The Pistons host the Pacers tonight — here’s to hoping they remember to watch for Jeff Foster’s leg (kudos to Ballhype and PistonsNation for the clip). You can read my pre-game, halftime and post-game thoughts over at HOOPSWORLD, and of course, leave your thoughts in the comments.
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See now THIS is the team I used to hate but can now barely recognize. Anytime your big threat is Mike Dunleavy Jr I have EVERY right to question if you’re a legitimate NBA franchise…… no really.
Also WTF is a Pacer?
Bench City!
PG4L - I think it’s a racing term - the pace car. I don’t watch a lot of racing, but isn’t the pace car just a boring car that goes around the track? Anyway, it’s a boring name. Yawn.
Jarvis is playing through the evil food-poisoning epidemic. He is such a warrior…my hero.
I don’t want to say this is getting out of hand but did we REALLY just go up by 20 points with 4+ left in the 2nd?
Day-um!
Up 20 points in the 2nd with half our bench in!!!
haha
That has been some fun ball to watch so far with the pistons-they are playing so well they are very loose, pushing the tempo a bit, having fun, passing plenty–and look what is materializing. Or do the pacers not play defense any more?
Oh wow, Jarvis with the long daggar and Indiana is reeling… It’s too bad I can’t stick around to watch this whole game. At this rate we’re gonna beat them 125-70something.
Wow.
I think it’s safe to say Jarvis is out of his shooting slump.
there we go: 21 bench points ` our lead.
Our bench is going to score 50 pts by the time this is over.
Uh, the Pistons waived Flip Murray? How did I miss that?
This will be the most we played the bench all season, as long as they don’t kill the lead.
That’s the first I heard about it, doesn’t surprise me at all though.
I think they meant Dupree, not Murray (if you’re watching the game on LP).
Re: Murray — huh? He’s not waived, he’s on the bench …
Yeah, I was watching League Pass, and they did mention that Detroit waived Murray. Stay tuned for more of that stellar Indiana commentating. Good work, Pacers fans.
Hehe, on local Ch 4 game they called Brezec: Cheikh when he first checked in.
Herrmann!
Stuckey sure gets his own rebounds.
That was beautiful, Fabio!
Amir’s got 7 boards in 7 minutes.
Thoughts on the game:
- So much for waiting until the 3rd quarter to step on their throat.
- Uh … I think as Diablo noted, it’s safe to say that Jarvis has put the ol’ shooting slump to bed.
- I think Kareem Rush has a beautiful jumpshot. I really hope he finds a consistent home with the Pacers, because I think he’s gotten a bum rap in the league and he’s a nice NBA player.
- Fox Sports Indiana is BAD. As previously mentioned, according to FSI we traded Nazr for Hermann & Brezec and then subsequently waived Ronald MURRAY (if only).
- Also, it was either their play-by-play man Chris Denari or their sideline reporter (the wonderfully cute but woefully uninformed Stacy Paetz) who claimed the Pistons don’t go deep into their bench. Ha, right.
- I think Primoz Brezec gets the Piston attitude. He may not be the most wonderfully agile player in the league, but he busted his hump to try and chase down some offensive rebounds in the 2nd quarter.
- It’s really too bad that Jamaal Tinsley is both a knucklehead and fragile as glass, because I think if he had those two detriments straightened out he’d be an all-star caliber PG in the East.
- We broke 50 in under 20 minutes … wow.
- Chauncey had a play in the 2nd quarter where he torched the Pacers all the way to the hoop and then still kicked it out to Jarvis on the wing who knocked it down. I was very impressed with how incredibly unselfish Chauncey was on that play.
- Amir doesn’t appreciate Ike Diogu entering his lane. That lane is Amir’s, not Ike Diogu’s. Amir also doesn’t appreciate balls going out of bounds off Detroit. Amir doesn’t appreciate LawyerBoy being generally unimpressed with him coming into this game and wanted to make that clear and change that impression.
- Stuckey is stil getting his feet wet, but he is absolutely tenacious when he drives the lane.
- The starters are apparently paying hommage to the striking writers by refusing to play during the 4th quarter of Pistons games. Very nice gesture.
- Apparently Walter Hermann takes after those old Stretch Armstrong dolls (including the fact that he is a rather goofy looking blond fellow).
- How can you not like Travis Diener, honestly?
- The Palace may as well start selling the conference finals tickets now, because there’s no way in hell we don’t extend the streak to 6 years.
Kind of a lot of thoughts for another regular season game, but what a game to try to pick nits.
Oh, and nice 15 & 14 effort Nazr Mohammed and three steals cuz you were feeling so dirty tonight. You sir are playing some pretty, pretty good basketball.
