's a nice little soft window in the East that the Pacers can go through. I think that's what is different is it feels like the even when the Pacers were good in the mid 2000s, like, oh, there's LeBron, like there's LeBron and the
Cavs, we got to bump into them. It feels like we might be cycling correctly where we're hitting a spot where there isn't a generationally good team. Yeah, it's, it's really going to be fascinating because you don't want to get ahead of yourself, you know, because the Knicks are going to be a very, very hard opponent for this Indiana team. And I think the people that are saying, oh, you know, Pacers beat them last year like it, this is a really fascinating series.
There's so many things that kind of that combine within it where you don't know exactly like what's going to prevail. We're going to talk about this more in depth here in a second, but to get to your larger point first, I think it's fascinating and really cool that right now we don't know what's going to happen yet with game seven. We're recording this earlier in the day, but Nuggets versus Thunder is coming up later.
If the Thunder beat the Nuggets, and I think that they probably will tonight or this afternoon, I guess it is, you will have a situation where of the four remaining teams, three of them would have a chance to win their first ever NBA title and the fourth would have a chance to win their first title in 52 years like that. It is it is fascinating to think about your new. City right the Thunder like. Well, right. I mean, I, I don't, I don't, I don't think we can count the Sonic stuff.
I guess you could technically, but I do not consider that the same franchise, even though they may. They I don't, I don't even know if. You're saying the Knicks? I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. The Knicks in 52 years. Right. OK, I'm with you. I'm with you. You know, so but but for the Thunder, obviously they've been to the NBA Finals before. They didn't win the the Timberwolves have never been the Pacers have been once and lost. That was that Lakers series that you talked about.
And then the Knicks won the last time in 1973. Now they've been they they went in 99. They went, you know, in what, 94 or 95? There's 94. That's right. But but it's been like it. This is what you want. This is what I've like. I I was talking the other day to somebody and I was I legitimately was surprised to say this, but the, you know, normally the NHL play offs, I think far outpace the NBA play offs in drama and
competitiveness. I'd actually argue the NBA play offs have been better this year like this. This is felt a lot. And this is I, I, this is something that I heard on, on the one of Simmons podcast, minus the, the top echelon, like generational teams. It's felt a lot like the 80s in terms of how close these playoff series have been and how flawed all of these teams actually are. And I include the Pacers in that. Like the Pacers are not a perfect team.
They have these long stretches in almost every game where it's like they forget how to play basketball, but they also have these stretches where they are one of the most dynamic offensive teams that you'll see in this era. And I think all of these teams have both a significant number of strengths. Obviously, the, you know, the Timberwolves have Anthony Edwards, who looks like he's at the beginning of the huge upswing and will be one of the
dominant superstars. You got the Thunder, who are this fascinating amalgamation of top draft picks and, you know, guys who, again, are at the beginning of the apex of their careers. The Knicks are like, they look like a classic NBA team. And they're coached by a coach who clearly has not realized that it's not like 1996 yet, but
it's working for them. And and then, you know, so I'm just the, the level of competition and the surprise that we've seen the Celtics going out, the Lakers going out, the, you know, all of these different things that have happened so far. The Clippers losing in the first round, the Nuggets firing their coach, what, 3 weeks before the end of the season and somehow getting to the doorstep of the Western Conference finals. This has been a legitimately fun
NBA playoffs. And that really is not always the case with the NBA playoffs. No, I, I completely agree. And then, you know, for as what I think is the Knicks just are consuming all of the media in the NBA landscape that all the talk of Knicks, Celtic said. Like I'm starting to hear people pop up and like, oh, you know, hey, the Knicks and Pacers like they've they've played a couple times.
Like, yes, the the Knicks number one playoff opponent in history is the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers number one playoff opponent in history is the Knicks. This idea of like, oh, it's, it's it's like, remember this, it's like, yes, this is the Knicks rival. Like all the talk of Knicks Celtics, like they don't play in the playoffs. It's happened two or three times. Like the the rival is the Pacers and they've had epic battles. They've had moments.
You know, I know the Knicks probably don't want to admit their rivals, the Pacers because they're New York. And so we got to be against Boston and Philly. It's like, no, this is a great rivalry and it's happening back-to-back years. Like this is something the only thing that's frustrating to me as a, as a Pacers fan is sometimes the and I get it, like it's the slight of Indiana, but you have these, you know that the Pacers and Bucks is turning
into a great little rivalry. The Pacers Knicks is now going to be the second salvo of this rivalry could be happening again. It's like this is to me, what the NBA should really be focusing on is some of these burgeoning rivalries. And of course it's, you know, Pacers centric. But I agree with you.
I I think there's some great storylines coming in here and I think it's going to be a fascinating series against the Knicks because, you know, the the thing with the Pacers is, you know, some of the injuries are real injuries. And so like Damian Lillard tearing his Achilles, that is just it's not a freak injury for somebody who's coming back from, you know, playing hard playoff minutes at 36, like things like that hat 34. It happened.
