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Slick Leonard

Game #65 Recap: Headlines Take Too Much Effort

by Jared Wade on March 12, 2011 at 12:43 am · 2 comments

Would you like me to pretend this is a normal team and break down this game in a traditional way? Do you want to hear about the 62 points the Pacers surrendered in the first half or the 53.1% they allowed the Raptors to shoot for the game (which includes a lackluster 4-for-16 from behind the arc)? Shall we talk about the effortless, season-high 29 points that Leandro Barbosa scored? How about the 11-for-12 combined shooting display by relative unknowns James Johnson and Ed Davis? Or what about the 13 boards grabbed by that same Davis or the 16 (including 6 on the offensive end) hauled in by Reggie Evans? Maybe we should talk about the worst sin of all: the whole Pacers team, down only 6 with less than a minute to play, allowing Jose Calderon drive … nay … walk right to the rim for an uncontested layup?

Well, sorry.

I’m not going to go into any more detail about the particulars of this one.

Because this is a team in crisis, and the only thing that is really important to the narrative of this season anymore is whether or not this an still actually a basketball team or just a collection of 15 co-workers who are now just counting down the days until school’s out for summer.

I’m not the type of basketball viewer to walk around harping on Mighty Ducks-style platitudes. In fact, I’m a guy whose actual senior year book quote in high school was Homer Simpson’s “Well, boy, you failed. The lesson here is: Never try.” Rudy Ruettiger I am not.

But there simply wasn’t a ton of effort out there again tonight — particularly on the defensive end of the floor. The Raptors aren’t the worst team in the league — that’s the Cavs. But they might be the easiest team to push around physically. With Evans now back from a major ankle injury that had sidelined him since November, the Raptors have toughened up. But it’s not like going into Toronto, a team that recently lost back-to-back games to New Jersey in London, and winning is a difficult proposition.

Yet the Pacers only led for 43 seconds in this contest that was never close. Again, worse than the outcome was the way the team looked.

Really, all you need to know about this one is that the most tenacity the team showed can after the game was already decided. Leandro Barbosa took a shot rather than just dribble out the clock like a good little boy scout would. Most likely, he remembered when Darren Collison popped a jumper with the clock dwindling and the Pacers up big in a Raptors loss to the Pacers a few weeks ago. (It was Frank Vogel’s first game coaching if I’m not mistaken.) Well, Danny Granger, in particular was highly upset by what he perceived as Barbosa’s disrespectful shot attempt. There is an unwritten rule that you don’t try to score if the other team has already surrendered and there is less than 24 seconds left in the game. You just dribble it out, shake hands and head to the locker room. So it’s understandable that Granger would take offense.

But when you loaf around the court and get embarrassed, for the sixth straight outing, mind you, I would think that there are bigger things to be frustrated about. Perhaps Danny deserves the benefit of the doubt here and this was just his larger frustration about his team’s futility boiling over in a mis-directed manner … but it sure made him look silly. As a captain, you can’t motivate your team to come out here and give enough of an effort to even hang with a terrible, terrible team, but you’re ready to get all fired up about an impolite act by a Raptors reserve? After the game, Danny said the following about the incident: “If I was on him I would have took his neck off him. That’s unsportsmanlike. I would have taken his head off and busted his lip.” Nice priorities. (In Danny’s defense, he did shoot OK and got to the line 8 times on his way to 25 point so he was at least paying attention on the offensive end.)

Getting back to the team-wide malaise, I watched on TV with Toronto broadcast feed and even their announcers repeatedly seemed shocked at how nonchalant Indiana looked. At one point, fairly early in the game, one announcer mentioned that it’s “hard to believe that’s a Pacer team battling for a Playoff spot.” After half time, their play-by-play guy tried to re-set the stage for viewers, stating that the playoff-hopeful Pacers were “a team desperate for a W.” His partner quipped that “they don’t seem [desperate].” They also took several shots at Danny Granger, criticizing his lackluster effort getting up off the ground to get back on defense at one point and generally mentioning his disinterest on that end of the floor altogether.

