Posts tagged as:

Josh McRoberts

Josh McRoberts: Ankle Breaker

by Jared Wade on April 22, 2010 at 1:21 pm

We have a lot of things to talk about this summer. A lot went wrong this year, ownership is saying some troubling things and none of the key players that Bird has assembled improved considerably aside from Roy Hibbert. I mean, even Larry himself is publicly calling out Granger for taking a step back. (I don’t necessarily believe that and don’t really think Larry really does either, but Danny obviously didn’t have nearly as good of a year this season as he did in 2008-09 even if he was able to right his ship over the last 20 games.)

I promise that we will soon be back to more regular posting to break down all that stuff and weigh in on everything from individual player assessments and the ongoing “they need guards—badly” concern to the perhaps-seriouser-than-ever financial problems for the franchise and how the team can improve this summer through the draft/free agency.

But, frankly, after such a terrible year, I think we’re all a little burnt out and need, like, two weeks away from Pacer Nation (starting retroactively from the end of the regular season apparently). 82 straight games of almost unbroken negativity will do that.

One positive thing about the season, however, was Josh McRoberts.

His emergence as a potential rotation guy was, to me, very unexpected and, at times, very fun to watch — both because this roster lacks much in the way of athletic finishers other than him and because, let’s face it, this team needs as many low-salaried-yet-productive players as possible given how much of the cap is monopolized by middling, overpaid vets. (Looking at you, TJ, Lil Dun, Foster, Troy and Tinsley’s buyout.)

Thankfully, Kyle Weidie of the Wizards blog Truth About It was able to track down two sweet gifs of what was my favorite Josh McRoberts play of the season and probably one of the better Pacer moments of the entire year. A few of Josh’s dunks/alley oops were more productive from a basketball sense, sure, but I’ll always have an affinity for ankles getting broke. So I like this the best.

Kyle was nice enough to point out two other interesting facts about the play.

In other news, McRoberts kinda-sorta looks like a much taller Charlie from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”.

Also notice — in the first GIF — how Al Thornton was duped by McRoberts, meaninglessly sprinting to an irrelevant spot on the floor.

Enjoy.

(And don’t worry … we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled posting in, I dunno, 10 days or so. I’m going to Boston all next week for a work conference so I’ll be back on my grind shortly thereafter. There will be some stuff before then, but don’t expect a huge windfall of content, from me at least, in the interim. I will, however, continue to cover the NBA Playoffs over at Both Teams Played Hard and Hardwood Paroxysm, so stop by and say hello.)

Josh McRoberts Javale McGee

{ 5 comments }

Game #74 Recap: Al Horford REALLY Likes Playing the Pacers

by Tim Donahue on March 28, 2010 at 7:58 pm

Atlanta Hawks 94 – Indiana Pacers 84

————–

Well, you knew it couldn’t go on forever. Heck, you’re probably still not sure that the Pacers really and truly had a five-game winning streak. Regardless, it all ground to a halt in the second half as the Pacer offense that had been running like well-oiled machine seized up.

Atlanta is a tough matchup for our boys in Blue. Their frontcourt is quick and athletic, capable of protecting the rim and controlling the glass. Backcourt mates Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, and Jamal Crawford all can make you pay if you lose them on the perimeter.

The most glaring advantage Atlanta has is in the pivot, where Al Horford has just destroyed Roy Hibbert all season long. In the first two matchups, Horford has outscored Roy 49-12, outrebounded him 35-13, and recorded 7 blocks vs. only 2 for Roy. Still, those were both played before the first of the year, and Hibbert has made some great strides since then.

Unfortunately, not great enough. A good chunk of the story can be seen on their comparative shot charts:

alvroy

The Pacers tried to work Roy early, but he missed his first four shots as Horford used his strength to force Roy into jump hooks from just a foot or two outside his comfort zone. Meanwhile, Horford continually found himself wide open for 12 to 15-foot jumpers, and he capitalized. Hibbert either got lost in rotations or (understandably) gave the Hawks’ center space due to a lack of foot speed. At the end of the day, Horford posted 18 points and 12 boards, essentially in three quarters of play. Conversely, Roy managed only 6 points and 2 rebounds in 23 ineffectual minutes.

As for the rest of the Pacers, they posted an impressive 31-point 1st 1uarter, buoyed by 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Brandon Rush drained all four three-point tries in his 12 first quarter minutes, and the Pacers entered the 2nd up 31-26. From there, it was a tough road-a-hoe.

Over the next 36 minutes, the Pacers managed only 53 points while hitting only 2 of their 17 threes. Brandon Rush, who was so hot in the first, didn’t play at all in the second, then went 1-for-5 from the floor the rest of the game and was generally nonexistent. At least twice in the second half, he was completely exploited defensively by Jamal Crawford. Rush committed a dumb foul on Joe Johnson late in the first. It’s unclear as to whether his second quarter absence was some sort of punishment by O’Brien, or if it was because Brandon had two fouls. Unfortunately, there was no Pacer TV coverage, and Mike Wells didn’t make the trip to Atlanta, so we’ll have to wait to find out what happened there.

