Better offense could get Pacers to championship

Greg Anthony takes a look at the future of the Indiana Pacers.

Updated: May 21, 2005, 8:11 PM ET
By Greg Anthony | ESPN Insider
The end is officially here for Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers. In Reggie's case, the loss to the Detroit Pistons ends a storied career with a ton of more ups than downs that will end with an almost-certain trip to the Hall of Fame. With the exception of winning a championship, Miller has had as prolific and consistent a career as almost anyone who has every played the game. I commend him and thank him as a former competitor, and also as a fan; he has been great for the game and I will miss his big-game ability.

The focus now shifts to the Pacers and their future, a future that should include Ron Artest. The question I have: Beyond replacing Miller on the court, who will replace his leadership in the locker room? With the return of Artest, the question of leadership is as big an issue as any for Indiana. Remember the questions this team will deal with and the residual effect of how it will respond.

The other concern I have is the style of play, a major factor in the potential of this team. I love this team. It's not solely about effort, because no team competes harder. Rick Carlisle is as fine a coach as we have in the league at getting maximum effort out of his squad, but I'm starting to wonder if the Pacers are good enough on the offensive end. The inability to get easy baskets has stunted Indiana's growth offensively. Again, effort is important; it beats most teams. However, to win it all offensive efficiency has to enter into the equation.


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Greg Anthony

NBA
Former NBA guard Greg Anthony covers basketball for ESPN.com Insider. He joined ESPN in November 2002 as a studio analyst for the network's NBA coverage. He appears on all of ESPN and ESPN2's NBA studio shows.

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