This summer, basketball fans have been treated to a number of big games featuring the best players from regions like Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Baltimore. The Drew League, Goodman League and Melo League have made the lockout tolerable for many basketball fans and given a number of NBA stars something to do with their free time.

Now, it appears more players will have the opportunity to represent their hometown. Seattle and Indiana are among the regions working to put together their own travel teams featuring NBA players. Organizers are trying to assemble rosters and schedule games against the other regional teams.

The team from Indiana hasn’t released a roster, but there are a number of NBA players who were born in the area that could participate. Zach Randolph, Eric Gordon, George Hill, Courtney Lee, Jeff Teague, Mike Conley, Josh McRoberts, Jared Jeffries, Brad Miller and Gordon Hayward were all born in Indiana. Other NBA players such as Luke Harangody and Rodney Carney could also be eligible to play since they attended high school in the area.

Indiana might not have Durant, Melo or Kobe, but they could field perhaps the most well-rounded actual team. Hill and EJ starting in the backcourt with Z-Bo, McRoberts and some third guard starting up front.

Barnstorm away.

Based on the photo of his torso below, I’m guessing George Hill is in.

He was also often sloppy with the rock, however. Especially in the high post, way too many of Roy’s touches were wasted with him just holding the ball and letting the shot-clock dwindle before making a bailout swing pass that did little more than force a guard to re-set the offense.

This season has been very different.

His assist percentage (the amount of teammate field goals a player assists on while he is on the court) so far this year is 19.3%. For reference, only 12 centers in history have finished a season with an assist percentage of more than 19%. Only four centers have done so since 2000 (Shaquille O’Neal, Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac and Brad Miller). And no center has finished above 19% since Miller did so for Sacramento in 2005-06.

(If you open it up to players of any position who are 6’10″ and over — thereby including great passers like Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Toni Kukoc — there are still only 22 tall guys that have ever maintained an assist percentage better than 19.0% for a whole season. KG has done it an amazing 10 times — with a high of 27.1%.)

He is performing well by other metrics as well. Per-36 minutes this season, for example, Roy ranks fifth in assists among players 6’10 and over — ahead of guys like Pau, KG and Dirk.

How is it that Roy has become so much more adept at passing the ball so quickly?

Like all his improvements this year, his slimmed-down physique and new-found agility are the primary drivers. It’s not that MMA training this summer gave him better court vision, but better stamina and greater quickness have slowed down the game for him, and he now just sees everything that happens on offense better — and sooner.

Also, he just understands the offense better and is more comfortable receiving the ball at the elbow. The trepidation and indecision that was all too familiar last season is now rarely seen. He has a plan from the catch and does something useful with the ball much more quickly. If a guy gets open, he usually gets the ball from Hibbert. This, naturally, incentives movement and helps prevent stagnation. Instead of looking like a QB hurried by a blitz, he stands there calmly, pivoting and scanning the court as if he is checking down receivers and looking for a seam to throw. He is also better at executing the hand-off to a teammate — usually Danny Granger — who curls off his shoulder towards the foul line.

Sport Illustrated’s Ian Thompson recently spoke with Hibbert about his passing. And Roy credits working with Bill Walton this summer as a big reason that his technical proficiency has improved.

Few NBA offenses run as much motion around the post as the surprising 10-10 Pacers, but then few teams have a center who can pass as well as 7-foot-2 Hibbert. It’s no coincidence that Hibbert spent three days last summer working with Bill Walton, the Hall of Famer who was the finest passing center of modern times.

“[Bill] had a drill from the high post,” said Hibbert, “and he was like, ‘Just make passes between your legs, behind your back.’ They were silly passes to the guards while they were moving, and he was like, ‘Don’t be afraid to make those passes.

“We watched tape on Hakeem [Olajuwon], we watched Pau Gasol and David Robinson and how they were able to see guys [cutting] and they didn’t think twice about making those passes. It just came natural to them, and Bill said I have that [ability] so I should do it.”

Perhaps even more importantly, Walton helped instill confidence in Hibbert.

Since last season, Hibbert has … developed confidence that is on display during the pregame introductions, when he raises both hands high at the sound of his name, whether at home or away. That last bit comes from Walton.

“He said you have to love yourself,” said Hibbert. “He was like, ‘You have to be all about yourself!’ I told him, ‘Basically what you’re telling me is swag.’ Come out like this.”

He raised both arms.

“All eyes on me,” said Hibbert. “I do it now because of Bill, that’s why I come out like that.”

