The Sports Guy is in town for the Super Bowl and stopped by what he still calls Conseco Fieldhouse to talk hoops with Pacers media director David Benner Conrad Brunner of Pacers.com. During the chat, Bill Simmons confirms something all Indiana fans should know: the 1998 Pacers were better than the 1998 Bulls.

Here are some of Bill’s quotes from their video conversation.

• Simmons on his belief that Larry Bird should make a trade this year: “I still think they need to make a trade. I know everybody likes the team and likes the nucleus, but they have the cap space and they actually have a chance to make the Finals. I think the East is wide open … So I would like to see them do something to add one big contract or one big piece. I’m not sure what that piece is — it kinda depends on how it shakes out — but I would love to see them go after Steve Nash. I just think he would be a great fit in so many different ways here.”

• Simmons on whether Bird actually will shake up the roster: “For Indiana, it’s like they don’t need to do anything this year. I think it would be good if they got in the playoffs, got tested, got the experience. They have the cap space. I don’t think there’s the urgency [that] it’s a make-or-break season or anything like that. But I think [Bird will] smell it if he feels like they can actually win the East, he’ll make a move. But I don’t think we know that yet because we don’t know what’s going on with Miami. It kind of looks like they’re teetering. It just looks like it’s not a great situation there. Those guys have now played together 120 games or something, and it just doesn’t look like they’ve figured it out.”

• Simmons on Bankers Life Fieldhouse: “I loved it. I love the practice court. I’m actually gonna sneak on there after we do this interview and maybe take some jump shots.”

• Simmons on his affinity for the Pacers dating back to when Bird joined the franchise as a coach: “I’m always rooting for the Pacers. I’m always rooting for The Legend. I was full-in in ’98 and 2000. And I still think that 2000 Finals was closer than people remember. People seem to think that those Lakers teams just walked through that era and it just wasn’t true. You watch those games on ESPN Classic — especially game four — Kobe played just out of his mind in the overtime. It was probably his single greatest moment as a player, I think. And that was it. I think if the Pacers had won that game, I think they would have won the series. They really matched up well with that Laker team, I felt like. And the other thing with them is, the ’98 team, they were better than the Bulls. And Jordan and Pippen just wouldn’t let them lose. But they had a better team that year. It just came down to the fact that they were going against the greatest player ever and he wasn’t ready to lose his stance yet. But I don’t think you can come closer to winning the title and not win than that team did that series.”

When it came down to game seven in 1998, more so than Jordan and Pippen — who shot a combined 15-of-48 (31.3%) in the deciding contest — “not letting” Chicago lose, it was actually the Pacers inability to get a goddamn rebound (they gave up 22 offensive rebounds).

But who really remembers?

(Me. I remember. That’s who. BOX OUT FOR CHRISTSAKE.)

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(video via JA Sherman)

Not to be a jerk, but this is some pretty shoddy reenactment work, fellas. Like, Lifetime movie courtroom dramatization bad. The 8 points in 9 seconds recreation, something I would like to think I, the founder of this blog, know something about, is particularly garbage.

The first three is OK. The inbounds angle is way off here and, in real life, Reggie caught the pass standing on the line and had to step back to make sure it was a trey. That’s nitpicking though. But after the guy imitating Reggie hits the shot, he just hangs for a second before immediately beginning to defend the guy playing Greg Anthony. In reality, Reggie initially sticks Starks way out beyond the arc. But after John cuts towards inbounder Anthony Mason, Reggie leaves the future-2-for-18-in-an-NBA-Finals-Game-7 performer in order to prevent the pass to Greg Anthony. He is able to double Greg (along with Byron Scott) due to the most underrated aspect of this play: Sam Mitchell leaves the inbounder and jumps in front of Starks to prevent Mase from throwing that pass. While Mason is realizing this is going on, Greg Anthony is busy tripping on his own foot. And by the time Mason realizes he should have just passed it to Greg before he fell down, it’s too late because he is already throwing the ball in. To nobody. Or, more accurately, to Reggie.

But, OK. All this is also nitpicking. These elements would be definitely be integral if I were directing this recreation, but it’s an excusable choice to leave out such details. There are a lot of moving parts to coordinate and I’m guessing the producers of this video don’t have a huge budget to spend time choreographing off-the-ball action.

The next part is inexcusable to omit, however.

In this rendition, when Reggie steals the inbounds, he is already behind the arc. He merely needs to stick the shot. But that’s not how it went down. As we all know — and what makes this arguably the most heads-up play in NBA history — Reggie grabs the errant pass, pivots, takes a spin dribble in retreat to the three-point line, squares up and buries his second three in as many seconds. Having the guy playing Reggie just catch and grab the ball behind the line and stick a jumper is just sloppy work, guys.

