#RealTalk (Why the Pacers are better Now than they were when they were the No.1 seed)

"Oh so close bruh!"

Calvin Coolidge once said, “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” Winston Churchill gave it to us like this, “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.” Then Mahatma Gandhi shook boyz up when he said, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.”

Well playas…the Indiana Pacers were sent to the crib on Wednesday night from Memphis literally. After gettin’ blasted 95-83 on the second night of a back to back joint for not bein’ able to hang on Beal Street the Pacers got the blues of not makin’ the playoffs. It was win or go home for these boyz and the Grizzlies tucked them in like Big Momma for a long summer’s nap.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1^st! Even though the Pacers didn’t make the playoffs, they were more fun to watch and cover this year than they were last year when they were the No.1 seed! Call me nuts but boyz played through crazy adversity from day one and never gave up. I’ll take that any day bruh!

Yeah, I know that the goal is to win championships etc. but when you’re not even in that realm of possibility you’ve got to take what you can get playa.

Think about it son! Ole dull Lance Stephenson bet on himself and bounced takin’ all of the energy out of the buildin’ with him. Then in August when boyz were chillin’ out watchin’ a meaningless basketball game in Las Vegas Paul George snaps his leg on a freakin’ basket stanchion.

Now everybody and Big Momma’s house cat are freakin’ out that there’s no Lance and no PG!!! When camp starts the injury bug infiltrates the joint and starts man handlin’ everybody with gonads like the school yard bully. George Hill gets his lunch money taken, David West gets locked in a his locker, Skittles-N-Lemonheads gets his books knock out of his hands and kicked in the butt, Rodney Stuckey sits on the infamous thumbtack and the list goes on.

Ole Frank is like a mad scientist tryin’ to come up with a formula to keep these duns from capsizin’. Dependin’ upon who he had available would determine what startin’ lineup he’d play. Durin’ the process he became a freakin’ genius!

Also the players became more resilient and the chemistry went from absolutely none on a team that was the No.1 seed a year ago to sittin’ on full strength on a team that didn’t even make the playoffs. Understand this playa, this team that is goin’ to crib early this year is a much better team than the duns that made it to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. That’s real talk bruh!

Boyz don’t see it now but this season will become the turnin’ point for the Pacers Organization. Frank Vogel did the best job of coachin’ in his freakin’ career this season. Yeah I know that I’m soundin’ like somebody’s old man givin’ them the speech after they didn’t play on their little league team but adversity makes you stronger and disappointment builds character.

By the end of the season all of the energy that Lance took out of the joint with him was back because boyz loved watchin’ a team that played like their lives depended on it and it did. Win or lose fans want to have something to look forward to.

Now it’s up to Larry and Co. to figure out how best to move forward without messin’ up the chemistry and vibe in the buildin’! I know that first things first, ban the sale of Skittles and Lemonheads in the buildin’!!! I just believe that if Roy doesn’t have access to them he’ll play better because that dun is NOT goin’ to walk away from the final year of his deal which is a player option. Nobody with a piece of a brain is gonna pay that dun so he’s not goin’ anywhere.

So the only thing boyz can do is stop sellin’ candy in the buildin’, take all back seats out of vehicles in a 10 block radius of the arena, ban the play of Luther Vandross in central Indiana and put blinders on that dun until his contract expires. On the day it expires everything can go back to normal bruh but not a minute sooner and I’ll drive him to the freakin’ airport. #RealTalk!!! Stop me when I start lyin’!


Playas Thesaurus:   1) Dull: adjective – to be disgusted with, to be the cat that boyz look at and just shake their heads.
2) Skittles-N-Lemonheads: noun – Roy Hibbert
3) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc.
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The caption under the photo isn’t real but its REAL talk!