The Indiana Pacers are some kind of something. That is to say, they’re a mediocre team with a few mildly appealing pieces for fantasy purposes, but nothing to go nuts about. If anything, there are a lot of untouched ceilings here, which may or may not appeal to you. Let’s take a look at what Larry Bird’s boys can offer fantasy owners next season. Read More »

Even the late Rodney Dangerfield would have agreed that after arriving in Boston, Nenad Krstic has received no respect from NBA referees. If you look at the numbers, he’s being called for 3.7 fouls per game since his arrival, while he averaged only 2.3 an outing in Oklahoma City. But after six years in the League, you’d think he’d earn himself some clout. Watch the following play from Monday night’s game in Indiana to see what Krstic means when he says the refs are making him feel like a rookie again: Read More »

Things change quickly in the NBA. At the beginning of last season, T.J. Ford and Brandon Rush made up the Indiana Pacers’ starting backcourt on Opening Night. Today, both Ford and Rush are falling out of Indy’s rotation, and very well could be available for whoever wants them as the February trade deadline approaches.

Ford, the 8th-year pro who was once upon a time was knocking on the door as maybe a top-10 point guard in the NBA, has been in and out of coach Jim O’Brien‘s doghouse throughout his tenure with the Pacers. Read More »

Other than “I can’t stand Reggie Miller,” the last thing you’d expect to hear from an Indiana Pacers fan is, “I hope we start T.J. Ford at point guard.”

But that’s where I’m at right now. After incoming rookie Lance Stephenson turned in a surprisingly effective and efficient performance at the Orlando Summer League (14.8 ppg, 73% FG), the idea of him starting at point guard next season is building momentum. Read More »

Anybody who’s followed the Pacers over the past couple of seasons would understand why T.J. Ford has been Marburied on Jim O’Brien‘s bench lately.

For all of his speed and attack-mode mentality that theoretically should be tailored for O’Brien’s up-tempo system, Ford’s poor decision-making, shot selection and defense was finally too much for the coach to deal with. So for the last 18 games, Ford has been racking up DNP-CD’s while Earl Watson and A.J. Price handled the point guard duties. Read More »

Ranking the League from worst to first…

30. New Jersey Nets (3-40) Last week: Lost at Phoenix; lost at Golden State; lost at Utah. You know how some teams can play any style and win? The Nets have become adept at losing with any style. Last week they lost trying to run. They also lose in the halfcourt, lose when they go big, lose when they go small, lose with a youth movement, lose with vets, lose at home, lose on the road … their company softball team probably stinks, too.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves (9-36) Last week: Lost to Oklahoma City; lost to New Orleans; lost at Milwaukee. If you’re into moral victories, the Wolves can be proud of at least taking the Thunder and Hornets down to the wire. The talent and competitiveness is there; you just see the execution failures that come with a young team. Read More »

You would think that if you’re in the NBA fraternity that you would have an easier time building a friendship with one of the stars in the league. Unfortunately that’s not always the case. Indiana Pacers rookies Tyler Hansbrough and A.J. Price learned that the hard way when they came across KG over the summer. According to this snippet from this Boston Globe story: Read More »

Principal D-Stern had to have been pleased with his product yesterday, as two of the NBA’s three preseason games took place outside the United States. In Taiwan, the Pacers blew out the Nuggets: Troy Murphy put up 20 points with four threes, and Brandon Rush (20 pts) knocked down six triples, but the real story was Roy Hibbert. The kid was a BEAST, going for 20 points, 11 boards and eight blocks. Granted, Nene being out meant Denver started Johan Petro at center, but he only played 10 minutes before Birdman and K-Mart assumed most of the duties inside. It’s just preseason, but in the Nuggets‘ two games against NBA teams (they smashed a team of kids from Belgrade), they haven’t looked good at all … Read More »

After putting together the modified Top-50 list of players from ‘08-09, I had about 50 leftovers who just missed the cut. And from that, there could’ve been a whole sub-category titled “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

We’ve gone over the centers, two-guards and small forwards. Now here are five point guards who look the most ready to crack the 2010 Top-10 with their performances next season: Read More »

As not to break my own “It’s just summer league” adage, I won’t get too excited about the fact that Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough are rampaging through Orlando right now for my Pacers like Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in ’86 (with A.J. Price as their Dennis Johnson).

We’re still months away from the real games, from even beginning to determine whether Hansbrough will become the good pro I think he’ll be, or the Lottery pick bust his harsher critics think he’ll be. Read More »