So the Miami Heat just beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 games to clinch Lebron James's first ever NBA title. Possibly the first of many to come.

The Indiana Pacers, on the other hand, have been relatively quiet since bowing out the second round to the eventual NBA champs. I know a lot of people were thinking maybe, just maybe, this Pacers team could have won it all this year, but now that the dust has settled you realize how far away they really are.

There's not a lot happening, so apart from the 2011-2012 team and player reviews, I'll be posting a summary update of what's been happening with the Pacers this offseason.

Here's the first.

• Larry Bird is most likely to be back as team president, though the official decision will not be made for a couple of weeks. 

• General manager David Morway is gone. It's been reported that Morway has fallen out of favor with Bird and the two no longer have a relationship (whatever that means). Apparently, Morway is responsible for screwing up the deal that would hve landed OJ Mayo in Indiana for Josh McRoberts, as well as pushing the Pacers out of the running for Jamal Crawford.

• Morway is likely to be replaced with former Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard, who was hired as the Pacers' director of player personnel in the 2011 offseason.

• Sources claim former Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh could be returning to the team in some capacity. Whatever the capacity, it will be a positive influence for the team.

• Roy Hibbert and George Hill have yet to be re-signed. Roy looks like he really wants to stay. He took fans from Area 55 to watch Prometheus. The big fella was also on a scavenger hunt segment on Jimmy Kemmel live with Jeremy Lin (video here).

• Associate head coach Brian Shaw missed out on a head coaching job with the Charlotte Bobcats. I have a feeling Shaw lucked out there. No one can save that team, not with the talent they've got on it right now. But what it means is that there is not a bigger chance Shaw will stay with the Pacers for another year. That's great news.

• Pacers have the 26th pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

As the NBA's final four teams slug it out, the Pacers have not been without news.

Despite rumors that Larry Bird was going to step down as team president this year, he has revealed that he wants to come back for a short term deal. Great news for Pacers. The Legend has a lot of work ahead of him though, if it that is the case. The re-signings of Roy Hibbert and George Hill will be the first order of the day. Adding a player or two that could take the Pacers to the next level is another.

The bad news on the grapevine is that associate head coach (ie assistant coach) Brian Shaw, is looking for a head coaching job again. Shaw is a fantastic locker room guy and his presence will be missed if he decides to go elsewhere. He has apparently talked to the Bobcats and the Magic, the latter of which apparently wants him bad. Neither place looks ideal, if you ask me. In fact, Charlotte and Orlando are probably the last two places any coach would want to be right now. Maybe Shaw will come to his senses and realize that another hopeless season with the Bobcats or another tumultuous Dwight Howard backstabbing season with the Magic is not preferable to staying another year with the Pacers. 

After watching the way the Miami Heat -- or more specifically, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade -- dispose of the game but obviously inferior Indiana Pacers in 6 games, you have to wonder whether this is finally the year that Lebron gets his first ring.

Haters are going to hate, and there are a lot of reasons for hating Lebron, Wade and the Heat. But you are just not being honest with yourself if you say this team doesn’t look very capable of scooping the Larry O’Brien trophy this June. I’m not sure you can say they are flat out favourites to win it all, considering the way San Antonio and Oklahoma City have looked, but when Lebron plays in his 40 point, 18 rebound and 9 assist form (of game 4) and Wade plays in his 41 point and 10 rebound form (of game 6), it’s hard to imagine any team beating them. And that’s not even including the very important Chris Bosh, who can probably afford to comfortably rehab until the Finals.

The Pacers had the better TEAM overall and the better top 8-10 players. But Miami has two guys who are better than any player that has ever put on a Pacers uniform -- ever. I’m might be doing the Pacers a disservice here, but I have a feeling those game 2 and 3 wins were more from the Heat being off their game than the Pacers really being the superior team.

Of course, the Heat looked pretty unstoppable on their way to the NBA Finals last year, and look what happened. In this era of overanalysis, it’s very easy to get too excited over a single game or injury. When the Pacers eked out game 2 and blew out the Heat in game 3, the series was supposedly over and it was a foregone conclusion that the Heat would not be able to win without Chris Bosh. When the Heat won the next 3 games and the series, they suddenly became unstoppable and were better off without Bosh. As we’ve seen it’s really pointless to put stock in what the experts and analysts have to say after every game.

So what about the four teams left in the playoffs that could potentially face the Heat?

At the moment, the Heat's most likely next opponent is the Boston Celtics, who are favored to win their next and final game against the Philadelphia 76ers. But the resilient 76ers have shown that they are capable of winning it too. If the Heat get through to the Finals, they will face either the San Antonio Spurs, who have not lost since the Stone Age (or at least it feels like that) or the Oklahoma City Thunder, the only other team in the league with two superstars that can take over any game like Lebron and Wade.

