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Post-Game Essentials: Box Score | PM Game Flow | Play-By-Play | Shot Chart | Behind the Boxscore | Indy Star Recap | Cornrows Recap | AP Recap | Pacer’s Digest Post Game

I feel sort of like Michael Jordan when he got up to give his Hall of Fame induction speech.

I told all my friends myself I was just gonna walk up here and post a link to yesterday’s recap and walk off.

I can’t.

There’s no way.

I got so many people I can … … give a wag of the finger to. (I’ll let you guess which one.)

Look. I’ve played the “It’s early card” as long as I can. I’ve been diplomatic. I’ve tried to give the injured guys time to reintegrate into the lineup and the new guys time to pick up the schemes. I’ve held back any major lambasting of this team’s ineptness until November was over.

But we’re now more than 1/5th of the way through this season. And this is getting beyond absurd.

An offense that plays this fast cannot be this bad. Honestly, no offense can be this bad. But if you’re constantly pushing the tempo and, theoretically, shooting early in the shot clock before the defense is set, you just cannot possibly be this inept.

Yet outside of the opening day loss to Atlanta, the upset over Boston, the loss in Toronto and the loss in Sacramento, the offensive production has been bad all year — and, really, only the Celtics and Raptors games could be considered good scoring nights. We could run down all the stats and figures that illustrate just how badly the team has played on the offensive end, but the simple fact is that this team has shot horribly, turned the ball over constantly and rarely gotten any offensive rebounds.

And if things don’t change before too much longer — something that will be increasingly difficult to believe is possible the longer Danny’s heel injury keeps him from playing effectively, or at all — it isn’t out of the question that Larry Bird will begin a second stint coaching this team at some point this season.

But enough generalizing; let’s get into specifics from last night

• Danny Granger left the game with what is being called a “bruised right heel,” which is a re-aggravation of an injury that has been bothering him since preseason. MRI results are pending, but even though the Pacers don’t play again until next Wednesday against Portland, I would personally be surprised to see him play for at least a week and perhaps longer. That’s just pure speculation, but considering he has been nursing a gimpy knee as well, it would make sense to try to give him some rest. Meanwhile, I don’t even want to think about what would happen to this Pacers offense if this kept him out for, say, ten games. Although, really, it can’t possibly get much worse anyway, and it’s not like Granger has been particularly great so far this year anyway despite what PPG and talking heads on TV might tell you. It might actually be interesting to see what will happen if the guy who is using roughly a quarter of the team’s possessions — many of which he uses to launch the 9 threes per game he is throwing up per game — sits out for a few. I’m sure it won’t be good. But it will at least be different. And, at this point, I’d be willing to try even going literally four on five for a quarter just to see if that would be any worse. One of those morbid curiosity things, ya know.

• Perhaps the only thing more staggeringly bad than shooting 37.5% from the field is losing to a team that shot 34.9% from the field. Just … wow, guys. That’s special, special work. Seriously, don’t take my word for it; let’s go to the stats. So far this season, 12 teams have shot below 35% from the floor in a game. Of those 12, only one has prevailed — and that was the Bobcats beating the Nets despite shooting an unholy 32.4%. If we go back even further, it gets worse. Since the 1999-2000 season, precisely 900 teams have shot 35% or lower. Only 69 of those have won. That means that a team shooting 35% of lower has only a 7.7% chance of winning an NBA game. So let’s all congratulate the Clippers on becoming the 901st team of the decade to shot below 35% in a game and becoming only the 70th team to win when doing so in a league where 30 teams each play 82 games per season. That’s rarefied air, my friends. Pacers fans should probably just feel honored to be a part of such an exclusive club more than anything.

• You would think a team that missed 45 shots would be able to manage more than 4 offensive rebounds. As a rule, a team should get at least one offensive rebound for every four shots it misses, and the Pacers have been fairly close to that so far this season (although, technically, they have averaged a rather sub-par 23.8%). Tonight, however, they got less than 10% of their own misses. That’s really, really bad. By contrast, the Clippers hauled in 19 of their own 54 misses, or 35.2% of the potential offensive rebounds available (something that goes to show that the Pacers rebounded poorly on both sides of the floor, which I guess at least makes them consistent). In related news, Roy and Tyler managed only a combined 6 rebounds (both offensive and defensive) in 46 combined minutes, while Jeff Foster, who headed back to the locker room during the second half after getting smacked in the nose and reportedly looking “wobbly” on the way according to sideline reporter Stacey Paetz, only managed 1 board in 12 minutes. A little different from his 19-board effort the other night. Troy Murphy was the lone semi-bright spot in this area, grabbing 9 boards in 38 minutes and recording a team-”high” 2 offensive rebounds. Still, given the 99 total misses FGs between both teams in this game, 9 rebounds is hardly worth even a golf clap. Hell, Marcus Camby’s 17 boards in this type of game isn’t really even worth getting all that excited about, if we’re being honest.