But I, I've said this a couple different times, talked about it on Tony with our, you know, VIP pod. Part of what the Pacers do is they try to wear you down. I'm not saying they're trying to get you injured, but you saw what happened to Donovan Mitchell at the end of that Cav series. They kind of funnel everything to, all right, Donovan, you know, you're taking the ball, you're taking the ball. We're going to pick you up 94 feet. We're going to pick you up here.
We're going to throw Ben Shepard. We're going to keep throwing dudes at you and we're going to wear you down. And you saw it happen with Donovan Mitchell, where by the end of game five, he was just tired. And I mean, he did tweak his ankle. And I think part of that is just being overused. And you saw it last year against the Knicks. You know, some of them were like, you know, Brunson broke his hand. That's just a a different injury.
But a lot of the injuries that were happening with the Knicks were based on over usage. That's partially because Thibodeau plays 5 or 6 guys. But I think it's also the fact that the Pacers go deep and they they wear you out and they make certain guys do a massive amount of work and they're going to put a ton on Brunson. And I'm not rooting for injuries, but I'm just saying I think that is a strategy of the Pacers is like, all right, we're going to wear Brunson down so we
get to games 5-6 and seven. He's not going to be at peak, peak performance. And you know, you can say, oh, every team does like the Celtics didn't. The Celtics let Brunson walk the ball up. They don't pick him up for defense until half court or a little bit past. Pacers don't do that. The Pacers are singularly unique in the way they pick everybody up full court for the entire game in the playoffs. And it's going to be fascinating with the Knicks.
I mean, the Knicks are going to have, if you want to, a lot of it depends on how you want to define the best player in the series. And if you wanted to find the best player in the series as the player who can score the most points and generate their own offense the most, they're going to have it. I mean, they're going to. They've got Jalen Brunson. But what is interesting is they've got players who don't necessarily run up, want to run up and down the floor all the time.
Like is Karl Anthony Towns really going to want to hustle down the floor defensively on a regular basis? That seems unlikely right now. You know, the other thing that's really fascinating I think about the Pacers and Knicks is that this is a this is a team with the Pacers now that has had to play in a bunch of hostile environments.
And this is where last year becomes really helpful for them in terms of the, the experiences that they had and how they are going to be able to process those coming into this year. So like last year, if you think about what happened in in those playoffs, Pacers start off, they're the sixth seed. They beat Milwaukee 4/2. And, you know, in that series, they, you know, they, they had to win a couple of games obviously at the Pfizer forum up in Milwaukee.
They win Game 2 up there. You know, they, they come back and they, they, they finish finishing up in game bridge in game six and then in the next round again. Playing that real quick, just stop there and just just to hit that point, you know, they didn't just lose their first game. You know their first game at Milwaukee, they lost one O 9 to 94. They they kind of got their doors blown off.
They came back and won. They came back and won, you know, won three in a row and they went back to Milwaukee UP31 and got their doors blown off again, 115 to 92 and then turned right back around and one at home in Game 6. So like I, I, I'll fit, I'll let you go. But like that's they, they do a great job of shaking off some of these games where they seem to not play great or play well. But you know, it's they've had these losses or moments where
they could be broken. And I'll just sorry, quickly go into the Knicks series. That first game was the game where they lose 121 to 117. That's the game where they're they're leading most of the way. They're playing them really tough. They have a chance to win. Miles Turner gets called for like a kind of a bogus moving screen at the top. I think they had another player like Nesmith had an open break, but they call it a a ticky tack
foul in the back. It's one of those where you could be like, damn it, like we let a game slip away in Madison Square Garden, Like there's no way we can win four or five against the Knicks. And it it didn't sink their series, sorry. Was that the game that Carlyle got thrown out of? Yes. And and I mean, look, and it didn't matter in the next game, but they lost by 9, like you said. But but no, it's it, it's also informative. That series, Indiana, it was at 33.
Indiana won three at home. The Knicks won three at home and they go into game seven in Madison Square Garden, which if you listen to Knicks fans or NBA fans like that should be an unwinnable thing. That should be like the Crucible of hell. And, and yet, and yet they blew them out. They shoot 67% from the field in that game. And, and you can say, well, Ananobi leaves early and Jalen Brunson breaks his hand. But the reality is that's what we're talking about with the
conditioning and the pace. And it's like over seven games, it's very hard to sustain, especially when you're the Knicks and you go 5 1/2 deep basically, right. And, and, and I would argue that this Pacers team is both better defense. I don't know. I argue it's it's statistically demonstrable. They're better defensively and they have a better sense of who
they are as a team. And I think even though Halliburton's shooting slightly worse this year from three than he did in in the previous season, he's making I think a better overall. He's doing better overall in terms of being a floor leader. You know, he's like, it's interesting, 'cause last year he ends up as an All Star, he ends up averaging 20 points and and 10.9 assists a game. His statistics are actually slightly worse than that.