The interesting thing about these back-to-back Pacers games is that we get to see O’Brien make adjustments to the Pistons, and we get to see Flip’s adjustments, too. Am I right in thinking that this is a nice little warmup for the playoffs?
LawyerBoy:
“Amir doesn’t appreciate Ike Diogu entering his lane. That lane is Amir’s, not Ike Diogu’s. Amir also doesn’t appreciate balls going out of bounds off Detroit. Amir doesn’t appreciate LawyerBoy being generally unimpressed with him coming into this game and wanted to make that clear and change that impression.”
If you’re going to leave a top-10-DBB-comment-of-all-time comment on EVERY post, how do you expect the rest of us to keep up? Its just not fair…
Weird stat of the game: The starting five for Indiana shot 67% from the field.
Murray has done nothing this season to deserve to be waived, and I still want him in the starting lineup if Billups or Hamilton go down.
Solid game for Stuckey.
In other news, did you see Jason Kidd show up Roger Mason tonight? Jason Kidd OWNS Roger Mason. Take that, Roger Mason.
How has Portland won 12 games in a row? Even if you concede that this is a .500 squad, the odds of pulling off 12 consecutive wins is 4,096 to 1.
“Solid game for Stuckey.”
Kevin S., from December 8th:
“Yeah, Stuckey isn’t happening this season.”
(not trying to be a prick, my friend, but I’ve been waiting to quote you on that)
You should probably wait till he actually does something then. I mean as a “told ya so”, I don’t think last night’s performance is ideal. When he drops 15 and 10 with less than 5 turnovers on a night we lose Chancey to a double T or something… we’ll talk.
(That’s not to say I’m somehow disapointed with Stuckey’s performance btw… just that he hasn’t really made a case either way yet. To be honest I was expecting him to look completely lost out there because of the injury layoff and it’s great that he doesn’t. Otoh even if you asked his MOM I think you’d hear “he hasn’t done anything relevant yet either”.)
“How has Portland won 12 games in a row? Even if you concede that this is a .500 squad, the odds of pulling off 12 consecutive wins is 4,096 to 1.”
I’m a Portland fan, but I have to say that the schedule has a lot to do with it. They won 9 games at home and the first win of the streak was at Memphis, at the buzzer. They beat some good teams, but not top teams. If they are over 50% 15 games from now (they are +5 now), it’ll be great.
Alternately Channing Frye is actually the next great NBA 5 and will keep Greg Oden on the bench for most of his career….
No really, considering Isiah Thomas’s track record in the trading department and Portland’s track record in the drafting big dudes who have something wrong with their legs (just sayin) don’t we at least have to CONSIDER this possibility?
Why are you all walking away from me?
“You should probably wait till he actually does something then.” I’m with you, PG4L. However, I think it is early enough to laud one thing about Stuckey- Saunders played him in the 1st quarter last night.
He’s rough, turned the ball over in some excruciating ways last night, and still needs plenty of work. However, I think from what we’ve seen out of he and Flip, we can expect Stuckey to be a very solid, serious contributor off the bench after the All Star break.
My “told you so” was a failed attempt to get Kevin to elucidate. He’s a great writer, and I’d love to hear his thoughts if he has yet revised them on the Stuckey Subject.
“My “told you so” was a failed attempt to get Kevin to elucidate. He’s a great writer, and I’d love to hear his thoughts if he has yet revised them on the Stuckey Subject.”
I’m a blogger, not a doctor.
Thanks for the comment love, MP. You guys are giving me an undeserved ego
As a proud consumer of NBA League Pass, which of course makes me a self-appointed armchair basketball expert like all of us here, I’m going to go ahead and say … Portland is sweet (like low-end West playoff seed level sweet, but young and improving) and that I kinda saw it coming (trust me, ask my friends who I watched the 2007 Draft with how much I yapped about Portland).
Now also keep in mind, that this is coming from a guy (me) who basically said for 2 years that Greg Oden is only as good as Mike Conley Jr. makes him (from watching their senior year in high school when I was at Indiana University and could watch a lot of their HS games locally and their year at OSU). Both have been hurt, so that’s a wash (I was probably just a hater anyway). But the point for me is that I’ve been extremely impressed with Pritchard’s demeanor, reasoning, and decision-making even though I was hardly sold on Oden through his career at OSU.
Whether it works out or not, I realized that Pritchard HAD to take Oden because of simple risk-reward analysis. But other things he’s done since joining the Blazers in ‘04-05 have been very Dumars-ian.
He trades Randy Foye for the guy taken one spot before him, Brandon Roy. Is anyone gonna argue that doesn’t look really good (sorry about your knee, Randy)? He essentially does the same thing earlier in the draft when he snagged LaMarcus Aldridge for the price of Tyrus Thomas. Um, HA.
