I missed the episode of Parks and Recreation last night featuring the former and current Pacers, so I’ll leave the descriptoring up to to Trey Kerby of The Basketball Jones.

Aside from the fact that Tom Haverford obviously needs to be educated on the difference between a strike and a lockout, this seems like the kind of thing all NBA players should be doing to scrape together some dough during this work stoppage. 75 percent of an NBA salary is nothing to wear an ornamental scarf sneeze at. High five.

Indeed.

Related posts:

1. Roy Hibbert on Parks and Recreation
2. Tyler Hansbrough to Start? Jim O’Brien Insinuates As Much in His Now-Typical, Antagonistic Tone
3. The Frank Vogel Era Is Off to a Great Start

No matter.

What should interest you, however, is that the show takes place in the fair state of Indianapolis Indiana, and tonight the Pacers affable center Roy Hibbert will make his acting debut with an extended cameo. No word on exactly what he will be doing (or maybe there is if you listen to this whole interview … I didn’t), but if his performance on TV is anything like it was on the court last December and January, it is sure to be a laugh riot.

Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows highlighted an entertaining part of the experience.

When Hibbert got the call from his agent telling him that he would get the chance to be on the show, Roy was nervous, thinking that he had been trading to Minnesota.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be on the show or not and literally after I called all of my Area55 members to tell them they made it for season two, I got a phone call and I was scared to death because it was like the day of or the day before I heard the rumors about me getting traded to Minnesota. So everybody in the office, when they heard my phone ring, and I said it was my agent,…dead quiet and I thought I was getting traded to Minnesota. Then I heard the good news that I was actually going to make a cameo and possibly a couple of other episodes. So I was pretty happy for me to not only still be with the Pacers but also be able to do something that I always said I wanted to, be on TV for something other than basketball at some point in my life. I’m happy I was part of the show.

Phew. Close one.

Tim would have been inconsolable if Hibbert had been dealt to the Wolves.

Aziz and Detlef broing it up.

Related posts:

1. Game #34 Recap: Hibbert Leaps Over Superman With a Single Bound
2. No Hibbert in Rookie/Sophomore Game
3. NBA Experts Discuss Roy Hibbert

UPDATE: This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one and perhaps even this one or this one might interest you as well.

Related posts:

1. Rewatching…The Push Off

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 posts:

1. The Pacers Asian Vacation

Here’s how I termed my general take on the preseason in a recent Nets-related post I did for Hardwood Paroxysm.

The NBA preseason is not where amazing happens. Truthfully, it’s exceedingly stupid. Sure, there is the “Nice, basketball is almost back” factor, but it is generally such a poor indicator of how the upcoming season will transpire that there is very little that can be gleaned from watching the games other than misinformation.

Still, hoops is hoops, so I watch a little.

As part of that “little,” I really did want to catch some of the Pacers/Nuggets action from Asia during the past few days. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t see anything except the highlights. Regardless, some of my desire to watch came from the fact that I am for the first time in my life running a team-specific blog and I imagine there are a lot of people out there who are much more interested in preseason hoops than I am — and understandably so. But more so, I wanted to see the Pacers play overseas due to a few other factors.

First of all, it is both surprising and fantastic that the Pacers were one of two teams chosen to represent the league in front of its biggest emerging fan base in Beijing as well as the first-ever NBA game played in Taiwan. David Stern has made overseas games a staple of preseason the past couple of years but, still, this was only the fourth time the NBA has sent teams to China.

In 2004, the NBA became the first American professional sports league to stage games in China, with two games between the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing. NBA China Games 2007 featured three games between the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic and the Team China All-Stars in Shanghai and Macao. Last October, NBA China Games 2008 featured the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors playing in Guangzhou and Beijing.

Secondly, it seems that there is a decent chance that the Pacers are earning themselves a new legion of fans in Asia. Between Rik Smits, Detlef Schrempf, the general amazement surrounding Reggie’s heroics and the whole Hoosier mythos of Indiana, the 90s Pacers were probably one of the most beloved franchises throughout Europe. Jordan’s Bulls obviously ranked number one on the list of teams with the most foreign fans, but given the relative weakness of major market teams like the Celtics and Lakers for much of the decade, the Pacers probably ranked a lot higher on that list than most others.

