News that a new version of NBA Jam will be coming out exclusively on the Nintendo Wii swept the nation in recent days, leaving millions — perhaps, billions — (or at least one guy who runs a Pacers blog, anyway) ecstatic with nostalgic glee.
I don’t have a Wii — yet — but I will own this game very soon. And much like me, GP and Kemp used to back in the day, I will own you at this game very soon. Seriously, you don’t want it.
Back in the day, the Pacers were a serviceable, if not particularly good team. Still, Reggie could get hot, Detlef was pretty versatile and Derrick McKey was good at shoving people to the floor.
Unfortunately, however, it looks like today’s Pacers might be just as mediocre, according to Will Leitch and Joe Delessio’s “What Would NBA Jam Look Like Today?” power rankings. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising, but it is still depressing. It’s like the Pacers are now even retroactively terrible in 16-bit form. Or something.
Then again, I guess 11th is considerably better than they are in real life right now, so I’ll take it. And at least Danny Granger will provoke a ton of “From long RANGE!” comments by the play-by-play guy, who, as evidenced here, is probably a Top 10 game-caller of all time and right up there with Marv, Chick Hearns and Johnny Most.
Below is the Eastern Conference breakdown from the New York Magazine piece.
Do you agree with this Pacers lineup of Granger/MDJ/Murphy? I would take Hibbert over Murph for shot-blocking/shoving purposes. Murphy would actually be decent given his size, ability to hit threes and his penchant for somersault dunks from the free throw line with his sneakers ablaze, but you probably need MDJ on the bench in case you’re up against a really good turnover-forcing lineup (like Kobe/Artest, maybe) and you need to sub in a ballhander at the half.
But even more importantly, who would you take for your All-Time Pacers NBA Jam three-man lineup?
I’m going with Granger, JO and Jalen.
I’m pretty sure Philly got hosed here. Iggy will be Pippen Lite in NBA Jam.
Related Topics:
Dale Davis,
Danny Granger,
Derrick McKey,
Detlef Schrempf,
Jermaine O'Neal,
NBA Jam,
Reggie Miller