The Pacers announcers were seeing the same thing. Indiana legend and should-be-Hall of Famer Slick Leonard offered these gems: “We have no interest in the defensive end of the floor” and “Time to get out the big ol’ mirror and have these guys look at themselves in it” and “We’re out there Mickey Mousing around.”

That about sums this one up.

Will probably sum up the ensuing loss to the Knicks in Madison Square on Sunday, too.

Related Topics: Apathy, Game Recaps, Slick Leonard, Toronto Raptors

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Random Stuff You Discover When You’re Bored

by Tim Donahue on April 1, 2010 at 10:03 pm · 0 comments

Those who know me are painfully aware that I keep an absolutely stunning amount of useless **** in my head. My response is, “There is no such thing as useless information, because…well…ya know… how would you know (you’ll never use it)?” So, combine that trait with the attention span of a goldfish and easy access to the internet, and well…

Any-hoo, the combination of a draft analysis I’m working on and reading When the Game Was Ours (the Bird/Magic book) started me wandering down a path looking at Rick Robey’s history with the Pacers. Rick Robey, for those who aren’t already aware of this, was “the guy we picked instead.” That is, the guy we picked, instead of taking Larry Bird.

Either I never knew this, or had forgotten it, but the Pacers actually held the #1 pick in the 1978 Draft, which was the year Bird was drafted 6th by the Celtics. Apparently, after Slick Leonard met with Bird and learned that the Indiana State star was committed to staying in college, he elected to trade the #1 pick to Portland for Johnny Davis and the #3 pick. Portland selected Mychal Thompson, while Rick Robey became the answer to a trivia question.

Really, if you remove what Bird became from the equation, and look at in terms of what they knew then, it actually was a pretty good trade. Johnny Davis was a starting quality point guard, and he was the reward for moving only two slots back in the draft. Sure, Robey was a complete stiff, but after 43 games, the Pacers parlayed him into the return of Billy Knight, who was a much better player than people remember.

So, yeah, not a bad deal. Johnny Davis and Billy Knight for Mychal Thompson, who had a relatively disappointing career. In fact, it was actually a really good deal for the Pacers, despite the fact that Knight’s knees were shot. Pacer fans can actually look back on that one and feel pretty good about it.

As long as you can ignore the fact that, in effect, they still could have drafted arguably one of the five greatest players to ever lace ‘em up, who, just happened to be an Indiana native.

Yeah.

But, really, that was a different time. It’s almost impossible to describe how different things were. The NBA was, quite possibly, dying. They were considered too black, too violent, and too riddled with drug problem for mass consumption. Their lone television contract was with CBS, and around that time, CBS elected not to show any of the NBA weeknight telecasts during prime time. (In fact, only playoff games were televised on weeknights. During the regular season, there was a single game broadcast each week on Sunday Afternoon.) They were played on tape delay at 11:30. As late as the mid-1980′s, even the finals were broadcast on tape delay. I can remember avoiding the sportscast on local news, so that I could watch Magic, Kareem, and the Lakers play Julius Erving and the 76ers without knowing the outcome.

Teams were broke, and the Pacers were broker. I think in many ways, the post-Magic-Larry-Michael generation may not be able to understand what it was like back then. That’s not a slight on them. When I look at the money and the access now, I sometimes wonder if I understand.

But this all brings me to the random thing I discovered when I was bored. It’s something that probably can illustrate how different the worldview was back then. I’ve rambled more than I intended, but we can get to it now.

