Larry Bird, Donnie Walsh or whoever have only one job ahead of them for the next week. They need to be on the phone right now signing a big man from the D-league to a 10 day contract.
By big man I don't just mean in height. I would not have a problem with Fizer on a 10 day because even though he is short he does have the girth that can play some in the middle.
That is as long as Croshere is not ready to come back. Now if he is ready to return then this is a moot point but I have yet to hear a definate return date on this guy, which worries me because for a second concussion without signs & symptoms he ought to be back by now. I'm afraid that concussion was a little worse than we were initially led to believe.
We were able to do this for a good while because we had several days between games & we did not have to travel so Pollard was able to heal after every game. Now with several back to back & even more multi games in a week with lots of flight time I strongly fear Scot's back will take a turn for the worse. Now they are saying he is suffering from Plantars faciatis as well.
I just don't want Harrison & Foster beat to death having to play more min. in back to back games & God forbid that Pollard have to sit out some games.
A 10 day contract will mean very little in terms of $$ for the team & in 10 days we can just let the person go back to the D-league or sign them for a second 10 day contract if Cro still isn't ready to go.
Either way I want them making some form of movement to help the team & not force Jeff Foster to go back to Center & leave Danny Granger as our only powerforward.
Moving on.
Gilbert Arenas is the most under rated player in the NBA IMO. The guy can just flat out kill you & very few players can do anything to stop him. I knew when I used to see him play with the Warriors that he was going to be very good, I had no idea he was going to be this good. Win or lose I like to watch him play.
It was nice that just for once Brendan Haywood did not turn into Pat Ewing vs. us. I get sick of seeing that guy tear us up.
Etan Thomas actually had a very nice game for them though. If the guy would have hit his free throws he would have had as nice a game as Harrison had because he had 10 boards & 3 blocks himself he just happened to go 0-5 from the line & some of those misses made Shaq look like Mark Price from the line.
Let's look at us.
I about lost my mind at the 5 min. mark in the 4th quarter. Carlisle took Harrison out of the game & I thought that he was done for the night. The problem was that this was when David was on fire. I knew he needed a break but I had a feeling that he was going to be done for the night. I was more than pleasently suprised to see him re-inserted with about 4 min. to go in the game.
A lot of players had good games & I'll try & touch on them here in a min. but David Harrison turned this game around. He had 2 monster blocks in succession late in the game & the reason that was important (besides the fact that he blocked the shot) is because at that time the Wizards started looking over thier shoulders for where David was & a few of them started pulling up for shots instead of attacking the rim. Arenas attacked the rim but he was rebuffed once & killed another.
I said this before when he was playing poorly early on & I want to say it now again when he is kicking @ss. He was the last pick in the first round of a shallow draft, anything we get from him is almost a bonus. The fact that I think he will be the most significant draft pick since Dale Davis makes it even more of a bonus. I caveat that by saying Granger will probably be a better player & if he turns into the all-star many of us think he can be, he might be the most significant draft pick. But that is just splitting hairs because let's be honest, a front line of Granger & Harrison makes me very happy & I see that as the frontline of the future (the future begins next season btw).
Also I don't want to make to much of this because I don't want this to turn into something I don't mean but I will say this with the hopes it's taken in the spirit I mean it.
I love to see tough players gutting out minor injury's & over coming them on the floor.
Please do NOT interpert that as a slam at any player past or present, it's only meant to be a compliment to David Harrison.
Saras had a great outing. Whenever he can get that shot of his to drop he is so dangerous because he uses that to open up his passing lanes & hits the cutters for easy baskets. We are very fortunate that we have three quality guards to take the floor for us. I thought he did as well vs. Arenas as he could do, he certainly did not embarass himself & he often was able to make passes around Gilbert that frustrated him.
I do see though that he took the Reggie Miller award for rebounds in a game.
Jax. Very very solid game by Stephen. I was not only impressed with his shooting & his solid defense but I was also very happy because he seemed to be a willing passer both early & often. Sometimes I get aggrivated at him because he tends to hold the ball to long & takes some shots that I would prefer him not to take. Example that three down at the end of the 4th with over half the shot clock remaining when we needed to burn time. But other than that I thought he did great all night long in either making a quick move or making a fast pass.
Peja. I don't know what it is about thier arena but Peja just cannot shoot in there. However what I love about him is that if his shot is not dropping from outside he doesn't John Starks it (sorry Rim) & continue to shoot himself out of a slump. He drives & either gets some short range shots or gets to the line or as is often the case both. He got to the line 9 times during this game & thankfully he hit all 9 times.
On a side note wouldn't you hate to be the one player who would have missed a freethrow this game for us? Thank God noboby did.
Jeff. I had no idea till I read the stats that he had 13 boards. It just didn't seem that much to me, but I guess he really must have packed them into a very short time. I knew he had a few boards but not that many. Not the best game he's ever played but once again he played smart & did a very nice job of rotating off of the screens on the defensive end.
