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Well folks thatโs it, that was the last regular season game for the 12/13 season that had any hope for meaning and worth. We will now be treated to two games that will feature several players who could/should be staring in the D-league (actually staring is probably a stretch) and we are all just praying that we can catch one of these two games so that we can actually walk away with a 50 win season.
My what just two weeks can do to a team.
If youโre looking for reasons for why this is going on youโll want to keep looking because I have no honest idea. I mean there are about a thousand different excuses, scenarios or other ideaโs I could throw out there and none would have any more real meaning than the next.
There is one scenario that I pray is actually not accurate however because of my overly pessimistic personality I am very much afraid that it is.
I wonder if we havenโt played as hard as we can all season long putting out maximum effort on defense and doing the best we can on offense with the weapons we have and we have no second gear. In other words other teams are ramping up to get ready for the playoffs and we have nowhere else to go.
This is kind of like Chicago Jโs old theory about the 04 team where it was theorized that the team was built for the regular season and not the playoffs.
I am not saying that this is the case Iโm just saying that I really truly hope that it is NOT the case.
Other than Roy Hibbert nobody has played consistently well for the past month or so which is kind of normal in basketball over a long season. But in our case our guys go from being productive to being at best useless and at worst detrimental.
Itโs not just one player, each player has taken turns going through this phase and yes that includes David West as well.
Obviously the most obvious one is Paul George and donโt let some of those post game stats. fool you he has not been good for awhile now on the offensive end. But up until today he was playing defense at a consistently high level so itโs kind of like he and Roy have reversed roles.
You have to blame Frank for some of this. Our offense is just to stagnant and predictable and he really never should have given the green light to guys for shooting the 3 point shot because it has now become a crutch they use instead of swinging the ball around attempting to get a better shot.
You also have to blame him some for maybe playing a few of the starters to many min. but to be fair to him he hasnโt had much if any choice in the matter.
Our bench is an absolute total disaster and Iโm sorry but I canโt put the blame on Frank for that. Yes I know Granger being gone threw things off kilter but we still have the absolute same fundamental problem that we had last season and that is that we have no scoring coming off of the bench. Danny being here or not doesnโt change that fact.
It might adjust the rotations but in all honesty whoโs to say that Lance would have progressed to where he is now if Danny were here.
No, Iโm sorry but now that the season is over (at least meaningful games) I will now make this proclamation.
Last seasons off season acquisitions were an absolute total bust.
Ian Mahinmi was the only one of the group to give us anything and that has now all but disappeared since the all-star break.
BTW, yes I heard Quinn give us the talking point about Ian having an injury that has been causing his poor play. Okay letโs play along with that. Letโs give him the benefit of the doubt and say he has some knee issue (I think that is what they said it was). Iโll give him his jump shot (knee) positional rebounding (knee) blocking shots (knee) and even his ability to rotate to guard a pick and roll (knee).
What does his knee have to do with his ability to catch a pass? Or his ability to make a standard two handed chest pass within 10โ of another player?
He has failed miserably at both since the all star break.
Also I know Iโm a bad person but frankly I got burned years ago by the Pacers when it came to Rik Smits and constantly putting any and all poor play on some nagging injury. Sometimes it is true but then sometimes guys just struggle; there is no shame in that btw they canโt all be LeBron James. But now it seems that once again anytime someone is in a slump we hear about some unknown injury that is making them not be able to play the game. Like I said, itโs probably just me, but frankly what Iโve seen from Ian looks like a skill issue not an injury issue.
But going past him the fact that our second round draft choice is probably the second biggest contributor from our bench in the second half of the season is both a reason to praise and curse our front office. Praise in the fact that they got a jewel as low as they got him and curse them for not getting anything or anybody better last season or all up until the deadline to give the bench some type of fire power.
Iโm not going to lie to anybody. Iโm scared going forward into the off season, whenever that comes, because I donโt know who is going to be in charge.
If Bird comes back Iโll feel a lot better because I get the feeling that he would not be willing to wait this out.
