'09-10 Indiana Pacers & the Raiders of the Lost Hope

Reserved for huge roster shake-up recap.

Huge? I hope its not unrealistic...
I love how Rasho is playing for you, getting all those rebounds. I hope you haven't traded him

Recap January 17 - January 25

Snapshot
4-1 record, 3 thrillers
New players' debuts
Frontcourt in disarray

Atlanta Hawks 87 | Indiana Pacers 89
Player of the Game: Danny Granger

January 17 – The new-look Pacers won their first game with the fresh faces in spite of only one, albeit positive, debut. While Mouhamed Sene and Kenny Thomas did not dress for the game, neither Bobby Jackson and Spencer Hawes saw any action in the victory, keyed by Danny Granger’s 26 points, including the game winning dunk in the final seconds. Nick Collison, coming off the bench, tallied 7 points and 6 boards in 24 minutes while new starter Udonis Haslem had 10 points and 9 rebounds. The visitors held the lead almost throughout on the backs of Josh Smith and Joe Johnson, who finished with 22 and 28 points, respectively. However, poor shooting down the stretch coupled with unnecessary turnovers saw their lead dwindle and ultimately disappear. After Joe Johnson missed a deep two with one possession left on the clock and the score tied, the Pacers stormed up court and Granger blew past Smith to slam home the decisive two points.

Miami Heat 105 | Indiana Pacers 96
Player of the Game: Dwayne Wade
Pacer of the Game: Udonis Haslem

January 19 – Not even Udonis Haslem’s intense play could overcome the Heat tonight. Haslem, typically offensively challenged, recorded 22 points along with 10 rebounds (5 offensive) and 3 steals, in a loss which saw the Pacers struggle to early on and fail to recover. Two other Pacers, Rasho Nesterovic and T.J. Ford, had double-doubles and neither Bobby Jackson nor Spencer Hawes saw action again tonight. Former Pacers Jamaal Tinsley and Josh McRoberts played a combined 5 minutes in the victory. Rookie Michael Beasley demonstrated why he was such a high pick, easily obtaining a double-double. Even Mark Blount had his way on offence, knocking down 7-of-10.

Miami Heat 83 | Indiana Pacers 99
Player of the Game: Danny Granger

January 21 – Two days later, the same two teams, but a very different outcome. The Indiana Pacers took off in the third quarter and allowed their reserves to maintain the lead. Danny Granger led five double-digit Pacers scorers with 19 points along with 2 rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. T.J. Ford and Travis Diener each had a team-high 7 assists and 13 and 7 points, respectively. Spencer Hawes made a very successful debut, even if most of his minutes were in an uncontested battle, totaling 10 points and 5 rebounds. Former Pacer Josh McRoberts had 7 points and 2 rebounds in a loss in which Dwayne Wade’s 30 points could not make up for poor shooting by Michael Beasley and Shawn Marion, both of which finished with 6 points. Shawn Livingston continued to impress as a starter, collecting 10 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Mark Blount again took advantage of the Pacers centres, picking up a double-double with 16 points.

Orlando Magic 101 | Indiana Pacers 102
Player of the Game: T.J. Ford

January 23 – In an absolute thriller the Indiana Pacers pulled out another victory. Pau Gasol led all scorers with 29 points, along with 17 rebounds, while Rashard Lewis, continuing with his LeBron James impression had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists. Outside of those two and Hedo Turkoglu’s 17 points and Courtney Lee’s 12 points, 6 steals and 4 blocks, the rest of the Magic just weren’t all that spectacular, combining for a measly 22 points. The victors had 5 players reach double figure scoring, led by Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger who, aside from their combined 3-of-15 three-point shooting, had 24 and 20 points, respectively. Brandon Rush contributed 14 points from the bench and Nick Collison, in just 11 minutes of play, had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Houston Rockets 87 | Indiana Pacers 88
Player of the Game: T.J. Ford

January 25 – Another absolutely amazing game for Pacers fan, being decided with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock. The Rockets seemed poised to win the game with 4 minutes remaining, a double-digit lead and a constantly changing Pacer frontcourt to contend with Yao Ming, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds; however, Indiana managed to work out their kinks, rally and watch Tracy McGrady block Nick Collison’s shot with under 5 seconds out to Mike Dunleavy, who threw it to T.J. Ford just inside the three-point arc with a second left. The score tells you what happened: it went straight through the mesh. The Pacers frontcourt was the story today as reserves outplayed the starters, especially down the stretch. Nick Collison scored 11 points and had 6 rebounds and Roy Hibbert collected 10 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks, while Rasho Nesterovic and Udonis Haslem combined for just 8 points. Spencer Hawes received some minutes after a game off, tallying 4 points and a rebound in 8 minutes. The final few minutes were fraught with Rocket mistakes and misplays. Aaron Brooks, subbing in for an injured Rafer Alston down the stretch, had a costly cough up to Travis Diener and threw up a number of shots that were either blocked or just poorly taken. Ron Artest was cold, hitting 3-of-17 and McGrady, expected to carry the team, had 16 points, 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Luis Scola was the surprising bright spot for the Rockets in the heartbreakingly close contest with 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Odds And Ends

Top Performer: T.J. Ford
Top Performance: Danny Granger, Jan. 17 vs. Atlanta Hawks
Top Bench Performer: Brandon Rush
Top Bench Performance: Nick Collison, Jan. 25 vs. Houston Rockets