Now, between the Pacers playing in both mainland China and on Taiwan, and Danny Granger being the guest of honor for the first-ever NBA event in Indonesia last summer (something that was meaningful enough to spur the U.S. embassy in Jakarta to issue an official press release about him showing up), there are likely many more Indiana fans in Asia than there were at this time two years ago. And that fact is particularly notable considering the fact that there haven’t otherwise been a ton of fans jumping on the Pacer bandwagon since, I dunno, say, November 2004-ish.

This article by ChinaPacers.com founder Holick Lee shows how devout some of the country’s biggest Indy supporters are. (via Pacers Digest)

Twice a year, Pacers fans will fly from different cities all over China for a Pacers fans gathering, where they will play basketball together in Pacers jerseys and shoot threes with a Reggie Miller-type follow-through. While the boys are playing basketball, the girls have another way to show their love. They will draw portraits for the Pacers, and make a cake with a Reggie Miller image on to celebrate his birthday.

The third thing that’s very cool about the team heading to Asia is that these trips are the types of things that help players bond. The monotony of an NBA season is well-documented and it can be hard for some teams to integrate new guys into the locker room through just Madden tournaments and Cheesecake Factory outings together during road trips alone. For almost all of the players — and the staff — going to China is a once-in-a-lifetime trip that will include not just amazing sightseeing and memories, but hours of downtime to get to know one another and hang out. We tend to forget that these guys are not just really tall millionaires, but actual people, so it’s great to see videos like the one below where the guys get to act like 12-year-olds at Six Flags while running around and bombing the Great Wall of China with graffitti like “Pacers Wuz Here!!!!”

As for the gameplay, I have little to offer. IndyCornrows has you covered for that on both the win in Taiwan and the loss in Beijing during which Danny got ejected. Preseason hoops is just preseason hoops, so I’m sure the on-court action was mediocrity at its finest.

But in going to Asia, the Pacers hopefully were able to gain a lot of the intangible, soft capital that can help lift any franchise, both in terms of creating new fans on the other side of the globe and creating some genuine chemistry among the players.

No related posts.

Forsaking extra ado, let’s get after it.

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald discusses the hold up and potential deal-breaker in the Boston/Indiana sign-and-trade negotiations surrounding Marquis Daniels:

The problem is believed to be Indiana’s lack of interest in guard Tony Allen, whom the Celtics offered to the Pacers. The Celtics also reportedly have attempted to include guard Gabe Pruitt and forward Bill Walker in the package.

Though in the market for another wing player, the Pacers want something the Celtics aren’t willing to offer.

The Pacers, beset by past citizenship issues, reportedly are reluctant to bring in Allen. The guard’s offcourt issues, including death threats in Chicago that required extra bench security during last spring’s playoffs, cut against the grain of Pacers president Larry Bird’s attempt to move away from the legacy of Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley.

“They need a third team, and that’s complicated,” one source said. “No other teams have jumped at it so far.”

Fred Kerber of the New York Post speculates about the Nets, who reportedly are interested in Big Baby Glen Davis, becoming that third team:

The Celtics’ proposed sign-and-trade to land free agent Marquis Daniels from the Pacers has run into complications and could lead to the need of a three-team deal. Enter the Nets, with their legitimate interest in Davis, who averaged 15.8 points and 6.0 rebounds during the playoffs last season. The Celtics have indicated they will match any reasonable offer for Davis.

“We have not made any offers to anybody,” Nets team president Rod Thorn said.

UPDATE: Forgot to add Mike Wells’ blog post from yesterday about how the Pacers might fill out the rest of the roster, which could include taking a player or two back from the Celtics or, possibly, acquiring former Rocket guard Luther Head.

The Pacers are expected to resume talks with the Boston Celtics about a possible sign-and-trade deal for Marquis Daniels this week. The Pacers aren’t focusing strictly on a trade with the Celtics to get their 14th, and possibly 15th, player.

They’ve still got their eye on former Illinois guard Luther Head, who can play both guard spots like Jarrett Jack but with a better jumper.

Kerber of the New York Post also mentions Knicks GM Donnie Walsh’s plans to meet with Jamaal Tinsley about playing in MSG next year:

Team president Donnie Walsh hopes to meet with free agent point guard Jamaal Tinsley this week.