He's averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists a game this year. But where, where it's gotten better is that he doesn't have to play quite as many minutes, even though he's he's playing slightly more, but he doesn't have to.
He's doing a better job of facilitating it's and I think Carlisle, as we saw, especially in that Cavs series, has really been able to figure out how to essentially put the right guys on the floor at the right times to take advantage of mismatches and take advantage of situations where they feel like there's a weakness they can exploit. Again, this is something that they talked about on the Game Theory podcast.
But the Pacers like are like, they relish the opportunity to go at you in mismatches that they're able to create. And the nice thing is because most of the time they've got four guys that can score at any one time on the floor, you're almost always going to have a mismatch that you can go to because not everybody's got that.
And you figure that Knicks team last year, you know, they had Dante D Vincenzo, they they had the the guy who I'm forgetting now, the the Hartenstein. You know, the I mean, it was a different team. This Knicks team is very good. But I do like the Pacers chances in this because of how deep they go and the fact that for whatever reason, the Knicks just decided to keep their starters in for a really long time in
that Celtics game six. You know that they get some rest here, but the fact they had to play that extra game certainly helps as well. No. And that, and this is something the Pacers have done all year. And what what's funny is, I mean, Halberton, there's so many things that don't show up on the stat sheet, which I think is where you get, you know, some of the overrated stuff. It's just like, if you look at the numbers, it's like, man,
this guy's 12 points in a game. It's like, well, he did a lot of things, a lot of hockey assists. He moves the ball. What I've found so interesting with this Pacers team over the last couple years is it's just so unique that you have a backup point guard in TJ McConnell who I would argue pushes the ball faster. Like you, you normally it's like, all right, well, Halliburton's out now we're going to get a reprieve either team.
It's like, Oh no, you're getting TJ McConnell, who's actually going to get to his spots quicker and get into the paint even faster and drive, you know, play at a completely different pace. I think you have that. The other thing that was just totally, you know, apparent in that Cav series was in game three. I was at both Game 3 and 4. In game 3, the Cavs come out and they go to a three two zone with I think Mobley in front and and Jared Allen in back of the three two.
And it's like, Oh my God, the Pacers weren't quite sure what to do. They looked a little flummoxed and it's like you got 27 footers who are both super agile, great defensively, like how are you going to score against the zone? And they didn't. They lost 126 to one O 4. It's like, Oh my God, the Cavs figured something out and the Cavs just came back. It's like aren't running the
same 32 zone. And the next game the Pacers just destroyed the Cavs. And obviously Carlisle was like, OK, we're going to go figure this out. And we're going to have, you know, they had six different options of Siakam, the middle Nesmith, the middle Nesmith, the side like. And it's like almost like the Pacers like, oh, we figured it out like and you guys don't have another move. This is great. We're just going to carve you up. And I think it goes to show, you know, very underrated Rick
Carlisle as a coach. He's been around forever. If the Nuggets. Well, actually, no, right now, even if no matter who wins the Nuggets Thunder game, he'll be the only coach with a title under his belt. Not saying that is an end all be all, but this is somebody who's been there who's done that. And he has shown over and over again. It's like, all right, when moves need to be made, he can make moves in in adjustments in the series. And that's something looking to
this next series. You know, Thibodeau kind of coaches his way. You know, Carlisle, you look back, he was a defensive guy. Now he's an offensive. I mean, he's he changes to the style of the team. He changes game to game how they attack things. You know, Thibodeau plays five guys and really doesn't change the way he does stuff in a series. So I like the adjustments the Pacers could make throughout the series against the Knicks as well.
But I just think this series again is showing what a great coach Carlisle is. Yeah, it's, it's one of those situations where you're I don't have any idea what happens in this series. I don't think anybody really does. Because I could make an argument for either of these teams to win in five, correct? And I could also make an argument for the series to go 7. And I understand Pacers fans feeling confident because of how
well they played. And you know, you can say, oh, well, people were injured in the in the Cavs series. But I mean, they they beat the Cavs in five, right? They saw all of the players at various times. And then, I mean, game one, Garland wasn't out there, but
everybody else was. And I still have questions about how injured Donovan Mitchell actually was in that last game That that that felt a little Chris Duhan Ish from back in the in the mid 2000s with Duke. But the flip side is I understand why Knicks fans would feel confident because you know, you're going to have the best player in the series. You're going to have the OR at least the the player who's able to manufacture their points the best.