The Saga of the 4th Pick in the 1981 Draft

If you’re a serious NBA fan today, you are aware that there are few things that get more attention, more discussion, or more love than a draft pick. I’m not talking about the player, rather the pick itself. It’s the NBA’s version of the Golden Ticket, a chance to see Willy Wonka’s (or Pawtucket Pat’s, if that’s more your milieu) magical world. There are few things more breathlessly (and senselessly) overvalued than a draft pick. However, back in the ’70′s and ’80′s, draft picks were almost like cans to be kicked down the road. Trade a future asset for success today, and ensure that asset declines in value by being good. For Pacer fans, the Tom Owens trade leaps readily to mind.

The fourth pick in the 1981 draft rightfully belonged to the Cleveland Cavaliers – at least in theory. Cleveland’s 28-54 record had earned them the slot, but they had long since bartered that particular asset away. The story starts almost four years before draft day:

On October 3, 1977, the Cavaliers traded the rights to their 1981 and 1983 First Round draft picks to the Philadelphia 76ers for swingman Terry Furlow. Furlow was a Michigan State star and sometimes mentor to a very young Earvin Johnson. He played just about 100 nondescript games for the Cavs before being traded to Atlanta. Furlow was a member of the Utah Jazz in May of 1980, when he was killed in a car accident in Ohio. Police said his blood contained traces of cocaine and valium. The 1983 pick was later traded by Philly, along with Caldwell Jones, for Moses Malone and a championship. (Houston used that pick, which was #3, to draft Rodney McCray.) The 1981 pick did not stay with the Sixers, either.

In February of 1980, the Sixers were serious title contenders and interested in a little backcourt help. The poor little pick was forwarded to Portland along with cash for guard Lionel Hollins. Hollins had been part of the 1977 Portland team that had defeated Philly for the title. In his 2 1/3 season stint, Philly went to the Finals twice (losing to LA both times) and fell in the Eastern Conference Finals once. Hollins started the lion’s share of games for them during that time. The 1981 pick resided in Portland, but it just couldn’t set down roots.

Barely four months later, the pick was on the move again. This time, to the Windy City. Chicago sent Portland the rights to Kelvin Ransey and their 1981 1st Rounder. That pick turned out to be the 16th pick, and Portland spent it on another point guard, Darnell Valentine. Both Ransey and Valentine had brief, but relatively productive stints in the Pacific Northwest. Portland sent Chicago the rights to Ronnie Lester and, get this: The choice of Portland’s 1981 1st round pick, Portland’s 1992 1st round pick, or the star of our little story, the Cavs 1981 1st rounder.

Well, since the Cavaliers sucked again in the 1980-81 season, the Bulls elected to take that option, which had been established as the fourth pick in the draft. (If you’re keeping score, the Blazers’ 1981 pick was 15th (Jeff Lamp – UVa), and the 1992 ended up being 26th (Dave Johnson – Syracuse.)) However, Chicago decided not to hold onto it. On June 8, 1981, the Bulls traded the little-passed-around #4 pick, along with the #38 pick, to Atlanta in exchange for the #6 and #26 picks in the 1981 draft. Chicago selected Orlando Woolridge at #6 and Ricky Frazier at #26.

And finally, our wayward pick found a home with the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks used the pick to take Al Wood, the 6-foot-6-inch swingman from North Carolina, and they all lived happily ever after…

Until January of the following year, when Wood (who had played only 19 games for the Hawks) was traded along with Charlie Criss to the San Diego Clippers for Freeman Williams.

God, I miss those days.

the_more_you_know2

There are some fantastic books about professional basketball during these times. If you haven’t done it yet, do yourself a favor and read the following: Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam; Loose Balls by Terry Pluto; The Punch by John Feinstein; Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story by Pete Axthelm; The City Game by Pete Axthelm.

Note: I found this little gem when I was looking around for some footage from when Red Auerbach used to give basketball tips at halftime of Sunday afternoon games. This is from 1978.

