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Jeff Teague

Indiana Forming a Lockout All-Star Squad

by Jared Wade on September 3, 2011 at 11:46 am · 2 comments

Good news for anyone who wants to ease their lockout woes by watching professional players play amateur basketball in Indiana. It’s not the NBA, but it’s better than nothing. (h/t I Am A GM)

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.

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Game #1: Recapping the Recaps

by Jared Wade on October 29, 2009 at 11:22 am · 0 comments

Fortunately for yall, most people don’t write 2,500-word write ups about a poorly played game. (And, yeah, that won’t be the norm around these parts neither. It wasn’t my intention when I started it, but that was essentially half opening game recap/half season preview part deux.)

And given the number of non-AP recaps proliferating around the internet, Pacer fans can probably spend all day reading different people’s takes on the opener. The internet keeps it thorough like that.

I can’t say I’ve read them all yet, but it’s hard to believe that anyone can sum up Indy’s painful offense last night better than Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie did.

(it’s like the Hawks had five Deion Sanders’ out there, at times), and it was only the sweet shooting of Earl Watson (you read that right) that kept the Pacers in contention.

The sweet shooting of Earl Watson. I like that. Let’s try that again.

The delicate stylings of Napalm Death.

The cogent musings of Gary Busey.

The rapier wit of Jay Leno.

The definitely not stabbing anyone of O.J. Simpson.

Don’t complain about O.J. Simpson jokes. I learned from the rapier wit of Jay Leno.

When it comes to Pacer/Hawks recaps, I think Dwyer just earned himself a chicken dinner. Here’s the best of the rest for your reading pleasure.

Cornrows: “Possession of the ball is nine tenths of the loss.”

Mike Wells: “The Pacers’ supposed new defense was nowhere to be found in the Atlanta metropolitan area”

Indy Basketball Report: “Indiana finished the game with one steal while Atlanta registered 16″

John Hollinger: “Indy’s interceptions ruined a superb shooting night”

Pacers Digest / UncleBuck: “One thing the Hawks aren’t very good at is half court offense, but they seemingly had no problem scoring against the Pacers defense”

AP: “The game finally turned when Atlanta started cutting off the driving lanes and Johnson got in Granger’s face. Indiana’s star was held to four points in the final period”

Sekou Smith (ATL): “Horford had a masterful opening night, finishing with 24 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and two blocks as all five Hawks starters scored in double figures.”

Hoopinion: “Through a little more than three quarters, Jim O’Brien got a lot out of Dahntay Jones and Earl Watson. Then he asked them for more and learned they’d given all they had.”

Peachtree Hoops (ATL): “Jeff Teague enjoys the game out there. After that steal and dunk, the kid was uncontrollably smiling.”

Human Highlight Blog: “Granger was in the game he must have been wearing his Cloak of Invisibility, because he found himself wide open a bit too much for someone of his considerable talents.”

Repeat after me: It’s only one game. It’s only one game. It’s only one game.

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Game #1 Preview: Sekou Smith Talks Hawks

by Jared Wade on October 28, 2009 at 9:14 am · 1 comment

The plan we’ve conjured up in the 8.9 Lab is to provide yall with a preview of every game this season. Generally, we’ll put them up the day of. On occasion, they may go up earlier. And at other times, life will get in the way and they will not appear at all. Thems the breaks, but we’ll do our very best to bring it for all 82.

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.

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The Summer Losses: Rasho Nesterovic

by Jared Wade on October 26, 2009 at 8:49 pm · 0 comments

Rasho Nesterovic joined the Pacers for one primary purpose: his contract allowed the Pacers to trade of Jermaine O’Neal for TJ Ford and the draft pick that would become Roy Hibbert. Sure, Larry Bird had to be happy to convince Bryan Colangelo to insert a serviceable, professional veteran like Rasho as the financial piece needed to get the deal done under the CBA, but it’s hard to believe that the 7′ Slovenian was ever seen as anything but a one-year, fill-in center for rent.

And when he struggled with injury in the first week of the season, it started to look like even “serviceable” tag might be in jeopardy. But as he has done throughout his career, Rasho quickly bounced back. And on the court, he impressed.