I’m not sure that Bill Walton knows what “swag” is, and I’m almost certain he hasn’t ever listened to to Tupac’s multi-platinum-selling double-album All Eyez on Me, but nevertheless, it seems as though the universal language of beautiful passing was not lost in translation.

Here’s a gorgeous pass from Roy Hibbert to Darren Collison from Friday’s win over Charlotte. I don’t believe he could have done this last year. Note the Walton-inspired, All Eyez on Me arms at the end.

Post-Game Essentials: Box Score | PM Game Flow | Play-By-Play | Shot Chart | Behind the Box Score | Indy Star Recap | Cornrows Recap | AP Recap | Pacer’s Digest Post Game

It was another ugly one, folks.

The Pacers came out missing everything and dug themselves a 19-point deficit by the end of the first quarter. Improved accuracy, better defense and an impressive-as-hell Josh McRoberts cameo in the second cut the lead to 4 at the half, and Indy even managed to thief the lead momentarily in the third quarter. But that house of cards was quickly blown down by the sonic boom left in the wake of Derrick Rose — and, oddly, Brad Miller — as they continually got by defenders and scored easily in the final 12 minutes.

More than anything, this game felt like a lot of the undercard wrestling matches I watched as a kid. On Saturday afternoon (or whenever these shows used to be on before the whole Monday Night Raw thing took off in primetime), there would only ever be one or two matches that were actually interesting (much like how last night in the NBA only Cavs/Hawks and perhaps Rockets/Hornets were marquee match ups).

But they still had an hour to fill. So, early in the show, someone like Jake the Snake would square off with an also-ran like The Brooklyn Brawler just to kill 10 minutes in between Cocoa Pebbles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure commercials.

Jake the Snake would come out to much fanfare and quickly start pounding away on the Brawler. A few punches to the face, a clothesline, a body slam and maybe even a supplex or two. Then, out of nowhere, the Brawler would catch Jake with a nutshot that turned the tide. He would pick Jake up, give em an eye gouge and throw in off the ropes before slamming him to the canvas. He would work Roberts over in the corner for a while, pummeling away on his skull until it looked like we might actually have a legitimate fight on our hands.

But, of course, that was all a ruse. The Brawler was never going to win that fight.

Jake got up, landed a few punches, swept the leg and then waited for the Brooklyn Brawler to get up before unleashing the match-ending DDT to put the lights out.

1-2-3.

Jake the Snake wins. Play the music.

The Pacers did an admirable job of keeping the game close last night during the middle portions, but the beginning and the end all belonged to the Bulls. And I don’t think anyone in the building really thought the Pacers were ever going to seize enough control of the game to take it over and win — even during the brief stretch in the third quarter when they took a 70-68 lead.

In fact, that was the exact moment the wheels fell off as quickly as it inevitably did for the Brooklyn Brawler.

John Salmons, a guy who had recently shot his way out of the Bulls starting lineup by going 26/81 (32.1%) in his last 8 games, hit a three. Dahntay Jones answered with a bucket of his own but the Bulls came back with a flurry of jumpers and free throws that fueled the 16-2 run over the final 6 minutes of the third quarter that ended Indy’s slim chance at a comeback win.

While the defensive lapses that allowed threes/long jumpers to Salmons, Brad Miller and Luol Deng were disheartening, it was the Pacers inability to put up any points up on the other end that all but determined the final outcome before the third quarter even ended. How an offense can so often go so long looking so inept, I’ll never understand, but, sure enough, the Pacers once again managed to go 6 minutes and 51 seconds without making a single field goal. (Two Earl Watson free throws were the only points Indy put up during the 16-2 run.)

The stretch just featured too many wasted possessions for me to recount. Too much standing around. Too many useless dribbles (I’m looking at you on that one Luther Head). Too many non-advantage creating swing passes (I’m looking at you, Coach).

Ultimately, too many bad shots.

And after that futility, all it took was a DDT from Derrick Rose in the form of his 11 fourth-quarter points (on an easy as Sunday morning 5/5 shooting) to complete the predetermined outcome that we all knew was coming even in the first quarter.

My advice to Pacers fans: Eat your vitamins and say your prayers, brother.

Five Bright Spots

(1) Josh McRoberts had a stellar second quarter and a good game overall. His alley-oop/three-pointer/alley-oop sequence was perhaps the highlight of the season. I really wish I was kidding, but I’m not even sure that I am. (OK, the Boston game was the highlight, I suppose, but this was certainly top five.)