You got 220 almost 25 point per game scores in him and and Towns, you know, OJ Ananobi has played great all season, although hasn't really played that great in the play offs. I think you could make an argument and I think if you were just looking at the one through fives, you would be like, well, clearly the Knicks are the better team and if they don't get injured, I like I wouldn't be shocked if the Knicks came
out and won sizably in game one. But as you saw last year, this Pacers team isn't likely to be too tremendously bothered by something like that happening. It's, it's a really, I'm, I'm excited for this like I, I am too. The, the thing that I think is also in the Pacers favor is, and, and this might end up being nothing, but I, I felt it in the
Cavs series. You know, when, when they got to Game 5, the Cavs got up by 19. I'm just sitting there with my son being like, all the Pacers have to do is get it close and then all the pressure is going to go on to Cleveland. Because then suddenly it's like if the Pacers can get it close, if they can get a lead, and then suddenly the the Cavs fans and you saw it. They were just like, Oh my God, we're going to be in the one seed. We're going to lose in five games like this cannot happen.
And they they get tight. And then you got Struce, you know, missing shots like that. You saw the team just tighten up. And I was like, you know, but if you if you leave, let them stay up by 18, like obviously they're just going to play free and free and easy. I think you could have something similar here with the Knicks where New York is is going bananas. You think they've already won three titles with this, like they are going wild. MSG is going to be crazy.
But I think it could be the same thing kind of like you had with you Boston and the Red Sox in the early to late 90s in the early 2000s, where if you just, if you can win a game in MSG, you know, you, let's just, you know, Dreamcast this, you win a game one and then you just keep game two close. You know, that that fan base is it all that excitement is going to turn to to pent up nervousness real quick. And, you know, could, could that team get a little bit nervous?
Because don't forget, you know, none of these Knicks players have been to an Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers have they didn't win a game, but they played better. You know, they, this team is as seasoned with playoff experience as any other team in the playoffs outside of the Nuggets on the other side. So I, I do I think that all of that excitement in New York. Could almost go against them if you're able to put them in a spot where they can see it
slipping out of their fingers. Whereas obviously Indiana would be bummed if we lost 2, but I don't. I don't feel the same. Sort of like, Oh my God, we have to win this series out of the Pacers that I do out of New York and the Knicks. And it's ironic because I, you
know, it was funny. First of all, if you look at the ESPN projections, like all of their experts projecting Pacers, Cavs, everybody picked the Cavs and projecting Knicks, Celtics, everybody picked the Knicks. I don't think we've seen the projections on this one yet. It is interesting. Like we've heard a couple people say, oh, the Pacers are going to, you know, to smash the Knicks. Of course, those have generally been Boston people who are just saying you could piss off Knicks fans.
But I am, I am legitimately curious. I mean, we know MESPN has been so transparently pro Knicks in their coverage to the players. Like then we'll sort of walk into Stephen A Smith. It's like, oh, is Stephen A Smith on the roster? I forgot such absolute ridiculousness by ESPN across the board on this. But I am curious. You know what I don't not that it matters, but I am curious like what the pundit class ends up looking at with this series and how they try to filter it.
I, I'm, I'm guessing 75% will pick the Knicks to win this series and they'll default back to, well, the Knicks have no homecourt advantage Despite that not really mattering last year. So again, I just think this is fun. This. Is great.
This is I agree. The, the other thing that I've caught myself saying, so I, I like, let me finish my sentence because I've caught myself many times and I've been like, the, the thing that I'm nervous about is, you know, the NBA that just, you had a great tweet about how I even when they're not like rigging things, it's like they, they look like they're always
rigging stuff with the lottery. I, I inherently keep saying like, man, it's just the NBA is going to want the Knicks to win this series like a game seven in MSG. Like I just don't know how you win that. But then I'm like the two thoughts like, Hey, we did it last year so it can be done. But B, it's like if if the NBA really wanted the Knicks to win the title, like they maybe would have won more than one title in the last 50 years.
Like I think about that often because I go back and I think about the I used to be a big adherent to that idea in the 90s. And you know, that was, I mean, because it was at the same time the Yankees had re ascended and you know, and it just kind of felt like we were just being bombarded with New York teams constantly.
But look, realistically speaking, if you look at what's gone on with the NBA over the course of the last several years, I, I don't know how you could make a legitimate argument that all of this stuff is getting fixed and that that hurts because I really enjoy the idea that, you know, this is all being written like wrestling. But, but realistically it's not. And you, you like the, the Toronto Raptors are not winning a title in an era where we're scripting this stuff out, right.
And, and again, last year, you have Nick's Game 7, even with the injuries, like, you know, you, you're not screwing all of those. You're not, you're not screwing everybody to the degree where you're letting them go through. They're losing that game at home. And so I, I'm with you 100%. I think it's fascinating that what we've seen over the course of time is a bunch of questionable calls that you go back and you're still looking at 20-30 years later. And so I was like, how the hell
did that happen? And yet it happens so often that it's just kind of part of the landscape. And it's not a we're just going to move this team forward and head ahead of another team because again, I don't think you're seeing the the, the Bucks or the Raptors or, you know, some of these other teams that have won titles like get to where they've gotten to, if that's actually the case. I, I want to go back to something you said about the the 90s Pacers similarities to this team.