No one really expects the ageing Celts to give the Heat too much of a problem. After all, the Heat disposed of the Celts last year in 5, and this year the Heat are supposedly better and the Celts are supposedly older. But no one is writing this gang off because they still have the Big 3(4) and they have championship experience. Kevin Garnett is playing better than he has in years (though that could be because of matchups thus far). Ray Allen is still Ray Allen, a guy that can give the Heat fits when his shooting is on. Rondo has been great, even better than he was last year before he dislocated his arm against the Heat. And Paul Pierce is the one guy that can take this team over the top. You thought the Pacers were physical? Well, this Celtics team is going to rough them up. Importantly, with the number of stars of their team, you know the refs are going to cut them some slack. That's a privilege the Pacers didn't have. The question, however, is whether the Celts' celebrated D can contain Lebron and Wade for a whole series. It's a shame Avery Bradley is out because he was their best chance at shutting down Wade. My guess is that if they play the Celtics, the Heat will advance in 5 or 6. I have too much respect for them to predict a sweep.

If it is Philly that gets through, I think the Heat will have an easier time. It'll be like facing a less talented version of the Pacers, and with less physicality. The Heat had their way with the 76ers during the regular season and there's not a lot of reasons to expect differently in the playoffs. The chances of them catching the Heat off guard are much lower now that the Heat has received a mini wake up call from the Pacers. However, Philly has shown through the Bulls and this Celtics round that you can never count them out. They have a toughness and resiliency that the Pacers didn't have, and they are a much more disciplined ball club. Not that it will be enough, but I think they could steal a game if things go right.

In the West, things are much more complicated. Some say the solid, offensively improved Spurs will roll through the Thunder. Others say the youth and energy of the Thunder will be too much for the ageing Big Three of the Spurs. A few think it will go down to a bounce here or there in game 7. Whoever wins, the Western Conference Champion will get home court advantage in the 2-3-2 format.

If the Spurs get through, I think they have the best chance of not only beating the Heat, but embarrass them. They have a revitalized Tim Duncan, who is also apparently having one of his best stretches in years. Parker is just about back to his Finals MVP form, and of course Many Ginobili is a crafty veteran and a handful for any team. He can also flop with the best of them, giving Wade and Lebron a run for their money. They also have youth, depth and experience, championship experience, and the best coach in the game, Popovich, this year's COY winner. And they are on a crazy roll right now. If they rattle the Heat early on, we might see a collapse like we did last season when the Heat buried their heads against the Mavs. I really don't know how it will turn out, to be honest. The Spurs could sweep them, but the Heat might also pull out a surprisingly easy victory. Health will be an issue. If Bosh is out, Duncan could be dominant, certainly more dominant than Roy Hibbert was or was supposed to be. But if any of the Spurs' Big Three fall down, you'd have to give the Heat the edge. All things being equal, I have to lean towards the Spurs. Too deep, too clinical, too experienced.

As for the Thunder, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will be a massive handful. They also have James Harden off the bench, and he will no doubt provide huge problems for Miami's second unit. And Serge Ibaka will provide a Tyson Chandler-esque presence at the rim, the kind of presence required to deny the Heat's frightening penetration. It's an intriguing matchup, one that could also go either way. The series will depend on whether Westbrook can tear up Mario Chalmers and the Heat's defense. Westbrook can be a double-edged sword sometimes, and I believe he will be key. Durant will have his hands full with Lebron, so I think his effectiveness will be somewhat limited. If Ibaka can stay out of foul trouble and Westbrook is explosive I think they can take out the Heat in 6 or 7. But provided Bosh is healthy my guess is that the Heat's defense will be enough to get Lebron the first of his "not 1, not 2, not 3..."

Not happy that I finally got a series prediction right. The Miami Heat just eliminated the Indiana Pacers in 6 games (105-93 in game 6), as I had predicted, but boy was the journey completely unexpected. 

At the end of the day, you can say all you want about the Heat -- but they were simply better. There is simply no substitute for talents like Lebron James and Dwyane Wade. You can hate them but you can't deny how good they are.

For the Pacers, it's been an overachieving season and a great experience. You don't expect them to get this far, but when they bow out, it's still a tremendous disappointment. All I can say is that I am glad the Pacers did not resort to dirty tactics in the end after what happened in game 5. They could have easily gone out and hurt someone but they stayed true to hard playoff basketball.

Now it's back to the drawing board. The Pacers need to figure out how to defend the pick and roll and how to get around screens. The Heat were just so good at using screens to free up Wade and James, whereas the Pacers' screens were largely ineffective. The Heat also knew how to get the ball inside to their players' sweet spots, but the Pacers struggled to feed the ball into the post where they could do damage.

Full credit to the Heat for coming through despite losing Chris Bosh, and Udonis Haslem in game 6. The Pacers will bounce back stronger next year. With David West leading the way at least for another year, you have to be optimistic, especially if they add another piece. With an elite point guard (say Nash or D-Williams -- as impossible as it is), the Pacers could be scary.

PS: Shame on the Pacers fans who left with the team down by 6 with 2 minutes to go. 

The punishment has been handed down, and I suppose it was about right. Kind of.