(2) DUNKS. There were a bunch of them. Like, to the point Indy looked like a normal NBA team in terms of athleticism and getting easy buckets even. Unfortunately, dunks in the this league are often seen by fans more as signs of flashy, highlight reel decadence than what they really are: Easy shots to make. I’m not saying you can’t win if you can’t dunk (just ask Gregg Popovich how that is done), but those extra 5-6 dunks most teams other than the Pacers seem to get each night equal 10-12 points. That’s a big deal, particularly since guys like TJ Ford and Jeff Foster seem to miss so many layups — layups that many of the other players in the league would be dunking. As far as the Bulls game specifically, the two aforementioned McRoberts oops were the marquee ones, but Roy had a few and so did Solomon Jones. Speaking of…

(3) Solomon Jones. He looked good in his first-ever Pacer start. Only 3 rebounds in 23 minutes is Hibbertesque bad, but 6/9 shooting for 13 points is more than expected. Particularly since he didn’t seem to blow as many defensive assignments as usual, and he actually looked comfortable catching and shooting without hesitation (something that still eludes Tyler and Brandon Rush). Hopefully this endorsement from Coach O’Brien will give him a little confidence and keep him more engaged out there going forward.

(4) Pump fakes. I’m not sure whether it was just the fact that, as Tim Donahue tweeted during the game, “the Bulls are long on stupid,” but they sure did fall for a ton of shot fakes. Dunleavy had a few effective ones, Murph — per usual — did as well and Luther Head had one that just embarrassed the defender. Even Hibbert had some nice little up-and-under thing that I don’t really support him doing since he’s, ya know, 7 foot 2, but was nonetheless productive. I suppose most of this can just be attributed to Chicago employed Tyrus Thomas, but it might have been the best skill I’ve seen the Pacers master so far this season over a 48-minute stretch.

(5) There is no five. Sorry for lying, but I like round numbers. OK … here’s something: We got to see former Pacer fan favorite Brad Miller go by someone off the dribble on multiple occasions for the first time since, let’s say, 2006. Thanks for instigating some nostalgia, Roy Hibbert. And while I’ve got you here, please stop having nights where you miss 60% of your shots, please and thank you. You’re 7’2″, dude.

He even dresses like Josh McRoberts.

[TABLE=35]

Off Rating: pts / 100 possessions Def Rating: pts allowed / 100 possessions
eFG%: FG% accounting for 3PA being worth more Pace: avg possessions per game

When the two worst shooting teams in the entire league who aren’t from New Jersey square off, it’s probably going to be pretty ugly. And despite our constant harping around here. I’m still not sure that many Pacer fans realize the depths to which this offense has fallen.

As has been the case all year long, the defense is middle of the road, but the team just can’t score with enough regularity to get wins. Somewhat fortunately, the Bulls are pretty much the same team in that regard. Very unfortunately, that means we’re probably going to see a ton of missed shots this evening and shooting percentages hovering around 40%.

Or not. Who knows? Weird things happen every day in the NBA and season trends can seem pointless on any given night.

Still, here are a few extra info tidbits I dug up earlier today when I was previewing tonight’s game for Hardwood Paroxysm. (You can see my quick previews of all the Association’s games tonight if you follow the link).

Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls – 8:00 pm EST

A good game to watch if you want to see some really good defense a ton of missed open jumpers. The Bulls, for example, shoot an embarrassing 36.2% on shots taken between 16-23 feet (which ranks them 27th best in the league from that location) yet they opt to lead the league in attempts with 29.8 FGAs between 16-23 feet per night. (For perspective, only two other teams take more than 25 attempts per game from that range. And Orlando only takes 13.2 per from this notoriously inefficient distance.). The Pacers, on the other hand, like to miss from further out. They attempt 20.8 three-pointers per outing despite only shooing 31.8% from there as a team and only having one healthy member of the rotation (Troy Murphy) shooting above 34% from behind the arc. I suppose none of this should come as a surprise since these two teams rank 28th and 29th in the NBA in FG% (Indy is 43.0% while Chi-Town shoots 42.8%), but these really are some staggering numbers. Get amped for this one, sports fans.

So the poor shooting thing is definitely the macro theme for both teams tonight.

For some more Bulls-specific stuff, read on.