• TJ Ford went 0/2 last night with … wait for it … 0 points. Silver lining: It only took him 18 minutes to score the same null set that it took me to score. From my couch. While eating pizza. This showing, combined with his 0/4 in Sacramento two games back, means that the Pacers starting point guard has now scored 0 points in two of his last three games. I’m not a mathematician, but that sounds low to me. He also missed yet another three-pointer, continuing his 0-for-the-season streak from three-point land. The last time he made a three was March 28. I’m almost hoping he doesn’t make another one this calendar year just so I’ll have to start putting a “2009″ next to that date. And since he’s just about due for an injury that will keep him out for a week or two, it seems fairly likely. (If you can’t tell, I’ve been very impressed with TJ’s play so far this year. It’s been just a treasure to watch. He’s been delightful. And remember, folks, he’s one of the Eastern Conference guards on your All-Star Ballot. He’s averaging 9.6 ppg with 2.9 apg, guys. What’s not to like? I’m just gonna keep going until I’m sure you all get this sarcasm. Is that everybody? Ok. Good.)

• Roy Hibbert actually played pretty good on the block. He still scares me whenever he gets the ball at the high post, but even from there he had a few decent passes that helped facilitate some offensive movement, which at least offset all the other times when he held the ball without purpose or the threat of scoring for several seconds while the shot clock wound down. But his turnaround hook looked good even from an extended range, and he was able to establish deep position several times. These are both very good things.

• Mike Dunleavy, Jr. didn’t help the offense much at all. In past games, even in limited minutes, his ball rotation, spacing, cutting and passing visibly have helped create movement among the other players and forced the defense to react and rotate. Very little of that happened against the Clippers.

• Brandon Rush made two shots but he was still little more than worthless on offense, per usual. It feels like the Pacers are trying to kill a power play whenever he is on the court.

• Earl Watson seemed to spark a little life out there, and I imagine some people will point out the usefulness of his 9 assists. I’ll just point out his 2/11 shooting and move on with my life. He didn’t do a ton of great stuff out there aside from the few times that he was able to push the ball in transition, which I will admit was an admirable attempt to at least get some sort of high-percentage attack going towards the basket. That tear drop bank-shot was sorta cool, I suppose.

• The box score says that Dahntay Jones played 32 minutes, and I presume he spent about half that time on offense. News to me.

• Danny wasn’t even good when he was playing, although he did manage one nice dunk along with one nice post-up where he got fouled and a couple of mostly unsuccessful drives towards the hoop.

• The one aspect of the Pacers offense this year that has generally been good is its ability to get players to the line. Not last night. They only took 19 free throws and nobody went more than 4 times. That’s just a lack of aggression, which is always bad but particularly condemnable on a night where no one can make a jumper. I swear that some of the players on this team think that the paint is made of lava.

• Seriously, Jim O’Brien, you need to find some way to put some points on the board.

Related posts:

1. Game #17 Recap: They Just Can’t Score
2. Game #7 Recap: Making the Most of the Moment
3. Game #12 Recap – Too Little, Too Late

Off Rating: pts / 100 possessions Def Rating: pts allowed / 100 possessions
eFG%: FG% accounting for 3PA being worth more Pace: avg possessions per game

We’re doing this preview early. And we’re doing it differently.

Yup, lucky day for Pacers fan. You won’t have to suffer through yet another overly long diatribe from me about how bad this team’s offense is and how badly the players on the opposition will light Indy up — at least not until Brandon Roy comes to town next week.

Instead, you get to listen to a guy who knows way more than me about all things NBA and a guy who knows more than just about anyone else on the planet about these Clippers: Kevin Arnovitz. Kevin runs ClipperBlog, writes for ESPN’s TrueHoop and has been instrumental in the creation and management of the TrueHoop Network (of which 8p9s is a part).

