DESTROY THE DISNEYS!
Not a Redickulous Thought...
Not a Redickulous Thought...
-VS-
Game Time Start: 7:00 PM EST
Where: The Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Officials: M. McCutchen, M. Davis, D. Guthrie, D. Collins
Media Notes: Indiana Notes, Orlando Notes
Television: NBATV, FSI
Local Radio: WIBC 93.1 FM
NBA Feeds:
NBA Audio League Pass (available free to NBA All-Access members)
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Pacers Leandro Barbosa, sprained ankle, probable Darren Collison, sore groin, probable Magic Glen Davis, sprained ankle, probable Dwight Howard, herniated disc, out |
Jared Wade: Defensive Collapse in Game 4 Nearly Costs Win The Pacers certainly made Game Four interesting. They did win, however, so let’s start with the good: going back to the regular season, they won their 7th straight road game and now head home with a 3-1 series lead on the Magic. It would take a collapse over the next three games that even Indiana seems incapable of to not advance to the next round. And if we look just at Game Four, the team showed an ability to step up on key possessions. They made plays when they needed to make plays. Now, the bad: everything else that happened in the fourth quarter. With just 8:14 remaining in regulation, the Pacers led 82-63. Then Indiana, particularly its interior defense, decided to take the rest of the quarter off, allowing the Magic to end the game on a 26-7 run that extended the contest into overtime. This wasn’t exactly the Grizzlies letting the Clippers come back from down 21 points with 12 minutes to play — it was, mathematically, worse. Moreover, the Magic don’t employ Chris Paul or Blake Griffin. How in the world could this happen? With a total defensive breakdown. And perhaps a questionable coaching decision. The run began with two Jameer Nelson/Glen Davis pick-and-rolls that were defended equally poorly. On the first, David West (weakly) moved over to stall Nelson’s ball penetration and make no real attempt to recover as Jameer made an easy bounce pass to a rolling Davis. No other Pacer reacted either and Baby got the easy dunk. On the second, Nelson found no resistance and drove all the way to the hoop for an uncontested layup. They switched it up after that, instead letting JJ Redick handle the ball in an end-line out of bounds play. Davis set the screen, Leandro Barbosa and Roy Hiibbert acted entirely indifferent to JJ’s drive and the former Dukie finished at the rim. Orlando wisely went with this two-man game again soon and while Hibbert played the action better, Leandro was again caught in no man’s land and nearly stumbled as he fruitlessly flailed at Big Baby as he walked his way to an easy dunk. Indiana’s once-19-point lead was down to 11 with just over 6 minutes to play. This was when coach Frank Vogel went small...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s |
Recap With 8:14 left in the fourth quarter, the Orlando Magic were down by 19 points with the score at 82-63 in favor of the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers, just like in Games 2 and 3, used a strong third quarter surge (outscoring the Magic by 10 points in the period) to increase their lead to double-digits heading into the fourth quarter. And early on in the period, it seemed like Indiana was going to blow Orlando out of the water and put them out of their misery. Staring at a 19-point deficit and also a 3-1 series deficit, things were looking bleak for the Magic. But instead of rolling over, head coach Stan Van Gundy — ever the fighter — didn’t give up. Coming out of an official timeout, Van Gundy made an adjustment that sparked a 26-7 run to end the fourth quarter, culminating in Nelson getting a chance to win the game on Orlando’s final possession in regulation. What adjustment was that? With Ryan Anderson continuing to get bottled up by the Pacers in Game 4, just like in the first three games of the series, Van Gundy went small and rolled the dice with a 5- man unit of Nelson-Redick-J. Richardson-Turkoglu-Davis. It’s a lineup that played a total of one minute together in the regular season. So you can forgive head coach Frank Vogel for not being prepared and expecting that lineup to take the floor for the Magic. That small-ball unit for Orlando rolled off 14 consecutive points, to cut their deficit to five points with the score at 82-77, before Indiana responded a basket of their own. At that point, the Magic — echoing the fighting spirit of Van Gundy — made it clear that they weren’t going...CONTINUE READING AT MAGIC BASKETBALL |
DREW: Picking On Player Ratings Kyle Soppe also writes about the NBA for Pickin’ Splinters. Follow him on Twitter. There are a slew of basketball analysts out there, and if you’re so inclined, you can find a respectable personality predicting almost every single outcome. I try to limit myself, listening to a consistent chorus of voices that I have particular respect for. The numbers side of me loves John Hollinger, while my heart likes listening to Michael Wilbon and Chris Broussard. I’ve been lucky enough to meet a close friend, Drew Shaner, who has the rare combination of appealing to both. He’s a friend that I would place my absolute trust in if my basketball fan-hood was on the line. I’d like to introduce you to a numbers- based rating system, developed by Mr. Shaner, that helps rank the remaining playoff teams. “Defensive Rating and Experience Wins”, DREW for short, helps the common basketball fan determine the most likely winner of each series, and finally, the NBA title. This system may not appeal to everyone, but my experiences rooting alongside Drew give me a lot of faith in his method. The first step to crowning a champion is rating each player on each teamss starting five on a scale from 1-10. Drew used a simple grading system: a perfect 10 for MVP candidates, 8-9 for all stars, and onward down. This system rewards balanced teams that have five viable threats, you know, the type of team that tends to succeed in the summer months. Drew’s ratings per player in the 2012 postseason, from best to worst. Eastern Conference: Boston Celtics (38) – Rajon Rondo (9), Paul Pierce (9), Kevin Garnett (8), Avery Bradley (6), Brandon Bass (6) Miami Heat (38) – LeBron James (10), Dwyane Wade (9), Chris Bosh (8), Udonis Haslem (6), Mario Chalmers (5) New York Knicks (37) – Carmelo Anthony (9), Amare Stoudemire (8), Tyson Chandler (8), Baron Davis (6), Landry Fields (6) Indiana Pacers (35) – Danny Granger (8), Paul George (7), David West (7), Roy Hibbert (7), Darren Collison (6) Chicago Bulls (34) – Luol Deng (8), Joakim Noah (8), Carlos Boozer (7), Richard Hamilton (6), C.J. Watson (5) Atlanta Hawks (33) – Josh Smith (8), Joe Johnson (8), Jeff Teague (7), Kirk Hinrich (6), Jason Collins (4) Orlando Magic (32) – Hedo Turkoglu (7), Ryan Anderson (7), Glen Davis (6), Jason Richardson (6), Jameer Nelson (6) Philadelphia 76ers (32) – Andre Iguodala (8), Jrue Holiday (7), Elton Brand (6), Evan Turner (6), Lavoy Allen (5) After calculating the team score for each roster, Drew factors in coaching and defensive tenacity. With the worst player being ranked 4, he made +/- 3 points maximum for “intangibles”, as it’s hard to quantify intangibles as being more valuable than any specific player. The Bulls (“huge credit to Thibs and their lock down defense”) were the only team in the East to max out on intangible credit, boosting their total score to 37. The Celtics and 76ers both gained 2 points, while the Hawks, Magic, Heat, and Pacers all gained 1 point. The Knicks lack of aggression on the defensive end (no bonus points for dominating fire extinguishers) and a fill-in head coach left them as the only playoff team with a negative intangible score. Updated standings...CONTINUE READING AT HICKORY-HIGH |
Pacers Mike Wells @MikeWellsNBA Jared Wade @8pts9secs Tim Donahue @TimDonahue8p9s Tom Lewis @indycornrows Ian Levy @HickoryHigh |
Magic Orlando Sentinel @joshuabrobbins Magic Basketball @erivera7 Orlando Pinstripe Post @BQRMagic |
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