If Pritchard is in charge then I have no idea what to expect. He is a wild card to me.
If itโs Walsh, well letโs just say Iโve been here before and have ZERO desire to do that again.
On the bright side of things Jeff Pendergraph has shown the ability to hit a face up jumper which puts him leaps and bounds better then Tyler Hansbrough on offense on most nights.
Obviously this isnโt the way any of us wanted to end the season. Itโs not just the losing, itโs the way we are losing that is killing me. For lack of a better term we have been sleep walking through the first half of the past few games. Again I donโt know why.
I just hope that we can get this turned around by this upcoming weekend and everybody better hope and pray that Chicago overtakes Atlanta to get the 5th seed.
The thought of having to go to United Center South is just not appealing to me and well honestly the way we are playing losing to the Bulls in Indianapolis will probably ruin the entire season for me. I mean for the most part its been a very good year, ending poorly but overall very good. But losing in the first round to whoever will be bad, but to do it in front of thousands of Bulls fans will actually ruin my whole year.
Now that is implying that we canโt win. Well Iโll say it now, playing like we are right now we wont. Doesnโt matter who the opponent is but we can turn this around.
Paul George is going to have to go watch tapes of himself from just before the all star break. He needs to understand that just because he can get a three point shot whenever he wants to that he canโt settle for it like he has been. Even if they start dropping, its just not good fundamentally sound basketball.
Everybody has got to focus on securing rebounds. We may need to forgo some fast breaks but at the end of the day we have to secure the ball.
Frank has got to give the offense some new wrinkles. There was a reason why we couldnโt get the ball to West or Hibbert today, the Knicks already knew that was the plan and just fronted the post and doubled with the ball handlers man. The fact that we canโt hit an open shot doesnโt help but Frank really has got to try some cuts and off ball movement to open up the floor.
Every player that doesnโt have the ball needs to commit to not just standing like a stone. Our off the ball movement may be the worst Iโve ever seen from our team over the years.
Our defense has got to pick up. Now some of that is on our offense because we let the other team off of the hook by not making them spend energy defending us but our perimeter defense has been weak lately.
Our bench has to give us something, anything. This is the one thing I have the least faith in.
On another note Iโll just go ahead and admit this to everybody so that there is no confusion.
My season pretty much ended on the day we played Houston. When I opened that email from the Pacers I was expecting it to say Danny Granger will play tonight. When it said he was having season ending surgery my spirits sunk to the point that I donโt think Iโve done an Odd Thoughts since the one I did for the Houston game. We made a great run on the west coast but then came home and laid down for the Thunder and itโs been downhill ever since.
I love the Pacers and I want to see us win it all but Iโm just pretty convinced that when Danny went down our season went down with him. Not because he is that good but because I believe that spiritually and emotionally he is the fire and frankly backbone of this team. When he first came back we could see he wasnโt right, well those of us who were being honest about it anyway, but even if he wasnโt any better than what he was during that short period of time I still think he was more valuable than any of our bench players. But then to have him go down and not come back? I felt like I was on the Lusitania and had just been torpedoed.
Then to think that this is probably the beginning of the end for him (even if he makes a full recovery I donโt see him ever being the same player again) has turned a great season into a melancholy one for me. I really had hopes that Danny would end next season as our second all time leading scorer and well now that is just a pipe dream.
I blame myself btw. God refuses to let me have any sustained joy as a Pacers fan. I cheered to much in the 90โs so I had to endure those early 2000 teams (remember I hated those teams no matter how good they were). I was thrilled we got rid of the players I couldnโt stand and was then forced to sit through Jim OโBrien and Troy Murphy/James Posey.
Well this season I was so high after that Golden State game that I should have known that this would be the ending to the season we would have. I was convinced that night that we were for real, that Roy Hibbert was becoming one with the force and from there on in I wanted nothing but the Heat and I wanted them that night. Well here we are, so blame me I guess.
Sorry guys, I probably should have just retired the thoughts until the playoffs because I know this hasnโt been either informative or entertaining, in fact itโs probably just depressing.