The other similarity there and this is, you know, Reggie Miller was a singularly unique player in the NBA and he loved to go into. I saw go go find it on Twitter somewhere. It's like someone's on he's on T and someone's asking like, are you a little nervous going back to MSG and he's like, no man, why I own this house like I own this town like I own the Knicks like this is my house. I don't know what like they should be worried about coming into my house like he's still talking smack.
But so I'm, I'm but, but there is some similarities here where and again, Halliburton, we need to continue seeing it. But you you can't take a away the fact that he was injured last season, he got injured, I'm not sure he ever fully got right. You know, he went to the Olympics. He he never, I don't think he fully got healthy until the middle of this year, which is when the Pacers took off, which is also when Nee Smith and
Nemhardt came back. They were not playing the 1st 20 games, which really affected the defense. I'm still not sure Halliburton's 100. I mean, no one's 100% healthy at this point, but I still think there's another level when he has a full offseason. All of that said, you're seeing it in this playoffs. He he's taking that, you know, overrated thing. And that is definitely fueling him. But he, as best you can tell, enjoys playing in opposing
arenas. I mean, that that game against Cleveland, they're up, you know, they're down 19 in Cleveland. The place is going nuts. And the commentators can't stop talking about, oh, this is so loud. It's such a great environment. And then Halliburton's like, hold my beer. Like I'm just going to hit a couple threes. You know, game two, he he does the I got the rebound, I'm going to go back and I'm cutting your throat out. Like I'm taking the kill shot.
And then, you know, I'm going to monkey knuckles down on the core. Like I'm going to do all that. Like he likes to as Reggie Miller's book. I love being the enemy. There's a part of Halliburton where he likes this. And so I think he likes playing on the road. I think he likes the booze he likes getting, you know, he likes that. I think this team isn't scared of you. Look at guys like Aaron Nesmith. I don't think he's going to be thrown off by MSG. He seems like just a mania.
Even as kind of mild mannered as Miles Turner is, he never seems to be shook. And so that that is one thing I think is going in the Pacers favor. On the flip side, I don't think the Knicks are going to be shook here. So I think it is going to be a really good series. But I think that is something that we have in our advantage is I really think this team rallies being in those hostile environments.
And I think it's important to keep in mind that these two teams were essentially dead even in the regular season, like a. Two game difference. One game, it was 50. The Knicks finished 51 and 31. The Pacers finished 50 and 32. Brunson was out for a while towards the end of the season. The Pacers made-up a bunch of ground, you know, but that was
it's the difference. It's it probably worked out for the best for everybody because I think I, I think the Pacers were uniquely suited to beat the Cavs this year. And I think that the the Knicks kind of got a bit lucky with the Tatum injury, but they were playing the Celtics a lot closer than people thought that they would. But both of these teams, you know, the Pacers have been, you know, the Knicks have been slightly better in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
What's been interesting, if you look at like the last five games, the Pacers have been slightly better defensively than the Knicks have against each or against their competition. Does that carry over into the series? I think a lot of it is going to depend on, you know, can the Pacers play good enough defense and play at a fast enough pace offensively that it starts to wear the Knicks out? It really does seem to come down to that. And then are there any other major injuries?
Do we see anything happen? You know, and, and can you actually get, I mean, if you look at what the Knicks have done over the course of the of the season, their top five players all averaged 35 minutes or more per game and in the playoffs. And Anobi's averaging 40 minutes a game. Bridges is averaging 40 minutes a game, Brunson 39 minutes a game, Hart 37 minutes a game and Karl Anthony Town's 36 minutes a game.
You, you know, you drop down to Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, they're both averaging about 19 minutes a game. That is, I don't know how sustainable that is. And I I think you would be looking at that as a problem with anybody that the Knicks would be playing this playoffs in the Eastern Conference finals, but especially against the Pacers team. Where in the playoffs there, you know, would you like to get? So Tyrese Halliburton is leading
them in minutes. Do you know how many minutes he's averaging per game? Under. Under all of the ones for the Knicks. I mean probably like 32. He's averaging 34. Nemhard's averaging 33, Siakam 32, Turner 31, Kneesmith 29, close to 30. But then they've got four guys,
basically five guys. If you throw in really six guys, if you throw in Thomas Bryant and Jairus Walker who round up to 10 minutes a game, you know, they have really gotten the very balanced load despite having the same guys starting each game. So it's just, again, it's going to be really fascinating to see
which prevails. And it's, I think last thing, going back to that 90s example that we started with, back then, if you had the best player in the series, you were going to win the series as long as you had at least somewhat requisite talent in the other spots. I don't know if we're in that NBA right now, Scott, because so much of it is about efficiency and so much of it is about if you're going 6-7 games in a series, you know, what can you do over the full extent of that?
