If the Pacers don't come up with something to contain Rose by the beginning of the game tonight, do you think its time to switch to a zone defense?  Vogel said they need to "make a wall" to keep Rose out of the paint, maybe a zone is what he was alluding to.  I think the containment has to happen before he gets to the paint because once he gets there, it doesn't matter if we have 5 guys waiting for him, he is so crafty he will still squeeze a shot up. 

Similar to what the Suns did last year against physically more talented teams, a zone D might help contain Rose before he gets to the paint and force the other Bulls to make open jumpers, which they aren't particularly good at.  I'm not too familiar with the technical points of zone defense and what the downside is other than allowing open jumpers, but in theory, it sure seems like a better idea than letting Rose carve them up.

Can someone smarter than me discuss this option? 

Go Pacers!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-Pacers-and-76ers-should-make-a-deal?urn=nba-262631#remaining-content

Amidst the negative national coverage with Lance, here's something from Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo!  Always nice to see the Ps getting some burn in the big media outlets. 

As for his idea, its definitely interesting, but scary at the same time with giving up Paul.  I think with a legit PG in Collison, adding Iggy is definitely exciiing.  While neither Iggy or DG are great at breaking teams down off the dribble, Collison is and having contrasting All-Stars in Iggy (slasher/finisher) and DG (outside shooter) could be deadly.  

Of course this trade has us absorbing Brand's contract, but also gives us Speights. 

How would you Pacer die-hards feel about this trade?  The potential would be there to make the Pacers semi-contenders immediately, but its also scary absorbing a really bad contract in Brand.  I can't imagine a better trade to get us contending as quickly, but then again I never saw the Collison trade coming either!  If the players wouldn't mesh, we'd be locked into the contracts for a while.. But you know what they say:  No risk, No reward!

I posted this in response to Tom's excellent evaluation of Jim Morris' unconscionable interview with the Star, and wondering if the Pacers could suffer the same fate as the Seattle Sonics.  Just wanted to get it posted here to see what you smart folks think.  Team payroll numbers are pretty inconsistent throughout multiple sources, the grossest difference being the ESPN trade machine as it has the Pacers payroll at $93 mil which cannot be right because thats higher than just about everyone but the Lakers (but would further prove my point).  Regardless, the Pacers grossly overpay for this mediocre team.  Original post with a couple amendments:
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if it can happen in seattle (team being moved), it can happen anywhere. what is mind boggling to me is how much this team, in a small market, spends on crappy talent. i know the pacers management got dealt a rough hand ever since the artest melee, but the way they have spent money is laughable. i want to blame bird, but the simon’s have to approve his deals. they are all to blame for their financial troubles. You know where they could get that $15mil to run Conseco? Build a team responsibly and don’t count on the taxpayers to bail you out of your bad decisions. Look at these payroll numbers:

http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2009/08/2009-2010-team-payrolls/

look at the thunder for goodness sake: 50 mil compared to our 62 mil?!?! there is the $$ they need for Conseco!! look how much more we pay than the thunder, blazers, hawks, raptors, grizzlies, and suns. there are other really bad teams spending comparable money, but they are in huge markets with massive pockets. the pacers cannot do that!! why did we resign foster for all that money!?! dahntay jones?! earl watson!? these very limited veterans have their strengths, no doubt- but goodness, that is over 10 mil in salary right there for players that we didn’t have to take on (like murph and dun in order to get rid of jax) and of which two hardly even play.

why not play younger guys and watch a team GROW together?? if they stink, so what? as long as there is progress and momentum going forward, thats what we want to see. not a bunch of frustrated vets chucking up 3 after 3 (thanks to JOBs juvenile, inefficient coaching philosophies).

look at the thunder and blazers, two small market teams. they stunk for a couple years, developed young talent during that time and got some great draft picks. what do we do? grossly overpay for 35 wins a year because bird is too chicken to blow it up.

