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Nice article by Kravitz

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  • #1

    Nice article by Kravitz

    Pacers' youth movement is the right way to finish year
    -Bob Kravitz
    http://www.indystar.com/article/2011...ws|text|Sports

    Maybe Jim O'Brien had a moment of clarity, a sudden thunderbolt of enlightenment.

    Maybe team president Larry Bird, who generally maintains a hands-off approach with his coaches, got in his coach's ear.

    But the Indiana Pacers' perpetually embattled coach seems to have gotten the message and, at this point, I don't care how or from whom he got it:

    He's playing the young guys.

    Finally.

    And it's paying off, first with a road victory Tuesday night in Philadelphia and then again Wednesday night in a 102-89 victory over the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.

    We've been screaming about this for, um, how long?

    "Those young guys, they'll still screw up plays once in a while or get lost on the defensive rotation, but they bring so much energy and intangibles,'' said Danny Granger. "They've really given us a lift.''

    Paul George made two huge 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter, finishing with 16 points, four rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes.

    Tyler Hansbrough started for the third straight game, and while his numbers weren't overwhelming (six points, three rebounds), he was a defensive presence and brought significant energy.

    Brandon Rush, finally waking up in this, his third year, played a well-rounded game, scoring a team-leading 20 points while playing terrific defense.

    Darren Collison, still just a second-year player and a guy starting regularly for the first time, had his second straight productive game, in large part because he has become a lethal pick-and-pop guy with Hansbrough setting picks 16 feet from the basket.

    Even Roy Hibbert, who has gone from MIP (Most Improved Player) to OMG in recent weeks, seems to be coming out of his funk.

    "I'm getting some good bounces -- finally,'' Hibbert said. "There are times I thought I'd never make another basket. It's been tough. But that's two decent games in a row.''

    At this point, I don't care if the Pacers make the playoffs, although it might be impossible to miss it in the Eastern Conference. It's time, past time, to sink or swim with these young players.

    Nothing against the Pacers' veterans, who have played hard and played reasonably well, but if you're not going to be a .500 team with Jeff Foster, James Posey and Mike Dunleavy getting significant time, what's the point of burying the young players?

    Look at Wednesday's starting lineup, and tell me you don't see a glimmer of hope:

    Hibbert (third year). Rush (third year). Hansbrough (second year, although he lost most of his rookie year). Collison (second year, first year starting). And Danny Granger, a regular geezer in his sixth year.

    What you like most, though, is these young players care, they care deeply, unlike some of the clowns who have worn Pacers uniforms in recent years.

    There's George, who instead of pouting about his lack of playing time, has made a habit of rolling into the fieldhouse at 10:30 at night and shooting with a friend until midnight and beyond.

    There's Hansbrough, who went through the worst year of his basketball life one season ago, sidelined by vertigo.

    "It was awful, being on the team but not feeling like I was part of the team,'' he said. "All I could do, really, was watch. So now to be playing feels great.''

    There's Hibbert, who almost cares too much, who has talked openly about visiting with a sports psychologist to help him with his mental game.

    "Ever since that story came out (in The Star), guys on other teams have been like, 'You going off the deep end?' " said Hibbert, who has been inundated with offers from local psychologists. "I didn't mean for it to become a big story or anything, but I know a guy really helped (former Lawrence North star and current Memphis guard) Mike Conley Jr. before this year. And listening to Ron (Artest) talk about how much he was helped. The bottom line is, I can't get down on myself. I've just got to have fun playing this game.''

    As for Rush, yes, some of us thought he was a lost cause, felt the Pacers would be better off without him. Three positive drug tests suggested to me that he didn't care enough about himself or his teammates to walk the straight and narrow.

    ut he has made the most of his second chance, and for that, he deserves great credit. Now, there's focus and desire and even aggression to go along with that incredible athletic talent.

    "You see it with a lot of players, they get to their third year and it's like they 'get it,' " Granger said. "Brandon definitely looks like one of those guys.''

    It's understandably tough for O'Brien, who is in the final year of his contract, to stick with young players through thick and a lot of thin. He's being paid to win, to get the Pacers back to the playoffs for the first time in forever, and his future is on the line.

    This, though, is the right approach. Let the kids play. Let them develop. And live with the results.











    Jim really has been better with his line-ups the last few games, forced or not. Now if he could get Josh back in the line-up, keep Posey out, and play A.J. instead of T.J he would finally be doing what's needed to be done for years. But I guess baby steps are better than nothing. Gotta love our players for the most part.
    Last edited by Pacerfan; 01-13-2011, 03:01 AM.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Nice article by Kravitz

    "What you like most, though, is these young players care, they care deeply, unlike some of the clowns who have worn Pacers uniforms in recent years."

    This x100000. Seriously, when is the last time we had players on the floor (Collison, George, Granger, Hansbrough, Hibbert, Foster, Rush is getting better) that wanted to win for US. I've read it in interviews. They want the Pacers fans to be proud. That is a nice sea change to have.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Nice article by Kravitz

      "If you're not going to be a .500 team with Foster, Posey and Dunleavy, what's the point of burying the young players?" Kravitz with a moment of clarity!
      "If he could get Josh back in the lineup, keep Posey out and play A.J. instead of T.J....."
      Right on again. Hasn't this been said here for a few weeks now?

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Nice article by Kravitz

        Originally posted by special ed View Post
        " Hasn't this been said here for a few weeks now?
        More like a few years now.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Nice article by Kravitz

          Short of the regular "Geez.....did Kravitz just have someone summarize what the majority of those on PD has been saying for the last couple of months and simply give it to the editor?" response.....this is one of the better articles that Kravitz has written. I can't say I disagree one bit.