In 2006 he trades the Suns MONEY for FIRST round pick Sergio Rodriguez, who I remind you is only TWENTY-ONE and showing some flashes of brilliance thus far. He trades James White who spent one season with the Spurs and through another subsequent trade dumping off Alexander Johnson (who he got in the first trade) ends up acquiring 3 future second round picks all for the guy they originally had (White) who plays in Turkey now. 2006 was the draft they also picked up Joel Freeland, who may be nothing or something, but is still a 6′11 big Brit playing in the Spanish ACB league. And then in ‘07 Pritchard trades cash AGAIN, this time for James Jones, who’s fitting in beautifully so far and has a player option for next season, and the rights to SG Rudy Fernandez (22 year-old winner of the 2006-2007 Euroleague Rising Star award) who could suit up as soon as next season.
He unloads cancerous Zach Randolph for underused and under-appreciated Channing Frye (who if Pritchard really had wanted he could’ve just egregiously drafted Frye before Martell Webster back in ‘05), which adds excellent character type guy frontcourt depth to a team with uber-talented LaMarcus Aldridge and franchise darling Greg Oden (tough break kid, come back strong).
He’s got Jarret Jack running a solid point, Martell Webster has apparently arrived and even though he was drafted before Pritchard joined the Blazers Travis Outlaw is turning into a quality player as well. Pritchard’s got the solid, albeit somewhat flawed Steve Blake back for a modest 3 year/$12 million as a nice addition to Jarret Jack at the point. Raef LaFrentz’s $10 million/year (signed pre-Pritchard) comes off the books in the summer of ‘09. Pryzbilla contributes decently (very good rebounder) on his slightly overblown $6.5 million/year signed through 2011 but Pritchard made a modest enough deal with to a guy with at least some playing value (like Nazr Mohammed) that he could be moved if need be. Pritchard has assembled a deep, talented, extremely young core with flexible cap maneuvering. He’s also got a respectable coach in Nate MacMillan and currently no knucklehead egos to deal with. This squad is poised for a return to significance for the next half decade.
Teams go on runs in the NBA, and Portland probably isn’t as good yet as their 17-12 record indicates, but they’re not nearly as bad as their 5-12 record indicated last month, either. This team is GOOD and barring anymore significant injuries, is only going to get better. I peg them for somwhere between 40-43 wins this season and bottom rung birth in the playoffs. Who knows, maybe they’ll be this year’s Golden State! Anyone ready to hop on the bandwagon? I’m driving!
Sorry for the novel, but I may have a man crush on Kevin Pritchard and may be leaving the Pistons for the Blazers. I kid, I kid.
The Blazers still have Darius Miles but I’m sure they don’t even let him in the arena.
Let me just add that LaFrentz and Miles have almost $20 million/year in contracts between them. And they run out after this or the next year (not sure). Chris Paul or LeBron anyone?
Raef’s expires next summer and Miles’ the summer after that (’10). Raef’s deal is 7 years/$70 million and Miles’ deal is 6 years/$48 million. I don’t see the point in buying out Raef’s because they can either ship him next year to a team who needs an expiring contract or they can just wait it out. Miles’ they may want to buyout, but we’ll see. Either way, if you ask me, they appear to be in good shape for some years to come if they stay healthy.
OT: How about Giricek for Korver? Kind of a lateral move other than Sloan wanting Giricek out, no?
Kevin S.: “I’m a blogger, not a doctor.”
Does that mean you don’t have to stand by your stubborn predictions?
LawyerBoy: I haven’t really followed Portland, but I’m intrigued. I liked reading your notes, and I’m excited to see what they do in coming seasons with a healthy Oden and those hefty expiring contracts. Good stuff.
“Does that mean you don’t have to stand by your stubborn predictions?”
It means the only information at my disposal was a series of gloomy medical reports accompanied by nebulous “check back later” messaging from the team. Ask a Magic fan what that usually implies.
As for Portland, I don’t see how they are doing it. Roy and Aldridge stand out, and Frye seems to have shaken off whatever needed shaking off. Outlaw is starting to deliver on his promise…
But the Blake/Jack PG platoon (btw, the whole PG platooning trend is stupid and needs to stop) is utterly mediocre. Outlaw really should have displaced Webster by now. Frye isn’t getting enough playing time.
My gut tells me that this team crashes hard, but winning 12 games consecutively (including four against Denver and Utah) is difficult to do unless you are a good team.
Given their upcoming schedule, Portland could take a 20 game win streak into their game against the Chigurs.
Well, if Portland does crash hard, it just means another lottery pick to add on.
