Pacers' Public Perception Improves Dramatically

by Tom Lewis on Oct 22, 2009 4:35 PM EDT in Indiana Pacers News

Most national NBA experts don't have a positive outlook for the 2009-10 Pacers on the court, but locally the perception of the organization and players has apparently taken a drastic turn in a positive direction after bottoming out two years ago. This bit of good news comes from pollster Frank Luntz who has been consulting the Pacers and surveying fans for the past four years. Luntz is in town to release his latest survey results and spoke with Gerry Dick from Inside Indiana Business for an interview set to air on Sunday's show. A clip from the show is available on the website which I transcribed below.

Gerry Dick: I think it's interesting though to go back to when you started doing these surveys for the team and the community when things were tough for the Pacers and folks weren't real happy. How bad did it get?

Frank Luntz: It was awful, and I've done a lot of work in baseball, football as well as basketball, and I've done work all over the country. I've never seen a market like Indiana, they take their basketball seriously. Now the business community, they never abandoned the team. The people who did, were the moms because they wanted the players to be people that their kids could look up to, role models. What's different about Indiana than any other place is that they're sophisticated about their sports and about their basketball. You cut them and they bleed basketball. Most fans like the slam dunk, that's the play they really enjoy. Not Indiana. For them, it's the blocked shot and the steal. They want to hear the sounds of the game, they want to hear the players talking to each other. They get into everything. Two years ago, which was our second survey, two years ago almost to this day the fans had said I've had enough and they were telling us that they weren't going to come back.

Gerry Dick: Fast forward to today and this most recent survey, how dramatic has the shift been?

Frank Luntz: How about, I've never seen this ever in professional sports. I've never seen a fanbase turnaround and say, you know what, you made us a promise. In fact, we even asked that question: Did the team keep its promise to clean up its act (we used that phrase) on the court and off the court? And almost 90% said yes and nobody keeps their promises any more. We are a show me society and we are a group of skeptics and cynics. Not the Pacers. And in fact, I told them that ticket sales are going to increase because of it.

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Interesting...

It’s sad to say that every now and then I get told that we still have nothing but thugs and “gangstas” on the Pacers roster.

Besides those still living under a rock, I think the people are starting to turn around especially looking at the way things have been within the past few years.

You have to spoon-feed the public now a days or they won’t buy into anything. Larry Bird, Mel Simon and David Morway have done their part to get the word out that, “Hey, we’re here to play basketball and to have no non-sense.”

- Tony Laurenzana (duke dynamite)

by duke dynamite on Oct 22, 2009 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

Thugs

I still hear that all the time as well from people as soon as I mention something about the Pacers. People who don’t follow basketball are going to automatically think about the brawl, followed by the past of good ole’ boys led by Reggie Miller. Until this team does anything to set its own distinct image, the “commonfolk” will still think negatively because they don’t know what’s actually happened.

It really peeves me off.

by spstevenson on Oct 22, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Tickets

I hope he’s right about more tickets selling, because the Fieldhouse was pretty barren last season. Fans emphatically demanded change and called out the organization after the “malice at the palace”, after strip-club gunfire, and after high-speed gun chases. Now that there is a cleaner image on the court, it’s time for the fans to hold up their end of the bargain and return to the Fieldhouse to cheer on the team.

by Hinrich10 on Oct 22, 2009 4:37 PM EDT reply actions

Good story

Growing up in Indiana playing high school ball gave me a sense of how rabid fans are for basketball. Fast forward ahem 10 + years and several cities later, this article is a great reminder of how passionate and knowledgeable true Indiana basketball fans are. I might be disconnected from the state of Indiana, but articles like these remind me why I have passion for the game.

by jantz101 on Oct 22, 2009 5:14 PM EDT reply actions

The fans will return

Unfortunately it will probably be after Larry leaves and a good talent evaluator takes his place.

2 more lottery years in our imediate. Hopefully they won’t be used to bring Luke Harangody and Jordan Hulls into the fold.

" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "

by aaronb on Oct 22, 2009 5:49 PM EDT reply actions

oh please!!

I don’t understand much of the criticism of Bird and his capabilities. I don’t contend that he has godly powers, however people rag on him just for not being god. Jackson, Artest, Tinsley, and O’Neal… you tell me how you rid a team of that and yet the rebuilding process meets your expectations. Not to mention you give him zero credit for the draft last year, and assume that Hansbrough’s career is over before it even begins.
Bird is handling a REAL nba team. He’s not tinkering with the roster on a fantasy league at espn, or leading a team through association mode on nba2k.

by ottoprice13 on Oct 22, 2009 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll counterpoint then

What has Bird done positive since he has took the reins?

If Danny Granger doesn’t fall in his Lap at 17, then where is this franchise?

" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "

by aaronb on Oct 23, 2009 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions

You completely mischaracterized the acquisition of Granger. He did not “fall into his lap”, picking Granger at 17 was still as much of a gamble as say taking Hansbrough at 12. “Hindsight is always 20/20” – don’t act as if Granger was a lock to be a bonafied star coming out of New Mexico.
More to that point, since taking the reigns he exchanged trash characters for players with trash contracts (Murphy and Dunleavy)… Both these players have excelled during their time with Bird’s Pacers, along with Granger improving to all star level.
Lastly, he also dumped O’Neal to pick up a franchise center.
So where’s the franchise if he doesn’t take Danny? In a worse hole than now because he would have made a “safer” and I’m sure what you would have called a “better” pick at the time.

by ottoprice13 on Oct 23, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

If we don't land Granger

What’s to say we don’t land Durant or Rose or even Griffin?

We’d be in worse shape right now without Granger, but we also might have a more distinct progression as to where we’re going. We’d just be further behind on that.

by Nathan S. on Oct 24, 2009 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Support for the right guys

This is what I do love about sports in Indiana. We like to win, but we like to win the right way. That’s what we’ve got with the Colts and we’re almost there with the Pacers, minus the overwhelming success. I plan on getting over to a few games this year, and I hope more people do the same.

I’m not really sure what to expect of this year’s team, but I know I’m going to love what they put on the floor, even if the wins aren’t what’s taken off the floor.

by Nathan S. on Oct 22, 2009 8:45 PM EDT reply actions

I hope the fans do come back and watch the team...

The Pacers kept their end of the bargain (even though they’re not that great on the floor), but for the past few years, I’ve been OK with having good guys on the team who play hard and work hard.

I just hope it shows up in wins (sigh).

by Gwen on Oct 22, 2009 8:51 PM EDT reply actions