The Jordan shove play isn’t reenacted much better. MJ didn’t fall down in the real play. He was merely thrown off balance and nearly recovered to challenge the shot even. Instead, these poor-attention-to-detail filmmakers have Mike hitting the deck and Reggie struggling to catch the inbounds pass. The kid playing Miller dribbles twice before popping the jumper. In real life, Reggie just catches, squares up and knocks it down.

And I’m not going to even comment on this impersonator’s horrible attempt to mimic Reggie’s “sprint down the court and twirl around like a ballerina” celebration. Not that such a public display is really something I would want to recreate personally, but if you’re going to do it, at least make an attempt to get it right.

The re-enactment of Miller’s bank heave against the Nets is done well here. I’ll give them that. (Although I can’t actually tell if this banks in, honestly.) But it is the least memorable of these three plays. And they fail to follow it up with the even more improbable drive-the-lane-and-two-hand-dunk-in-traffic play that Reggie did to send that same game into double overtime. (A double OT during which the Pacers were outscored 13-2 … *sigh*).

In conclusion, nice thought, fellas from ChinaPacers.com. I respect the effort.

But I don’t respect the final product.

Let’s try a little harder next time.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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The Hall of Fame has unveiled its list of nominees for 2011 and Reggie Miller leads the candidates. Apparently, there are a few silly people who think he might not make it but … yeah … this is probably academic.

If you look at his career stats and his total of All-NBA/All Star accolades I could understand why there is a case to be made that he will not make it. At least not on the first try. I mean, Dominuque Wilkins for some unholy, who-know’s-why? reason even got snubbed in year one, so it is certainly a possibility.

But Reggie had so many moments — big, playoff moments that have their own names and are known by people who barely follow the sport. 8 points in 9 seconds. The 25-point fourth. The bank to send the Nets game into OT.

Thus, it seems inevitable that he will be enshrined very, very soon.

Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk offers a less-biased perspective:

There may never have been a better pure shooter to play the game than Reggie Miller. That’s the kind of player that should end up in the Hall of Fame.

And he might, Miller appears the most likely NBA player for induction on the ballot for the Naismith Hall of Fame, with the players nominated listed at NBA.com.

Miller has taken and made more three pointers than anyone in NBA history. He played 18 years for the Indiana Pacers, was a five-time All-Star, was the bane of the Knicks and Spike Lee’s existence for a few years, plus won Olympic gold in 1996. More than just the stats, he is as good a shooter as the game has seen, the kind of player that should be recognized by the Hall (which focuses on all aspects of the game, not just the NBA).

He’s a lock.

–

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Here’s the Pacers list.

Reggie obviously dominates, but after that there are a lot of guys who stuck around for quite a while, including “Rogera Brown.” He was good, I hear.

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For those of us who have been on the Pacers ship for some time like me (going back to Chuck Person) and Tim (going back to when mastadons and sabertooth tigers roamed the Midwest), this will hopefully provide some nice nostalgia. For others who may be younger or have joined Pacer Nation more recently, this will hopefully provide some nice edu-ma-cation. We learn ya good here at 8 Points, 9 Seconds, I always say.

Today, you get a double feature.

First comes a depressing moment in which MJ at his absolute apex — both literally in terms of his career arc and figuratively in terms of he jumps really high — blocks a Reggie Miller layup in most dramatic fashion, single-handedly swatting it away, then somehow saving it from going out of bounds and in the process sealing a Bulls win. This was merely a regular season game in 1992 so it’s not exactly a Tayshaun-blocking-Reggie-level kick to the groin, but it is still ouchy even 19 years later. I had so much resentment for how good that Jordan guy was. Still do when I think about 1998 in particular. (I mean, how did that Game 7 lead slip away? Get a rebound guys.)

(hat tip to Trey Kerby of the somehow-improved-this-year Basketball Jones)

The second item for this inaugural Memory Lane is much better. I mean, just look at the back of Rik’s hair.

Classic Smits. (via Fat Shawn Kemp)

Best part? The Chief totally photo-bombing Rik’s layup.

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(via The Grand Archives)

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Surprisingly, he never won a three-point contest despite participating five times (’89, ’90, ’93, ’95 and ’98), but he did twice lose in the finals — by one point each time. Here’s a quick breakdown of how he fared in all his appearances (which I’m pretty sure are the only five times any Pacer has participated.  Presumably, Danny will show up at some point. Except for that time Danny did it last year, which I totally didn’t forget about):

1989: Eliminated in second round with a round-low 11.
1990: Lost by one in the finals to Craig Hodges (18-19). Reggie dropped a 16 in the first round and a round-high 18 in the second round. (Fun Fact: This was one contest MJ participated in — and he put up a highly embarassing total of 5, which is tied with Detlef’s 5 in 1988 for the worst score ever.)
1993: Eliminated in the first round with a 14
1995: Lost by one in the finals to Glen Rice, who won 17-16. Reggie dropped a 17 in the first round and a round-high 19 in the second round to make the finals.
1998: Eliminated in the first round with a 12

It’s weird that a guy who loved pressure and the “all eyez on me” factor more than most shooters never won one — particularly since that guy is also arguably the best shooter humankind has ever produced. (Although I’m guessing that both his former coach/GM/guy in front of him in this photo and his sister might disagree.)

