Posts tagged as:

Josh McRoberts

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.

Related Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,

{ 2 comments }

Game #76 Recap: Pacers Handle Pistons

by Alex Yovanovich on March 30, 2011 at 11:19 pm · 0 comments

The Indiana Pacers looked great in handling the Pistons 111-101 on Wednesday night. Darren Collison led the attack with 20 points, Danny Granger added 17 and Josh McRoberts had a career-best with 13 rebounds to add to an effective 15-point night. Mike Dunleavy inspired the troops by making a triumphant return from injury to score 9 points. It was truly a night when no one on the Pacers played poorly.

On nights like these it’s easy to envision the Pacers as a worthy playoff team, despite their 34-42 record. Play well and the Pacers should easily be able to steal a game in a likely first round match-up against Chicago. Pushing a Chicago series to five games would be a noteworthy accomplishment for this group and set the franchise on the right path for the future. With the impending cap room the Pacers are about to enjoy this would be the icing on the cake.

All seems right with the world. The Pacers just spanked the Pistons. They continue to have a one-game lead for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Keep playing like this and the regular season business will soon turn into the postseason bonus.

Which makes the cynic in me wonder — based on how things have gone this season — how far does the pendulum now swing in the other direction?

A quick glance at the Pacers closing schedule shows that there aren’t many teams like Detroit left on the slate. In fact, I count only one sure win, next Wednesday against Washington. It all starts with a game against Milwaukee, which will be looking at a last gasp effort on Friday to stay in the playoff race by beating the Pacers.

Here’s the Pacers remaining schedule:

Friday, April 1 – Milwaukee (30-44)
Sunday, April 3 – at New Orleans (42-32)
Wednesday, April 6 – Washington (18-56)
Friday, April 8 – Atlanta (42-32)
Sunday, April 10 – New York (36-38)
Wednesday, April 13 – at Orlando (47-28)

While things look a little daunting, it could be easier than anticipated if Atlanta, New York and Orlando all are locked into their playoff spots and decide that they have nothing to play for down the stretch.

On the surface, Charlotte has more games that they should win. Their closing schedule includes several bad teams in Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and New Jersey.

Here’s the Bobcats remaining schedule:

Friday, April 1 – at Orlando (47-28)
Sunday, April 3 – Washington (18-56)
Tuesday, April 5 – at Cleveland (15-59)
Wednesday, April 6 – Orlando (47-28)
Friday, April 8 – at Miami (52-23)
Sunday, April 10 – Detroit (26-48)
Monday, April 11 – at New Jersey (23-50)
Wednesday, April 13 – Atlanta (42-32)

Before their latest Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine, I really thought making the playoffs would be a relatively easy proposition for the Pacers. As Tim Donahue pointed out in recent article, the Pacers should have been home free after thoroughly dismantling the Bobcats last week.

Instead, they find themselves in a fight for their lives. Michael Jordan essentially made it public that Charlotte did not want to be the 7th or 8th seed in the East when he traded away his key pieces before the February deadline. Somehow, the Charlotte players ignored all that and have gone on to win four games in a row since the Pacers blew them out on their home court.

Meanwhile, the Pacers somehow managed to lose by double-digits to both Sacramento and Detroit before putting together a great effort to beat Boston.

The Pacers are a hard team to figure out. They have beaten teams they shouldn’t be able to beat, but they have lost in blowouts many more times to teams they should beat consistently.

If the Pacers recent trend of beating teams that are headed to the playoffs holds true, they should be in good shape. That would mean at least four wins down the stretch and the blue and gold would be playoff bound.

Given the wild swings of inconsistency this year, that is probably too much to ask …

But I’ll cross my fingers anyway.

Related Topics: , , , , ,

{ 0 comments }

UPDATE: Larry Bird on Failed Trade: Deal Pulled Off the Table with Two Minutes to Go

by Jared Wade on February 26, 2011 at 5:45 pm · 2 comments

Larry Bird is now talking about what happened when his attempted trade with the Memphis Grizzlies for OJ Mayo fell apart just minutes before the trade deadline came and went last Thursday. UPDATE: And it is a different story from the one that Griz owner Michael Heisley was telling the other day. I’m not a logic major, but it seems as though someone here is either misinformed or has pants that are on fire. Apparently I was misreading this based on the Star’s “Bird claims Grizzlies pulled deal off table late” headline. Reporter Jeff Rabjohns has informed me that it was New Orleans that pulled the deal off the table at the last minute. Sorry for the confusion. Here’s the link to the more clearly presented Indy Star piece.

Jeff Rabjohns reported the following for the Indianapolis Star.

“I was on the phone with Memphis. We had a deal with five minutes to go. At two minutes, they (New Orleans) pulled the deal, and it didn’t happen,” Bird said, referring to the 3 p.m. deadline set by the NBA.

