Indiana Pacers Blogs

As a Pacer fan, the obvious highlight of my season was the ESPN 30 for 30 story on Reggie Miller vs the New York Knicks. I loved every second of the documentary. I thought it was put together very well, and the best part was all of the memories it brought back.

Continue reading "The Need for Relevance"

Psychotic Los Angeles Lakers small forward Ron Artest claimed this week that he boozed a French cognac during games when he played for the Chicago Bulls from 1999-2002.

 

“I used to drink Hennessy at halftime,” Artest, 30, said in an interview with the

Continue reading "Ron Artest is an alcoholic lunatic"

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Jackson just can’t seemingly learn how to behave – it doesn’t matter where he plays or what he does, he’s always in the headlines for the wrong reasons either on or off the court.

Continue reading "Jackson just can’t get his way"

At this point in the summer I am going to break down who I think is going to land in the playoffs after the nine.ten. This is based on what has happened so far around the league.

Western Conference Playoffs:

Continue reading "NBA Playoff Predictions"

As writer and editor of this blog I am going to be referring to the upcoming season as "the nine.ten" for obvious reasons. The Pacers appear to be ready to make another pretty good step towards respectability and perhaps the even the playoffs. With the waiving of Jamal Tinsley it seems they are finally putting the past behind them and with a few notable additions it seems that a leaf which was partially overturned last year is fully flipped for the nine.ten.

Continue reading "The Indiana Pacers and the nine.ten"

Earl Watson has been released by the Thunder.  He began last year as the starting point guard.  Then, became the backup to Russell Westbrook.  Towards the end of the season, Oklahoma Ci

Continue reading "Thunder release Watson signs with Pacers"

10) They were spotted in Kobe's escalade at an 'N and Out drive-through. And yes, they both got "animal style."

9) When on road trips in Denver, Kobe's got Artest covered for booty calls.

Continue reading "Top 10 Reasons Kobe and Artest will work out"

The people who saw the 2009 NBA Draft on Thursday were in for a special treat when they saw Blake Griffin go No. 1.

 

Very predictable however.

 

Then, Hasheem Thabeet went No. 2, which was also predictable. Then things got a bit interesting.

Continue reading "National Champs send four in NBA Draft"

Thursday, June the 25th has officially passed as the Washington Wizards remain in a state that few could have foreseen a week ago. After months of speculation and a calamitous draft lottery, Wizards fans can relax and look at back at what has happened. No Blake Griffin, no Ricky Rubio, no 5th overall pick, no 2nd round pick. It was fun but you kind of wish Ernie Grunfeld could have let us know that all of our mock drafts and trade scenarios would be obsolete. What’s left of the Wizards roster seems to be an incomplete project… still.

Continue reading ""

The Pacers missed the playoffs and made some changes.  Looking towards next year, one thing can be said is that Indiana is interesting.  The Lineup consist of Jarret Jack and TJ Ford in the

Continue reading "Indiana Pacers draft"

I'm going to ignore the whole "Cavaliers not winning the Eastern Conference" thing and move on to something I find much more important.

The NBA has been using old memorable footage for their "Where will amazing happen this year?" commercials. Admittedly, these are really cool. They've taken Magic hitting the baby-hook over the Celtics, Kobe alley-ooping to Shaq, Bird with the steal and passing to DJ for the layup; memorable moments. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here: 

Continue reading "Where Amazing Happened"

The Detroit Pistons were up against the Chicago Bulls tonight and lost 91-88. This game put the Pistons as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern conference, which will have them play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. After the loss against the Indiana Pacers, this game looked more like a struggle. The beginning of the game was indeed a little bit of a struggle, but the Pistons were able to take the game under their control by the end of the first quarter. The rest of the game was very close, head-to-head, even to the last 15 seconds. During the last stretch, the Bulls were able to play under pressure and beat the Pistons. This isn't what any of us wanted, but like Hamilton said before the game, the Pistons should be glad to be in any position in the playoffs. Will this make a difference in how far the Pistons will be able to get in the playoffs? If the Pistons keep their heads on straight and are focused like they were for the 3 games before the loss against the Pacers, I don't think that the Pistons will have to worry about the Cavaliers. I don't know what happened tonight, if it was just that the Pistons weren't mentally prepared for this game or if the Bulls were better, but let's hold our heads up high. We have seen a different side of the Pistons over the past week and we should expect

Continue reading "We can't say it's BULL because the ball don't lie."

