In this episode, we welcome Kevin Bowen from 'The Fan' in Indianapolis to discuss the Indiana Pacers' surprising journey to the NBA Finals. The Pacers had a remarkable season with 50 wins, overcoming teams like Milwaukee, New York, and Cleveland. Despite strong performances, they narrowly lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game Finals series. Key highlights include the impressive contributions from players such as Tyrese Halliburton and Pascal Siakam [03:29].

Looking ahead to the 2026 season [01:55], challenges include Halliburton's Achilles injury and potential tactical adjustments. The episode also touches on the broader landscape of the Eastern Conference [05:17] and a brief update on the Indianapolis Colts' offseason, focusing on Anthony Richardson's shoulder recovery and the team's strategic outlook [07:18].

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Opening and closing music courtesy of Jeremiah Alves - "Evermore".

Welcome into another episode . We have a special guest joining us

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from the state of Indiana, the

epicenter of the basketball universe.

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'cause we have the WNBA on right now

featuring Indiana Fever and Caitlyn Clark.

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But most recently we had the

paces in the NBA taking all before

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them going to the NBA finals.

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They took the Oklahoma City

Thunder all the way to seven games.

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They had quite the season, so joining

us to talk about that and more.

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It's front of the show.

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Kevin Bowen from the fan in Indianapolis.

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Kevin, how you doing Kevin?

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How you doing?

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Kevin Bowen: Doing good, Neil.

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Thanks for having me on as always.

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PSP: It was been quite a season.

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The Pacers had 50 wins.

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They took out Milwaukee.

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New York and Cleveland along the way.

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Did you expect a season that they

had to get so far towards the finals

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and take the thunder to seven?

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Kevin Bowen: Yeah, I'd be I'd be

lying to you if I thought they

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were gonna make a run all the way

to the final game of the season.

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The 50 wins I actually thought that I

made a little bit of a preseason wager

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on 50 or more wins for the Pacers.

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So that wasn't, stunning to me.

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I know they got off to a slow start

with Andrew and Emhart and Aaron

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East Smith both banged up, but.

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The playoff run, especially starting

that Cal series, I think, taking

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care of Milwaukee given their

injury situation, wasn't that crazy.

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Maybe in five was a little bit more

unexpected, but then, what they did to

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Cleveland I thought was pretty thorough.

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And then, when Halliburton hits that

shot in game, one of the Nicks series.

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I think that kind of flipped that series,

towards Indiana pretty significantly.

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And then obviously when they got into the

finals, certainly Vegas did not expect

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them to take Oklahoma City to seven and

the ultimate what if there in game seven?

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So it's one of the more unexpected runs.

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Again, 50 wins, not that crazy,

but, getting all the way to June

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22nd and game seven of the finals.

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Yeah, I think unless you're a

unless you're Boomer the mascot, I

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don't think you're expecting that.

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PSP: Now they were pretty clinical.

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The finals is actually the

only series that went to seven.

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As you said, the Milwaukee team that they

beat was a little bit happy, but they

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beat the calves and the Knicks in six.

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They were quite clinical there.

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How do you see 2026 looking?

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Obviously Tyree, Halliburton

has an Achilles injury.

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How do you see 2026 looking for the paces?

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Moving forward and forward.

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Kevin Bowen: Yeah.

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For how joyous of a season it was

and how unbelievable of a run it was.

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And so many great moments.

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What happened there in game seven is

just such an excruciating way to end it.

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You almost feel like they lost two

championships in a way on Sunday in, in,

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in the sense of, obviously you lost game

seven, but then Halliburton being out for.

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All of next season.

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We had Rick Carlisle on our show earlier

this week and he said, obviously unlikely

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he's going to play here coming up.

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So that's a big question.

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Now, how do you handle the off season?

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Do maybe not push all the chips

into the middle of the table?

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They don't have a lot of decisions

to make, but I think it unpacks so

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much of the questions you had asked

yourself over the past, probably

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handful of months as an organization.

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Now moving forward, of course, what

does Halliburton look like individually?

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When he does return, I don't

think he has a game that, the

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Achilles will cripple him.

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I think he's an elite shooter.

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He is an elite passer.

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He is an elite facilitator.

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He's not some, small point guard that,

relies on explicit athletic ability

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to do the heavy lifting for him.

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I think back to when Victora Depot

got hurt for the Pacers a handful

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of years ago as he was having an

all star ascent and he was a smaller

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guard that was a streaky shooter that.

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Needed that, peak explosive athleticism

and, when he suffered that knee injury

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I think that kind of unfortunately for

him started the downfall to his career.

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I don't put Halliburton in that

same sort of box, but nonetheless,

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there are obviously still some major

questions that you know, he's going

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to have to answer and organizationally

they will have to answer as well.

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PSP: Now, one question,

the organization answered.

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Not this season, but the season before

was the trade for Pascal, aka they brought

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him in from Toronto and I feel like this

postseason was his national introduction.

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He did win a championship in Toronto in

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I feel like audiences got a real feel

for the Pascal aka experience the way

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that he was able to feed off of Ty's Reib

work with Miles Turner in the Post and

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. Did win the Eastern Conference finals.

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MVP.

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Tell us a little bit about how you've

seen him come into the Paces organization

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as well as the contract that he signed.

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Do you feel like the paces

have got a good deal there?

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Kevin Bowen: Yeah, I do.