Related Topics: Al Wood, draft picks, Larry Bird, Rick Robey, Slick Leonard

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Why Do the Pacers Care?

by Tim Donahue on March 28, 2010 at 2:01 pm · 7 comments

Here’s the deal: I know a large portion of the Pacer fan base has decided that Coach Jim O’Brien is the anti-christ, but I think he’s OK. Solid, not great. I do think he panicked when things went bad, however, futzing around with the lineup way too much. This probably cost the team a few wins (well, maybe a couple, who knows?), and I think it at least created too much uncertainty. There has been speculation dating back to even December that he lost the team, with direct comments coming from drive-by guys like Bob Kravitz and Kelly Dwyer, which are then repeated when national websites talk about coaching hot seats and the like.

In any case, though I have yet to see a definitive statement from what I consider a reliable inside source, it does seem (or at least, did seem) reasonable to me that the team has tuned out O’Brien. I also think that O’Brien should be fired at season’s end.

I’m generally hesitant to fire coaches unless one of two situations exist:

1. You have a better option in mind and pretty much lined up.
2. You simply don’t think it can get any worse.

In this case, I would also set a higher bar because of (a) the financial implications of paying two coaches given the team’s current situation, and (b) I cannot for the life of me think of any major name that would take this job unless the Pacers just paid through the nose (and we won’t do that).

To be honest, I know for sure that condition #1 doesn’t exist, and I’m far from convinced that condition #2 exists. Still, I would let O’Brien go. He really has done a poor job this year (after two good years), and I think he responded very poorly when things got tough. I think things will be tough again next year, and I believe that the relationship with the players is used up. Time for a new voice, so to speak.

But…

They have been playing much better lately. Yes, with two wins against Detroit and another against Washington, the schedule has not been tough. But they also beat both Utah and Oklahoma City. And more than that, they have been playing better at both ends of the floor. They’re executing the offense more coherently, and they’ve been more aggressive defensively. They’ve been more enthusiastic and more cohesive. During the Washington game last week, Slick Leonard was trying to explain the Pacers recent play, and he finally stammered, “They’re … just … playin’ better together.”

There was an almost audible shrug in his voice.

But…

It’s easy to just write that off as playing against teams that don’t care, are tanking or are looking past them. Even if that’s true, my question is, “Why do the Pacers care?” Or, put another way, “Why are they still playing with effort for O’Brien?” More pointedly, why do they actually seem to be playing more together and having more fun than they have all season? Why are we seeing more evidence of players being good teammates, like the way random guys like Murph and Watson are going out of their way to help and support guys like Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert? Why are we suddenly seeing the nasty Danny that we came to expect last year? Why is Danny, arguably the only player on the team with a vested interest in the Pacers landing a top draft pick, suddenly playing better defense than he has in two years?

I mean, this is a team that, for all intents and purposes, looked like they were all heading their separate ways for most of the season. They largely seemed unhappy, occasionally surly and selfish just a few weeks ago, and now they actually look like a team. Still not a very good one, but an actual team.

Here’s something Jared tweeted Tuesday night:

@8pts9secs Solo on the floor forcing a jump. Can’t say these dudes ain’t trying. Can say they aren’t good, but can’t say they aint trying.

These guys spent two-thirds of the season rolling over and dying at the first sign of trouble, and now they’re suddenly resilient?

As I type this, it frustrates me that I just can’t casually give the answer that I really want to give: They’re doing it, because they’re good guys, and that’s what they were taught, and it’s the right thing to do. If you put on the uniform, you back your teammates and you try to win the games, regardless of their import. Hell, I’m sure my father would be baffled as to why I would even expect less effort. Baffled, and probably a little sad.

But beyond my expectations for poor effort down the stretch based on the way these players have played for most of the season, rolling over is actually understandable (though not necessarily admirable) given the futility they have all slogged through. I mean, it’s been miserable for fans; it’s gotta be worse for the players.

Look at the Sixers, Pistons, Clippers and Wizards. You watch those teams, and you seem to see players who have just completely checked out .

