First, Oklahoma City joked about trying to steal the Seattle Seahawks. Now the Indiana Pacers are claiming to be the Seattle Seahawks.
Of the NBA.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that Pacers head coach Frank Vogel watched with delight as the Seahawks dismantled the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.
"I was inspired by it," Vogel told the Sentinel. "I see a lot of us in the Seattle Seahawks: a dominant defense. I think defense like theirs is something we can attain in terms of being dominant on the defensive end. What struck me and the message I gave our guys today is they won with their defense, but they had no turnovers. They didn't beat themselves on the offensive end, and that's the area we have to get to."
Percentage-wise, the Pacers owned the NBA's best record at 38-10 after Thursday night (a .792 winning percentage), which is .008 better than Oklahoma City (40-11), who technically has a half-game lead over the Pacers.
The important aspect about Vogel's belief is that he has been able to pass his philosophy down to his players.
"We approach it as a physical team and we do everything from a toughness standpoint," star forward Paul George told USA TODAY Sports. "Like Seattle."
As in the NFL team.
"Seattle's got individual guys that stand out defensively, as we do, and as a group we put it all together," George said to USA TODAY Sports of the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. "We're a great comparison to that team because we do it from an individual standpoint and as a group."
After Seattle's Super Bowl win, a brewery in Oklahoma posted a photoshop image of a Seahawks T-shirt with "Oklahoma City" written on top.
The Pacers lead the league in points allowed per game (90.2) and field-goal percentage defense (41.3). They also lead the league in lowest points per shot at 1.09.
Whether the Pacers should have kept the Seahawks comparison to themselves until after the season remains to be seen.
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