The 50th season in the history of the Pacers franchise is upon us, nearly as much a mystery as the first. They have six new players, a new head coach and, essentially, three new starters.
Their six exhibition games proved little, as exhibition games tend to do. There are plenty of reasons for optimism, but also legitimate reasons to doubt. National media sites, claiming experts and insiders never to be seen at practice or in the locker room, are all over the map. The Pacers are either a strong contender to reach the conference finals or won't even make the playoffs, depending on who and what you want to believe.