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I I think you look at AKA and,

he just brings an adult mindset.

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I don't know if that

maybe is the best way.

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To describe it, but I think as a guy that,

when you need a bucket late he's the guy

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that, when the game slows down in the

playoffs, he can provide that for you.

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He's something, somebody that kinda

has a bit of an old school game to him.

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He is very mid rangey and, again,

similar to Halliburton, he is

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not necessarily relying on crazy

athleticism or necessarily gonna

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hit, whatever, three or four threes.

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But when things do bo down I

think he can provide a pretty

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consistent scoring presence and

defensively does enough for you.

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Obviously he's gonna take on a bigger kind

of scouting report role, coming up next

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season and what is he 30, 31 years old?

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You would like to think that when

Halliburton gets back, he would still

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have a couple years left for you.

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And the championship pedigree is probably,

honestly, that's probably an area that.

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I know I underestimated him a little bit.

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Just how great of a leader he is.

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And I think that has been really key.

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And certainly they will need and

rely on his voice and his presence

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coming up next season as well.

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PSP: Yes.

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See, Kom will definitely be asked to

provide a lot more, not only in the

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box score, but also as you say, with

the intangibles such as leadership

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and the voice in the locker room.

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The Eastern Conference, though, is

seemingly open when you can see that the

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Knicks essentially fired their coach after

losing to the paces, which is interesting.

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Boston lost Jason Tatum in a not too

dissimilar fashion to Tyrus, Halle Briton,

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and we might not see him next season.

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So the cars are still at

the top of the conference.

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Detroit's there.

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Orlando's there.

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Do you feel like the Pacers need

to do much to stay in the top

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four next season, or do you feel

like it's a pretty open race?

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Kevin Bowen: Yeah, honestly, that

might be the greatest thing going to

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the Pacers favor right now, which is,

you're obviously stretching a bit when

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you go there, but it is the reality

of, I think, how the East looks.

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You just laid it out there.

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There are so many question marks in

regards to teams that you would've.

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Thought would be in the top of the east.

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The Darius Garland tow injury

obviously is a big one for Cleveland.

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From a coaching standpoint with New York,

obviously the Tatum injury certainly

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the Halliburton injury, Philadelphia.

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It seemingly, it's if they could just

stay healthy sooner or later we gotta

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stop saying that and just live in reality.

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Orlando and Detroit,

it's they haven't really.

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Been on this stage just yet

for me, proven its standpoint.

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So I think those are all points

where I look at the East, I'm

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like, can you outright name four or

five teams that will certainly be

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better than the Pacers next season?

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I don't think that's a very easy exercise.

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Now I'm not holding my breath and

I'm not expecting the Pacers to be

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playing on, June 22nd next year.

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But I do think that is a part of why.

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There, is if there was a thought, and

I don't think there's a thought to

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be clear organizationally about, hey,

should we tank and should you try and

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get that lottery picked to help how

it burn out, in the next iteration.

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I don't really view, I.

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The Eastern Conference providing that,

or nor do I think the Pacers would do

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that, the east just, I think it'll be

too mediocre to live in that area there.

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So I think they'll rely a lot of their

in-house, see bigger roles for Andrew

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Emhart and Benedict Mather especially.

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And you'll see what those

young guys can do for you.

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PSP: Definitely a strong

influence there from the Canadians

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Mhar and Benedict Matton.

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And we might see another Mhar

in the league very shortly.

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Beyond that, there's

free agency coming up.

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There's a lot of good stuff in the NBA.

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Kevin, you are the Indianapolis, the voice

of the Indianapolis sports scene for us,

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what's going on with Colts off season.

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Just quickly.

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Kevin Bowen: Yeah, we'll start

Trend Camp here in a few weeks.

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The big storyline exiting in the spring

was Anthony Richardson had to be shut

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down from throwing due to that right

shoulder surgery he had, 20 months prior.

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So he did not participate in the

Final Seven team practices they had.

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He did participate in the first two,

but again, missed out on the final

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seven, so that's really valuable time.

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That he missed for a player That

I would argue there's no player

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in the NFL that has to prove his

availability more than Richardson.

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So I would say right now

Daniel Jones is the leader.

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We'll see if Richardson can get back

in throwing early in training camp.

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That's the hope.

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That's the thought.

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But again, there's gonna be a ramp up

period for him and when that happens.

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How much ramp up period is there?

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How real of a competition will that be?

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I think those are all

questions you have going into.

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What is a very.

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Critical season for Chris Bow, his

ninth as a general manager, Shane

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Steichen's third as a head coach.

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Obviously the unfortunate Jim Ey

passing earlier this year you know now

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his oldest daughter, Carly Erse Gordon

makes most of the calls or I think

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will have the the main voice in that.

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And, I think it's a critical evaluation

point for the GM and the head coach.

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PSP: We'll watch the space and we

can always listen to your space.

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Kevin Bowen: On 1 0 7 5, the fan.

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Where else can we find your work, Kevin?

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Yeah.

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Again, like you said,

1 0 7 5, the fan.com,

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we can find a lot of written content.

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And then a social wise K Bowen 10 70, so

it's K Bowen, B-O-W-E-N 10 70 on social.

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PSP: Okay, fantastic.

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We always appreciate your time

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Kevin Bowen: you bet.

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Thanks for having me as always.

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Appreciate it.