Paul George The Pacers have done nothing to advance their team since the awesome 61 win team of 2003-04. In that time, their win totals have tapered off slowly; 44, 41, 35, 36, 36, 32. They make moves more befitting of a championship contender (Dahntay Jones for 4 years? Earl Watson for one? Drafting Tyler Hansbrough? Trading for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy?) when they haven’t the core around which to build. Apart from catching lightning in a bottle with the drafting of Danny Granger, the Pacers have done nothing to build a young foundation, nor have they done anything to build an old foundation. George represented the Pacers highest draft pick since 1996, when they picked Erick Dampier 10th overall. Indiana normally drafts low because they’re good – in the last few years, however, they’ve been drafting in the late lottery. They are not good enough to make the playoffs, yet their needless short term moves also ensure they are not bad enough to draft higher than that. Not since George McCloud in 1989 have the Pacers drafted in the top 10; not until next summer will they have any cap space. Without those things, the Pacers have been unable to land a star or any significant young talent, and while the #10 pick in a strong draft represented a chance to do, all Indiana have done is use it on a player who plays the same position as their best current player. This is a re-think on my draft night stance, admittedly. Nevertheless, we’re going to have to sign away one more season of moribund stalemate for the Pacers. When 2011 free agency comes around, maybe they can finally build something significant. Richard Hendrix I have long since clamoured for Hendrix’s NBA talent, going as far as to […]
I have watched a game and a half of Ohio State’s season in this past week, and I feel as though that makes me an expert on everything about them. – The half a game comes from the second half of the Buckeye’s game versus Indiana on Saturday. When we (and by “we”, I mean “the entire nation of England”) joined the game, Indiana was losing by one, 59-58. God knows how, because they proceeded to show nothing at all. They had no big men, no defence, no inside game, no slashing, no spacing, and their guards just took it in turns to hoist up threes. This from the worst three-point shooting team in the conference, apparently. Still, guard Matt Roth’s performance will linger with me for a while; unlike everybody else, Roth could actually hit a three, and proved this by hitting nine of them, each from further away than the last. It was an impressive shooting performance, to say the least, and it kept Indiana in a game in which they were otherwise wildly overmatched. If ever I encounter Matt Roth again in my life, this will be the first thing that I think of. (I looked up Matt Roth on ESPN after this, to see if he was any good. He wasn’t, but I did find something fun; Roth is 40/96 on the season from three-point range, 11/13 from the free throw line….and 3/10 from two-point range. Nice. Daequan Cook is jealous.) There was literally nothing else to report from Indiana’s point of view, who are as undermanned as you’d heard they are. – Ohio State’s seven-man rotation featured a starting line-up of Jeremie Simmons at point guard, William Buford at two guard, Jon Diebler as the other two guard, Evan Turner as both forwards and Dallas […]
