Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

[MyFavMartin]

Mentioned in hoopshype and buried at indystar.com.
by Mike Wells

http://blogs.indystar.com/pacersinsider/2010/09/20/the-pacers-want-to-get-rolleing/

The Pacers want to get Rolle(ing)

THE ‘BURBS – Not much has changed with Magnum Rolle and the Pacers.

The Pacers still want to sign their second-round pick.

In order to do that, though, they’ve got to find a way to clear a roster spot.

The Pacers will have to do a two-for-one trade (or release a player) since they’ve already got 15 players under contract. That may not happen until training camp starts and teams get a better look at their roster. Point guard A.J. Price has a non-guaranteed contract, but the Pacers plan to keep him.

Some of you have asked if the Pacers can sign Rolle to a guaranteed contract right now.

Yes they can. They just have to be down to the maximum of 15 players by the league’s mandatory date in late October.

The Pacers will likely look to move one of their wing players.

It wouldn’t surprising if Dahntay Jones (and T.J. Ford) is the player they look to trade. Jones doesn’t fit coach Jim O’Brien’s playing style.

O’Brien made that known when he said he likes players that can “space the court” with the 3-point shot after Jones went through a stretch of several DNP-CD’s late last season.

This isn’t breaking news, Jones is not known for his 3-point shooting (4-of-32 last season).

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Speaking of Ford, he’s been told that he’ll have a chance to earn a spot in the rotation, according to a source.

We’ll see if that holds true.

O’Brien and Ford’s relationship has been a disaster.

The coach took his point guard out the rotation for 18 games in late December. Ford got back in the rotation when he played well in the two games Earl Watson missed for personal reasons.

A groin injury in early March shut Ford down for the rest of the season.

Ford could end up being a wild card in the Pacers point guard situation because Lance Stephenson still has a legal situation hanging over him and A.J. Price is working his way back from knee surgery.

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The Pacers have completed their training camp roster.

Lance Allred, who is legally deaf, will be the 17th player in training camp. The Pacers need help in the frontcourt because of injuries to Tyler Hansbrough and Jeff Foster.

[31andonly]

Re: Dahntay on the block?

It wouldn’t surprising if Dahntay Jones (and T.J. Ford) is the player they look to trade. Jones doesn’t fit coach Jim O’Brien’s playing style.

I'm not a big fan of trading a player just because he doesn't fit the playing style of a coach who is in the last year of coaching the team.

[Speed]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

If D Jones is seen as sweetner to move TJ, I'm in. If D Jones can bring back a starting caliber PF, I'm in. If D Jones just can't hit 3s and doesn't fit Obie's 10/11 season style of coaching, I'm out. Obie being here past this year, to me, is highly unlikely.

[Jay@Section12]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

Dahntay Jones just isn't that good of player. Maybe his inability to shoot the ball (period) is the #1 reason he was out of the lineup -- a decision that is fine by me even O'Brien does other things I don't like. For another coach, he'd just get a chance to prove yet again why he's just barely good enough to be in the rotation, but bad enough to play his way out of the rotation.

Dhantay Jones won't get traded, though. He's not in demand. There will be more of a market for TJ Ford when a team has a PG go down to injury than there will be for Dhantay Jones ever.

[OakMoses]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

D. Jones is entirely unnecessary right now. I've got nothing against him (though I don't love his game), but if I'm picking wings for next season he might be last. Other than the first 5 games when Rush is out, I don't see any reason I'd play Dahntay over any wing on the roster. If we can trade him for a 2nd round pick to make a roster spot for Rolle I'd consider it a good move. If we're going to move Dun or Rush or cut Lance or Posey retires, then I have no problem keeping him. I just don't see a consistent rotation spot for him right now.

Ford being able to compete for a roster spot is mind-boggling. I hope it's a rigged competition. Something along the lines of "Now that we've got Collison and Price, we're going to run a lot of pick and roll. If you can run the PnR better than either of those guys, then we've got some minutes for you."

If this is a legit. report, the likely role for Ford is going to be scoring guard off the bench. This will likely drive everyone on this board nuts as he'll probably be on the floor with either Collison or AJ.

[Speed]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

On D. Jones, I think he is an overated defender unless you play him on 2 guards. Even then he's not a lockdown guy, just good. I suppose there is hope that some GM sees him as a shut down corner type and will give good value in a trade. I'm not against trading him, just not for the reason of fit with the coach.

As for the Ford rotation thing, not sure what to make of that, it makes sense to showcase him, if possible. I'd guess that ship may have sailed though. Otherwise, TJ may be the 2nd Point Guard by default. Not sure how healthy AJ is. Pretty sure you can't play Lance until the other matters are settled one way or another, imo.

[MLB007]

Re: Dahntay on the block?

I'm not a big fan of trading a player just because he doesn't fit the playing style of a coach who is in the last year of coaching the team.

Yeh, I love what Dahntay brings. If you have 4 other scorers on the floor it could work.
If you had a pg that likes to push it could work.

[Sookie]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

On D. Jones, I think he is an overated defender unless you play him on 2 guards. Even then he's not a lockdown guy, just good. I suppose there is hope that some GM sees him as a shut down corner type and will give good value in a trade. I'm not against trading him, just not for the reason of fit with the coach.

