Team Dreamin' 2011: PACERS

The Pacers are going to be a very fun team to watch this season, no doubt about it. They drafted Paul George and Lance Stephenson, they picked up Darren Collison, and they got rid of Troy Murphy, who, let's face it, doesn't scream fun. Okay, sometimes he does scream "Fun!" when he is playing checkers with his sister, but we will unfortunately not be able to watch those games on national television.

The point is, Indiana has done exciting things. But no one is foolish enough to think they will be an elite, Finals-caliber team, even if Granger takes it to another level this season. The East is just too strong. They're too young. No way. Never happen.

UNLESS:

They build a new stadium in the next two months.

You may remember that the Pacers used to play in the beloved Market Square Arena, from 1974 to 1999 in fact. When it was announced that MSA would be demolished and the Pacers would begin playing in the new Conseco Fieldhouse for the 1999-2000 season, fans were distraught. This was one of the great '70s-era arenas. Elvis performed for the last time there, Wayne Gretzky played hockey there for the WHA's Indianapolis Racers, and Jordan ended his first retirement there with a comeback game against the Pace Show. This was an historic building, and Pacers fans weren't quite sure this new Conseco Fieldhouse would affect their ever-competitive team. The lockout-shortened 1998-1999 season had ended in a loss to the hated Knicks, and in the following off-season, the team got rid of fan favorite Antonio Davis. The last thing they needed, it seemed, was to have to get used to a whole new home.

Turns out, that was the kind of change Indy fans should have believed in. In 2ooo, the Pacers beat the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals and made it to their first-ever NBA Finals. Sure, they lost to the Lakers once they got there, but for the first time ever, they had gotten there. Since that time, though, the Pacers have struggled mightily, going through rebuilding process after rebuilding process, facing tough injuries, searching for an identity in the League.

Now, with a young, exciting team and a star who has a chance to reach the next echelon should he remain healthy, the Pacers must look to their past and realize that sometimes, a change of scenery makes all the difference. If ditching the wonderful Market Square Arena could get them to the Finals, just think about what blowing the holy hell out of the unremarkable Conseco could do.

Pacers, if you know what's good for you, you will start working on a new arena now and let the sound of an imploding fieldhouse ring like freedom.