I was blogging like crazy until I got a full time job which exhuasted me and took up all my time. But, I am back to take a look at the Pacers again.

What did I miss?  The Pacers have performed exactly as I predicted they would. They are at the bottom of the Central Division but usually play to the level of the competition which is great sometimes but very bad at other times. They are way better at home than on the road and have Danny Granger who was an all-star this year! How close or far are we from being an elite team? It seems impossible to tell.  

Continue reading "Lockout"

While the Thoroughbred Eclipse awards get the most attention there was another horse of the year title handed out recently. SomeBeachSomewhere was named Horse of the Year and Pacer of the Year and Deweycheatumnhowe was named Trotter of the Year.

Continue reading "The other Horse of the Year"

For better or worse, fan balloting has been cast and counted, and the responsibility of correcting mistakes, filling bench spots and inevitably producing a snub or two rests on the shoulders of the head coaches around the league.

Continue reading "The Sports Don Reveals His Eastern ..."

We're about 35 games into the NBA season right now -- nearly to the midway point -- and the New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks are holding on to the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. I doubt that's the way it will end, however, because the list of teams that are on the outside looking in is quite an interesting one: Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and Indiana Pacers (to name the true contenders).

Continue reading "Eastern Conference Playoff Race Will Get Dicey"

Let's take a look at some players that have elevated their games to the next level this season, and are surprising opposing players, coaches, and (especially) fans with their production.

Danny Granger-SF, Indiana Pacers

Continue reading "The NBA's most pleasant surprises"

Wednesday will be a big day for the Pacers and guard Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy, after a 34 game absence, will be making his '08-'09 regular season debut against the Suns. After a 135-115 shelacking at the hands of the Nuggets, the Pacers are looking to Dunleavy to provide a spark against Shaq, J-Rich, and the rest of the Suns. Though he will be limited in minutes, his value to the team will be immense on the offensive end and can not hurt on the defensive end, which has been porous for the Pacers.

Continue reading "Dunleavy Returns Against Phoenix...So?"

There was no holiday hangover on Friday as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped a four-game losing skid with a 108-105 victory over Indiana.  The Grizzlies (10-19) never surrendered the lead over the final five minutes of the game, but they had to survive a frantic final minute in which they turned the ball over three times.  O.J. Mayo then sank the clinching free throws with a second on the clock.

Continue reading "Grizzlies 108, Pacers 105"

The Memphis Grizzlies have probably had plenty to eat over the last couple of days.  Now, after a short break, they are ready to satisfy their hunger for a win against the Indiana Pacers.

Continue reading "Grizzlies hoping for holiday cheers"

With enough of the season having passed to make an evaluation on the state of the Pacers, I feel I must.

After a busy offseason, the year which seemed somewhat promising at the start has quickly turned into a lottery quest. (A 20-20 to Andrew Bogut, REALLY???) Will the Pacers be the next team that beats the odds to grab the number 1 pick away from the Oklahoma City Loss Columns? And, if that happens who will the Pacers take? Blake Griffin from Oklahoma? I would rather have him in a heartbeat than Roy "I'm not athletic" Hibbert or any of the Pacers "we're big but not athletic" frontline. But enough about next summer. How are the Pacers right now, and why are they 3rd from the bottom of the Eastern Conference? What's that? Certainly! I would love to give my opinion...

Continue reading "Pacers trades paying off...NOT"

First, check out this, it's super hilarious and well written.  Now, on to the good stuff... 