I promise Iโll still get up for the playoff war cry when I put it out later in the week.
My what just two weeks can do to a team.
If youโre looking for reasons for why this is going on youโll want to keep looking because I have no honest idea. I mean there are about a thousand different excuses, scenarios or other ideaโs I could throw out there and none would have any more real meaning than the next.
There is one scenario that I pray is actually not accurate however because of my overly pessimistic personality I am very much afraid that it is.
I wonder if we havenโt played as hard as we can all season long putting out maximum effort on defense and doing the best we can on offense with the weapons we have and we have no second gear. In other words other teams are ramping up to get ready for the playoffs and we have nowhere else to go.
This is kind of like Chicago Jโs old theory about the 04 team where it was theorized that the team was built for the regular season and not the playoffs.
I am not saying that this is the case Iโm just saying that I really truly hope that it is NOT the case.
Other than Roy Hibbert nobody has played consistently well for the past month or so which is kind of normal in basketball over a long season. But in our case our guys go from being productive to being at best useless and at worst detrimental.
Itโs not just one player, each player has taken turns going through this phase and yes that includes David West as well.
Obviously the most obvious one is Paul George and donโt let some of those post game stats. fool you he has not been good for awhile now on the offensive end. But up until today he was playing defense at a consistently high level so itโs kind of like he and Roy have reversed roles.
You have to blame Frank for some of this. Our offense is just to stagnant and predictable and he really never should have given the green light to guys for shooting the 3 point shot because it has now become a crutch they use instead of swinging the ball around attempting to get a better shot.
You also have to blame him some for maybe playing a few of the starters to many min. but to be fair to him he hasnโt had much if any choice in the matter.
Our bench is an absolute total disaster and Iโm sorry but I canโt put the blame on Frank for that. Yes I know Granger being gone threw things off kilter but we still have the absolute same fundamental problem that we had last season and that is that we have no scoring coming off of the bench. Danny being here or not doesnโt change that fact.
It might adjust the rotations but in all honesty whoโs to say that Lance would have progressed to where he is now if Danny were here.
No, Iโm sorry but now that the season is over (at least meaningful games) I will now make this proclamation.
Last seasons off season acquisitions were an absolute total bust.
Ian Mahinmi was the only one of the group to give us anything and that has now all but disappeared since the all-star break.
BTW, yes I heard Quinn give us the talking point about Ian having an injury that has been causing his poor play. Okay letโs play along with that. Letโs give him the benefit of the doubt and say he has some knee issue (I think that is what they said it was). Iโll give him his jump shot (knee) positional rebounding (knee) blocking shots (knee) and even his ability to rotate to guard a pick and roll (knee).
What does his knee have to do with his ability to catch a pass? Or his ability to make a standard two handed chest pass within 10โ of another player?
He has failed miserably at both since the all star break.
Also I know Iโm a bad person but frankly I got burned years ago by the Pacers when it came to Rik Smits and constantly putting any and all poor play on some nagging injury. Sometimes it is true but then sometimes guys just struggle; there is no shame in that btw they canโt all be LeBron James. But now it seems that once again anytime someone is in a slump we hear about some unknown injury that is making them not be able to play the game. Like I said, itโs probably just me, but frankly what Iโve seen from Ian looks like a skill issue not an injury issue.
But going past him the fact that our second round draft choice is probably the second biggest contributor from our bench in the second half of the season is both a reason to praise and curse our front office. Praise in the fact that they got a jewel as low as they got him and curse them for not getting anything or anybody better last season or all up until the deadline to give the bench some type of fire power.
Iโm not going to lie to anybody. Iโm scared going forward into the off season, whenever that comes, because I donโt know who is going to be in charge.
If Bird comes back Iโll feel a lot better because I get the feeling that he would not be willing to wait this out.
If Pritchard is in charge then I have no idea what to expect. He is a wild card to me.
If itโs Walsh, well letโs just say Iโve been here before and have ZERO desire to do that again.