Danny played a good, bordering on great, floor game today, but couldn’t buy a bucket. He scored 18 points on 7-for-19 shooting. He did play some good defense, and his attacking the basket was creating the few second quarter opportunities the Pacers got. Unfortunately, any day that finds both Danny and Roy struggling to score is pretty much going to doom the Pacers limited offense.

Watson, like Rush, played a fantastic first quarter, then showed us his down side. Josh McRoberts was unable to repeat his recent aerobatics, as he was at an athletic disadvantage to Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford. Solo got the call after McBob’s first rotation, and performed admirably, posting 7 points and 7 boards. AJ Price and Dahntay Jones, God Love ‘em, played like hot garbage. The only Pacer who was able to maintain his play of late was Troy Murphy, with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Still, despite being overwhelmed by the Hawks, the Pacers largely kept their heads in the game. This wasn’t a game where they just rolled over. No question they were soundly beaten in the second half, but they kept chasing it. The Pacers have had several losses this year where the final score was closer than the game really was. This game was really closer than the fourth quarter and the final score showed.

None of it was good enough, and the Pacers dropped their 47th game in 74 tries. It’s long been a foregone conclusion, but if Toronto holds onto the double-digit lead they hold in Miami late in the third, then the Pacers will officially be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. One more loss, and the Pacers will be guaranteed of having their worst record in 21 seasons.

{ 3 comments }

Game #44 Preview: Donate Money to Haiti

by Jared Wade on January 23, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers
Saturday, January 23
7:00 pm EST
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana

————-

Samuel Dalembert comes to Indianapolis tonight, and a meaningless basketball game will hopefully provide him with a short distraction from real life. See, Samuel is Haitian and has struggled to sleep or concentrate on anything other than the tragedy that struck his country for the past 10 days, during which time he visited his country to see what he could do to help.

All this has pushed him to the front of the NBA’s admirable relief efforts since the quake (which TJ Ford and Josh McRoberts have contributed to), and his heartfelt remarks after his recent return from his demolished homeland provide the league with a first-hand account of the horror — and the unfathomable challenges facing those trying save lives and repair infrastructure.

“I’m doing my best,” he says. “I’ll take another trip with UNICEF. So we can try to get all those children out there … you know, we have parents who have been trying to adopt for two or three years.”

At this point, tears are streaming down Dalembert’s face. “You know and … that’s frustrating me … you’re asking people to help. And kids have parents over there who want to adopt them. I’ve got a hundred parents, and you have a bunch of guys sitting down with the freaking papers. All it takes is one hour to go over everything, you know what I’m saying?

“I saw somebody’s leg amputated in front of me. Surgeries performed on a kitchen table … I’m talking about a folding kitchen table … I have some disturbing pictures. And it hurts. … There was no surgery room … You heard him screaming. … Not enough alcohol. Things we take for granted, you know. They try to make one bottle of alcohol last …

“And I’m going to do something in Philly. I will have a plane come in here, in Philly, and collect stuff next week … and I will have the plane take the stuff over there. Also I will let people know that if doctors want to give their time, that plane can go over there bringing doctors over there. Hopefully we’ll make huge progress. Hopefully we’ll save more lives.”

Samuel’s ongoing efforts are truly noble.

And they make all efforts into anything related to sports and entertainment inconsequential. Even as I type this, for example, I feel worthless for spending so much time over the past two weeks going on about my merry life and putting time into writing about the Pacers while millions suffer unthinkable calamities.

But this is what I do, so it is what I have done.

In fact, last week marked the six-month anniversary of this blog’s existence and me having been doing this. I didn’t even notice until just now, and while six months certainly isn’t that big of a deal, it does present a small opportunity for me to urge you to help people in dire need of help.

I know we haven’t always provided the timeliest or greatest or funniest or consistentest or [insert superlative here] coverage of the Pacers. We’re still learning the ropes and have made a lot of mistakes over the half-year. But we have put in a lot of effort and, presumably, at least a few of you have enjoyed our coverage — our coverage that is free to you and for which I don’t get paid.

I’m fine with that. I would never ask for payment from readers for this drivel.

But if you have ever even for a quick second wanted to give us thanks for any of the content we’ve created for the Pacers community thus far, please give $10 to the relief efforts in Haiti. All you have to do is text “Haiti” to 90999 and $10 will go to the Red Cross and be added to your next phone bill. Or even if you think we are doing terrible, terrible work here — or have know idea who I am — and are for some reason reading this sentence anyway, please, still send $10.

It’s literally the least we can do.

Thanks for reading, and please watch the video below that shows how President Clinton has partnered with the NBA for relief efforts, which are also being greatly advanced by Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning.

{ 1 comment }

← Older Stuff