Thoughts on Opening Night

Well, after one night of basketball, we've had one ass-beating and well, one game that was kind of a surprise. From what I saw of game 1, the Heat were too busy playing with their enormous rings to box out or take care of the ball. It never helps when your two best players are both in early foul trouble. Oh, and getting out rebounded by 20 never helps. The Bulls looked deep and tonight was their "We're fo' real" game. It will be interesting when we face them on the 11th.

As for the Lakers, who'd have thought they would cover (+4)? Let alone with the game outright. Lamar "The Goods" Odom and Co. came back from a double digit defecit to beat the Suns. Amare looks tentative, which doesn't bode well for the Suns. Showtime 2006 was without The Mamba, which will make them better in the long run if he can just fit right in and they just keep on clicking. Walton, Evans, and Bynum all looked good tongiht, as did Barbosa.

See, the thing is though, this is only opening night so anything could happen. The Bulls could be a train-wreck (doubtful) and the Lakers could blow (maybe) but there are still 81 games left to decide this. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Drumline is on this weekend. So is Mr. Deeds.

Less than 24 till the P-Men tip.

The Look Ahead

The P-Men are on the road for two out of three this week, although they could conceivably go 3-0, which would be one hell of a statement considering the events of the past month or so. I mean, with S-Jax poppin’ off shots and shit, this pre-season hasn’t been all quiet on the western front. So let’s take a look at this upcoming week and what we should watch for…

Wednesday @ Charlotte

We were 1-1 against the ‘Cats during the pre-season. OK. But here’s my question. Why are we playing someone twice in the pre-season and then opening up against them in our first game. Who makes these schedules? I guess both teams pretty much know what to look for in this game. I expect a win in this game. The young guys that Charlotte has will be a good match for us because they are gonna look to get up and down as well. JO should be too much for Okafor, May & Co. to handle inside. Wallace will get his but our overall depth should be enough to get over the top. As this team still looks to get some kind of continuity, this is a night where Carlisle can set his rotation and start to build some more chemistry between the guys he is gonna play. Pacers 96, Bobcats 89.

Pacers '06-'07 TV Schedule.

This is not only for you, it's for us. Unfortunately, we gots no NBA TV in this piece. So we will be giving you the ESPN/ABC/TNT schedule for our beloved P-Men.

Thursday, January 18. TNT. 7:00 PM EST - Indiana @ Miami
Sunday, January 28. ESPN. 6:30 PM EST - Indiana @ Detroit
Sunday, February 25. ESPN. 8:00 PM EST - Sacremento @ Indiana
Tuesday, March 20. TNT. 9:30 PM EST - Indiana @ Houston
Sunday, March 25. ABC. 3:30 PM EST - Chicago @ Indiana (Regional Game)
Friday, April 13. ESPN. 8:00 PM EST - Indiana @ Miami
Sunday, April 15. ABC. 3:30 PM EST - New Jersey @ Indiana (Regional)
Wednesday, April 18. ESPN. 8:00 PM EST - Washington @ Indiana

Hopefully TNT picks up some more games once they start winning or else someone is going to have to get League Pass.

Pacers Spotlight: Jeff Foster.

I'm gonna try and write this without looking at another website. Listen, until about 3 years ago, I didn't know who Jeff Foster was, nor did I care. But now, I know who he is and I care about how he plays. With Carlisle opting to go small ball this year, Foster will be coming off the bench behind JO and playing the 5 if JO slides over. My most fondest memories of Foster are from the playoffs a couple years ago against the Pistons. I think that it was 04-05, when the Pacers were on life support and Foster was the spark plug off the bench pulling down double digit rebounds against one of the best frontlines in the NBA.

Now, for a few games you can look like a playa against a then-Big Ben led Pistons team. But, over a seven game series, even the most serviceable role players are going to look human. This is what happened to Foster. He played over his head and then came back to life, which makes him not consistent enough to be a starter. That's why I think Foster will be better suited for this role coming off the bench. He is an excellent offensive rebounder, which in my opinion is a lost art, and is the guy along with Marq Daniels that can really have an impact coming off the bench. Foster has the ability to grab a couple O-Boards and block a shot or two. He is a guy that has decent athleticism for his size and can play defense. Jeff Foster isn't going to make any mistakes that are going to kill you on the floor. He is a high intensity guy that can spell JO and hopefully his limited offensive ability does not become a hinderance.

I think Foster is good for 15 to 20 minutes a night and a couple of offensive rebounds. This might be asking a lot, but if Foster can provide this, then anything above or beyond this will be welcome. Hopefully, JO will stay healthy so that Foster can play a role that he does best, coming off the bench.

Vintage Pacers.

I don't think the second 3 hits anything.

Pacers Spotlight: Danny Granger.