As for the Ford rotation thing, not sure what to make of that, it makes sense to showcase him, if possible. I'd guess that ship may have sailed though. Otherwise, TJ may be the 2nd Point Guard by default. Not sure how healthy AJ is. Pretty sure you can't play Lance until the other matters are settled one way or another, imo.

AJ can play, that makes him a better alternative.

This actually concerns me. TJ's the lone vet. We know Obie doesn't give a crap about how people play in practice (seeing as AJ apparently outplayed both Watson and TJ there) or in games (seeing as AJ blantanly outperformed TJ there and you could argue Watson)

So there's a possibility that Darren and AJ get to compete for backup PG. Doesn't make sense. TJ's the worst point option on the team..but wouldn't be out of character for JOB.

[BBQ]

Re: Dahntay on the block?

Yeh, I love what Dahntay brings. If you have 4 other scorers on the floor it could work.
If you had a pg that likes to push it could work.

I'm in agreement with this. I wondered last season if Dahntay was trying to do too much. I remember early on he was playing way above his potential. I wonder if that experience led Dahntay to play outside of himself, and in the end have not such a good finish to the season.

Maybe on a team where there is a cohesive plan and well defined rolls, he would perform better. The guy isn't a sure-thing defensive stopper, but he isn't Mike Dunleavy either. I kind of like having him if I have to play Miami in the playoffs every year.

[Speed]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

AJ can play, that makes him a better alternative.

Is he not restricted at this point? Even if he's not restricted is he 100% back? Maybe that's not what you mean.

[Sookie]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

Is he not restricted at this point? Even if he's not restricted is he 100% back? Maybe that's not what you mean.

he's back on the court, Larry said he's not 100%, but he's playing on the court. (Although, Perhaps he's not technically cleared to play. I guess, that would be weird though. I'd assume "yea, he's not 100%" just means he has to work his way up to it even though he's playing.) I'd assume that means he's cleared to play, just not able to play at 100% of his abilities. (and he should be there soon. The ACL was the same way. He was cleared to play, just didn't have "everything" back to normal yet.)

Regardless, so long as it's not a health risk, he's a better alternative than Ford. (as is Collison obviously) And I don't think that's what JOB meant anyways.

Granted, I guess JOB can't tell a player "yea, no matter what you do, you aren't going to play" even if it's true. And I'll say this, even if TJ outplays Collison and Price in camp and during preseason (lol) it's still a bad idea to give him minutes over the other two.

Also, with DJones. I liked him a lot last season. I thought he was the best leadership presence from a Vet. He's a bit of a black hole on offense, but that comes from having a nonstructured free for all offense. Give him his roll a little more clearly, and he'd be a definite asset. And I'd much rather have him.

[Trophy]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

Ford and Dahntay should only be playing if we really need them to.

Neither of these guys should be starting unless everyone at that position is inactive.

The regular rotation at PG should be Collison/Price and SG Dunleavy/Rush (George)

[O'Bird]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

AJ can play, that makes him a better alternative.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean - there's in fact a question whether he is able to play because of his injury. If you're saying that Ford can't play, as in, he's so lousy that he's in the wrong league, well, I wouldn't go that far. Clearly the coaching staff had the confidence in AJ to give him some meaningful minutes last year. He's a very good defender and that's a high priority for the Pacers.

This actually concerns me. TJ's the lone vet. We know Obie doesn't give a crap about how people play in practice ...

!

We KNOW that? Come on.

So there's a possibility that Darren and AJ get to compete for backup PG. Doesn't make sense. TJ's the worst point option on the team..but wouldn't be out of character for JOB.

Can't follow your reasoning here. For two years the starting job was TJ's for the taking, and instead Obie platooned him with Jack or Watson, gave his minutes to a rookie, or simply relegated him to DNP-CD purgatory. The reports of tension between the two men sound credible to me, but in any case it's obvious that his coach is not sold on Ford's game. Why would it be "in character" to play a guy he clearly doesn't like having on the floor?

O'Brien wants the ball to move; it's not that TJ won't pass it, but he disappears off the ball when he does, dominates it and holds it too long when he has it, creates plenty of shots for himself but doesn't make a lot of them, over-penetrates and gets caught with nowhere to go, is one of the more turnover-prone points in the league... and that's just offense.

Now that there's an alternative, what would clearly be in Jim O'Brien's character, as you put it, would be to have Collison start and play a lot of minutes, and for Ford to compete with Price for backup minutes.

I think there'll be three point guards. I think that Jim O'Brien and Larry Bird would like to start this coming season without the services of TJ Ford.

_____________________

[pacer4ever]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

Ford and Dahntay should only be playing if we really need them to.

Neither of these guys should be starting unless everyone at that position is inactive.

The regular rotation at PG should be Collison/Price and SG Dunleavy/Rush (George)

ya tj just turns the ball over to much. He doesnt shoot the ball well and he is the farthest thing from a team player.

[Eleazar]

Re: Spot in Rotation for Ford? / Dahntay on block?

If D Jones is seen as sweetner to move TJ, I'm in. If D Jones can bring back a starting caliber PF, I'm in. If D Jones just can't hit 3s and doesn't fit Obie's 10/11 season style of coaching, I'm out. Obie being here past this year, to me, is highly unlikely.

My opinion exactly.