Five Other Things

(1) Vinny Del Negro is by most accounts a walking lame duck right now. Chris Broussard of ESPN is reporting him as already fired, with the Bulls simply waiting on a replacement. Barring a major turnaround in the very, very near future, Vinny of the Black will likely be shown the door by early 2010 at the latest. I’m not a professional basketball player, so I’m not sure how all this effects the team precisely, but it must have some impact.

(2) Tyrus Thomas will come off the bench tonight for his second game since breaking his arm earlier this year. He scored an impressive 21 points on 10/17 shooting to go along with 9 boards in his first game in nearly two months against the Hornets on Sunday.

(3) With 10.9 ppg, 12.4 rpg and 1.9 bpg so far this season, Joakim Noah has gotten himself on the radar for this year’s Most Improved Player award. He still needs to work on shooting better (only 47.7% this season, which is down from last year’s 55.7%), but a lot of his inaccuracy can probably be attributed to the overall futility of Chicago’s offense as a whole. He’s more of a finisher by trade and since the whole system is broken, he isn’t getting as many easy looks as he should be. Still, he will be a good guy for Pacers fans to focus on tonight, as he does a lot of the things that Larry Bird and company are hoping Tyler Hansbrough can become adept at, albeit in a smaller frame and, hopefully, with a little more scoring ability.

(4) Derrick Rose hasn’t met the high expectations many people (including me) had for him this season. Again, some of this is just the Bulls offense being terrible, but seeing as he is the point guard and all, obviously a lot of that is on him. And even if that’s not fair, it comes with position regardless. Some of his struggles can be attributed to an early season ankle injury. He has also seemed a little hesitant to become the team’s primary scorer at times, instead distributing. But he is calling his number a lot more of late to the tune of 20.6 FGAs per game in his last 10 outings. He is still shooting just 45.1% during this stretch, but if he gets hot (or more likely, he drives by Indy’s guards at a high rate and finishes at the hoop) he’s liable to score 24 or more tonight — just like he has in 3 of Chicago’s last four games.

(5) Former Pacer Brad Miller has only made 1 shot in his last 5 games despite playing a around 17 mpg during what has easily been he worst year of his career. Somehow the 7-footer is shooting 39.7% for the season, which, for perspective, is almost as bad as Brandon Rush’s 38.6%.

We’ll probably mix up the format from game to game to keep things interesting, sometimes interviewing people more familiar with the opponent and other times just writing a straight preview ourselves. Maybe we’ll even dig up some wildcard methods here and there to keep you on your toes. For the opener, however, we obviously don’t have a ton of interesting things to say other than “Welcome back, oh sweet, sweet NBA basketball goodness.”

Thus, I reached out to a man who always has a ton of interesting things to say: Sekou Smith

Many of you are already very familiar with Sekou from his work covering the Pacers, among other things, at the Indianapolis Star from 2002 to December 2004. To the dismay of many a Hoosier, he took his reporter hat and engaging prose with him to Atlanta thereafter and has since been holding down the Hawks beat for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, blogging regularly on the paper’s Hawks Blog and relaying all the NBA news fit to tweet through his @sekousmith01 feed.

Honestly, who could be better to provide some perspective on tonight’s season opener for both the Pacers and the Hawks from the ATL? And fortunately, he was gracious enough to share some of his vast Hawks knowledge with you 8p9s readers.

Here’s a Q&A we did yesterday, with me asking the Qs and Sekou bringing the As.

Between Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford, the Hawks have a ton of offensive firepower in the back court — and three guys who all took a ton of threes last year (each had more than 5 three-point attempts per game last season). Do you see them all continuing to put up a lot of shots or do you see either Bibby or Joe making a concerted effort to make sure guys like Horford and Josh Smith get more shots near the hoop?

I don’t know that Bibby or Joe will sacrifice shots for the other guys, but I think their minutes (should be) curbed to the point that they’ll be forced to give up some shots in the process. If anything, I think Crawford’s assist game will stun some people, mostly because he’s such a willing passer, and he’ll be on the floor with guys that can finish (Smith, Horford, Joe and Marvin Williams).

There are two things I think most NBA players are loathe to surrender (consciously) and that’s shots and minutes. So don’t expect any humanitarian moves from anyone for the sake of the greater good.

Speaking of Josh Smith and threes, he said this summer that he needs to stay away from the allure of the perimeter and instead focus on getting to the rim off the dribble and scoring in the paint. Will he abide by that pledge or will he fall back into settling for too many jumpers?