On the bright side of things Jeff Pendergraph has shown the ability to hit a face up jumper which puts him leaps and bounds better then Tyler Hansbrough on offense on most nights.
Obviously this isnโt the way any of us wanted to end the season. Itโs not just the losing, itโs the way we are losing that is killing me. For lack of a better term we have been sleep walking through the first half of the past few games. Again I donโt know why.
I just hope that we can get this turned around by this upcoming weekend and everybody better hope and pray that Chicago overtakes Atlanta to get the 5th seed.
The thought of having to go to United Center South is just not appealing to me and well honestly the way we are playing losing to the Bulls in Indianapolis will probably ruin the entire season for me. I mean for the most part its been a very good year, ending poorly but overall very good. But losing in the first round to whoever will be bad, but to do it in front of thousands of Bulls fans will actually ruin my whole year.
Now that is implying that we canโt win. Well Iโll say it now, playing like we are right now we wont. Doesnโt matter who the opponent is but we can turn this around.
Paul George is going to have to go watch tapes of himself from just before the all star break. He needs to understand that just because he can get a three point shot whenever he wants to that he canโt settle for it like he has been. Even if they start dropping, its just not good fundamentally sound basketball.
Everybody has got to focus on securing rebounds. We may need to forgo some fast breaks but at the end of the day we have to secure the ball.
Frank has got to give the offense some new wrinkles. There was a reason why we couldnโt get the ball to West or Hibbert today, the Knicks already knew that was the plan and just fronted the post and doubled with the ball handlers man. The fact that we canโt hit an open shot doesnโt help but Frank really has got to try some cuts and off ball movement to open up the floor.
Every player that doesnโt have the ball needs to commit to not just standing like a stone. Our off the ball movement may be the worst Iโve ever seen from our team over the years.
Our defense has got to pick up. Now some of that is on our offense because we let the other team off of the hook by not making them spend energy defending us but our perimeter defense has been weak lately.
Our bench has to give us something, anything. This is the one thing I have the least faith in.
On another note Iโll just go ahead and admit this to everybody so that there is no confusion.
My season pretty much ended on the day we played Houston. When I opened that email from the Pacers I was expecting it to say Danny Granger will play tonight. When it said he was having season ending surgery my spirits sunk to the point that I donโt think Iโve done an Odd Thoughts since the one I did for the Houston game. We made a great run on the west coast but then came home and laid down for the Thunder and itโs been downhill ever since.
I love the Pacers and I want to see us win it all but Iโm just pretty convinced that when Danny went down our season went down with him. Not because he is that good but because I believe that spiritually and emotionally he is the fire and frankly backbone of this team. When he first came back we could see he wasnโt right, well those of us who were being honest about it anyway, but even if he wasnโt any better than what he was during that short period of time I still think he was more valuable than any of our bench players. But then to have him go down and not come back? I felt like I was on the Lusitania and had just been torpedoed.
Then to think that this is probably the beginning of the end for him (even if he makes a full recovery I donโt see him ever being the same player again) has turned a great season into a melancholy one for me. I really had hopes that Danny would end next season as our second all time leading scorer and well now that is just a pipe dream.
I blame myself btw. God refuses to let me have any sustained joy as a Pacers fan. I cheered to much in the 90โs so I had to endure those early 2000 teams (remember I hated those teams no matter how good they were). I was thrilled we got rid of the players I couldnโt stand and was then forced to sit through Jim OโBrien and Troy Murphy/James Posey.
Well this season I was so high after that Golden State game that I should have known that this would be the ending to the season we would have. I was convinced that night that we were for real, that Roy Hibbert was becoming one with the force and from there on in I wanted nothing but the Heat and I wanted them that night. Well here we are, so blame me I guess.
Sorry guys, I probably should have just retired the thoughts until the playoffs because I know this hasnโt been either informative or entertaining, in fact itโs probably just depressing.
I promise Iโll still get up for the playoff war cry when I put it out later in the week.
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