Well Bob has done it again. I shouldn't be surprised. But there is something so maddening about Bob. He tells the team to trade Jacksons for a bag of donuts and then when they do finally trade Jax he says it was a bad trade and they should have done it sooner.
Oh and Bob when you obviously have never seen Diogu play, please just say that and leave the analysis of his game to someone who has. Obviously he has no clue.
Oh and a final word to Al - just shut up - so Rick didn't tailor the whole offense to you. He moved you to small forward which is what you wanted, he didn't bench you like he should have. He catered to your every want and need and then you rip him on the way out. Real class, real class. He should have benched you weeks ago - but I'm sure he was concerned about your very sensitive feelings. I was a little sad about Al leaving the first time, but not the second - let's just hope there isn't a chance for a third time
My final word on Bob is just stick to other sports because your NBA basketball knowledge is pathetic - I don't respect your opinions on the NBA - he probably thinks the Pacers acquired Foyle instead of Diogu - oh wait, my fault he's never heard of Foyle and probably had never heard of Diogu until yesderday. Oh and what is the statute of limitations on the Bird and Artest SI cover - will he still refer to that 10 years from now
Here are the articles.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart
bob kravitz
New direction seems rather aimless
January 18, 2007
I have a fancy new idea for the next round of Indiana Pacers billboards. From the outset, let me say it's not nearly as inspiring as "One team, one goal," which blew up when Ron Artest asked for a trade, or "It's up to us," which started looking silly when four members of the new-and-improved Pacers got into a nightclub brawl that involved gunplay.
So here's my suggestion in the wake of the Pacers' latest effort to move in a new direction, the trade that sent Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell to Golden State for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and Keith McCleod:
Throwing stuff against a wall and hoping it sticks.
Catchy, no?
Now, before all of this turns negative -- and you've already sensed that it might -- let me say that it's hard to criticize any deal that hastens the exits of Jackson and Jasikevicius.
The former was a time bomb -- a time bomb with a gun license -- and he was as likely as Artest to implode. They should have dealt him last summer, though my sense is they tried but couldn't. Jackson had good intentions at times, but then, so did Artest. He was emotionally immature, to be nice about it.
The latter, Jasikevicius, was team president Larry Bird's pet project. Some of us who'd seen his game overseas applauded the move, but within weeks, we saw why nobody else in the NBA had brought him in for a look. He couldn't make 3-pointers at this level and he couldn't defend the mascot. He was a liability with an attitude.
So there is an addition-by-subtraction element to this deal.
And there's this:
These Pacers weren't going anywhere this season with that crew, not in the wretched Eastern Conference, not anywhere. Even with the schedule softening in the upcoming weeks, this was not going to be a group that would come together, see the light and make a run.
For every step forward, there was a step back. Losing at home to Charlotte. Getting blown off the floor in New Jersey, with Harrington being benched to start the second half. That wasn't going to change.
Here's my question, though: Do they really think they're going anywhere now? Does this make them appreciably better? Really?
More and more, the Pacers front office reminds me of the Home Shopping Network: Every time you look up, they're trying to sell you something. And more often than not, what they're peddling turns out to be junk.
They tried to sell the goofy idea that Artest could be rehabilitated and turned into a cornerstone of the franchise. Bird even posed with Artest on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Didn't work out.
They tried to sell fans on the notion that this season's team would be filled with good guys, that chemistry and athleticism would produce a team that not only won but was fun to watch. Didn't work out.
They sold the return of the prodigal son, the relentlessly upbeat Harrington, who would help create the kind of atmosphere the Pacers used to have before they began to rot at the core. Didn't work out.
They sold Jasikevicius as the missing piece. They sold Marquis Daniels as the multidimensional jack-of-all-trades. They sold the more aesthetically pleasing, up-tempo offense. They sold James White, the second-round draft pick for whom they traded two second-rounders, and he didn't even make the roster. None of those moves worked out.
All that selling, all those empty promises, I'm wondering why I should bother buying anything in the first place. What have they done in the past four years to earn your faith? Draft Danny Granger? He fell to them when the teams drafting ahead of them suffered a brain cramp.
They continue to run on a treadmill to mediocrity, good enough to make the playoffs, bad enough to get bounced in the first round. It's been a long, long time since the Pacers have been quite this irrelevant, and it's not just because the Colts have seized the spotlight.
If the Pacers had made a deal that gave them expiring contracts and put them in a position to bottom out, I would commend them for getting in the Greg Oden Sweepstakes and having the courage to start over.
This, though, strikes me as one of those spin-your-wheels trades. They were a little bit over .500 before the deal. They'll be a little bit over .500 after the deal.
Diogu is a nice young player, a power guy and a good pickup and someone who doesn't need the ball on offense. But Troy Murphy? When he's healthy, he's got a chance to be a nice, Brad Miller-style complement to O'Neal, but he's always hurt. And Mike Dunleavy just strikes me as a guy who, along with Murphy, owns a frighteningly long-term deal for huge dollars.
Better fits? Yeah.
