From the monthly archives:

July 2010

The Pacers Free Agent Point Guard Options

by Jared Wade on July 31, 2010 at 4:23 pm · 7 comments

Given that the Pacers have officially signed Lance Stephenson, who they think can run the offense, and there are reports that the front office still can’t find any takers for TJ Ford, Indiana’s desperate need for a point guard may not be as great today as it was back when Earl Watson was leaving in free agency and AJ Price was fracturing his patella playing charity basketball.

And since they have 14 players under contract already and might give Magnum Rolle the final roster spot, there may have to be a trade before the Pacers even have room to bolster the PG spot through free agency.

BUT … if they do want to add another PG, they probably should do it soon. Because, as Sham Sports points out in this fantastic post on what free agents are still out there, there isn’t a lot out there.

Here’s the full list of PGs:

Earl Watson
Anthony Johnson
Chucky Atkins
Cedric Jackson
White Chocalate (who has sweet negative sideburns)
Bobby Brown
Chris Quinn
Earl Boykins
Mustaka Shakur
Acie Law
Antonio Daniels
Travis Diener
Eddie House
Jamaal Tinsley
Marcus Williams
Rafer Alston
Brevin Knight
Jason Hart
Lester Hudson
Tweety Carter
Sherron Collins
Patty Mills
Mike James
Marko Jaric
Šarūnas Jasikevičius
John Lucas III
Jerome Randle
John Scheyer

First of all, the Pacers pathetic PG situation is best summed up by the fact that this list includes a full five players who have received paychecks from the team in the past few years (and, of course, one who is still receiving them. Don’t spend it all in one place, Jamaal.). It also includes one guy that I’m pretty sure Sham made up (no way Tweety Carter is an actual, living human being), one guy who has never before dribbled a basketball (Eddie House only catches and shoots … he also signed with Miami), one guy who I’m pretty sure is dead (Brevin Knight) and several guys who will likely never play more than 20 games in the NBA.

So … Presuming the team wouldn’t bring back Earl Watson, I’m not sure any of these guys are worth the time. Acie Law, Earl Boykins and maybe Rafer (I like the guy for God knows what reason) are the only three names that inspire even a half-hearted “meh.” The rest are straight “no thanks.” (Rafer is too, really, since it would pretty much be acquiring another TJ Ford.) Sherron Collins might be worth a look, I guess.

Time to call some GMs about Troy Murphy.

meh

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An “Update” on Tyler’s Affliction

by Jared Wade on July 29, 2010 at 1:22 pm · 0 comments

I’m starting to feel like Servilla in Rome desperately trying to find out what “terrible affliction” the Gods have cursed Tyler with.

Still … we don’t really know what’s wrong with Tyler Hansbrough.. He is dizzy. He has vertigo-like symptoms. He is lifting and running again but being held out of contact drills for fear that a collision could cause a setback.

That’s what Mike Wells has found out in this latest “update” into the mysterious condition anyway (with “update” in quotes because we basically already knew all this).

Hansbrough is back in the weight room and participating in full-speed, non-contact basketball drills. The Pacers are limiting contact because they want to avoid setbacks.

“He’s out there working out very hard and practicing very hard to get back to playing full time,” Pacers president Larry Bird said.

In his piece, Wells also has the similar remarks from Jim O’Brien earlier in the month and some interesting quotes from a doctor who is an expert on this type of disorder.

Related Topics: Tyler Hansbrough, Tyler's Vertigo

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The Pacers Are a Summer League “Winner”

by Jared Wade on July 19, 2010 at 12:03 pm · 1 comment

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Indiana’s finest were one of the biggest winners of this year’s Summer League. (via Indy Cornrows)

WINNER: Indiana Pacers

The Pacers gambled when they drafted Fresno State guard Paul George with the 11th overall pick, but George didn’t disappoint in Orlando. He not only scored well, averaging 15.2 points, but also grabbed 7.8 rebounds and was a better-than-expected defender with 2.4 steals per game.

Guard Lance Stephenson and forward Magnum Rolle, both second-round picks of the Pacers, also proved worthy of roster spots.

We took a look at Lance’s impressive performance in an earlier post and Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook was also kind enough to break down Paul George’s big game. Stuff like this doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things — but it could. (If that makes sense.) Sure, the fact that George can play some clutch ball in what is essentially a scrimmage while wearing some Eastbay-castoff uniforms doesn’t mean much. It will all be soon forgotten, and it is in no way a predictor of things to come.

But it could matter to him. It could be in the first goal to fall in the row of finely aligned row of dominoes that any NBA prospect needs to turn talent into a successful career. First, George has a pleasant and confidence-building Summer League. Then, maybe he has a few good months of training on his own. Then he has a good preseason. Then he makes a good start to the year.

Then? Who knows?

Obviously, he’s just a rookie, and there will inevitably be some bumps in the road. Maybe he’ll have trouble picking up Jim O’Brien’s famously hard-to-master offense. And by most accounts he has a lot to work on in terms of fundamentals and NBA-level skills. So there will be some frustration. He’s an NBA rookie. There will definitely be some frustration.

But hopefully getting off to a good start — not matter how meaningless in the grand scheme of things — will be meaningful to him.

Paul George

We already know that Paul George’s first-ever press conference after making it to the NBA was meaningful to him. We’ll see if his Summer League success was. (Photo: Kyle Weidie of the Wizards’ blog Truth About It, which just today featured some Summer League thoughts from John Wall.)

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