A little chicken soup is always good for what ails you & tonight’s soup was brought to you by the New Jersey Nets.
Honestly there is nothing to really get too excited about here, they are a very bad team and again we had to struggle just to get past them. But as has been said many times many ways any win is a good win.
I think we all need to be very grateful that Danny decided he could go tonight, if he hadn’t been able to I kind of shudder at what the end result might have been.
I want to thank my ticket Rep. Brian Stutzman for giving me the two best tickets I’ve ever had in my entire life. I actually was sitting at the very end of the New Jersey bench and got to hear their conversations and even got to talk with some of the players. So I will give him another plug here but if you ever need any Pacer tickets contact Brian Stutzman or you can contact me & I will get you his number.
Its funny how some people are just not who you expect them to be. DeShawn Stevenson is just one of the nicest guys in the world. He was friendly with all of the fans on our end, even to the guys sitting behind the bench who were giving him a hard time. I told my wife to not say anything to loud or Joey Crawford might give us a “T” just for being there and for whatever reason DeShawn thought this was the funniest thing he’d heard. He’s not the greatest player by any since of the imagination but he is a good guy. I even told him that I thought Danny put his shoulder in him like Shaq and he smiled.
On the other hand I won’t be able to mention the words that MarShon Brooks used to describe Danny Granger without banning myself. In the mater of about 30 seconds I heard him question his birth legitimacy, called his mother a female dog and suggested that he should have relations with himself. It was all very entertaining.
BTW, the entire bench calls Kris Humphries “Hulk”. Even Avery Johnson calls him that.
Let me say that Kris Humphries is a very under rated power forward. I have no idea why this guy does not get more attention really in the NBA because he is athletic, strong and quick. He basically destroyed David West tonight and while he didn’t quite abuse Tyler he didn’t let Tyler get anything going either.
I don’t watch any of the non-scripted TV shows so I can honestly tell you I know nothing about whatever show it was he appeared on but it’s just too bad that this is what he is known for and not for being a very good power forward. I honestly wish he was our power forward.
Also I’ll say this. I really like the area 55 guys and I think they bring a lot to the game and the experience. But I can tell you that the Nets bench was not very happy about them chanting Reggie Bush. Now Kris never acknowledged it, that I saw, but I heard very vividly Jordan Farmar and Sheldon Williams saying how low class they thought that was. In this case I’m not sure they aren’t right. Again I freely admit I don’t watch this stuff but if this man really was not just out to be part of a circus and actually thought that this was real then I’m not sure this is cool. I honestly don’t know where the line is and where you cross it in this case but I think sitting down there made me appreciate a little more that at least his team mates didn’t care for it.
I don’t mean to sound to negative about all of this, a win is a win so we’ll take it and stop the bleeding.
Let’s do tonight’s odd thoughts with grades.
Danny Granger: A Is there any doubt that this is an A? What has always separated Danny from other players on our team and even to this day when there are other players who may be either as talented as him (West) or even more talented than him (George) is that Danny is just a fighter. Sure there are times that he may not come in at 100% but then there are times when he either gets mad or fed up that he can throw the team on his back and win. He has done that several times this year and tonight was no different. I think Danny was just not going to let us lose to the Nets. Deron Williams is a true star in this league, probably one of the top 3 point guards in the NBA and actually if he had a better team you could make an argument that he might be the best (depends really what you want from your point guard). But Danny just out willed him tonight.
David West: C- Did hit the offensive glass tonight and he did score. But his defense, as has been the case lately, was at best poor. Humphries made him look like he was 38 with two knee replacements. Also is it my imagination or does he sometimes make some really stupid plays at the end of games when he is passing?
Roy Hibbert: B I struggled to give him a B btw. I don’t know but I just seem to think when he is playing a guy who is not much taller than 6’8” tall he should be shooting both more and more accurately. Did get on the boards and did not get trapped out at the three point line on PnR’s tonight like he did last night. I guess if anyone needed the chicken soup of the Nets it was Roy. Let’s hope he can build on this game.
Paul George: B+ You could argue that it could be higher but I am docking him some point for shooting 5 of his 8 attempts from behind the three point line. His defense in the second half was superb though and once again he made Deron Williams’s life a living hell. This is why I do not understand all of the “he has to play at the three spot” talk. He has such a huge advantage on the perimeter with his length and size. He goes to the three spot and he won’t have that advantage very often. There is going to be a natural progression with him and between him & Danny. I just hope all of the Paul George fans can live with it. I think for another two years Danny will still be the main player and then we will naturally shift to Paul being the best player and main cog. This is perfect IMO but I know there are going to be a lot of people who are not going to want to wait.