So I don't know if it locks up right now within the confines of what we would have expected in the 90s or whether this Pacers team is just built for this particular era where you can stretch the roster down two or three additional spots and that gives you the advantage over a six or seven game period of time. Yeah, I I mean, and that's the thing with the Knicks is if one of those guys gets tired or just can't play those minutes, the Knicks really drop off in my
mind. And when you get down to six, 7-8 in minutes for the playoffs, you're talking about Miles McBride, Mitchell Robinson, who like can't play offense. And then you're into Cameron Payne and Precious a Chua territory and you get down with the Pacers. You know, when you you're talking Benedict Mathur and TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin. I mean, Obi Toppin's a guy who's averaged 20 and can score 20 and 10 in a playoff game. We've seen him do it and he's very effective.
He's also, I mean, he's not a starter for a reason. I just think that the Pacers are better in that spot. Here's the question I have for you that's been rattling around my brain is, are are you concerned? The Pacers were on a roll and they were playing well, getting some time off helps, but the Pacers really weren't injured. Are are you worried about that, this lengthy amount of time off?
I mean, almost over a week. They they finished their last game on Tuesday. They won't play again until Wednesday and then it's every other game. Are you concerned? And it's it's almost a little bit unfair. It's like, 'cause the Knicks also get some time off to get rested, but not enough to lose any momentum. Are are you just nervous about the Pacers losing some of that mojo they've had basically since
the All Star? Break No, I'm not in as much as I do think that whether or not we know about any top level like, you know, really bad injuries, people get dinged up in these. We saw a couple of those. I, I like the break for two reasons. For the Pacers 1, I don't know that any amount of rest for the Knicks is going to be enough to compensate for the way that Thibodeau plays them if he's going to be an issue, right? And so I do think that in terms of the the way it impacts
things, it's a wash. Like, it it like, would it have been better? It certainly would have been better if the Knicks had been forced to a seventh game and had even less rest. But I think that that dissipates after a while. But I think the pace that the Pacers play at and the confidence they get from saying, hey, we just we everybody picked us to lose to the Cavs and we
just beat the Cavs in five. I don't know that that's ever going to be a bad thing from a mentality perspective, particularly if, as I would expect, the Knicks are a betting favorite in this series. But the other thing I'll say is that you mentioned Rick Carlisle and you mentioned the way that the the teams are, you know, the the the way that he's managed to overcome issues with matchups and whatnot. I love the fact that he gets extra time to scout and evaluate
this Knicks team. They go back and look at the games that they played against him in the regular season and look at the way they're playing so far in the playoffs. Like the fact that he gets all this additional time to figure out the best way to attack the Knicks, I think is probably about as good of a thing as you could have.
Because you know, any, any adjustments that you make early on that the Knicks have to adjust to, I think it's going to be harder for them because they have fewer pieces to adjust with. And that's so I, you know, look, I you're right in that the Pacers had kind of a built in advantage there. But I don't think they lose that much of it by the situation of, you know, not going in right away and, and, you know, playing the Knicks right after they
finished the previous series. I will also say I was looking it up, you know, Carlisle, what I also think is interesting, you know, you're talking the the connection to the 90s. I look at Carlisle's championship year with the 2011 was yeah, 11 Mavericks. That was a team that wasn't, you know, that was a team that was done like Berk Socks, like he, he's not a real, you know, Realplayer. They have a tough first round series. They beat the Lakers in four and they played their last game May
8th. They start the Western Conference final May 17th. So they that season they also had like 9 games off and they went into Oklahoma. They played home that series. They beat Oklahoma City in that first game, won that game. And then, you know, then they played the Heat where they were just like, wow, this is Lebron's title. Like this is the LeBron team and then he coaches that team to a win. It's it's not a perfect parallel, but it is interesting.
They had a long break between second round in the Western Conference finals. So again, Carlisle has been here and Carlisle has had you know, that I I like that that the team that he won a title with is similar to the Pacers in that that that Mavs team was basically written off. And I don't remember the betting lines for the Mavs versus the Thunder that year, but I definitely remember Mavs Heat. It was like, all right, well, this is Lebron's title run.
Like cannot wait to see this. And again, if an NBA team, NBA ever wanted A-Team to win, it would have been that heat team. So I mean, Carlisle's been in this position where he has the team that basically is the forgotten team in the landscape and the one that is the underdog throughout the playoffs last. Thing on a podcast. So we do have the Eastern Conference futures like you know, the betting lines.