          The Pacers motto for the rest of the season should simply be "sink or swim with the young Players".
          Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Nice article by Kravitz

            this is one time when i do not mind if Kravitz got the story by "measuring the pulse of PD" as it gives us a voice to reach a larger audience with what we've been screaming for...

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Nice article by Kravitz

              Originally posted by Pacerfan View Post
              [B]
              There's George, who instead of pouting about his lack of playing time, has made a habit of rolling into the fieldhouse at 10:30 at night and shooting with a friend until midnight and beyond.
              This right here is a perfect example of hope. Hope is something that has been lacking for the past couple of years.
              We need better than solid. No JJ Redicks, Andray Blatche, Mike Dunleavy type guys to have big roles on our team.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                I still can't stand Basketball hating Kravitz. " The clowns", I assume ,he's talking about are the ones who were keeping the team playing competitively, and for the most part are now playing vital roles on better teams. I mean come on does he have to throw out Brandons drug thing every time he mentions him. Maybe it would be better if we didn't have a clown of a local media sports guy who poisons the air.
                Protect the Promise!!!!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                  TO: JOB
                  FROM: D-BONE
                  RE: Recent Approach

                  THANK YOU! PLEASE DON'T WAVER!
                  I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

                  -Emiliano Zapata

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                    Originally posted by hoops_guy View Post
                    This right here is a perfect example of hope. Hope is something that has been lacking for the past couple of years.
                    And it shows on the court, that's the best part.
                    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
                    "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                      I'm constantly amazed how so often I see things completely different.

                      I think Kravitz is full of it.

                      Lets look at what is really going on here. Is Jim playing the young guys or is he going small? Many of you think like Kravitz that Jim is playing the young guys. I don't see it.

                      Is AJ Price playing at all? No

                      Josh has gone from averaging over 20 minutes and starting every game to either not playing or in two cases not even being on the active roster.

                      Lance hasn't seen anytime.

                      Is Foster playing more than ever? Yes.

                      Is Dunleavy playing as much or more than ever? Yes. Ford is still playing.

                      So where is the change. Tyler is starting but he replaced a younger player so the net change there is basically none. George is getting some time -that is the only real change as far as going from vets to young players. But George hasn't averaged 15 minutes per game lately. Posey is getting fewer minutes.

                      This one paragraph in particular got under my skin
                      Nothing against the Pacers' veterans, who have played hard and played reasonably well, but if you're not going to be a .500 team with Jeff Foster, James Posey and Mike Dunleavy getting significant time, what's the point of burying the young players?
                      As I mentioned Foster is playing more than ever, Mike as much as ever and Posey is still getting some minutes. Plus one of the biggest reasons why the Pacers have played better in 3 or the past 4 games is precisely because of Jeff and Mike. So I say Kravy is full of it.

                      So I think the statement "He's playing the young guys" is simply false.

                      I think what happened is Jim decided Josh just wasn't getting it done. I think Tyler has been playing well in practice. I think George has been showing improvement, and Jim wants to spread the floor more, wants to go small - and one way to do that is play George some. Also with the offense struggling, one way to help the offense is to go small. Play Danny, Mike and Rush more together. (that has been the biggest change IMO)

                      back to the point of going young. I will predict if you map out the minutes of young vs. old. Old I guess is Mike, Jeff, Posey and Ford - young is everyone else except Granger I would bet you the young are getting marginally more minutes now than they were 7 or 8 games ago. maybe an average of 2 or 3 minutes more per game. But no real change - I don't see a big youth movement.
                      Last edited by Unclebuck; 01-13-2011, 10:15 AM.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                        UB,
                        I think the point is he's playing Tyler and George and sticking with Collison down the stretch... and that's a significant change....
                        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                        ------

                        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                        -John Wooden

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                          Originally posted by Bball View Post
                          UB,
                          I think the point is he's playing Tyler and George and sticking with Collison down the stretch... and that's a significant change....
                          As I mentioned Tyler replaced Josh - 1 young guy for 1 youing guy. Now I think that is a great decision and a nice upgrade there. But that move has nothing to do with "going younger"

                          George - Ok. But I see him playing more not as a means to "play the young guys" but a means to go smaller and get more offense on the floor.

                          Collison has been finishing a lot of games before the past 4. I can go back and check - but starting around mid December he started finishing, and startted averaging 32 - 34 minutes per game.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                            Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                            As I mentioned Tyler replaced Josh - 1 young guy for 1 youing guy. Now I think that is a great decision and a nice upgrade there. But that move has nothing to do with "going younger"

                            George - Ok. But I see him playing more not as a means to "play the young guys" but a means to go smaller and get more offense on the floor.

                            Collison has been finishing a lot of games before the past 4. I can go back and check - but starting around mid December he started finishing, and startted averaging 32 - 34 minutes per game.
                            How much has Posey been playing?
                            Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                            ------

                            "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                            -John Wooden

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Nice article by Kravitz

                              Lets look at Collison and the false notion that Jim is just now using Collison to finish games. No, that hapopened 30 days ago.

                              I went back and looked at the last 13 games. Going back to December 15th in the game against the lakers. Looking at Collison - he has averaged 31 minutes per game. But there has been no increase during that time. The numbers are listed below.

                              But over the last 13 games, Collison has finished every game but 1 - the only game he did not finish was the Grizzlies game. (full discolsure: in the blowout to the Hawks last Saturday, Price replaced Collison with 2 minutes to go)

                              here are the average minutes per game reverse order - I don't see any change, I don't see a general increase in the minutes that Collison is getting since Mid December.
                              31
                              36
                              28
                              30
                              31
                              30
                              32
                              33
                              28
                              35
                              30
                              28
                              33
                              Last edited by Unclebuck; 01-13-2011, 10:17 AM.

                              Comment

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