Why haven’t these guys? Why aren’t they mailing it in, particularly if O’Brien’s gone stale on them? Why, after a season of crap, do they look like they’re ready to go now?

I’m a huge Indiana Hoosiers fan, and I remember the last few years under Knight. They would start out strong, blowing through the preseason schedule before taking an early Big Ten lead. About midway through the Big Ten season, they would have a tough game against one of the other league leaders, and they’d lose. From there, it would be a downhill spiral, and by the time the NCAA’s came around, it was painfully obvious that the players just wanted the season to be over. This is the natural result of a miserable working situation. It’s the Friday afternoon after a deadline on a shi**y work week. You may sit there until the clock says 5:00 pm, but you aren’t going to get anything done.

Why don’t these guys have the thousand-yard stare?

It’s absolutely true that these wins mean almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. It’s also true that a higher pick is better than a lower pick, and this activity could be reasonably argued as short-sighted.

Look, I really don’t want to get into tanking. I am always in danger of violating some corollary of Godwin’s law when talking about tanking, because I unequivocally believe in what I said earlier: If you put on the uniform, you back your teammates, and you try to win the games, regardless of their import. I hold the coaching staff and the front office to that standard, as well. I am acutely aware of the difference in value between a pick in the top 5 and a pick in the top 10, and I am comfortable with the “price” of winning “meaningless” games.

But, while tanking may be the smart, expedient, or most beneficial thing, why is this team all of a sudden doing what I consider to be the right thing (by playing together and playing to win)?

Secondary to that, why did it take this long?

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Toronto Introduces Jarrett Jack

by Jared Wade on July 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm · 1 comment

Jarrett Jack was introduced today as a Raptor and team GM Bryan Colangelo was happy to reunite Jarrett with his former Georgia Tech teammate and four-time All-Star Chris Bosh.

Colangelo told the AP:

“This is another piece of the puzzle that is hopefully going to bring it all together,” Colangelo said at a news conference at the Air Canada Centre.

Raptors.com has all the press conference video links if you’re into listening to all the ho-hum banter that goes along with a new player acquisition, but there was actually one thing that jumped out at me from the AP story.

Jack is one of just 11 NBA players who appeared in all 82 games in each of the past two seasons — last season with Indiana, where he supplanted former Raptors player T.J. Ford for the starter’s job, and the previous season in Portland.

“To describe me in a nutshell is ‘being tough,’” Jack said. “There are things along the road, going through this NBA journey that you’re going to have to play through, and injury and not being 100 percent every night are part of it.

“It’s being there for your teammates and trying to be the best teammate possible.”

Jarrett really did give us more than we could have asked for last season. He played hard, he was aggressive, he was a good guy and he showed more scoring and team management ability than I think most of us believed he was capable of. I think Bird made the right move in letting him walk for that amount of money, but all things being equal, it would have been nice to have him return.

Indy Cornrows seems to agree and he eulogized Jacks’s single Pacer season very well by compiling a list of the Top Ten single-season Pacer players of all time.

There’s certainly no denying the impact Jarrett Jack had on the Pacers last season amongst fans who loved his hustle and heart and enjoyed his demeanor. But could he actually be the best single season Pacer ever? That’s the goal as I look to break down the single year Pacers from Abernathy to Zeno, from Reggie to Miller, from Devin Durrant to Rick(y) Robey(o) (that is not a stretch…) to find out where Jarrett Jack falls, and if he is in fact the best single season Pacer ever.

Check over there to find out where Jarrett ranks.

Meanwhile, Adrian Dantley made it pretty high on Cornrows list despite only playing 23 games in Indianapolis — as well he should have. Dantley was an absolute beast and, while this is something I plan to address further in the future, the fact that it took him so long to get into the Hall of Fame further illustrates why Springfield is almost completely irrelevant.

I’m sure any ABA Pacer fan could list at least two other reasons, namely Slick Leonard and Mel Daniels.

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