Have you seen this yet? So what would you guess in in terms of betting who the favorite is and what their line is? For for this season or for next? Like for for right now, for like going into the Eastern Conference playoffs. So what's the money line for the Knicks to win the series versus the Pacers to win the series is what I'm asking you. Oh. OK, I mean, the the Pacers are probably, I mean they're an
underdog. They're probably like a + 220 and the Knicks are like a -140. OK, so the Knicks are -160 OK, the Pacers are plus 135. OK. So this is a pretty even series. I mean, I think going into the last series, I think the Cavs were like -500 you know, so basically, you know, they were a 5 to one favorite to win or what a one to five favorite. So it's interesting because if you look at the Western Conference, the Thunder are -150
and we, we'll see what happens. If it's the Timberwolves, I think the Timberwolves climb a little bit and probably are somewhat in a similar territory. But Vegas is looking at this. As a really even series that slightly favors the Knicks, but not overwhelmingly, which I am a little bit surprised by.
Well, and I would even say that's even more of a pick them because you know, most of the time Vegas line is it is pretty good, but you also have to remember Vegas is trying to get money on both sides and Knicks are a public team. So you're going to like for it to be that close. Really tells me that it's probably more of a pick em because they have to inflate the Knicks line because they're going to get way more money on the Knicks side of the Ledger.
It's a great point. Also interesting Eastern Conference Finals MVP futures. Would you like to guess the top three? All right, it's Brunson is 1 and 2. They give them both spots. They give them 1/2. No, Brunson won. What? What would you guess the money line on Brunson to win the Eastern Conference Final MVP is like? Plus 110. I mean it's probably as close to even as maybe. Is it even negative? That'd be insane. It's -140 that's nice, but again, it's AI think it's the
public team thing, right? It's. The the second one is either going to be towns or bridges and it's going to be a nick. I would, I would probably say bridges just 'cause I'm not sure there's a lot of confidence in towns. It's probably maybe towns one of those two. It's actually Halliburton, OK Burton is plus 150 for Easter Conference Finals MVP. So who's your guest for #3 Towns. Towns is 4th at Bridges plus 950. Bridges is not in the top five, so who is third?
Sorry, Pascal Siakam is plus 850 and 5th in the betting order right now. Is is I want to guess it's the way you're saying it might be a pacer. Is it like Nesmith or Nemhard? Nemhard. All right, now, Now, to be fair, Nemhard and the Nobi Nemhard's at +6000. And then it goes Ananobi Turner and Bridges at plus 6500. And then Josh Hart is at +9 or, excuse me, 65. Yeah, 6500. And then Josh Hart is at +9000. So again, I, I find all of these
fascinating. Like this really does equate to a very even series in the eyes of of Vegas and the, and the books, which they're the ones that are looking at this analytically and saying, well, we, we got to be careful how we set this because we don't because it's funny. There was a great article in Sports Business Journal.
Most of the sports books have taken an absolute bath on sports betting this year because of the NCAA tournament, because everybody bet on the favorites and the favorites won. Like, you know, Florida was the number two betted on team in that playoffs and they of course won the title. That hurts the books significantly. I think they're down like 4 or 5%. Overall, and so they're being very careful about how they do most of these series moving forward. I just thought that was interesting.
So I have a couple final questions for you. Are you we talked about this. We we are we'll do our race preview later this week. I'm I'm still on the fence. I have tickets to game three. Do I do the double? Are you going to do the double? I'm doing the double. I I I'm leaning toward doing it just because I I've not done it before. I didn't have tickets. And was it 2013 the last time it happened? I, I think I'm actually going to go to the race.
We're going to come back here. Well, because I, I don't know about navigating from the 500 to to game bridge, but I also like we have, we have kids. I'm going to grab my son, get rid of the babysitter and like not get rid like let our babysitter to. Do their job. By the way, we should do a live podcast that night because I you talk about loopy Scott, I will be saying stuff that doesn't even make sense and that I'm like, I want to try and do it.
I mean, because the only thing that makes me nervous is normally after the 500 I come home, like I'll rewatch the race and by lap 7, I'm asleep on the couch. I'm just going to probably just Chuck Red Bull. I was going to. Say we need to get Scott like a, you know, a A4 Loko sponsorship or something. We got to have a, is there like an oxygen chamber that we could go to in downtown Indy? Is there some kind of
revitalization things? They're like, I I'm going to try like 6:00, you know, just like something to, to get it, get yourself. I'm going to try. The double, I'm going to come back and get my son and I think we're going to go to the game. That's amazing. Well, I'm for you. That's the plan. I'm still working out the details, but that's the plan at this point. And I here's the thing.
It it is such a cool and it as you mentioned, it's happened before, but it's just such a cool thing and it's so uniquely Indianapolis, right? And I especially this year because it just feels like a special year for the Pacers and and the way that the playoffs have fallen and everything. And I'm not, that's not me predicting A Pacers win necessarily, but it just there's a vibe.
And I'll say this like I, I was only reinforced with this when when I went to Gainbridge yesterday for the Fever, opening day sold out. There are a couple of empty seats sprinkled about. But you know, I bought tickets kind of at the last second. These are upper level, like section 228, row 14. Paid $42.00 a ticket for the Fever and and it was a it was a great atmosphere. It really was like the IT was, it was exciting throughout the team. The. Pacers were there. I love the Pacers fever.