MP - My pleasure, sir. I don’t really know how he’s done it, but Kevin Pritchard has quietly assembled a good team there with or without Oden and no one really picked up on it at all. I for one, was shocked when they initially fell to 5-12. Their decision to trade Randolph and subsequently buyout Francis shows their dedication to character guys over general talent, and I think that’s something that Joe tends to do for the most part and it’s how you win consistently over seasons in this NBA. As Darshan mentioned earlier in the thread, I don’t think Darius Miles will ever suit up there again, so there seem to be no worries on that front.
Kevin - In my opinion, they’re just as likely to crash hard as Orlando is (given that squad has some serious history of that, even though I admit they have more talent this season). I agree with you that PG is Portland’s weak link in terms of talent, but Jack and Blake are characteristically UNSELFISH, a trait I find to be extremely undervalued in today’s overtly “me first” NBA, especially when the other 4 players on the court can put it in the bucket.
Sergio Rodriguez, their third PG, can do some jaw-dropping stuff with a basketball from the point position. He’s still very raw, but he’s in a great environment to come in and develop into a much more solid PG than Jack or Blake. He’s not a physically dominant PG like Chauncey, but he is 6′3, and that doesn’t hurt at that position.
Looking at the win streak, I’ve got to disagree with Bonzi and say that they’ve really done some pretty impressive work, beating a solid Toronto team, an impressive New Orleans squad (who have won 5 straight since they lost to Portland), and as Kevin mentioned wins at Utah and Denver which came as part of back-to-back swings with home wins over Golden State and New Orleans, respectively. Yeah they’ve been at home for 9 of the 12, but color me impressed regardless.
If Sloan can use him correctly, Korver will be a great add for the Jazz. Giricek is about done as a rotation player.
I guess I’m not as sold on the moves Portland has made. Randolph and Portland couldn’t co-exist, to be sure, but he should have gotten more for a very productive big.
There were plenty of smart people calling on him to take Durant, which would make him look like a genius. He didn’t have to take Oden because both players were sure things.
The 2006 draft was a major coup, to be sure, and they’ve done a good job of cleaning house. They’ll have to make a couple more great moves before I’m elevating Pritchard to the Buford-Dumars-Colangelo sphere.
He shouldn’t be elevated to that sphere yet by any means because they haven’t produced anything. BUT, my view is that he’s set them up to be in good shape through the end of this decade and maybe he’ll deserve to be in that sphere sometime soon. I really believe this team could enter the Dallas-Phoenix, etc. echelon in a couple years.
As for the Randolph move, their leverage was limited and they were just trying to get it done as quickly and easily as possible (if you’re ever in that position in the NBA: enter Isiah Thomas or less likely Ernie Grunfeld). If all they got in terms of substance was Channing Frye, isn’t that enough? Randolph needed to go and Pritchard pulled the trigger and got SOMETHING of value in return (see Philadelphia getting Andre Miller for AI, which was a suprisingly respectable move by Philly given their standing and their history of being dumb). And as we’ve discussed, Pritchard has given them a wonderful makeover with guys who can and will play as a team, and he’s made enough moves that one move viewed to be mediocre (you could argue Randolph for Frye/Francis was mediocre though I argue it was fine, but it couldn’t be considered bad) is just a small piece of Pritchard’s story.
As for the pick in the ‘07 draft, the only way Pritchard gets lampooned for taking Oden is if Durant ends up the next Jordan (he’s really good, but I doubt he will ever be that good) and Oden becomes the next Bowie. It’s moot though, because people will never treat this the way they treat Bowie-Jordan, because Durant won’t be Jordan (unless he is, and I’m an idiot in advance if that happens) though Oden could very plausibly be Bowie (who wasn’t even that bad if people actually look at his career). If he’d gone with Durant instead of Oden, and Oden became something like the next Dwight Howard while Durant became the next Darius Miles, Pritchard would’ve been burned in effigy by PDXers and PTI hosts alike. He did the much safer thing, and he must’ve believed he had enough in Webster and Outlaw (who’s making a compelling case to become a starter) and not in Pryzbilla (Kind of a no-brainer) to warrant the move.
They gotta keep winning though if I’m going to have a case to stand for. They’re doing a pretty good job of that these days though.
Prediciting the future is pretty tricky (just ask Chad Ford how often things he’s written come back to bite his butt off)……. but I think it’s pretty obvious that if you were starting a new video game season you’d want to be the Blazers… Talent to Dollars Spent, they’re loaded and have a bright/open future. Otoh someone said that about Cleveland a couple years back too… it only takes 1-2 god awful signings and a refusal to comitt to Carlos Boozer to go from “unlimited potential” to “Salary Cap nightmare”.
Seriously considering how the Randolph thing has worked out for NY, I’m not sure it’s fair to rip Portland for not “getting more”… I mean at least Frye TRIES to play defence… the Randolph/Curry pairing has somehow been WORSE than predicted.