Indiana Pacers thread

[Indy]

Impressive start to the road trip with back to back wins against Denver and Portland. We had the 6 game period where we tried to get Jermaine back in the swing of things and we couldn't do anything right on either side of the floor, but take away those 6 games and this team is 8-2. Obviously you play all the games for a reason, but this team is more like that team then the one that lost 6 straight.

[Silas]

It's too bad Indy, that their streak will have to end when they play the Sonics, and it's even worse they'll have to be the team that allows the Sonics their first home win of the season... lol.

[Indy]

It's too bad Indy, that their streak will have to end when they play the Sonics, and it's even worse they'll have to be the team that allows the Sonics their first home win of the season... lol.

Jermaine O'Neal is targeting his return for Friday.

I'm afraid you may be correct.

[Silas]

Haha, now that would really top it off and get him sent home. If the Pacers, who are on fire, lose to the Sonics, who haven't won at home, with Jermaine playing 26+ minutes, I'll laugh all week.

[ThaLiveKing]

It's too bad Indy, that their streak will have to end when they play the Sonics, and it's even worse they'll have to be the team that allows the Sonics their first home win of the season... lol.

Jermaine O'Neal is targeting his return for Friday.

I'm afraid you may be correct.

If we show some consistency, I doubt it will happen. Seattle is not that bad, they are just young. They could have beaten Orlando last night!!! Seattle will get blown out just watch.

[Indy]

Despite the pathetic loss to Seattle we went 3-1 on the West road trip and we are back to .500 at 9-9. We are now tied with Cleveland for 2nd in the division, and we have not even begun to play to our capabilities.

The best news is that we won today with Jermaine playing a major role and making quick decisions. If he continues to play like this we'll be in great shape.

Jamaal Tinsley is a top 10 point guard in the league right now, no debate. He is a triple double threat every night lately and put up 29/7/7 today despite having the flu the last 2 games.

If I'm not mistaken the Pacers also have the most wins against Western Conference teams in the East.

[Indy]

After 20 games the Pacers are 10-10, 2 or 3 games worse then I thought we'd be at this point but my confidence in this team is very high right now. For the first time since early 2005 I feel like this team can beat any team, anywhere, on any given night. When you take in to consideration that we had a 6 game losing streak where everything went wrong, 10-10 is a pretty impressive mark at this point, and I think after 20 more games we'll be 4 or 5 games above .500 on our way to 45 or 46 wins.

Anyways, the Pacers have 3 guys that have really taken their games to another level this year that I want to talk about.

Jeff Foster:
Jeff has always been one of my favorite Pacers because of his energy, rebounding and most importantly, defense. This year Jeff has continued to get deflections in the low post and rebound like he always has, but there have been 2 things about his game that he has improved which has forced Jim O'Brien to put him back in the starting lineup.

First, and most unlikely, Jeff is knocking down the 16-20 foot jumper with amazing regularity. It is quite funny to watch the Pacers games on other teams brodcasts, because Jeff will knock down a couple jumpers on them from a foot or 2 inside the 3-point line and they are always quite stunned, but he's been doing it all year. Jim gave him the go-ahead to work on that shot and take it when its given to him, and that's the first time any of his coaches have done that in his career. That confidence that he now has in his offensive game has done wonders for his touch around the basket when he gets offensive rebounds. The last few years I couldn't possibily count how many times Jeff got an offensive rebound and only got backboard with his putback. He used to have the worst layup in the NBA, and it was not pretty. Now he is money around the rim, and has even thrown in some variety. I've seen him do reverses, flip the ball up around guys arms, etc. I now have confidence in Jeff to put 2 on the board when he gets the ball around the rim, when that used to be an adventure.

Jamaal Tinsley:
Before this season Mel Mel has had 2 stretches where he played great basketball, and since then I've always been convinced he could be a premier point guard. Those were his rookie season, and the games after the brawl where he became the main scoring option. Finally this year it has all come to fruition so far.

Jamaal is averaging 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists. He is the only point guard in the top 5 of each of those categories. He's been a triple double threat every time he touches the court this year, and he's been ridiculously clutch down the stretch.

You can also tell he's having a ton of fun again this year, because he's good for at least 2 or 3 plays where he puts the ball between a defenders leg and scores per week again now like his rookie year.