In 27 games before the New Year, Rasho put up double-digit points 13 times and shot 53.4% from the field overall. There was no mistaking that he was 32-years-old and his days of being even a marginal rebounding presence were clearly behind him, but he surprised many fans who hadn’t seen him play since his Spurs days with his midrange shooting and his overall skill-set. Unfortunately, Rasho’s quick early start combined with a lack of other great options up front probably pushed coach Jim O’Brien to overuse the big fella.

By the time January rolled around, his productivity had dropped noticeably and rookie center Roy Hibbert proved unable to pick up the slack. And once Jeff Foster started struggling with injuries of his own, it became clear that the front court was going to be a problem all year.

Looking back, Rasho was a fine player. He always has been. But at 32, he just can’t bring much of what his younger self offered to the table, aside from his soft jumpers and the occasional nifty bucket in the post. Defensively, he has also regressed. It’s not that he has forgotten the fundamental principles he learned from Coach Popovich in San Antonio; it’s just that his mobility no longer allows him to do much besides serve as a physical barricade. At 7′-tall, sure, that was enough to be effective at times, but he was generally a liability next to any big man with any semblance of quickness. Although, on this team, it’s not like he was the only big man guilty of that charge.

That’s how I saw it anyway.

Still, much like the ball, numbers don’t lie. And the stats say that from an objective, numerical standpoint, Rasho will be more difficult to replace than it may seem. Here’s what Indiana lost when Rasho decided to head back up across the border to Toronto:

Rasho Nesterovic in 2008-09

Traditional
PPG – 9th (6.8)
RPG – 8th (3.4)
FG% – 2nd (.513)
BPG – 9th (0.5)

Advanced*
PER – 6th (14.1)
TS% – 8th (.524)
ORtg – 6th (108)
DRtg – 7th (109)
WS – 6th (2.2)
OWS – 7th (1.1)
DWS – 9th (1.1)

* PER – Player Efficiency Rating | TS% – True Shooting Percentage | ORtg – Offensive Rating | DRtg – Defensive Rating | WS – Win Shares | OWS – Offensive Win Shares | DWS – Defensive Win Shares

It says a lot about the talent and depth in this front court that a guy who struggled mightily throughout the second half of the year can rank so high on a team in the advanced stat categories. After the draft in June, I was disappointed that the Pacers opted to address the front court rather than picking an impact guard. Looking at these figures, however, it makes more sense that the interior would be a priority. The catch-22 is that the back court needs a ton of help as well, but if this team is ever going to improve defensively, it is going to need some guys who can man the paint.

Is Tyler Hansbrough such a guy? Until he puts his current shin problems behind him, it remains somewhat moot. But the front office has to be hoping that whatever a rookie like Tyler may lack in savvy and understanding of the NBA game, he will be able to make up for in effort. Roy, too, will need to prove capable of playing more minutes — with the two main factors against him doing such being his conditioning and his inability to stay out of foul trouble. I’m not one to care about preseason trends, but the fact that Hibbert led the entire league in blocks during fake hoops season without spending too, too much time in foul touble has to be somewhat encouraging.

At this point, I think we know what the team is going to get out of Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster. Aside from Danny Granger — who, as crazy as it sounds, still could improve even more — those two veteran big men are the closest thing this roster has to sure things. Sure, it’s certainly possible that Troy won’t quite match the numbers he put up last year, but we generally know what he will provide. And Jeff? Well, he’s Jeff.

So to replace what Rasho provided last year, Coach O’Brien is going to have to look to Tyler and Roy. One would think that a natural sophomore improvement from Hibbert and a youthful exuberance from Hansbrough would come close to doing exactly that. But people are generally too quick to mistake the solid-if-unremarkable contributions of a guy like Rasho with easily replaceable mediocrity.

If Roy is going to become a player that Indy can rely on as a starting center over the next half decade, and if Tyler is a guy who was worth taking over the likes of high-ceiling guards like Jeff Teague and Ty Lawson, then, yeah, what Rasho did last year shouldn’t be that hard to replace. But if either of those things doesn’t prove true, then the 09-10 Pacer front court might be even more of a problem than the one fans had to watch last season.

And if that’s the case, it might be time to just cross your fingers and hope Solomon Jones can translate some of that athleticism into basketball talent.