I'm about 5 hours into my newly established love for all things Pacers. And let's get this straight, Danny Granger is my Pacer idol. Sarunas Jasikevicius, although enticing, will fall in down the line of my Pacer faves.

Granger came out of New Mexico after an impressing showing in the NCAA Tournament his senior year. He was picked 17th overall, behind the likes of Martell Webster, Yaroslav Korolev and Joey Graham. This was considered by some to be a little bit of a slip, but hey, the Pacers got him and both parties are probably better off for it. Granger, the third collegiate senior taken in this draft, was a character guy and also one helluva player, which this franchise-on-life support probably needed.


During his rook campaign, Granger averaged 7.5 and 4.9 a game appearing in 78 games. His coming out party would be on January 24th where he scored 21 points on 8-11 from the floor and he knocked down 3 of 4 Three-Balls. Although Granger didn't average gaudy numbers, I think that his rookie year was a great learning experience. He got to play along side JO, who seems like one of the real quality guys in the league. Except for one misguided right hook, JO has been nothing but class and is the undisputed leader of this team. Granger seems like the kind of kid to fall in line right behind JO and this could be the year that he blossoms into a second in command type of player.

Granger will probably start now with the impending (and always present) legal troubles of S-Jax and few others. He is suited for the 3, but can definetly play the 4 in the East and has the length and speed to be a tough match-up for some 2's. Granger can finish and defend, two things that will guarentee you a spot on the floor. Also, if Carlisle wants to push it with some of his young guns this year then Granger can be trusted to handle the ball as well, as he only averaged 1.06 TO's in over 22 minutes a game last year. He already is an older guy and coming into his second year should see an explosion in his points, rebounds, and blocked shots.

We are at Charlotte on November One, which will probably match-up Granger up with Gerald Wallace, another one of the promising youngsters in the East. This will be a good test for Granger, one that he should be able to hold his own in.

So, Danny Granger is gonna take spot number one on my Pacers favorite list. The League should know Granger's name by the end of this year, which in turn could lead to a Central Division championship for the Pacers.

This Should Be Interesting.

You know what? There are no Indiana Pacers blogs anywhere on these here Internets. Not one. Unbelieveable.

A Google search for "Pacers blog" returns some fan thing from the Pacers team site. Lame. The sweet NBA Preview thing doesn't even have a blogger to preview the Pacers, the Pacers were embarressingly unrepresented on the Worldwide Leader's preview of the L (although J.E. Skeets filled in admirably) and Skeets and Tas over at The Basketball Jones didn't even have a blogger to interview over the phone on their awesome, some would say spectacular, podcast previewing the Central Division.

How is this possible? Is there a more basketball crazy state than Indiana? Isn't that all they do there - grow wheat and shoot on backboards attached to barns? Remember Hoosiers and the kid who wanted a duffle bag full of money in Blue Chips? Was that not an accurate representation of the Hoosier State's love affair with hoops?

Well, this can stand no longer. So the good people who brought you Point 23 and Life in the Post have decided to do something about it. Hey - we see a need, we fill it. That's just what we do. Thank us later. Now is also cool.

We might as well be honest here. The Pacers aren't our favorite teams. When you grow up in central PA, there really isn't a natural team to ally yourself with. Philly, DC...perhaps, but for one reason or another they never stuck, although I will admit to a three-year affair with AI.

And that's the key right there - we are more attached to players than a particular team. I prefer that raw stylings of LeBron, so I became a de facto Cavs fan. If he bolted Cleveland, I don't know whether I'd be able to keep my allegiance to the Cavs on life support.

My esteemed parter over at Life in the Post doesn't claim one squad, either - more of a handful of ballers captained by Agent Zero. Let me tell you something: when LeBron placed his hands on Gil and willed him to miss those two free throws, well...that may have been the transcendent moment in our friendship.

So without a "true" team, and seeing the need in the blogosphere, we made the Pacers are our cause this year. Kind of like an orphan. Sure, we already have our own kids, but we have room for one more. Deep down, we know we don't love him as much, but least he has a roof over his head now, right? I think its a win-win.

To keep the parenting analogy going, all parents have favorites (and it probably wasn't you - just sayin').

My personal hero is Stephen Jackson, the patron saint of this here blog. (Hey, anytime you can make your own team openly root for you to go to prison just so they don't have to deal with you, well, you've accomplished something. Not sure what, but its something.)

My esteemed colleague has fallen for Sausndfns Jaseckkashk (shutup, you can't say it either) and will be living and dying with every three ball he launches this year. Should be a smooth ride.

What are we trying to accomplish this year? Well, we aren't real sure, to be honest. We're hopping on the Pacers bandwagon, and we'll see where it takes us. Should be a hell of a ride; we're just trying not to throw up and/or sustain any gun shot wounds. And as long as we don't run over Stephen Jackson, we should make it through unscathed.