The kinks still need to be worked out in the frontcourt but the players' identities are becoming established. Nesterovic is the reliable rebounder and shot blocker; Haslem is a rebounder and easy-basket scoring energy player; Collison brings energy and the most reliable shot; Hibbert is the big, hulking centre who is still a little lost but can block shots and pull down and plug up the lane; Hawes is the most offensive-minded big but lacks the all-around abilities to hold his own...Trading Jarrett Jack away has allowed Travis Diener to flourish. While not as dominant and fluid as Jack, Diener has performed very well, certainly enough to keep Bobby Jackson relegated to the bench...Ford has developed a much neater shot to complement his pass-first instincts...Rush has really quietly put up double-digit scoring games off the bench. He seems to get lost in the buzz around the new players and playing behind Granger and Dunleavy...Since when is Dunleavy so mercurial? 4 points followed by 24 leaves heads in need of scratching.

Walk a Mile Challenge

Here's your opportunity to walk a mile in the shoes of the personnel of the Indiana Pacers' organization. beHere's this week's food for thought: There is suddenly a logjam in the frontcourt with a number of players with different abilities. How would you divide court time among them?

Bonus! How about those trades? Would you have made them? Did they do anything productive? Grade the deals.

December 23rd - Cleveland Cavaliers trade GF LeBron James to the Utah Jazz for FC Carlos Boozer
January 11th - Cleveland Cavaliers trade FC Ben Wallce to the Denver Nuggets for SF Carmelo Anthony

Man the CPU trades are so unrealistic! Anyways, it is definitely a new-look Pacers, lots of new faces on the team... Hopefully, it works out for you...

This dynasty is far from over - only it's going to be fast forwarded quite a bit. After getting through about 60 games and realizing the roster needed to be tweaked in the off-season, I simmed through the remaining number of games, regular season and playoff. Unfortunately, I failed to record the winners of awards and results from the 2008-09 playoffs, save recalling that the New Orleans Hornets beat the Miami Heat in 7 games. I will shortly evaluate the 2008-09 Pacers season and progress to the 2009-10 season, which promises to be exciting.

The Year in Review

The 2008-09 season for the Indiana Pacers did not go quite as well as hoped, finishing 40-42 and missing the playoffs by two spots. The season was fraught with injuries and roster instability, but there were some bright points. Once a playoff position was almost assured to be a dream, Roy Hibbert stepped into the starting line-up and proved to be an excellent facilitator as well as a suprising offensive contributor. The power forward position remained a question mark with two players with similar skill sets vied for time and niether proved to be an offensive threat. Danny Granger is the unquestionable team leader so long as he stays healthy, which was a bit of a problem, falling to injuries three times during the season; while Brandon Rush played well in his role as sixth man and substitute small forward, Marquis Daniels provided an instant spark off the bench, capable of hitting deep shots and driving to the hoop. T.J. Ford and Mike Dunleavy both played very well, with the latter tailing off a bit from previous years' all-around contributions. Spencer Hawes did not wow anybody but showed much promise in the reserve centre/power forward slot.

Assessing the trades after the year has passed, it seems the Miami Heat trade proved to be the most worthwhile. Udonis Haslem has done exactly what was required of him, but his offensive skill set was sadly not offset upfront. Nick Collison, acquired from Oklahoma City, was supposed to be the answer: he failed to be the presence anticipated of him. With his contract not expected to come off the books for two more years, his acquisition for the expiring contract of Jeff Foster was a bust. Lastly, the six-player Sacramento trade which brought Hawes to the Pacers and saw Troy Murphy off to the Kings still has not payed off. Bobby Jackson's contract comes off the books this off-season but there is still no cap room to sign anybody. Kenny Thomas' contract ends next off-season, which will be helpful in re-signing Danny Granger and also providing financial flexibility to sign another free agent. Troy Murphy's unique abilities were missed, but his inconsistency certainly was not.

This off-season sees three needs to be resolved: first, a suitable back-up point guard needs to be acquired; second, the frontcourt situation needs to be resolved and likely one of Haslem or Collison needs to be moved; third, a true shooter needs to be added to the roster, as three-point shooting was woefully bad.

Nice review and , good to see you are back.

2009 Pacers Off-season

The Pacers bid adieu to Rasho Nesterovic and Bobby Jackson, as anticipated, prior to the draft. With the 10th overall selection, the Pacers opted for FC Gavin Ferguson from Princeton, an intense shotblocker and agile and athletic player with a sweet touch from the free throw line. Thirty picks later Indiana grabbed F J.T. Merino from Kansas. Merino provides good court vision and is capable of being an offensive threat from anywhere on the court. Following the draft, the Pacers inked former Raptor point guard Will Solomon to solidify the backcourt, using the full midlevel exception. Just prior to the end of the free agency period, Kenny Thomas was released and F Vinny Jones, and undrafted rookie from BYU, was signed for the league minimum. Jones, like Merino, is capable of playing long ball and is decent at intercepting passing lanes. Hoping to sort out the power forward situation, Nick Collison was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers for fellow forward Vladimir Radmonovic. Radman is more capable of spreading the floor than Collison and is also more willing to be relegated to a reserve role.

With the season about to start, how did the offseason go, in your opinion? I will try to give a little more of an update of what transpired for other teams. Failing this, just take a look at box scores to see who's playing for whom (there was not too much movement in the off-season, though many very good players went unsigned and will be "playing in Europe" such as Stephon Marbury [good to see him out of a job] and Shawn Marion).