We're less than four hours away from the Blazers and Celtics tipping off in Boston (catch it on ESPN if you don't want to listen to Mike Rice gush over Channing Frye and you love Van Gundy/Jackson as much as I do), so I figured I'd provide a few nuggets of wisdom about what might be the keys to the game for both sides.  Now before you all collectively groan in disgust, let me reassure you that what follows may actually prove insightful, unlike most other "key to tonight's match-up" pieces that simply say score, defend and rebound better than your opponent.  There are a few things that I'm looking for as indicators of successful play by both sides which go much deeper than the usual mundane crap, so bear with me.

Continue reading "Celtics v. Blazers Preview Extravaganza"

After a thrilling game-winning tip in by Troy Murphy that gave the Pacers an 118-117 win over the Lakers, Indiana had to travel to Boston the following night for a rematch with the defending NBA champion Celtics. Did they have enough in the tank to defeat Boston again? In a word, no. 

Continue reading "How Legitimate Are The Pacers?"

Ok so half the losses the top two teams in the NBA have suffered have come against the Pacers. What does this tell us? Are the Pacers on their way to the top? Are they an elite team and just trying to fly under the radar? WRONG. The Pacers are simply a team that loves to tease. The Pacers have many of the components needed to compete on an elite level every night but they don't get pumped up for every game. How easy is it to get pumped up for a home game against the Western Conference champions? Probably about as easy as it was to get pumped up for a home game against the Eastern Conference champions. Do you catch what I'm saying? The Pacers are close, they just need to learn to want it every night. Do you think Danny Granger was motivated to play well against the reigning league MVP? OF COURSE! And if you're looking for hope, he actually did outscore Kobe and, more importantly, Granger's team got the win! After last night Granger is currently 5th in the NBA in scoring which is impressive but doesn't solve the Pacers problem of why they can't win consistently.

Continue reading "WARNING PACERS FANS!"

Pacers 118 Lakers 117.

 Last night was certainly one of the most exciting nights to be a Pacers fan in the last few years, when the Pacers came from down 16 in the 4th quarter to stun the 14-1 Lakers at the buzzer. Considering the way 4th quarters have treated the Pacers all season this was especially rewarding.

Continue reading "A Winning Attitude"

So the Pacers aren't winning...who cares? They are playing hard and competing which is a giant step in the right direction. We haven't seen a Pacers team playing hard and somewhat cohesive in quite a few years in my opinion. The Pacers are young and just getting to know eachother which obviously shows up in the standings as we are losing close games but there is hope. HOPE. Not a lot of that going around Indy before this year. The last few years the only thing we had to hope for was that no one on the team would shoot anyone else on the team or around town. During the last several years the Pacers were old enough to understand that they weren't an elite team and had been together long enough to not like each other and destroy any chemistry they may have shared. This year however, while their record isn't something to blog home about but their level of play IS! As a Pacers fan this is the one thing I can hold onto and find excitement in.

Continue reading "Is this the best year to watch the ..."

16 games into the season and the Indiana Pacers have solidified their position in mediocrity. The blame can be spread around as to why this team is 6-10 rather than 10-6, but you'll have some difficulty putting blame on forward Danny Granger. He is off to an all-star caliber season and I'm here to make the case why and hopefully open some eyes to the talent that can be forgotten in Hoosier Land.

Continue reading "I Hope People Realize Danny Granger Is An All-Star"

In front of 17,000 plus, despite a standout performance by Indiana's Danny Granger, the Orlando Magic extended their win streak to 4 and their record to 13 wins with just 4 losses.

And while the day was special to Anthony Johnson, who put up his best numbers of the year with 16 points, it was Dwight Howard who would lay claim to the Magic's victory as his own.  Howard, who had more rebounds than the rest of the Magic combined with 21, put up an amazing 32 points, outshining Granger by 5.

Continue reading "Magic Rout Pacers; Prepare to Face Celtics"

The Houston Rockets are coming off a hard fought 1 point loss to the Indiana Pacers this past Wednesday at Toyota Center. The Yellow and blue stunned the home town team by scoring often and late snapping the Rockets' three game winning streak. The loss soured the return of forward Shane Battier who made his season debut after missing the first 15 games of the season due to inflammation in his surgically-repaired left ankle.