A better team? Not dramatically.
They just keep throwing stuff against the wall. And hoping, truly hoping, something finally sticks.
Oh and Bob when you obviously have never seen Diogu play, please just say that and leave the analysis of his game to someone who has. Obviously he has no clue.
Oh and a final word to Al - just shut up - so Rick didn't tailor the whole offense to you. He moved you to small forward which is what you wanted, he didn't bench you like he should have. He catered to your every want and need and then you rip him on the way out. Real class, real class. He should have benched you weeks ago - but I'm sure he was concerned about your very sensitive feelings. I was a little sad about Al leaving the first time, but not the second - let's just hope there isn't a chance for a third time
My final word on Bob is just stick to other sports because your NBA basketball knowledge is pathetic - I don't respect your opinions on the NBA - he probably thinks the Pacers acquired Foyle instead of Diogu - oh wait, my fault he's never heard of Foyle and probably had never heard of Diogu until yesderday. Oh and what is the statute of limitations on the Bird and Artest SI cover - will he still refer to that 10 years from now
Here are the articles.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart
bob kravitz
New direction seems rather aimless
January 18, 2007
I have a fancy new idea for the next round of Indiana Pacers billboards. From the outset, let me say it's not nearly as inspiring as "One team, one goal," which blew up when Ron Artest asked for a trade, or "It's up to us," which started looking silly when four members of the new-and-improved Pacers got into a nightclub brawl that involved gunplay.
So here's my suggestion in the wake of the Pacers' latest effort to move in a new direction, the trade that sent Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell to Golden State for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and Keith McCleod:
Throwing stuff against a wall and hoping it sticks.
Catchy, no?
Now, before all of this turns negative -- and you've already sensed that it might -- let me say that it's hard to criticize any deal that hastens the exits of Jackson and Jasikevicius.
The former was a time bomb -- a time bomb with a gun license -- and he was as likely as Artest to implode. They should have dealt him last summer, though my sense is they tried but couldn't. Jackson had good intentions at times, but then, so did Artest. He was emotionally immature, to be nice about it.
The latter, Jasikevicius, was team president Larry Bird's pet project. Some of us who'd seen his game overseas applauded the move, but within weeks, we saw why nobody else in the NBA had brought him in for a look. He couldn't make 3-pointers at this level and he couldn't defend the mascot. He was a liability with an attitude.
So there is an addition-by-subtraction element to this deal.
And there's this:
These Pacers weren't going anywhere this season with that crew, not in the wretched Eastern Conference, not anywhere. Even with the schedule softening in the upcoming weeks, this was not going to be a group that would come together, see the light and make a run.
For every step forward, there was a step back. Losing at home to Charlotte. Getting blown off the floor in New Jersey, with Harrington being benched to start the second half. That wasn't going to change.
Here's my question, though: Do they really think they're going anywhere now? Does this make them appreciably better? Really?
More and more, the Pacers front office reminds me of the Home Shopping Network: Every time you look up, they're trying to sell you something. And more often than not, what they're peddling turns out to be junk.
They tried to sell the goofy idea that Artest could be rehabilitated and turned into a cornerstone of the franchise. Bird even posed with Artest on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Didn't work out.
They tried to sell fans on the notion that this season's team would be filled with good guys, that chemistry and athleticism would produce a team that not only won but was fun to watch. Didn't work out.
They sold the return of the prodigal son, the relentlessly upbeat Harrington, who would help create the kind of atmosphere the Pacers used to have before they began to rot at the core. Didn't work out.
They sold Jasikevicius as the missing piece. They sold Marquis Daniels as the multidimensional jack-of-all-trades. They sold the more aesthetically pleasing, up-tempo offense. They sold James White, the second-round draft pick for whom they traded two second-rounders, and he didn't even make the roster. None of those moves worked out.
All that selling, all those empty promises, I'm wondering why I should bother buying anything in the first place. What have they done in the past four years to earn your faith? Draft Danny Granger? He fell to them when the teams drafting ahead of them suffered a brain cramp.
They continue to run on a treadmill to mediocrity, good enough to make the playoffs, bad enough to get bounced in the first round. It's been a long, long time since the Pacers have been quite this irrelevant, and it's not just because the Colts have seized the spotlight.
If the Pacers had made a deal that gave them expiring contracts and put them in a position to bottom out, I would commend them for getting in the Greg Oden Sweepstakes and having the courage to start over.
This, though, strikes me as one of those spin-your-wheels trades. They were a little bit over .500 before the deal. They'll be a little bit over .500 after the deal.
Diogu is a nice young player, a power guy and a good pickup and someone who doesn't need the ball on offense. But Troy Murphy? When he's healthy, he's got a chance to be a nice, Brad Miller-style complement to O'Neal, but he's always hurt. And Mike Dunleavy just strikes me as a guy who, along with Murphy, owns a frighteningly long-term deal for huge dollars.
Better fits? Yeah.
A better team? Not dramatically.
They just keep throwing stuff against the wall. And hoping, truly hoping, something finally sticks.
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