Scot. Like Jeff, not one of his best games, but also like Jeff a very smart game. He did a very good job of bodying up on Haywood & keeping him out fo the lanes & limiting him on the boards. I can tell that either his back is starting to flare up or his heels are starting to bother him because he now litterally is shooting flat footed outside shots. I know he's never been a big jumper but he usually got some form of lift from the outside, not now.
Ed Gill. Thanks Eddy, I put up a post in another thread talking about how I had no problem with him, then he proceeds to go out & lay an egg on the floor. Let me pass my condolences on right now to anybody that might have the guy on a fantasy basketball team anywhere. That game was a stat killer.
Now on the other hand I do want to say one thing. I sawEd Gill shut Gilbert Arenas down once on a drive & I've never seen anybody one on one put a stop to him. He litterally had his legs as far apart as he could get them & rotated on the baseline as quick as Gilbert did & kept in front of him the whole time. That was nice to see. However he just showed us on the offensive end why he is the 4th string p.g.
Granger. I want Danny to stop being so d@mn passive & become more aggressive when he is on the floor. If I see him pass up an open shot again to pass the ball to Fred Jones I think my head will explode. Right now I am convinced there is nothing Dan can't do. Inside or outside I have no fear when he is looking for his shot. His only problem is night in & night out being aggressive on the offensive end. He never takes a play off on defense so that doesn't worry me & I'm not saying he takes offensive plays off, he just have to be more aggresive with the rock.
All in all another great win for our team.
We may no longer be one of the most talented teams in the NBA but I will say this for us, nobody outworks us on a nightly basis. I am more proud of that fact than I am of the fact that we have a winning record. It is a credit to the players the coach's & yes even the management that we now have a team that puts it on the line every night & only concerns itself with trying to win ballgames. I couldn't say that early in the season.
Now let me address one personal issue. I would like to thank the many of you who have p.m.'d me asking me where my post game reports are or why I haven't posted much.
To answer this simply I will say this. Every year I go through this, often times more than once, where I just feel as though I've become stale. While many of you see my "odd thoughts" posts as a post game summery they were never ever intended to be that. They are what they are called, just my odd thoughts & often times I think I've hit a wall with my ideas. I am not as fluid as Uncle Buck with my wordsmithing so often times I look back & think I've rambled on forever & at the end really said nothing. Sometimes I just have to step back & post on other peoples threads for awhile. Even now I am not very happy with the quality of this post but I think I'll go ahead & post it.
I was going to say that I am not posting another odd thought until Able returns to regular posting but I hope it doesn't have to come to that.
Ok, let's end this with some uplifting dancing by our favorite fruits. If you love the Pacers join in, if you love the NBA join in, if you love the Pistons go to he.......oops sorry that just slipped out Ok our Piston friends can dance to.
By big man I don't just mean in height. I would not have a problem with Fizer on a 10 day because even though he is short he does have the girth that can play some in the middle.
That is as long as Croshere is not ready to come back. Now if he is ready to return then this is a moot point but I have yet to hear a definate return date on this guy, which worries me because for a second concussion without signs & symptoms he ought to be back by now. I'm afraid that concussion was a little worse than we were initially led to believe.
We were able to do this for a good while because we had several days between games & we did not have to travel so Pollard was able to heal after every game. Now with several back to back & even more multi games in a week with lots of flight time I strongly fear Scot's back will take a turn for the worse. Now they are saying he is suffering from Plantars faciatis as well.
I just don't want Harrison & Foster beat to death having to play more min. in back to back games & God forbid that Pollard have to sit out some games.
A 10 day contract will mean very little in terms of $$ for the team & in 10 days we can just let the person go back to the D-league or sign them for a second 10 day contract if Cro still isn't ready to go.
Either way I want them making some form of movement to help the team & not force Jeff Foster to go back to Center & leave Danny Granger as our only powerforward.
Moving on.
Gilbert Arenas is the most under rated player in the NBA IMO. The guy can just flat out kill you & very few players can do anything to stop him. I knew when I used to see him play with the Warriors that he was going to be very good, I had no idea he was going to be this good. Win or lose I like to watch him play.
It was nice that just for once Brendan Haywood did not turn into Pat Ewing vs. us. I get sick of seeing that guy tear us up.
Etan Thomas actually had a very nice game for them though. If the guy would have hit his free throws he would have had as nice a game as Harrison had because he had 10 boards & 3 blocks himself he just happened to go 0-5 from the line & some of those misses made Shaq look like Mark Price from the line.
Let's look at us.
I about lost my mind at the 5 min. mark in the 4th quarter. Carlisle took Harrison out of the game & I thought that he was done for the night. The problem was that this was when David was on fire. I knew he needed a break but I had a feeling that he was going to be done for the night. I was more than pleasently suprised to see him re-inserted with about 4 min. to go in the game.
A lot of players had good games & I'll try & touch on them here in a min. but David Harrison turned this game around. He had 2 monster blocks in succession late in the game & the reason that was important (besides the fact that he blocked the shot) is because at that time the Wizards started looking over thier shoulders for where David was & a few of them started pulling up for shots instead of attacking the rim. Arenas attacked the rim but he was rebuffed once & killed another.