Udonis Haslem's flagrant 1 for his two-handed club on Tyler Hansbrough, which came nowhere near the basketball, was upgraded to a flagrant 2 and a one-game suspension. The hit is widely believed to have been retaliatory -- for Hansbrough's earlier flagrant 1 against D-Wade a minute earlier. Hansbrough's foul was upgraded to a flagrant 2, but no suspension was tacked on.

Dexter Pittman's sickening, intentional elbow to Lance Stephenson late in the fourth quarter, was also upgraded from a flagrant 1 to a flagrant 2, coupled with a 3-game suspension.

This means Haslem will miss the pivotal game 6 back in Indiana tomorrow night, giving the Pacers a better chance to extend the series to 7. Pittman probably wouldn't have played anyway, unless there was garbage time, so his suspension is moot.

Thoughts:

• The punishment was about right. Hansbrough's foul probably didn't deserve to be upgraded to a flagrant 2 -- but they did it to avoid looking like they were only punishing the Heat. I have no problem with that. He did, after all, draw blood. Yes, it was excessive (hence the flagrant 1), but it was the follow through that was excessive, not the initial contact -- which was with the basketball. Hansbrough made a play at the basketball, and as the replay showed, he only made contact with Wade's head after Wade spun around in mid-air. I also don't read anything into the low five Hansbrough exchanged with Amundson after the foul. Amundson stuck his hand out because Hansbrough stopped Wade on the play, and Hansbrough obliged. Nothing sinister in that.

• I could have accepted a non-suspension flagrant 2 upgrade for Haslem as well, but can't argue with the suspension because he never came close to the basketball and he swung both arms down hard, intentionally, on Hansbrough's shoulder and neck/jaw area. Back in the day it would have been a great playoff foul, but I suppose we need to live according to the rules of the day.

• As for Pittman, 3 games is too light. Previous elbows, before the one MWP unleashed on James Harden, got around 1-3 games, so in that context it seemed about fair. But Pittman's elbow to Stephenson's neck was clearly intentional, malicious and cowardly -- obviously as payback for Stephenson's "choke sign" on Lebron earlier in the series. The wink he gave afterwards said it all. I get MWP got 7 games because of his rep, but this should have been at least 5 games for Pittman because MWP's suspension had set a precedent.

• No doubt Miami fans will be outraged because it looks like only the Heat got punished. But it was fair if you look at the plays objectively. I already explained the differences between Hansbrough's and Haslem's respective fouls.

• Besides, Haslem may have cryptically admitted guilt when he said this: "I ain't never played to hurt nobody."

• Haslem's absence will help the Pacers a lot. After losing Bosh, the Heat needed someone (apart from Lebron and Wade) who could consistently hit an open jump shot, rebound and provide hard-nosed defense. Haslem provided all three in the Heat's game 4 and game 5 victories.

• That said, it might still not be enough for the Pacers to extend the series to 7. Lebron and Wade appear to have hit their stride, and once those two get going, it's hard for any team to match up. Additionally, Granger and West are both day-to-day with an ankle and knee injury, respectively. It's going to take one heck of an effort to beat the Heat, let me just put it that way.

• Pittman's absence will make no difference. If the NBA really wanted to punish the Heat they should have forced Pittman to play all 48 minutes for the next 3 games, not suspend him.

• All this "Pacers are dirty", "Pacers started it" and "Pacers deserved it" business is just plain wrong, as it was last year in that series against the Bulls. The Pacers have played hard, rough, and never-back-down basketball. They've delivered hard fouls, talked trash, got in people's faces and played with a chip on their shoulder all series. Annoying for the opposition, absolutely. "Fake" tough guys? Probably. I would despise them too if I went for the other team. But "dirty" they are not. Despite this "underappreciated" underdog performance they've put on, the Pacers have not committed a single dirty play all series. I challenge anyone to point to a play that can categorically be called dirty. You won't find one. There is a fine distinction, but a significant distinction, between "rough" and "dirty."

• I find it amusing that Heat fans are saying that the "Pacers can't handle what they started." The opposite is actually true. The Pacers have played chippy basketball but they've refrained from getting dirty. They've toed the line. It's the Heat that haven't been able to handle the rough play and gotten dirty. Granger two technicals were for retaliating against cheap elbows from Lebron. Wade inexplicably got a free pass when he leveled Darren Collison frm behind on the break and only got a flagrant 1. Haslem's and Pittman's fouls speak for themselves. And still, the Pacers have continued to respond with hard basketball plays. The Pacers haven't even flopped or tried and sell the fouls like the the Heat have done. The recipients of the dirty plays -- Collison, Hansbrough and Stephenson -- all popped straight back up after some brutal shots. You think Wade or Lebron would have done the same?

But at the end of the day, the talent gap between Lebron/Wade and the Pacers is likely to be too much to overcome. You have to give credit where it's due, and these two have been lights out sensational. Truly two of the best basketball players on the planet (and one of them is arguably heads and shoulders above everyone else).

Still, you can't help but shake your head at this comment from Lebron on ESPN: "We all protect one another. We don't do anything that's retaliation or anything that's dirty." Note to the King: you want to have a look at Haslem and Pittman's fouls again.