Regardless, Reggie — particularly, young Reggie — was a big reason that the contest had a flair and swagger to it back in the day that just did not exist last night. Paul Pierce brought a little flavor by yelling between racks as he knocked down triple after triple on his way to winning the first three-point trophy by any Celtic aside from the aforementioned Larry Legend, but it’s just not like it used to be. Or perhaps I’m just old? I dunno. Feels too formal and corporate rather than just being the “I’m better than you” pissing contest that it once was. Oh well. I’m a big Truth fan so it was nice to see him win anyway.

In other news, Stephen Curry’s shot is gorgeous and if he doesn’t win one of these things some day it will almost be as shocking as Reggie not having a trophy.

Reg was rocking some great shorts during the 1990 contest. Also, I had like 20 of those shirts that the dude with the glasses behind Reggie is wearing. The Bulls ones were great with that highly comical Bill Cartwright carictature. (Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

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In Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks, director Dan Klores recounts one of the NBA’s most underrated rivalries in a beautifully crafted tale that centers around three Pacers/Knicks playoff series from 1993 to 1995. I saw it yesterday and it certainly lives up to its heralded billing as one of the best films in ESPN’s ongoing 30 for 30 film series.

Pacer fans will see it as the story of their adopted son leading their team to national prominence by slaying the hated Knicks.  Knicks fans are likely to see it as somewhat less epic. (And those of us who are more enlightened — and much better looking — will, of course, view it as inspiration for the name of a great blog.)

The documentary will also be entertaining for all sports fans regardless of how familiar they are with the rivalry, as Klores brings plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in a work he calls “fun” and a “comedy.”  He provides a nice framework to allow the principle characters — the players, coaches and members of the media — to tell the story in their own words, so the uninitiated will quickly be brought up to speed with first-hand anecdotes of playoff heroics.  By the time the documentary reaches the moment for which this site is named, even those who dislike the NBA will be pretty engaged in the drama of the rivalry.

And for those of us who feel as though we lived through those battles as soldiers in the fight rather than just passive onlookers, it provides so much more. It is both a reminder of the days when “Pacer Pride” actually meant something and a look behind the curtain.  Even though the Pacers/Knicks battles of the 90s are almost part of my DNA (and I still have the scar from the headbutt Starks gave Reggie to prove it), Klores still was able to provide vignettes that were new to me.

For me, however, Winning Time was even more than that.  It was a reaffirmation of who I am as a Pacer fan.  The movie, and the anticipation of it, triggered strong memories.  These aren’t limited to Reggie’s heroics. I found my entire life as a Pacer fan flashing before my eyes.

These are just some of the random fragments:

• When the Pacers won their last championship in 1973, I was 7 years old.  I have  distant memories of going to the Fairgrounds Coliseum, but very little of the game play.  My favorite player was Billy Keller.  What I remember of the games is walking to and from the car with my dad and my godfather, his best friend Dick Perry.

• I’m the youngest of nine children, and 10-and-a-half years younger than the second youngest.  My only brother is 16 years older than me, and I spent most of my childhood being vaguely afraid of him.  At one point, he convinced me that he kept a pet coyote (“ky-do-te” to my young mind) and water buffalo downstairs next door, which somehow frightened the bejeezus out of me.  However, my most vivid memory of the ABA Pacers comes from listening to them playing the Dallas Chaparrals on a radio with Terry in his room one night.  I don’t even remember the score, but I remember the sounds and the light of the room and the dark outside.

• The only reason I ever got to see John Havlicek play in person is because my brother-in-law, Vince, thought it was something a 12-year-old should see.  The Pacers lost that night, but I distinctly recall the conversation Vince and I had getting out of the car.  A childlike discussion of the preceding summer’s telethon and strange, innocent feeling of pride surrounding the city banding together to save the team. Those of you outside Indiana — or just anyone under 30 — might not know, but the Pacers, once known as “the Boston Celtics of the ABA,” faced fiscal straights that would have forced the team to relocate had the community not literally ponied up their own hard-earned money to bail out the franchise and keep them in Indianapolis.

• Until late in Reggie’s career, my favorite NBA Pacer was Billy Knight.  That attachment was formed by listening to the Pacers on the radio every game during the 1980-81 season.  This was my freshman year of high school, and it’s when I formed my connection to basketball.  I spent that year listening to the Pacers on their way to their first NBA Playoff appearance, and the Indiana Hoosiers on their way to their fourth NCAA title.  I can still hear “Hockey” Bob Lamey’s calls of running-one-handers, and cheering for BK and Johnny Davis and James Edwards and Boo-Boo and the return of Big Mac.