Continue reading "I-10 Rivalry renewed"

This is the year, this is the year KG and the boston C's will defend their title!!!!!!!!!!! When the season started and they lost to the pacers i could not believe it... lol The Pacers have made a new enemy and i wont forgive them for making me go through the freak-out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continue reading "OMGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..."

Since the start of the 2004 season the Pacers have a combined record of 160-177. Seventeen games under .500 over the last 327 games. How does that make you feel about your favorite team? Ok so we haven't collapsed like the Timberwolves or the Knicks. We aren't at the bottom of the standings every year and in fact are usually in the playoffs or at least in the playoff race until the last few weeks of the season. Is this something that should be applauded or despised? Is Larry Bird doing such an excellent job that the Pacers aren't going to hit rock bottom? I have a hard time buying that. It's back to the biblical concept that it's better to be hot or cold than lukewarm. I think I could deal with the Pacers being terrible if I knew it meant that we were going to be getting high draft picks and therefore players good enough to take us back to the top! Instead I suffer through four years of winning then losing then winning then losing. Never having any hope of going far in the playoffs or getting a high draft pick. Instead we get players like Danny Granger who are good but not great and they lead us to another year of decent or good but never great.

Continue reading "Why are the Pacers Mediocre?"

Enjoy the second installment of the official NBA Shankster Rankings. Comments welcome, let me know where I am wrong!

1. Los Angeles Lakers - Pistons opened the door for doubters but they are still at the top.

Continue reading "The Second NBA Shankster Rankings [1-30]"

Don’t let the 9-2 record or the constant late game heroics of Paul Pierce fool you, something is very wrong with the 2008-2009 Boston Celtics.  Actually, “something” isn’t even the right word, because there are multiple things wrong with this year’s Celtics team that if uncorrected, will spell disaster for the defending champs come springtime.  If you don’t already believe me, then I would respectfully refer you to the tape of last Friday’s pathetisad home loss to the Denver Nuggets as evidence supporting my forthcoming claims. 

Continue reading "Alarm Bells are Ringing"

 The first installment of the official NBA Shankster Rankings. Enjoy.

1. Los Angeles Lakers -Won their first five games by an average of 22 points.

2. Atlanta Hawks - Gotta put them up here because they are only other undefeated team.

Continue reading "The NBA Shankster Rankings [1-30]"

If a person takes a quick look at the Indiana Pacers schedule, one might wonder if the NBA has something against them. They started the season against Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit, followed with the defending world champion Celtics, then the Phoenix Suns and will end with LeBron and his Cavaliers. They took it to the defending champs posting a 95-79 win, and were competitive against Detroit (100-94 L) and Phoenix (113-103 L). Quite frankly, with a team that introduced seven new players to the team and lost their only true franchise-type player with Jermaine O'Neal shipped to Toronto, I think the results are favorable.

Continue reading "After Three Games, Pacers Give Fans Hope"

I never thought I'd say it or that it would even cross my mind but after Wednesday's game vs. the Phoenix Suns I couldn't help but wonder, "Are the Pacers missing Jermaine O'Neal?" With Amare Stoudemire devouring the Pacers front line time and time again, ending with 49 points and 11 rebounds, and seeing Jeff Foster and Roy Hibbert combine for a stat line that read 7 points, 6 rebounds, 0 blocks, I couldn't help but wonder if it would have been different with Jermaine playing. For the most part Jermaine could be counted on to produce on the offensive end even if he wasn't shutting down players defensively he was able to neutralize them in some manner with his own scoring. Now don't get me wrong, it was time for Jermaine to move on; when you want franchise money but don't want to carry the franchise anymore it's time to go. However, all I had to do to remember that we made the right decision was look at Jermaine's stat line Wednesday night for Toronto against Detroit, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, and I was reminded that we didn't exactly give up a player in his prime. And with T.J. Ford contributing 23 points on 50% shooting what is there to complain about?  And we had Rasho out with his sprained ankle for tonight's game. Besides, a less than formidable front line isn't the only thing the Pacers have to worry about. We have a young team with new players jumping in the rotation at all different places. It will take time to find a rhythm and get in sync.