There’s a more in-depth breakdown of the podcast’s contents over on Both Teams Played Hard, but you can essentially expect to hear an hour-long conversation about the Western Conference with a heavy dose of Clippers talk. And at the end, we break down Saturday night’s epic Pacers/Clipper rematch, which if it was a pay-per-view event would be billed as “Pacers vs. Clippers II: This Time It’s Personal. This Time We Make Shots. (Maybe)”

Enjoy. And, remember, you can subscribe to the Talking About Practice NBA podcast through iTunes, where rankings and reviews are always appreciated.

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Took my son to the game tonight. Mitchell just turned 10, and though this wasn’t the first Pacer game we’ve attended together, they haven’t been as common as one would hope. Mitchell loves to play sports (particularly football and basketball), but he doesn’t regularly watch them, either on TV or in person. While I went down to the game hoping to see the Pacers win, he was probably going down to the game hoping to get something cool from the gift shop and maybe some nachos.

The evening didn’t get off to a great start. On the way down to Conseco, we heard the words “Danny Granger” and “MCL”  in the same sentence.   That could be good if somebody’s telling you they saw Danny eating a Roast Beef Manhattan at the MCL Cafeteria in Speedway. The odds of that being the case are not statistically significant. As you all know by now, if Danny was eating that delightful concoction of starch and fat, he was doing it with his leg elevated. He missed the game with what was later reported as a mild knee sprain.  By the end of the first quarter, the Pacers had managed only 12 points, and I can tell you firsthand that it was miraculous they had that many.

At this point, a million things are running through my head – “Lord, the offense is horrible.” “Why does Dahntay keep trying to bounce all of his passes off of Marcus Camby’s legs?” “Troy Murphy’s mechanics are all screwed up. He looks like he’s squeezing out his shot, like he’s a tube of toothpaste.” “2011 is a very, very long way away.” “What Native American burial ground did I violate?”

Mitchell, meanwhile, thinks it’s a good time for nachos.

The rest of the first half continued on the same tack. After an early flurry brought the Pacers within one, they fell back to trail pretty consistently between 6 and 9 points for the rest of the half. Mitchell sat quietly during this time working away at his nachos and looking bored. It was a good thing that he had the nachos, because he would have been otherwise indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd. I had told him before the game, that we were going to have to stay for the entire game, regardless of what happened.  He was resigned, but I was having my doubts. He was even ambivalent about the halftime entertainment, which was a trampoline act featuring two guys who, for all the world, appeared to have been recruited from the local Dad’s club. He did comment that he couldn’t wait to see Boomer do his dunk routine at the start of the fourth.

So, the two of us were both waiting for the end of the game, a practice that has become all too commonplace for Pacer games over the past few years. Both teams spent the first half of the third spinning their wheels, before the Pacers started to grind their way back into the game. I was mildly hopeful that they might be able to steal this one against a craptacular Clippers team, but that’s about it.

Then, after a Dahntay Jones and-one cut the deficit to 52-51, I heard a small voice tinged with excitement say, “If they get one more basket, they’ll be in the lead.”

Sadly, my first reaction was a little bit of pity for him. The poor kid, he doesn’t realize how much time is left, or how many things could go wrong.

Then I thought about  that, and realized that he was purely in the moment. He wasn’t burdened by preconceived notions or prejudices.  He didn’t have any long term agendas or baggage to color what was happening on the court. He wasn’t worried about tilting the windmills associated with some future championship, nor did he care about the substitution patterns or about anybody’s contract. He simply wanted the Pacers to win.

Mitchell had become the embodiment of something that I had stopped being a very, very long time ago: a pure and simple fan.

For the rest of the game, I became captivated not only by the events on the floor, but by Mitchell’s reaction to them. After each big play, I was compelled first to look at him – to try to capture the moment. To live vicariously as someone that I can never be again. Every father derives great pleasure from seeing their son being genuinely happy. There are few things more precious than being able to share these small little things with your son.  For about an hour tonight, I was able to experience an NBA regular season game in November between also-rans as something shiny, special, and new.  Each defensive stop, each big shot, became a fresh injection of youth. Mitchell responded to these things like a kid on Christmas – with a clean, innocent joy uncluttered by suspicion or doubt. No expectations beyond the result of that play at that moment. I felt blessed to be able to witness these. Hopeful that I was in some way a part of his exuberance. That this game was special to him, in part, because he was with me, just as being there with him made it so meaningful to me.

We both left the game after the Pacers’ 86-73 win with a bounce in our step. Mitchell changed into his basketball uniform immediately upon returning home, and for the next hour, I could hear him upstairs playing on his Pacers Hoop & Backboard set. He was takin’ it to the rack until his mother finally put her foot down. Shortly thereafter, he drifted off to a blissful sleep…hopefully dreaming of that pretty inbound give-and-go between Dahntay Jones and Roy Hibbert that led to a dunk.

