. . . "To get to Indiana, here was a team that was regularily considered a contender (with Reggie), made the playoffs for almost a decade straight, made some good moves became a contender again (in my eyes) and then got hit with a completely unforseeable event (the brawl) and an injury to their franchise player (O'neal)... which left them in their 'cycle of mediocrity' which they had to take time to get" .