Larry elaborated further about the opportunity to get Mayo and “not give up a ton” — a characterization that must make Josh McRoberts, Brandon Rush and Solomon Jones (the three guys who would have been shipped out) feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“We felt we had the opportunity to get a player who would help us and not give up a ton, even though I like Josh and Brandon,” Bird said. “It’s unfortunate it had to be a three-team deal because when you get more teams in it, anything that happen.

“It’s tough on me because we worked three days to get a deal done, and they (New Orleans) pull it off the table with two minutes to go. That’s pretty hard to take.”

Now the Pacers look ahead to the summer. Barring the new Collective Bargaining Agreement capping all salaries at “one peanut butter sandwich with a team option for jelly,” the Pacers should have plenty of money to target some free agents. We’ll see how that goes, but I’ve increasingly become enamored with the idea of Zach Randolph playing power forward for Indiana.

The only responses from Brandon and Josh on the matter were typical, “say the right thing” fodder, although Rush again dropped a similar line to the one he gave me last night regarding his thoughts on what the front office has in store for his future in Indiana.

“They tried twice. I’m thinking they’re going to try again. But it’s the NBA. Everybody gets traded.”

The only real surprise here is that neither Brandon or Josh used the phrase “it is what it is.”

Good call, Dime magazine. Also, I love how every other cover line is a person’s name aside from “Kenyon’s Ink,” which now that I think about it, should be something K-Mart can claim as a dependent on his tax return no matter what Ron Paul thinks. Also Part II, I bet reading this issue with posterity would be hilarious. Just look at those names.

Related Topics: , , , , , ,

{ 2 comments }

Game #57 Recap: Indiana Barely Shows Up One Day After Two Pacer Players Were Minutes Away from Never Showing Up Again

by Jared Wade on February 25, 2011 at 10:44 pm · 1 comment

While losing 95-84 to the Utah Jazz tonight, the Pacers tonight looked like a team full of young players who may have been less than prepared to play well just a day after their GM reportedly tried to trade two rotation players. Perhaps that wasn’t the case, but it’s hard to think that it was merely poor execution and an off shooting night that caused a 27.7% shooting first half.

That’s just really, really hard to do for a team not populated by a Joel Anthony clone army

And since there is almost nothing about this single game that is worth discussing nor remembering, I was curious as to whether or not the players thought it was just one of those nights or whether the trade talk was a factor.

I asked both Danny Granger and Brandon Rush, who was were reportedly minutes away from no longer playing professional basketball in Indiana, and each, as expected, said they just played badly. “We just got our ass kicked — didn’t rebound, didn’t shoot well,” said Granger. “That’s the recipe for a loss.”

Specifically, in terms of how a team can shoot below 28% for a whole half, Danny put the blame on the team not using an offense that had, before tonight’s 84-point outing, produced at least 100 points in all 12 games that Frank Vogel has coached. “We tried to go one-on-one too much and didn’t let our movement work for us,” said Granger. “We just didn’t execute our offense as we have in the past.”

More important than whether or not the team came out flat in one game after a crazy trade deadline Thursday — which, it should be noted, was insane leaguewide way more so than it was for Indiana — is whether or not the involved players will be affected.

For Rush, the worth-mentioning preface to all this is that it has been a hectic month.

First he sprained his ankle, which sidelined him for a while and allowed Paul George to get some extended shine. (George was already well-established in the rotation prior to the injury, but did get more time and, likely, leeway while the coach had fewer options available on the bench.) Then came yesterday’s report that would have had Brandon packing for New Orleans had Larry Bird been able to get everything in order a little more quickly. All that, and now he finds himself back in the Pacers starting lineup following Mike Dunleavy Jr. suffering a broken thumb that is expected to keep him out for the next six to eight weeks.

Still, he said he’s just ready to play ball. “I’m ready to help this team to win,” said Rush. “Being a part of this organization has been great. I’m just looking forward to [the rest of the season].”

As a third-year player who has had his name floated in deals before, he understands it is a business. “That’s the way I look at it: it’s a business,” said Rush. “You can’t take anything personal because everything is about business around here. You try not to get your feelings involved. I mean, everybody’s bound to get traded every once in a while.”

And despite the loss and the obvious frustration Rush showed about that, he has remained upbeat enough to even drop some jokes about his future in Indiana and what the front office has in store for him next. “What’s going to happen this summer?” he asked with a tongue-in-cheek grin. “Maybe they’re gonna try again.”

Josh McRoberts was quick to dismiss any impact that this week’s trade deadline may have had on him. “I’m frustrated we lost,” said a stoic McRoberts. After some prodding about him almost being sent to Memphis, he only offered that “it’s good to know that I’ll be here the rest of the year. That’s a good thing. That’s positive.”

Like Granger, he saw tonight’s garbage-scented performance as simply an on-court performance problem. “We got killed,” said McRoberts. “They killed us on the boards. We didn’t help each other on defense or rebounding. We got killed.”

You sure did, Indiana.

Related Topics: , , , ,

{ 1 comment }

← Older Stuff

Newer Stuff →