• I remember a fleeting moment of glory in an otherwise disastrous 1985 season.  My brother’s best friend had a single season ticket (face value $4), and he couldn’t go to a January game vs. the Chicago Bulls.  The temperatures were frigid that night, but I was able to coax my ’72 Cutlass down to Market Square anyway.  I was joined by several hundred other fools, as we witnessed a rare Pacer victory.  The big moment came with the Pacers up one and the clock ticking down.  Michael Jordan isolated Jim Thomas, but Jimmy picked his pocket, securing the game.  I think I lived off that game for like two years.

• I was in Market Square Arena, with my brother Terry and my brother-in-law Vince as we cheered the selection of Wayman Tisdale, were stunned by the selection of Chuck Person, and did not boo the selection of Reggie Miller (though, in all honestly, we were hoping that Horace Grant would fall to the Pacers).  We also sat through all 7 rounds of that 1985 draft, with Terry and Vince begging the Pacers to take Tyrone Corbin from DePaul.  They did not.  The Pacers took Billy Martin and Dwayne McClain with their two second-round picks.  Tyrone Corbin went on to play over 1,000 games in the NBA.  Neither Martin nor McClain were quite that successful.

• Over the years, NBA Draft Night has risen to an equivalent stature in my house with the Super Bowl.  Though we missed last year, I have usually had my brother Terry and my friend Alex (who has written here at 8p9s) over to watch the draft.  The year we drafted David Harrison, I was in Kansas City on business.  I spent the entire evening on my cell phone “watching” the draft with Alex.

• I distinctly remember the look on Terry’s face on the night the Boomer was “born.”  If I recall correctly, the Pacers were playing in Milwaukee, when, with much drama, Eddie Doucette breathlessly told of breaking news back in Indy.  They cut to a grainy, Zapruder-quality video of some large stuffed animal breaking out of a box underneath MSA.  If you would like a re-enactment of my reaction, just look at John Starks’ face when he missed those free throws in Game One of the 1995 series.

• Prior to Game 4 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, the crowd at Market Square had reached a fever pitch.  If you never had the pleasure, it is impossible to describe how loud that place could get.  However, the other thing about that building was that it was a dome and the floor was actually well above street level.  Market Street actually passed under it.  Therefore, the entire building actually felt unstable when the crowd went off.  As the teams huddled prior to tip, and the crowd rocked the building — both literally and figuratively — I spied second-year Knick Hubert Davis staring up at the crowd, slack-jawed, with an expression of awe that was teetering on the edge of outright fear.

These are just the old-school memories.  This doesn’t include the many other flashbacks that dot the years of my life as a Pacer fan like signposts.  These others cover the entire range of emotion from the elation of beating the Knicks or making the finals to the Larry Johnson four-point play and the gut-wrenching dread that slowly descended on me in the hours after the brawl.  I could go on for thousands of words without running dry.

As much as anything, the Pacers have been a part of my life.  While that may sound like a life of misplaced priority, I would invite you to look at those memories again.  Almost all of them mention family or friends.  Those that don’t were experienced in the company of family or friends.  At the end of the day, the Indiana Pacers have been a vehicle through which I’ve been able to enhance connections with my family and friends, and forge new ones with those who share my passion.

There’s no denying the dark cloud that has hovered over Pacerland for last few years.  Many fans have fallen away, regrettably with good reason.  The Blue and Gold haven’t faced this much futility on the court in over two decades.

So this documentary could not have come at a more opportune time to help remind me of the basis of my connection with the Pacers.  In fact, in the midst of an ugly basketball game earlier this season, the Pacers played a huge role in enhancing the most important relationship I will ever have.

If you’re a Pacer fan, do yourself a favor, and catch Winning Time.  Remind yourself of why you fell in love with the Pacers, and what it will feel like when they finally get back on track.  Watch it for the laughs and the new information contained as the insiders share their perspectives. And if for no other reason, watch it for the opportunity it will give you to relive moments and memories with those near and dear to you.

Feel good about being a Pacer fan again.

ESPN audiences will first see Winning Time on Sunday, March 14 at 9:00 pm.  However, those in the Indianapolis area can attend Special Premiere Movie Event at Conseco Fieldhouse at 8:00 pm on Friday, February 26.  Reggie Miller, among others, will attend and proceeds from the event will benefit The People’s Burn Foundation, Riley Children’s Hospital and the Pacers Foundation. Also, below you can check out a preview of what is obviously the favorite scene of someone who would create a blog called Eight Points, Nine Seconds.

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(Photo from Fat Shawn Kemp via Ball Don’t Lie)

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