The biggest thing has been his leadership though. He is the quarterback, he is the leader and he is running the offense, not the coach. We are seeing the benifits of that because Jamaal's vision is the best out of any point guard in the league not named Steve. Jim has given him so much power of the teams offense that he will often let Jamaal diagram plays in the huddle. When a guy as talented as Jamaal gets that much confidence his numbers will continue to rise as they have. Expect his averages to be around 16 points, 5 rebounds and 9.5 assists by the end of the year. They have been steadily climbing as he gets better and better.

Shawne Williams:
Shawne is the best shooter on the Pacers. After a 3 game suspension to start the year he has earned his way in to consistent minutes. He's scoring about 10 points a game in 20 minutes, and that's exactly the production we need from a guy like him. I think in 3 years he and Danny Granger will be one of the top swingman tandems in the league. The best part about the tandem of the 2 is that they are both very long and they both rebound well. The Pacers can use a large lineup with those guys at the 2/3, or a small one with those guys at the 3/4. I cannot wait untill Ike gets back from injury, because those 3 guys are a deadly young trio that can really score the ball.

The only thing I would like Shawne to fix is that every time he gets hot and hits a couple long jumpers he will take a heat check 3 next time he gets the ball. If he hits it then he has a great rest of the game. If he misses it he pretty much stops shooting unless he's really, REALLY wide open. He is very young, and should only be a junior at Memphis, but the improvement that he's showed this season is better then I expected and his potential is limitless right now.

[---]

I think in 3 years he and Danny Granger will be one of the top swingman tandems in the league. The best part about the tandem of the 2 is that they are both very long and they both rebound well.

I agree. I think Shawne will end up being the better player, but that's saying alot about the Pacer's future considering Danny will be good for around 20/7/2 at some point.

I never thought that highly of Granger, but he's proving me wrong. Shawne on the other hand I'm just waiting for a breakout from.

[grusom]

http://deadspin.com/sports/nbdl/prepari ... 331856.php

[Indy]

Is the 33-49 bet still on?

So... still interested? I think at this point you have to realize that's a losing bet, but we can change it to an over/under .500 if you want and still believe the Pacers are as bad as you thought.

[Indy]

A little off-topic, but I've picked up Granger and Tinsley for my fantasy teams. Granger is playing like a stud, especially considering that I got him with one of my lower-tier picks. Tinsley has been a little iffy though; he has a very shaky field goal percentage and his turnovers have went up by one each game.

Well, Jamaal has certainly turned in to quite the fantasy stud for you hasn't he.

[Lamrock]

Is the 33-49 bet still on?

So... still interested? I think at this point you have to realize that's a losing bet, but we can change it to an over/under .500 if you want and still believe the Pacers are as bad as you thought.

I was just about to post something saying "shit..."

I'll change it to a sub-.500 bet for sure though. The Pacers are better than I thought they would be, but still are just a 35-40 win team IMO.

[Abctest123]

I posted this in the Raptors thread, but if they watched it on Raptors TV, they would have only had our own commentary people doing the game, so I'll ask this to the opposing team since they would have been watching different commentators. On RealGM, Raptors fans were getting pissed off about the Pacers' announcers comments and stuff when the Pacers were up big on the Raptors. Indy or anyone else watching the Indiana feed or whatever, what did the announcers say that might have caught the ire of Raptors fans?

And no, I didn't watch the game; all I know is the Pacers were at one time up a fair amount on the Raptors but Toronto came back and beat Indiana nicely.

[Lamrock]

I read that realGM topic too. Indy guaranteed a 4-5 TOR/IND matchup (....) and the announcers were hilarious.

From the sounds of it, Kapono24/7 was right when he said Jason could beat everyone in the NBA at once.

[J@3]

Is the 33-49 bet still on?

So... still interested? I think at this point you have to realize that's a losing bet, but we can change it to an over/under .500 if you want and still believe the Pacers are as bad as you thought.

I wouldn't be talking this early, they're only 11-12.

[Indy]

I read that realGM topic too. Indy guaranteed a 4-5 TOR/IND matchup (....) and the announcers were hilarious.

I almost guaranteed it. I made sure to put the almost in front.

