http://www.pacerscast.com/blog/2008/03/17/the-franchise-downfall-is-on-the-shoulders-ofjonathan-bender/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:44:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.pacerscast.com/blog/2008/03/17/the-franchise-downfall-is-on-the-shoulders-ofjonathan-bender/#comment-4 Evan Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:23:37 +0000 http://www.pacerscast.com/blog/2008/03/17/the-franchise-downfall-is-on-the-shoulders-ofjonathan-bender/#comment-4 I would argue that the downfall of this franchise falls on the shoulders of Ron Artest. The brawl and aftermath of it (the off-the-court problems, O'Neal and Tinsley constantly injured) hurt the franchise a lot more than Bender's fizzling. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that if Bender actually panned out, he would've been an excellent player. But if the Ron Artest never went insane, I think the Pacers would still be a contending team. And they wouldn't need Bender to do that. I would argue that the downfall of this franchise falls on the shoulders of Ron Artest. The brawl and aftermath of it (the off-the-court problems, O’Neal and Tinsley constantly injured) hurt the franchise a lot more than Bender’s fizzling. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you that if Bender actually panned out, he would’ve been an excellent player. But if the Ron Artest never went insane, I think the Pacers would still be a contending team. And they wouldn’t need Bender to do that.

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