Continue reading "Do the Indiana Pacers miss Jermaine O'Neal?"

Don't be fooled by the title. No pun intended but the Indiana pacers were surely lucky to be in the receiving end of a sloppy Boston Celtics team. Turnover after turnover, the Celtic

Continue reading "Sloppy Celtics Lose to Lucky Pacers ..."

I really thought this would be the year.  The first 82-0 season ever.  Now it's all over.

Okay, I'm kidding.  I didn't actually think the Celtics or anybody else was going 82-0.  Especially not when you play like that.  

Continue reading "There Goes 82-0"

So I join this fantasy basketball league at the last minute.  It is just a fun league between some friends I hardly know.  They decide to do an auto-draft. 

If you have never done an auto-draft, all you have to do is rank a list of players and let the computer draft for you.  It is the fastest, most casual form of a fantasy draft.  I didn't even bother ranking my players.  I just went with the default, Yahoo rankings.

Continue reading "The Best Player I've Never Heard Of"

While I struggled with the concept of losing a team I had grown up with, I wondered what my options were. Was there a way to jeopardize my fanhood in this situation? I came across an article ("Rules for being a true fan," Feb. 2002), which, though dated, actually helped me immensely in my decision. A friend of mine, also a die-hard Sonic fan, decided he would join me in deciding where we should take our loyalties.

Continue reading "How I became a Pacers fan"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

So I realize that I was a bit slow in my posts this past weekend and that I missed a few days, but I just didn't have it in me to do so over the weekend.  Anyhow, I'm feeling more energetic today and I've been trying to come up with a way for my other home team, the Portland Trail Blazers, to improve through some trades and in the draft.  I'm not going totally Simmons here, but I do have some thoughts about a few moves that the Blazers could make to improve themselves at the point and at small forward this summer ( I've already written about this some, but now that the draft order is cemented, it's worth revisiting).

Continue reading "Bonus post: NBA Draft Musings"

It's been reported that Paul Pierce has been icing his knees lately and wouldn't mind a rest.  While this may seem troubling to Celtics fans, it's actually just a nice means for me to explain for the 365,872 time why it is soooooo nice to play in the Eastern Conference of the NBA.

Continue reading "God Bless the "Leastern" Conference"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/nba-players-hangin-with-murdere

Continue reading "NBA Players Hangin' With Murderers"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/50-most-influential-european-ba

Continue reading "50 Most Influential European Basketball ..."

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/quotes-of-michael-jordan.html

Continue reading "The Quotes of Michael Jordan"

With three players who have been starters this season sitting on the bench in Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Chris Duhon, the Bulls won. And won big. Not only did they hold leads, but they held on to the game in the fourth quarter, which has been one of their biggest downfalls all year. Kirk Hinrich scored a career high 38 points. When he wanted to score, he pretty much did against an Indiana Pacers team that beat the Bulls pretty bad last time they faced each other. 

Continue reading "An interesting victory for the Bulls"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/01/pacers-oneal-done-for-year.html

Continue reading "Pacers O'Neal, done for the year?"

David Harrison of the Indiana Pacers has received a 5 game suspension for violating the league substance abuse policy or what the NBA calls, it's Anti-Drug program. This could mean a couple of things such as, he took steroids or sampled some dieting supplement which contained speed, but the more likely scenario was that he smoked some of that reefer again!

Continue reading "Are you kidding me: David Harrison the pot head!"

The win last night was phenomenal. Down by 11 at the half and then by 17 at one point in the third, things were looking pretty bleak for the Raptors. After their big win at home over Dallas on Thursday, I was starting to wonder if all their energy had been spent on the Mavs.

Continue reading "Jason Kapono Makes A Statement in ..."