Darren Collison: D- God love him he just can’t play against Deron Williams. I know the long list of people is going to be lined up to run him out of town on a rail and I understand why. But I hope they can consider he doesn’t play this way against every team and Williams truly is one of the best players in the NBA. He actually lost his minutes tonight in the 4th quarter which I think is the first time this has happened.
A.J. Price: A Remember I grade guys a lot of times based on what is expected of them and tonight was really the best game A.J. has played in a long time. It’s not the fact that he hit his shots, that helps, but it is the fact that he actually tonight ran the offense and did not just look to get up whatever he could. Also his defense was outstanding; he was really disrupting the entry passes that the Nets were attempting. Also on the other end it should be noted that his entry passes were just perfect.
Dahntay Jones: C Oy Vey he was brutal from the floor tonight. He played hard and rebounded but dear God that shot was off and that layup that Humphries blocked him on…I think I would have pretended I was injured and crawled off of the floor. It may have been a foul, but it just looked bad.
Jeff Foster: B+ He was just working it tonight. Nothing real special here but he helps run a smooth ship when he is in there and he does nice work battling in the post. Also his pull up jumper that splashed caused the Nets bench to collectively both groan and shake their heads.
Tyler Hansbrough: C If you believe in the +/- stat (I do not) then he was the best player on the floor for either team. Watching the game will change your mind about that in a hurry. Offensively he had all of the grace and poise of a hemophiliac dancing on broken glass but it can’t be denied that in the second half on the defensive end he denied Humphries position better than West did all night long. One time in particular Kris tried to back Tyler down but could not budge him. He also had 2 assists so there is that. Just really a weird game from him.
Lance Stephenson: C I’m just going to assume that A.J. had it going on so they went with him and since Danny was on fire they used Dahntay for a few min with him. That has to be why he didn’t play more than he did. I’m just giving him a C because he didn’t do anything good or bad out there that I saw.
Ok, we’ve got the bleeding stopped. Now we have to take care of business on Sunday and hope that the days off and a home stand can help get this team headed back in the right direction.
I filmed this at the game from my seat and immediately thought that Vnzla81 would need to see this.
Honestly there is nothing to really get too excited about here, they are a very bad team and again we had to struggle just to get past them. But as has been said many times many ways any win is a good win.
I think we all need to be very grateful that Danny decided he could go tonight, if he hadn’t been able to I kind of shudder at what the end result might have been.
I want to thank my ticket Rep. Brian Stutzman for giving me the two best tickets I’ve ever had in my entire life. I actually was sitting at the very end of the New Jersey bench and got to hear their conversations and even got to talk with some of the players. So I will give him another plug here but if you ever need any Pacer tickets contact Brian Stutzman or you can contact me & I will get you his number.
Its funny how some people are just not who you expect them to be. DeShawn Stevenson is just one of the nicest guys in the world. He was friendly with all of the fans on our end, even to the guys sitting behind the bench who were giving him a hard time. I told my wife to not say anything to loud or Joey Crawford might give us a “T” just for being there and for whatever reason DeShawn thought this was the funniest thing he’d heard. He’s not the greatest player by any since of the imagination but he is a good guy. I even told him that I thought Danny put his shoulder in him like Shaq and he smiled.
On the other hand I won’t be able to mention the words that MarShon Brooks used to describe Danny Granger without banning myself. In the mater of about 30 seconds I heard him question his birth legitimacy, called his mother a female dog and suggested that he should have relations with himself. It was all very entertaining.
BTW, the entire bench calls Kris Humphries “Hulk”. Even Avery Johnson calls him that.
Let me say that Kris Humphries is a very under rated power forward. I have no idea why this guy does not get more attention really in the NBA because he is athletic, strong and quick. He basically destroyed David West tonight and while he didn’t quite abuse Tyler he didn’t let Tyler get anything going either.
I don’t watch any of the non-scripted TV shows so I can honestly tell you I know nothing about whatever show it was he appeared on but it’s just too bad that this is what he is known for and not for being a very good power forward. I honestly wish he was our power forward.