He’s going to take some jumpers. There’s no doubt about that. But in seven preseason games he didn’t take a single 3-pointer. That’s a stunning stretch for a guy that treats threes like those old Lay’s potato chip ads (“Bet you just can’t eat one”). Well, some of Josh’s teammates have wondered aloud if he’ll be able to keep from taking just one. Time will tell. It’s obvious that his game is far more effective when he’s doing other things. Plus, there are so many other guys capable that he needs to steer clear of the three-point line anyway.

People forget that Marvin Williams is only 23 years old. And last year, he started to look like he was really about to begin making good on some of his enormous potential. How has he looked in camp and will we see his game progress even further this year?

I’ve been getting roasted on my own blog for floating the idea that Marvin was having a breakout season last year before being sacked by that back injury late in the season. He’s looked good in camp and Marvin’s always been better than he gets credit for. He’s always going to get venom around here because he’s not Chris Paul or Deron Williams. I thought that theme would have vanished a bit by now, but it remains strong.

He’s still a youngster, as are Josh Smith and Al Horford. So they’ve all still got room to improve. One of them has to move up to the next level this year if the Hawks want to challenge for anything more than the fourth spot and another 12-15 game playoff run.

No one ever talks about Zaza. But he’s got a cool name and a solid game to match. Discuss.

No one ever talks about Zaza? Where? He’s a fan favorite down here. Maybe not to Austin Croshere proportions, but folks down here love him. Some love to hate him because of his antics on the offensive end and his complaining to the officials. But he earns his money, which can’t be said for a lot of 7-footers in the NBA. (You know who you are).

Zaza is a renaissance man of sorts. He’s a restaurateur, a fashion icon (mostly in his own mind, ha) and one of the all-around best cats you’ll ever meet. His game isn’t sexy and he’s not going to tote the load for you as a starter, but he’s a valuable player here. There’s no shame in that.

Few Pacer fans — or any NBA fans, honestly — know much about Solomon Jones. Were you ever impressed by anything other than his athleticism and do you think he will emerge as a decent rotation guy for the Pacers this year?

Solo was always intriguing here. Remember, he was the Hawks’ second-round pick the year they whiffed with Shelden Williams as the fifth pick in the draft. It took me all of two weeks of rookie camp to realize that Solo had more physical potential than Shelden. He was just so raw. He worked at it, though, which is a credit to the kid. He worked on his offensive game and did what he could to improve his physical deficiencies. That’s what I want to see out of a developmental player in his first couple of years.

The thing I’ve always liked best about Solo, though, is that he’ll dish out a hard foul. He slapped the DNA off of Andre Iguodala a couple years ago and got tangled up with Dwyane Wade in the playoffs last year without hesitation. That impresses me, when a dude like that isn’t afraid to knock a superstar on his tail. I was sad to see Solo leave. At the same time, I realized he was going to a situation (and particularly an offense) that suited his talents a little better.

Jeff Teague is a guy I thought would have been a great fit for the Pacers back court. How’s he looking so far and what do you expect from his as a pro?

Teague has been fantastic, sans his 0-for-everything shooting performance from the floor in the preseason finale Friday in Orlando. I lived in Pike Township when I was in Indy, so I knew he came from good prep basketball stock. I watched very little of him at Wake Forest, so I had to do some research on him this summer with people I know back in Indy and around the league. Everyone raved about his game and his personality, and they were right. He seems like a great kid.

The key to his season will be consistent minutes. If he starts in the 12-18 range and moves into the 20-25 range as the season goes on, I can see him being a major factor for this team. The only missing piece to his game right now is a consistent outside stroke. That’ll come with work before and after practice, which he’s been putting in alongside Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford on a daily basis. That’s good company for a young guy.

You left the Indianapolis Star very soon after the brawl. How has it been to watch all the turmoil of the past few years and how do you view the overall state of the franchise now? More specifically, how do you think the team will do this season?

I did leave right after the brawl. The Christmas day rematch game between the Pacers and Pistons was my last day. I’ve been floored by all the fallout since then. Mark Montieth and I have had many long conversations about it since then. I’m not sure I’ve witnessed a more complete gutting of a once-proud franchise in such a short period of time. And I certainly have no idea if you can point to just one culprit. (I know Ron Artest is the easy target.)