So, it’s the wee hours on Thanksgiving morning. The pies are cooling, and the turkey is spending the night in a nice honey brine. I should probably head to bed, but not before I give some thanks.

First, thanks to all of you for indulging me in this little exercise. Second, thanks to Jared Wade for so graciously allowing me to write about the Pacers that I love, and the freedom to meander as I do. Third, to the Pacers who played tonight for continuing to plug away at a seemingly futile task and providing the events that created the moments. Finally, thanks to Mitchell for being, well, Mitchell.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Best wishes to you and yours. We’ll talk basketball again on Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving, Bubba…Thanks for going to the game with me.  Love ya, Buddy.

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Glossary: Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | eFG% | Pace

The easiest thing to do would be to simply cut and paste yesterday’s preview, and change the names to protect the innocent.  However, it’s really hard to find any innocents.  Yesterday, the Pacers were trying to snap a three-game losing streak.  Today, it’s a four-game skein they’re trying to halt.

Over the last two losses, the Pacers have added all around horrible defense to the litany of offense woes I detailed yesterday.  They’ve been particularly badly exploited in pick and rolls, but the failures have not been limited to that.  Rather than launch into a lengthy attempt to rationalize an increasingly irrational situation, I think I’ll just give you some things to look for tonight, and start preparing for Thanksgiving.

• In the second half last night, Danny returned to his All Star form by scoring 22 points and helping the Pacers to cut 16 points off of a 21-point halftime deficit.  The effort fell short, but the important question is, “Can he do it again?”  He was only 3/12 in the first half, and he’s shot under 40% in 7 of the 12 games this season.

• Roy Hibbert is expected to return to the line up after seeing only short minutes in the Toronto game.  Matchups were the cause of his limit last night, but that shouldn’t be an issue against the Clippers.  L.A. starts the 7’0″ Chris Kaman and the 6’11″ Marcus Camby on their front line, and bring the 7’0″ DeAndre Jordan off the bench.  O’Brien has been non-committal, though, and it may be a game time decision.

• Hoosier native Eric Gordon is questionable for tonight’s game with a strained groin that has cause him to miss eight of his team’s 15 games.  He was averaging almost 19 points per night on over 50% shooting before going down.  Rasual Butler has taken his place in the starting lineup.

• Baron Davis has stayed healthy this year, but he’s still exhibiting that questionable shot selection, shooting a paltry 38% from the floor and 29% from beyond the arc.

• Surprisingly, the Clippers are led in scoring by Captain Caveman (Chris Kaman).  His 20.5 points a contest nearly doubles his career scoring average, and is almost five points higher than his previous best of 15.7.

• It won’t be a Dunleavy family holiday tonight, as Junior has elected to sit out a few more games in order to get into better game shape.  He’s currently expected to return sometime during next week’s West Coast road trip.

• Buckaroo Banzai (Hansbrough) played only 15 minutes last night, despite being cleared to play 22 by the medical staff.  He was pretty effective in his time, so it was a bit of a head scratcher as to why he didn’t play more.  O’Brien later explained that the 22 minutes includes practice time, as well, and some of that had been used up earlier in the day.

• Tonight is the first a home-and-home series with the Clippers.  They’ll be done with them early this year, as they visit the Staples Center on December 5th.

• Friday night, the Pacers host Rick Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks before leaving for a four-game West Coast road trip.  This may be the most forgiving West Coast swing I’ve ever seen, as the Pacers will face three losing teams (Sacramento, Golden State, and the Clippers) and the Utah Jazz, who sit at .500.  Normally, this would be cause for some optimism, but the Pacers are not playing at a level necessary to beat anyone on any floor right now.  Here’s hoping this two-game homestand will change that.

Most importantly, I hope that this holiday weekend finds you and yours safe, happy, and warm.

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Here are all of the TrueHoop Network season previews for the individual teams. As an added bonus, Henry Abbott will have some more stuff up later in the day over at TrueHoop, Matt Moore has his piece on undersized guards at Hardwood Paroxysm and Haubs has his “10 NBA Questions for the 2010s” at The Painted Area.

And let’s hope the network’s 32-win prediction for the Pacers proves low.