I said this before when he was playing poorly early on & I want to say it now again when he is kicking @ss. He was the last pick in the first round of a shallow draft, anything we get from him is almost a bonus. The fact that I think he will be the most significant draft pick since Dale Davis makes it even more of a bonus. I caveat that by saying Granger will probably be a better player & if he turns into the all-star many of us think he can be, he might be the most significant draft pick. But that is just splitting hairs because let's be honest, a front line of Granger & Harrison makes me very happy & I see that as the frontline of the future (the future begins next season btw).
Also I don't want to make to much of this because I don't want this to turn into something I don't mean but I will say this with the hopes it's taken in the spirit I mean it.
I love to see tough players gutting out minor injury's & over coming them on the floor.
Please do NOT interpert that as a slam at any player past or present, it's only meant to be a compliment to David Harrison.
Saras had a great outing. Whenever he can get that shot of his to drop he is so dangerous because he uses that to open up his passing lanes & hits the cutters for easy baskets. We are very fortunate that we have three quality guards to take the floor for us. I thought he did as well vs. Arenas as he could do, he certainly did not embarass himself & he often was able to make passes around Gilbert that frustrated him.
I do see though that he took the Reggie Miller award for rebounds in a game.
Jax. Very very solid game by Stephen. I was not only impressed with his shooting & his solid defense but I was also very happy because he seemed to be a willing passer both early & often. Sometimes I get aggrivated at him because he tends to hold the ball to long & takes some shots that I would prefer him not to take. Example that three down at the end of the 4th with over half the shot clock remaining when we needed to burn time. But other than that I thought he did great all night long in either making a quick move or making a fast pass.
Peja. I don't know what it is about thier arena but Peja just cannot shoot in there. However what I love about him is that if his shot is not dropping from outside he doesn't John Starks it (sorry Rim) & continue to shoot himself out of a slump. He drives & either gets some short range shots or gets to the line or as is often the case both. He got to the line 9 times during this game & thankfully he hit all 9 times.
On a side note wouldn't you hate to be the one player who would have missed a freethrow this game for us? Thank God noboby did.
Jeff. I had no idea till I read the stats that he had 13 boards. It just didn't seem that much to me, but I guess he really must have packed them into a very short time. I knew he had a few boards but not that many. Not the best game he's ever played but once again he played smart & did a very nice job of rotating off of the screens on the defensive end.
Scot. Like Jeff, not one of his best games, but also like Jeff a very smart game. He did a very good job of bodying up on Haywood & keeping him out fo the lanes & limiting him on the boards. I can tell that either his back is starting to flare up or his heels are starting to bother him because he now litterally is shooting flat footed outside shots. I know he's never been a big jumper but he usually got some form of lift from the outside, not now.
Ed Gill. Thanks Eddy, I put up a post in another thread talking about how I had no problem with him, then he proceeds to go out & lay an egg on the floor. Let me pass my condolences on right now to anybody that might have the guy on a fantasy basketball team anywhere. That game was a stat killer.
Now on the other hand I do want to say one thing. I sawEd Gill shut Gilbert Arenas down once on a drive & I've never seen anybody one on one put a stop to him. He litterally had his legs as far apart as he could get them & rotated on the baseline as quick as Gilbert did & kept in front of him the whole time. That was nice to see. However he just showed us on the offensive end why he is the 4th string p.g.
Granger. I want Danny to stop being so d@mn passive & become more aggressive when he is on the floor. If I see him pass up an open shot again to pass the ball to Fred Jones I think my head will explode. Right now I am convinced there is nothing Dan can't do. Inside or outside I have no fear when he is looking for his shot. His only problem is night in & night out being aggressive on the offensive end. He never takes a play off on defense so that doesn't worry me & I'm not saying he takes offensive plays off, he just have to be more aggresive with the rock.
All in all another great win for our team.
We may no longer be one of the most talented teams in the NBA but I will say this for us, nobody outworks us on a nightly basis. I am more proud of that fact than I am of the fact that we have a winning record. It is a credit to the players the coach's & yes even the management that we now have a team that puts it on the line every night & only concerns itself with trying to win ballgames. I couldn't say that early in the season.
Now let me address one personal issue. I would like to thank the many of you who have p.m.'d me asking me where my post game reports are or why I haven't posted much.
To answer this simply I will say this. Every year I go through this, often times more than once, where I just feel as though I've become stale. While many of you see my "odd thoughts" posts as a post game summery they were never ever intended to be that. They are what they are called, just my odd thoughts & often times I think I've hit a wall with my ideas. I am not as fluid as Uncle Buck with my wordsmithing so often times I look back & think I've rambled on forever & at the end really said nothing. Sometimes I just have to step back & post on other peoples threads for awhile. Even now I am not very happy with the quality of this post but I think I'll go ahead & post it.
I was going to say that I am not posting another odd thought until Able returns to regular posting but I hope it doesn't have to come to that.
Ok, let's end this with some uplifting dancing by our favorite fruits. If you love the Pacers join in, if you love the NBA join in, if you love the Pistons go to he.......oops sorry that just slipped out Ok our Piston friends can dance to.
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