Still to this day, I’ve thought that the turning point was the summer they had to decide what to do with Brad Miller and Jermaine O’Neal. Plenty of people have disagreed with me on that, including Mark (who remains a great friend to this day). I just felt like free agency forced them to dismantle a team on the cusp of something big. Once the core of that team was scattered it was pretty much a matter of time. More than anything, it reminded me what a hell of a job Donnie Walsh did building that thing the way he did. To last that long in this era of professional sports is an accomplishment in itself. Donnie held it together for so long, so to see some people taking shots at him once he left was more than a bit disingenuous to me. The brawl and the aftermath just sped up the process.

As for this season, I won’t count them out before actually seeing them with my own eyes. But I don’t have them in the pool of playoff hopefuls I’m expecting big things from.

The game was officiated by replacement refs, but they were largely unnoticeable. They did draw a pretty negative reaction from the crowd, however, when they decided to review a play with 4.3 seconds remaining, and the Bulls up by nine.

The loss notwithstanding, it was still good to have Indiana Pacer basketball back again. Here are some highlights (and lowlights) of the evening:

Pacer Notes

• Solo Performance – Solomon Jones got the start tonight and rewarded O’Brien’s faith with 11 points and 3 blocks in 26 minutes. He showed some nice leaping ability protecting the rim, and his overall quickness allowed him to provide some token pressure in the backcourt defensively. However, he did not show any kind of physical presence, either in the post or on the glass. Jones will need to learn to put a body on people. Otherwise, he’ll be poor, both as a rebounder and a post defender.

• Ford Pinto - TJ Ford had an inauspicious beginning to the new campaign, shooting only 25% and committing a full 1/3 of the Pacers’ 21 turnovers.

• In Case We Forgot – Second-year players Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert decided to re-enact some of their rookie troubles in the first half. Rush was mostly invisible over the first 24 minutes, failing to take a shot. Hibbert just wished he was, picking up three fouls in just about five minutes.  On the plus side, both were more aggressive and more effective in the second half, combining for 23 points after the break.

• TOO EASY, DRILL SERGEANT! – Danny Granger posted an easy 27 points in 26 minutes tonight, despite a so-so shooting night. Most encouraging were the 12 trips to the line (with 11 makes). The five turnovers need to be curbed, but he was still pretty much the best player in the building.

• McWow – Without question, Josh McRoberts’ fourth quarter dunk got the biggest reaction from the crowd tonight.  However, he had a decent all around night, with 6 boards and a couple of steals.  The absence of Troy Murphy and Tyler Hansbrough created an opening for McBob tonight, and he did pretty well in his 26 minutes.

• Don’t Call Him Lex – Luther Head showed some promise tonight, being very active while on the floor. He scored 14 points, hitting two of his three shots from three. He primarily played the “2″ but was playing the point during the 4th quarter rally.

• …and the Rest – Second-rounder AJ Price showed some defensively tenacity, but missed all seven of his shots … Dahntay Jones showed signs of being able to pressure the ball, as well as a decent mid-range shot, but only played 14 minutes. He was grimacing when he left in the third quarter … Rod Benson, Demetris Nichols and Lawrence Roberts all played, but none looked like anything more than camp fodder … Mike Dunleavy, Hansbrough, Murphy and Travis Diener all missed the game due to injuries, while Earl Watson had an excused absence for personal reasons … The Pacers head to the Far East for the next exhibition game, playing the Denver Nuggets in Taiwan.

Bulls Notes

• Taj & Derrick- The Bulls put five players in double figures tonight, led by Taj Gibson with 19. The USC product was the 26th pick in this year’s draft and showed a very nice mid-range game.  He also pulled down 9 boards. Derrick Byars, who averaged over 20 points a game in the D-League last year, drained two killer threes in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach.

• The Third Wheel – The Bulls played three rookies tonight, one being James Johnson, the #16 pick in this year’s draft. A possible choice for the Pacers, he did nothing to make Indiana regret passing on him. Johnson scored 4 points before fouling out in 20 minutes. He seemed passive and was generally unimpressive. The Pacers guarded him for significant stretches with the much smaller Brandon Rush, and Johnson responded by standing at the three-point line and watching.

• Just Don’t Get Hurt! – The cardinal rule of preseason games, but Tyrus Thomas left the game in the third quarter with a possible concussion. He was knocked to the floor while drawing a charge from Danny Granger and did not return. The Bulls entered the game without veterans Brad Miller, Kirk Hinrich and Jannero Pargo, all down with injuries of one degree or another.

• By Any Other Name – Former #1 draft pick Derrick Rose scored 17 points, including some key buckets to stave off the Pacers’ rally late in the game.