Like they're they're like supporting each other. But the vibe, yeah, I went to game six in the Bucks series and that was exciting. And the, the vibe around the Cavs games, you were there for both of those was really awesome. I, I didn't get a chance to go to, to those, but between that and just the, the vibe that's always there for the five hundreds, it looks like it's going to be just a tremendous weather day on on Sunday.
I think that the projected high right now is 71° with partly cloudy skies, which if you were to write in stone like this will be the weather for the 500. That would be it. It's just like just warming off, just warm enough that you're not like, freezing in the stands, but the track's cool enough that there's grip on the tires. And, you know, like, that's that's the dream. So it just feels like it's coming together. Yeah, you know, in in a certain
way. And I'm excited to be a part of that, even if it's going to be just an endurance race. This is like the ultra marathon of Indiana sports. Yeah, yeah, coming home might be the wrong move, but it's like I can pop in a quick shower. I can normally get home by like 530 after the race, so if I get home by 6, take a shower, it's like if I leave here by 7:00 I'm going to get to game bridge by 8. See in the Super secret parking that I do that I don't tell anybody about and will not tell
on this podcast. Well same. I have my own separate super secret parking on my way out. I have an exit strategy that always drops me near downtown Indy within 30 minutes of leaving the track with no real problems at all, which is inconceivable when you think about how hard it is to get like the you're not driving out on 30th St. you're not driving out on 16th St. Like you, you, there's real problems most places.
But if you know how to get out of there, if you know what you're doing, I think it's not only doable, but you know, if the race, when's the race start? Noon. Yeah, 1245, I think his first. 12:45 I've lost last year, completely screwed up my interpretation of when the race starts. But but you know, if the race runs a normal length, if there's no weather issues, I think you could get downtown a solid 2 hours before the game starts and and have time to eat and have time to revitalize.
And that's what I'm aiming at. So awesome. Let's do it. Let's do the double. All right, we'll, we'll be back later on this week. Give me. Your prediction, yeah, like I know it's it's the dumbest, always the most cliche question, but I I see it. I'm just going to be very positive. I I could see it going both ways, but I'll I'll just for fun pick Pacers and six. I know we talked about it. I have a hard time seeing them
winning Game 7 again. That would be an epic place to to look at. But I think Pacers in six would be awesome. I'll take Pacers in six as well. And, and you know, if you're a Knicks fan and you're like, no way your Pacers are going to get swept, fine, whatever. I, I, I again, as we said in the podcast, you could justify almost any result in this particular series. And that's what I find that these are the things that I
love. And it's I, I, I said this, I didn't say it on the podcast, I don't think a couple of weeks ago. But coming out of that game six against Milwaukee, what made that such a remarkable thing was it was something I'd never seen before in person in sports. And you know, to me, the what I love about series like this is that they are the they act as a generation point for stuff that you've never seen before in sports or experiences where you're like, this is unique. This is cool.
And I wouldn't be shocked if it went one way or the other way. Like I wouldn't be shocked if the Knicks won in five. I wouldn't be shocked if the Pacers won in in four. Like I could see that happening. It's it's not unheard of one way or the other. It just seems like this is going to be a very close series against two very good teams.
And I think fans of either team who are writing off their opposition are missing out on just really enjoying the process and seeing how things go. I've always felt like the best way to enjoy sports is not by underrating your opponent, but by properly rating your opponent. And that often times is hard for fans to do of either team. Yeah. So, so those. There you go. Shockingly, Scott and I both picked the Pacers in the series. Who? Who would have guessed that? But.
I'm sure all the Knicks fans are listening. You're bummed the the. Yeah, that's just there's a ton of them. You know, Matt Blask is listening. We know. And Matt Velask, a big Knicks fan. But we'll see what happens. It's gonna be and the other the other last reason to do the double is especially for me as a season ticket holder is the get in price for MSG. It's going to be cheaper for them to fly here and go to go to
game Bros and go to an MSG game. And last year against the Knicks, there was a lot of Knicks fans in the house. And so you can't put your tickets on StubHub because they will be bought up by New York fans. So that's another reason to go is to defend the house. Yep, you got it. That's it's important and. Don't don't give in to the cheap buck. If you're a Pacers fan like you got to, you got to stand on principle. Keep that in mind, folks. Anyway, we'll we'll be back with more.
We got Indy 5. 100 covers later on in this week. IU football recruiting news coming up later this week. Got a special guest on that we got IU portal recap with Taylor Layman hopefully this week. A bunch of fun stuff coming up. We really appreciate you folks listening in for Scott. I'm Galen. This is Crimson cast on the back home network. We will be here throughout the course of May and June. Some fun stuff coming up that
we're planning with. You folks are along for the ride thanks to our presenting sponsor, Home Field Apparel. Catch you folks. On the flip side, stay never daunted. Bring back the Bison. So long, everybody.