An Indiana Pacers Blog
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As explained in more detail in an earlier post, Danny Granger had already gotten one technical in the opening minutes of Indiana’s 95-90 win over the Raptors tonight. So when he blocked a dunk attempt by Ed Davis — then stared Davis down — Danny got his second tech. That’s taunting, and it’s against the rules. Also against the rules: continuing to play in a game after you get two techincal fouls.
So it was off to the showers for Mr. Granger, who shot 1-for-8 before his departure.
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Pop quiz hot shot: You’re up 3 in an NBA game on the road with 17 seconds to play. The other team is inbounding the ball. WHAT DO YOU DO????
Do you employ the old-school, traditional strategy and play good defense and presume you can prevent the other team from tying it up with a three-pointer? Or do you go with the statistically superior strategy of putting them on the line so you can’t be forced into OT by the team hitting one shot? To me, this question is usually a no-brainer. You foul. But there were 17 seconds left and that is a much grayer area than if there were, say, 7 seconds to play.
Fortunately, all this becomes much, much easier when the opposing coach runs an out-of-bounds play that inbounds the ball to former All-Star Jamaal Magloire, who hasn’t shot above 50.0% from the line since 2007. David West fouled Jamaal, who is affectionately called — and shoots free throws like a — Big Cat, either intentionally or not. And Magloire airballed it. And the Pacers won.
Sometimes, a kicker in football will drill a field goal so convincingly that it is common parlance to say about the, for example, 52-yarder that “That woulda been good from 65.” Well, this was the opposite: Jamaal, that wouldn’t have been good from 12 feet. (video via Deadspin)
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Here are ten random thoughts related to Indiana’s 90-85 win last night over Toronto.
To me, Hill provided the most encouraging moment of the game, however. It came on the all-important play in the fourth that put the Pacers up 12. In fact, it was the first Indiana possession of the fourth. The team hadn’t been able to get any action to work on the play. By the looks of things, they may not have even been trying — instead just relying on their trusty ol’ “pass the ball around the perimeter harmlessly until the shot clock starts to run down” system. At this point, for those players who have been on the Pacers for a few years, that is basically the default.
After a swing pass to Dahntay on the left wing yielded nary a threat of exploiting the defense, Jones gave the ball right back to Hill with five seconds remaining on the shot clock. Here’s where the team usually panics. Hill didn’t.
Instead, he made a purposeful dribble right, hesitated a little and took another hard dribble towards the paint. His man stuck with him but he forced one of Toronto’s wing defenders to hedge towards what was a clear threat of penetration. With the shot clock nearing two, Hill calmly picked up his dribble and threw a strike to Collison’s shooting pocket in the corner. Darren, all alone since Hill drew his defender, squared up, took his time and buried the three.
This was the type of routine play that Hill has participated in, and watched his teammates execute, for years in San Antonio. But it is something that looks almost like an offensive epiphany to anyone who has been observing the Pacers offense in recent years. (Much like the final FG of the game was for Mike Wells.) “Wait? You mean they can still use the tail end of the shot clock to generate a good look? They don’t have to wildly flail around and panic and play hot potato or heave some off-balanced prayer at the rim any time the play breaks down and the shot clock gets below 5?”
In the preseason, I wrote about this phenomenon that has taken hold in the Pacers offense, calling it a “learned helplessness.” I speculated that — more than Indy adding their individual talents they can use to add points — what the Pacers most needed from Hill and West was a sense of poise and an ability to remain committed to getting good shot under duress. At no point has Hill looked more capable of doing exactly this than he did when he grabbed control of this possession and made the level-headed decision that led to a three.
Make no mistake: Hill needs to play better. But he may already be adding something more vital to this team’s long-term success than points.
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Saddled with high expectations after a subtly superb offseason and following a dominating win in the season opener, the Pacers defeated a not-as-awful-as-we-thought Toronto Raptor squad in what was the home opener for Canada’s only team.
The beginning of the game looked exactly as we expected in the beginning of the season after an extended lockout and abbreviated training camp. The team were throwing the ball everywhere, except in the basket. At the end of the first quarter, Toronto had just eleven points. Granted, part of that could be the pesky prowess of the Pacers’ rangy defenders. But still. Eleven!
To be fair, the rustiest part of the post-lockout NBA may be the officiating, but more on that later. The officiating has been awful thus far. Great examples in this game included obvious basket interference, an airball free throw that didn’t stop play and a foul called on Lou Amundson when a Raptors player leaned right into him.
Regardless, for the second straight game in as many attempts, the Pacers shot under 40% but came out on top. Tha seems to be a sign of better things to come (and the team is already on pace to go 66-0).
Speaking of things to come, Paul George appears to be dramatically improved from his rookie season. It’s prudent to avoid any outlandish predictions, especially since the opponents combined for just 52 wins last season (a sum less than that compiled by seven individual teams). Thus far, however, he appears confident and improved, a legitimate force that teams will need to game plan for defensively.
George still has a lot of growing up to do as a starter in the NBA. As a glaring example, he shot — and missed — a three-pointer with the shot clock turned off at the end of the third quarter when the Pacers could have held for the last shot with a 10-point lead. That absent-mindedness led to a Toronto basket on the other end. Still, he could really be something — and that could happen relatively soon.
Last year, George became a lockdown defender whose offensive presence was mainly a liability except in transition. Now, his perimeter shooting has become a legitimate threat (he hit 4 treys tonight), which will only help spread the floor and open up the interior for Roy Hibbert, David West and Tyler Hansbrough.
Though George may have been the flashiest, Darren Collison was quietly magnificent. As the team still adjusts to a revamped system with new pieces, Collison has kept the offense serviceable despite poor shooting. George Hill will certainly play better and become more comfortable, but for now, the battle for the starting point guard spot isn’t even close. Case and point: The Pacers were +16 with Collison in the game, -8 with Hill.
Early excitement for this season centers around the Pacers extreme depth, in which any of seven players (supposedly) could lead the team in scoring on any given night. But in the second game of this shortened season, it became patently obvious that Danny Granger still runs the show.
With the once-comfortable lead dwindling down to five, Granger nailed a deep three to push the lead back to arm’s reach with just over two minutes left in the contest. A minute later, now up just two, he hit another triple to help ice the game. before West did so for good with a jumper of his own.
Danny Granger: Still the leader; still the man; at least for now.
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