TEAM	BLOGGERS SAY	WINS*
	Bret Lagree | Hoopinion “The Hawks have not built, nor do they appear to be building, a championship contender. … Joe Johnson is poised to be a free agent in the summer of 2010. Johnson is not a franchise player, yet he’s the Hawks’ best player.”	45
	Zach Lowe | CelticsHub “It seems reasonable to say anything short of an 18th championship would be a disappointment.”	58
	Brett Hainline | Queen City Hoops “Great defense + equally bad offense = average. With an improving division around them, that equation does not get them their first playoff berth. But at least they won’t suck.”	36
	Matt McHale | By the Horns “During the offseason, the Bulls lost free agent Ben Gordon, whom many people considered the team’s best or second-best player (after Derrick Rose). Memo to Chicago fans: Don’t sweat it. Seriously. Gordon will be replaced by John Salmons, who not only gave the Bulls almost as many points per game (18.3 versus 20.7) but was slightly more efficient in how he scored them.”	43
	John Krolik | Cavs the Blog “After last season’s playoff heartbreak, Danny Ferry has changed up the equation … However, Shaq could disrupt the delicate offensive and defensive chemistry the Cavaliers rode to 66 wins and the conference finals, despite the fact he will be the best player LeBron has ever played with if he continues to play like he did last season. The big question for the Cavs this seasons whether they overreacted to two clutch 3s by Rashard Lewis, or made the risk they needed to take to finally get LeBron a ring.”	61
	Rob Mahoney | The Two Man Game “’Rebuilding’ teams seek financial flexibility and the acquisition of young, productive assets. Quality squads amass veteran talent, no matter the cost, in pursuit of a title. Defying all logic, the Mavs have simultaneously moved in both directions.”	50
	Jeremy Wagner | Roundball Mining Company “The only players still on the roster who exceeded expectations in 2008-09 were Nene and Birdman. It is reasonable to expect every member of the Nuggets, other than thirty-something Chauncey Billups, to improve.”	53
	Dan Feldman | PistonPowered “However the minutes shake out between Chris Wilcox, Kwame Brown and Ben Wallace, they won’t be as good as Rasheed Wallace. But Sheed wasn’t that great last year. He looked old and disinterested, so the drop here won’t be too steep.”	36
	Rasheed Malek |Warriors World “Under the ownership of Chris Cohan, the Warriors have made the playoffs exactly one time and have gone through numerous coaches, players and executives. Going into this season, Larry Riley is the man in charge taking over for Chris Mullin.”	28
	Anup Shah and Brody Rollins | Rockets Buzz “The speed revolution has overtaken some of basketball’s peers, most notably football … Is basketball headed in the same direction? [Aaron] Brooks provides an excellent case study. Beginning the year as the Rockets number one threat on offense with Ron Artest’s departure and injuries to Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, Brooks will have every opportunity to prove that size really doesn’t matter.”	39
	Jared Wade | Eight Points, Nine Seconds “It’s hard to believe that anything short of the postseason will remove the dark cloud over Conseco. … Ultimately, it will come down to one thing: [Mike Jr.] Dunleavy’s knee.”	32
	Kevin Arnovitz | ClipperBlog “[Blake] Griffin and [Eric] Gordon may not be saviors, but they’re something. Griffin’s skills and his tenacious work ethic (the guy runs up sand dunes in his free time) will be a boon to a team desperate for cultural overhaul. Gordon offers an enticing combination of spot-up shooting and forays into the paint. He finished third in true shooting percentage among starting off guards in his rookie campaign, something that can only help a team that ranked dead last in offensive efficiency last season.”	32
	Kurt Helin | Forum Blue and Gold “God, is it good to be hated again.”	64
	Chip Crain | 3 Shades of Blue “The 2009-10 version of the Grizzlies have put together a starting five where every player scored 30 points or more in a game last year. The oldest starter is only 28 years old (Zach Randolph) and the youngest won’t turn 22 until after the start of the season (O.J. Mayo). They are young, talented and hungry for success. So why do most people focus on the two players not on a rookie contract this season?”	20
	Matthew Bunch | Hot Hot Hoops “38.6 minutes. 30.2 points. 49.1 percent shooting. Five rebounds. 7.5 assists. 2.2 steals. 1.3 blocks. That’s what [Dwyane] Wade averaged last season. You’re going to keep that guy out of the playoffs? Good luck.”	44
	Jeremy Schmidt | Bucksketball “If the Bucks get anything out of their three small forwards, if they can keep [Andrew] Bogut and [Michael] Redd healthy and if they get a season worthy of the number ten selection out of Brandon Jennings at the point, the playoffs will be within reach. But that’s a lot of ifs.”	29
