Lots of people upset with Stephen Jackson.... yeah, well... I didn't like him last year either. He's not as good as he's promoted to be IMHO. I don't like his attitude/personality. I just don't like him. At this point I'd be happier with Jalen Rose again.... same distractions, same lazy defense but a better shooter IMHO. And thats saying quite a lot considering I may have actually started the trade Jalen bandwagon. I'm not saying we need to give any thought to bringing back Rose... I'm just making a point that as much as I hated Jalen as a Pacer, he gave us more than Stephen Jackson does... in my opinion.
Furthermore... I don't think we could get a decent trade for Jackson unless it was a package deal. Straight up I don't think we would be able to acquire a player that would be significant. After watching him these last couple years it is no freakin wonder to me that he has traveled around so much of his career. It seems every GM so far has been willing to deal him... I would be too. Hell, Atl was eager to take Harrington along with his rebuilt knee for Jackson...
If I'm the GM the only two players that are untouchable are JO and Ron.
Lots of people were questioning JO last week.... I don't get that either. He's getting the crap beat out of him playing center but he comes to play every night and is IMO the most consistant producer on the team.
And IMO Artest is with out a doubt the best all around player we got. Even with a string of mediocre games my faith in him will not waiver. He is the key.
Our pg situation needs to be addressed.... I have always been in JT's corner but if he can't stay healthy what good is he. IMHO he could be a top 3 pg in the league... but all the skill in the world means nothing when you are as fragile as Tins appears to be. I'd not be against shopping Tins.... and I think he would be able to garner more than Stephen Jackson on the open market. I wouldn't be afraid to have Catfish running the offense... he's Euro through and through but he's got an enticing skill set IMO... he just needs a better backcourt partner than what the Pacers have to offer right now... and he has more drive and heart than most of the rest of this team.
I don't miss Reggie... what I miss is having a guard tandem like Jax and Reggie were back in the day. We have nothing like that going on these days... and we need at least something to go to on the perimeter.... Stephen Jackson nor Fred Jones is the answer.
Free throw shooting.... all I can say is WTF. I guess the meltdown in Milwaukee wasn't a fluke after all... this is just a poor freethrow shooting team. It's costing now and will be magnified in any postseason hopes this team has.
Austin.... he has a string of good games... he has a string of bad games. He just needs to hit his open jumpers, rebound and quit putting the ball on the floor. I tend to look at people like they are idiots when they say things like "Austin needs to take the ball to the hole more!" Only if he's already in the paint IMHO... he can't dribble... he's got no business putting the ball on the floor. More often than not an Austin drive is the prelude to an unforced turnover or an offensive foul. I'll give him props for playing the right way... playing hurt.... not being a disruption.... accepting his duties as a role player.... but that only goes so far with me. Now, I'm not just bashing away on Cro here, he's actually been a pleasant surprise to me so far this season... I'm just saying what I'm saying.
I think our bench is over rated.... I hear people say we have this killer bench and all these guys could be starters on different teams..... ? Which ones are they talking about cause I don't see it. Harrison? I dunno, maybe. Cant say that I've seen enough of him to form much of an opinion. He's huge and he's got a sweet little hook shot.... don't really know much about him other than that. Croshere? I don't see any GMs making an offer for him. Granger.... he's a rookie at best. AJ? Seems his fan club has all but vanished around here. Pollard.... hell, he was a trade filler... don't think any GMs are interested in Scot being their starting center. Fred Jones.... he can throw down some highlite dunks and he plays defense but a team would have to have a pretty weak backcourt if Freddy would be an improvement IMHO. All in all though.... our bench is just that... a bench. And an over rated one, at least by the homecrowd, IMHO.
The Pacers f'd up big time by letting James Jones split IMHO.
I think we will find ourselves at less than .500 sometime in the near future....
But in saying all that.... getting the Bender situation squared away will present opportunities that are not options at this time. Get rid of Jackson and upgrade the backcourt scoring potential.... I can be content with our frontcourt of Foster, ONeal and Artest... I can be content with Pollard, Austin and the rook... but I just hate the fact that it's always a ? on the pg spot and I'm f'n sick of seeing Stephen Jackson as our sg.