Bill Simmons’ favorite movie of the 2000s is inexplicably Almost Famous. I mean, it’s a good flick and all, but better than City of God, Anchorman, Adaptation., There Will Be Blood, X2, Children of Men, No Country for Old Men, Snatch, Old School, Ocean’s Eleven, The Assassination of Jesse James, 25th Hour, The Savages, Zoolander, The Wrestler and Thank You For Smoking (among others)? Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, I suppose, but that’s a pretty odd movie to choose as a favorite, especially if you factor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight and Iron Man.

Fortunately, my thoughts are generally more aligned with the Sports Guy about the NBA than about the silver screen. Here, he offers some advice to his buddy Chad Ford in the form of a quote from the movie Almost Famous:

13. Listen, my advice to you — and I know you think these guys are your friends — if you wanna be a true friend to them … be honest and unmerciful.

To my ESPN colleague Chad Ford, who wrote about Indiana’s summer (the Pacers added Tyler Hansbrough and Dahntay Jones) that “I like the strategy Larry Bird and David Morway have been employing the past couple of years in Indiana. Instead of swinging for the fences in the draft, they are trying for singles and doubles, and they’re connecting.” All due respect to my favorite Hawaii-based columnist, but doesn’t going for singles and doubles ensure 38 to 40 wins and a mediocre lottery pick every year? What am I missing? How is flipping Jerryd Bayless for Brandon Rush, then having to spend another $11 million on Jones (who does the same things as Rush), hitting a single or a double? I think we need to lace up the gloves and fight on another podcast soon.

Nate Timmons of Nuggets blog Denver Stiffs (which just merged with the Nuggets blog Pickaxe & Roll) seems to agree with Simmons:

I’m fairly confident when I say that adding Afflalo pretty much cements the starting shooting guard spot for J.R. Smith. Afflalo has the ability to be a pretty good perimeter defender and provides some scoring pop that should pretty much wipe out the loss created by Dahntay Jones accepting a deal with the Pacers.

I can’t fault Jones for taking the money and a chance at a starting spot, but I applaud the Denver front office for finding a player on the cheap (just a second round pick) that can come in right away and solidify a rotation spot.

Charley Rosen of Fox Sports thinks the Pacers are the fourth worst team in the NBA. Here’s why:

The best athletes on the Pacers all have significant limitations: Dahntay Jones can’t score. Ditto for Jeff Foster. T.J. Ford is among the most selfish point guards in the league. And Danny Granger can’t defend.

Even worse, the level of athleticism possessed by Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and Tyler Hansbrough is far below average.

Overall, there’s not enough fluid offense and not enough defense of any description for the Pacers to avoid being a chump team.

Ball in Europe speculates about who should be included on an All-Time European Dream Team, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, Detlef Schrempf and Rik Smits all get the nod. Here, he talks about Rik:

When Larry Bird took over as coach in Indiana, the Pacers were transformed into a team which lived and died by perimeter shooting. With four guys out deep, who was there to nail rebound after rebound against the likes of young Shaquille O’Neal and crazed Dennis Rodman? That’s right: The no. 2 overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, Rik “The Dutchman” Smits. Despite chronic foot problems, Smits still managed a fine 12-year career of 12,871 points, 5,277 rebounds, and 1,111 blocks mostly as a Robin to Reggie Miller’s Batman.

Dino Nation did an interview with TJ Ford, where they talk about, among other things, a new Texas Longhorns website that TJ has been a part of. (via Indy Cornrows)

T.J along with some of his fellow Longhorns have put together a site called Texas360Now.com. It is a site that is going to feature a lot of former Texas players and let fans get to see them in new exciting ways.

SP Stevenson at Indy Cornrows talks about an uplifting, if unlikely, Jonathan Bender comeback story:

Obviously, it’s going to be a tough road for Bender to get a roster spot in the league again. I have to wish him the best of luck, but has a 28-year-old ever felt so old before? I couldn’t believe he was only 28 when I read the article, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his body couldn’t believe it either. I’m sure some fans will speculate on a return to Indy, but that’s highly unlikely to happen.

Again, the Disney storyline is compelling: A teen prodigy is derailed by injuries and is forced to retire at an early age; he spends his retirement doing boatloads of community service in New Orleans to help build houses after Hurrican Katrina; he attempts a comeback and scores the game-winning basket in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Sounds like a hit movie to me.

Jonathan Bender certainly oughta wish upon a star if he wants to play in the NBA again.

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