Also I’ll say this. I really like the area 55 guys and I think they bring a lot to the game and the experience. But I can tell you that the Nets bench was not very happy about them chanting Reggie Bush. Now Kris never acknowledged it, that I saw, but I heard very vividly Jordan Farmar and Sheldon Williams saying how low class they thought that was. In this case I’m not sure they aren’t right. Again I freely admit I don’t watch this stuff but if this man really was not just out to be part of a circus and actually thought that this was real then I’m not sure this is cool. I honestly don’t know where the line is and where you cross it in this case but I think sitting down there made me appreciate a little more that at least his team mates didn’t care for it.
I don’t mean to sound to negative about all of this, a win is a win so we’ll take it and stop the bleeding.
Let’s do tonight’s odd thoughts with grades.
Danny Granger: A Is there any doubt that this is an A? What has always separated Danny from other players on our team and even to this day when there are other players who may be either as talented as him (West) or even more talented than him (George) is that Danny is just a fighter. Sure there are times that he may not come in at 100% but then there are times when he either gets mad or fed up that he can throw the team on his back and win. He has done that several times this year and tonight was no different. I think Danny was just not going to let us lose to the Nets. Deron Williams is a true star in this league, probably one of the top 3 point guards in the NBA and actually if he had a better team you could make an argument that he might be the best (depends really what you want from your point guard). But Danny just out willed him tonight.
David West: C- Did hit the offensive glass tonight and he did score. But his defense, as has been the case lately, was at best poor. Humphries made him look like he was 38 with two knee replacements. Also is it my imagination or does he sometimes make some really stupid plays at the end of games when he is passing?
Roy Hibbert: B I struggled to give him a B btw. I don’t know but I just seem to think when he is playing a guy who is not much taller than 6’8” tall he should be shooting both more and more accurately. Did get on the boards and did not get trapped out at the three point line on PnR’s tonight like he did last night. I guess if anyone needed the chicken soup of the Nets it was Roy. Let’s hope he can build on this game.
Paul George: B+ You could argue that it could be higher but I am docking him some point for shooting 5 of his 8 attempts from behind the three point line. His defense in the second half was superb though and once again he made Deron Williams’s life a living hell. This is why I do not understand all of the “he has to play at the three spot” talk. He has such a huge advantage on the perimeter with his length and size. He goes to the three spot and he won’t have that advantage very often. There is going to be a natural progression with him and between him & Danny. I just hope all of the Paul George fans can live with it. I think for another two years Danny will still be the main player and then we will naturally shift to Paul being the best player and main cog. This is perfect IMO but I know there are going to be a lot of people who are not going to want to wait.
Darren Collison: D- God love him he just can’t play against Deron Williams. I know the long list of people is going to be lined up to run him out of town on a rail and I understand why. But I hope they can consider he doesn’t play this way against every team and Williams truly is one of the best players in the NBA. He actually lost his minutes tonight in the 4th quarter which I think is the first time this has happened.
A.J. Price: A Remember I grade guys a lot of times based on what is expected of them and tonight was really the best game A.J. has played in a long time. It’s not the fact that he hit his shots, that helps, but it is the fact that he actually tonight ran the offense and did not just look to get up whatever he could. Also his defense was outstanding; he was really disrupting the entry passes that the Nets were attempting. Also on the other end it should be noted that his entry passes were just perfect.
Dahntay Jones: C Oy Vey he was brutal from the floor tonight. He played hard and rebounded but dear God that shot was off and that layup that Humphries blocked him on…I think I would have pretended I was injured and crawled off of the floor. It may have been a foul, but it just looked bad.
Jeff Foster: B+ He was just working it tonight. Nothing real special here but he helps run a smooth ship when he is in there and he does nice work battling in the post. Also his pull up jumper that splashed caused the Nets bench to collectively both groan and shake their heads.
Tyler Hansbrough: C If you believe in the +/- stat (I do not) then he was the best player on the floor for either team. Watching the game will change your mind about that in a hurry. Offensively he had all of the grace and poise of a hemophiliac dancing on broken glass but it can’t be denied that in the second half on the defensive end he denied Humphries position better than West did all night long. One time in particular Kris tried to back Tyler down but could not budge him. He also had 2 assists so there is that. Just really a weird game from him.
Lance Stephenson: C I’m just going to assume that A.J. had it going on so they went with him and since Danny was on fire they used Dahntay for a few min with him. That has to be why he didn’t play more than he did. I’m just giving him a C because he didn’t do anything good or bad out there that I saw.
Ok, we’ve got the bleeding stopped. Now we have to take care of business on Sunday and hope that the days off and a home stand can help get this team headed back in the right direction.
I filmed this at the game from my seat and immediately thought that Vnzla81 would need to see this.
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