It's not totally broken.... and allthough I have thought for a looooong time that we need someone other than Austin to backup the forward spot and we could improve that area... my biggest gripe is the guards..... it's fixable IMHO and I doubt that Bird will hesitate to pull the trigger should this team not meet the high expectations set forth at the beginning of this season.
Furthermore... I don't think we could get a decent trade for Jackson unless it was a package deal. Straight up I don't think we would be able to acquire a player that would be significant. After watching him these last couple years it is no freakin wonder to me that he has traveled around so much of his career. It seems every GM so far has been willing to deal him... I would be too. Hell, Atl was eager to take Harrington along with his rebuilt knee for Jackson...
If I'm the GM the only two players that are untouchable are JO and Ron.
Lots of people were questioning JO last week.... I don't get that either. He's getting the crap beat out of him playing center but he comes to play every night and is IMO the most consistant producer on the team.
And IMO Artest is with out a doubt the best all around player we got. Even with a string of mediocre games my faith in him will not waiver. He is the key.
Our pg situation needs to be addressed.... I have always been in JT's corner but if he can't stay healthy what good is he. IMHO he could be a top 3 pg in the league... but all the skill in the world means nothing when you are as fragile as Tins appears to be. I'd not be against shopping Tins.... and I think he would be able to garner more than Stephen Jackson on the open market. I wouldn't be afraid to have Catfish running the offense... he's Euro through and through but he's got an enticing skill set IMO... he just needs a better backcourt partner than what the Pacers have to offer right now... and he has more drive and heart than most of the rest of this team.
I don't miss Reggie... what I miss is having a guard tandem like Jax and Reggie were back in the day. We have nothing like that going on these days... and we need at least something to go to on the perimeter.... Stephen Jackson nor Fred Jones is the answer.
Free throw shooting.... all I can say is WTF. I guess the meltdown in Milwaukee wasn't a fluke after all... this is just a poor freethrow shooting team. It's costing now and will be magnified in any postseason hopes this team has.
Austin.... he has a string of good games... he has a string of bad games. He just needs to hit his open jumpers, rebound and quit putting the ball on the floor. I tend to look at people like they are idiots when they say things like "Austin needs to take the ball to the hole more!" Only if he's already in the paint IMHO... he can't dribble... he's got no business putting the ball on the floor. More often than not an Austin drive is the prelude to an unforced turnover or an offensive foul. I'll give him props for playing the right way... playing hurt.... not being a disruption.... accepting his duties as a role player.... but that only goes so far with me. Now, I'm not just bashing away on Cro here, he's actually been a pleasant surprise to me so far this season... I'm just saying what I'm saying.
I think our bench is over rated.... I hear people say we have this killer bench and all these guys could be starters on different teams..... ? Which ones are they talking about cause I don't see it. Harrison? I dunno, maybe. Cant say that I've seen enough of him to form much of an opinion. He's huge and he's got a sweet little hook shot.... don't really know much about him other than that. Croshere? I don't see any GMs making an offer for him. Granger.... he's a rookie at best. AJ? Seems his fan club has all but vanished around here. Pollard.... hell, he was a trade filler... don't think any GMs are interested in Scot being their starting center. Fred Jones.... he can throw down some highlite dunks and he plays defense but a team would have to have a pretty weak backcourt if Freddy would be an improvement IMHO. All in all though.... our bench is just that... a bench. And an over rated one, at least by the homecrowd, IMHO.
The Pacers f'd up big time by letting James Jones split IMHO.
I think we will find ourselves at less than .500 sometime in the near future....
But in saying all that.... getting the Bender situation squared away will present opportunities that are not options at this time. Get rid of Jackson and upgrade the backcourt scoring potential.... I can be content with our frontcourt of Foster, ONeal and Artest... I can be content with Pollard, Austin and the rook... but I just hate the fact that it's always a ? on the pg spot and I'm f'n sick of seeing Stephen Jackson as our sg.
It's not totally broken.... and allthough I have thought for a looooong time that we need someone other than Austin to backup the forward spot and we could improve that area... my biggest gripe is the guards..... it's fixable IMHO and I doubt that Bird will hesitate to pull the trigger should this team not meet the high expectations set forth at the beginning of this season.
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