Toronto fans getting pissed at big Quinn Buckner for saying 'don't go in' when kapono shoots a contested fadeaway 3 is lame. Oh and getting mad that no foul was called when Jermaine got completely pummelled is also not irresponsible announcing. However, as I explained on realgm, Quinn Buckner is not the Pacers usual color commentator. That belongs to the brilliant Clark Kellogg, but his services are needed at so many places because his hoops knowledge is unbelievable that he can't be with the Pacers full time.

Lamrock as for the .500 bet I say we call it a draw if the Pacers finish between 40-42 and 42-40. That way they were either solidly over 500 or solidly under. I'm willing to do $20 on scouts honor if you are.

[Lamrock]

Although 40-42 seems like a very likely record for this Pacers team, that is a good policy. And sorry for leaving out the "almost".

I didn't watch the game live, although it sounds pretty funny. I actually have an old (crap) NCAA Basketball game which Buckner as the announcer.

[shadowgrin]

I'm willing to do $20 on scouts honor if you are.

That only applies if you were/are a scout.
Show us proof.

[Indy]

I wasn't no damn scout, what a waste of time. I meant on other people's scouts honor.

[shadowgrin]

Outsourcing. I like your style Indy.

[Indy]

Dunleavy scores 22 in the third quarter on his way to 36 in the total thrashing of the Knicks, despite turning the ball over way too much and hardly going to the free throw line at all.

The Pacers finally have a stretch here of sub .500 teams, and I think we should be above .500 for good here with games coming up against Philly, Minnesota and Washington.

Jermaine O'Neal is officially back.

[The X]

I know I can't be the only one who is really happy to see Dunleavy (& to a lesser extent Turkoglu) doing so well this season....I liked Dunleavy at Duke, but thought he should've stayed the 4 years....but happy to see he's found himself in a good situation & the Pacers are reaping the rewards

funny thing is that both Pacers & Warriors are winners from that trade....both got players (Dunleavy to Indy & Jackson to Oakland) that help their respective teams

[shadowgrin]

JO with a monster game against the Knicks. Jermaine O'Neal laughs in the face of concussion.

[Indy]

funny thing is that both Pacers & Warriors are winners from that trade....both got players (Dunleavy to Indy & Jackson to Oakland) that help their respective teams

Yeah, you know I think that trade was one of the most benificial to both teams of all time. Murphy has been somewhat disappointing for us, but he does give rebounding and (inconsistent) shooting from outside. He is just so terrible defensively. However, when he plays with elite defenders like Jeff Foster or Jermaine, his inability to cover anyone can be masked.

I knew Dunleavy was an underrated player, but I had no idea he was as good as he is. He is one of the smartest players I have ever watched play basketball. He simply does not make any mistakes on either side of the court. He has a reputation of being a poor defender, but nothing could be farther from the truth. He does get beat off the dribble a little bit too often, but he makes up for it with his excellent help defense and the fact that he is very sneaky in stepping in to take a charge or force a bad pass. He also has excellent hands and gets almost as many deflections as Marquis Daniels (the deflection king).

Then we have Ike Diogu, who was the key to the trade for us, and once he gets back I am confident he can continue putting up 14/5. He is a terrible passer out of the double team, but when he can make his moves quickly he is Elton Brand in the low post, and he's got a great 15-18 foot jumper.

We also got to unload our problem child in Jack, our shitty ass point guard in Sarunas, and a guy that simply could not co-exist with JO in Al Harrington. On the other side, The Warriors traded their 2 worst contracts, and got 2 players that have really embraced Nelly's style and Stephen Jackson has become one of their leaders.

On a seperate note, JO is shooting 55% since returning from his knee injury. He finally is able to play in the flow of the offense without getting double and triple teamed for the first time in many years. The talk of JO being too inefficient as a big man will end this year as he continues to climb over 50%.

[shadowgrin]

He is one of the smartest players I have ever watched play basketball.

That's the reason they wanted him to play pointforward in GS but it didn't work out. The man doesn't want to set-up plays, let him shoot damn it! Which is working out great in Indiana.

Marquis Daniels (the deflection king)

What happened to "scramble scorer"?

Al Harrington is just too fucking damn inconsistent for his level of talent and versatility. He and Lamar Odom should get together sometime.