	Patrick Hodgdon | Howlin’ T-Wolf “”Ever since his arrival, David Kahn has had seemingly one mission, other than to look like the smartest guy in the room at every turn, and that is to get as much cap space for next summer as he possibly can. … The obvious question lies in whether or not the Wolves will actually be able to lure one of the better free agent players to come to Minnesota.”	23
	Mark Ginocchio and Sebastian Priuti | Nets are Scorching “Lingering doubts about Brooklyn could spoil any change the Nets have of landing a top free agent next summer.”	29
	Niall Doherty and Ryan Schwan | Hornets247 “Enter Emeka Okafor. He’s a near match to a healthy Chandler, is more durable, and doesn’t look like he’s having muscle spasms when making a post move.”	47
	Mike Kurylo | Knickerblogger “2010 could be New York’s return to winning.”	31
	Royce Young | Daily Thunder “The Thunder may not win more than half their games, but with over half the roster unable to get an alcoholic beverage still, steady improvement and progression is the name of the game.”	34
	Zach McCann | Orlando Magic Daily “Take away either Hedo Turkoglu or Courtney Lee and the Magic aren’t getting to face the Lakers in the Finals. No way. But does that mean the Magic were wrong to let them go? Were the Magic foolish to allow a borderline All-Star and a possible future All-Star leave the team when both clearly wanted to stay in Orlando? Absolutely not. I believe the Magic are an entirely better team than they were four months ago.”	59
	Carey R. Smith | Philadunkia “The travesty of a deal that Billy King gave to Samuel Dalembert remains easily one of the worst contracts in NBA history. Hopefully this season Dalembert, his inflated self-worth and his contract will be dealt for a couple of expiring contracts and some much-needed cap space.”	39
	Michael Schwartz | Valley of the Suns “Two years ago the Suns were chic championship picks. Last year, the Suns were (accurately) thought to be a fringe playoff team. This year there are almost no expectations outside of their locker room. … There will be no mistaking what the Suns are this season: a lightning-speed team that will score points in bunches and likely give them up almost as quickly while struggling badly on the boards. But they will once again be the most exciting team in basketball.”	46
	Max Handelman | Beyond Bowie “The Blazers effectively bumbled their way to a 54-win season despite a mediocre performance from Greg Oden, the loss of Martell Webster for the season, and at times starting three rookies. This team is only getting better, kids.”	53
	Zach Harper | Cowbell Kingdom “Enter Tyreke Evans — a bulldozer-sized menace who will test the strength of every team’s defense at its entry point. He immediately creates matchup problems against teams with traditional point guards and will look to have a similar impact as fellow Memphis alum, Derrick Rose.”	22
	Timothy Varner | 48 Minutes of Hell During the Celtics heyday, Red Auerbach boasted a winning percentage of .719. In the modern era, Pat Riley’s Showtime Lakers played to the tune of .733. Phil Jackson’s Jordan Bulls dominated the 90s with an otherworldly percentage of .771. Jackson’s three-peat Lakers? .735. In his 12 seasons with San Antonio, Gregg Popovich, whose cynical disdain for the regular season runs more than skin deep, has, nevertheless, posted a winning percentage of .707. That’s the company the Spurs keep. What should we expect this season? 58 wins and a run at the title. Same as every other year.”	55
	RaptorsRepublic “How is a rookie(ish) head coach going to integrate nine new players into a new system with two new assistant coaches?”	41
	Spencer Ryan Hall | Salt City Hoops “With young Wesley Matthews providing the good luck charm, Boozer in a contract year, Deron Williams with a chip on his shoulder, and a new longer-haired version of Andrei Kirilenko the Jazz have no reason to be anything other than beastly this season. And I mean that in a good way. Every prediction from the Jazz camp, however, comes with the ominous caveat ‘If we can stay healthy.’”	46
	Kyle Weidie | Truth About It “Flip Saunders has never gotten a team ‘there.’ That worn out cliché always runs rampant, plaguing almost every coach who hasn’t won … until they win. Red Auerbach (647), Larry Brown (1,900), and Dick Motta (738) all took their lumps before winning a championship (games coached before title season). Don’t be surprised when what you think is impossible becomes a reality. … 2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Factor in Gilbert Arenas’ stomach tattoo and the fact that the Wizards play their home games in D.C.’s Chinatown, and all the cards are in place.”	42
* As predicted by a consensus of all TrueHoop Network bloggers.

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