everything the pacers front office does is trite and unimaginative. instead of relying on savvy moves in drafts, bird hangs his hopes on landing free agents after next year. but what a risky, lame plan. look at all the teams with cap space this year, are they all going to get elite FAs? NO! just like the pacers won’t next year. that is just a cop-out answer because bird is too conservative to pull off creative and frugal moves. opting for players like dahntay jones and earl watson is exactly the problem with the vision and fiscal responsibility of this organization.

sorry to be so negative, but thinking of losing the pacers makes me sick. and it is all because of THEIR ineptitude and cowardly management.  the gaul of them to expect taxpayers to further pay because of of their mismanagement is astoundingly selfish. i guess having a state-of-the-art facility made for them just wasn’t enough.  its like having my parents give me a car, and then asking them for gas money.  

It was confirmed on ESPN that the Warriors are interested in trading Anthony Randolph:

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-091119-20/weekend-dime-picking-decade-best

I have only seen him play 4 or 5 times and he never seemed to dominate by any means, but that dude has some serious skills, he looks like one of the best ballhandlers over 6'10" in the league.  Its always perplexed me why he wasn't getting serious burn to develop.  There must be something with his personality or something (he does always have that annoying whiny face) but he certainly has enticing potential. 

It seems to me the Pacers sorely need an athletic big that can score around the hoop, and we have a history of trading with the Warriors. 

Think we could offer anyone?  It would take a core player of ours like Foster, TJ, Earl, Dahntay.  I would think Danny, Dunleavy, and Hansbrough are the only untouchables-

It is hard not to notice that the Pacers are 0-5 with Troy Murphy in the lineup.  Murph has a very unique game that can be a lot of fun to watch when he bombing away threes and long jumpers.  When he gets hot from three, he can put points on the board at a blistering pace and help put a game away.  Unfortunately, these games are few and far between and we can't expect him to shoot 5 of 7 from three every night.  When he is not putting up numbers like this, his game too deficient in too many areas for winning, team basketball.  There is an undeniable fact that his game is not conducive to winning basketball games.  He has never been on a winning team and, unfortunately, I think his game has a lot to do with that. 

When you think about what a 4 needs to bring to a team, on the surface, it seems like he does so.  He was second in the NBA last year in rebounds, which is just incredible.  But beyond that, he does very little of what the Pacers need him to.  For instance:

On offense, he brings no physicality or movement.  He often gets the ball at the top of the key to initiate the offense which usually involves a pass on the perimeter, followed by a screen.  He never cuts to the hoop after the screen, making it very easy and predictable to guard which leaves the guy with the ball few options.  He hovers around the top of the key and if he isn't wide open, is virtually useless because he isn't fast enough to beat anyone off the dribble. 

On defense, he is even more limited.  He is not long or quick enough laterally to guard the pick and roll (as evidenced by Charlotte and countless other times) which kills us because the big is open for a jumper or the guard is free to penetrate!  This happens every time!!  When you watch Solo or Danny guard it, they have the reach and/or quickness to contain the guard long enough for the the big to get covered before they rotate back to their original man.  And when the opponent has a faster PF like Josh Smith or Amare, no need for the screen, they just BLOW by him on isolations.  His post up D has gotten better, but taller guys like KG, Duncan, Gasol, Bosh, and Rasheed shoot right over him.  Finally, he provides virtually no help side D, which really hurts.  When he was out, how many times did we see Danny or Solo get the block at the hoop?  Murph just doesn't have the athleticism to compete at a high level on defense and it really hurts the team.  I don't understand how the coaches let this continue!

It is frustrating to see Solo get a DNP- Coach's Decision because he was bringing it defensively every night (although fouling a bit too much), and his mid range game was really blossoming.  And while Danny was giving up size, he always kept his man in front of him and was effective at blocking shots at the rim, not to mention his ability to drive past the opposing teams PF and keep the offense flowing.  What does Murph do except hit the occasional three and grab long rebounds?

I really hope the lineup looks like this when Dunleavy gets back, because I think the tools are there to play efficiently at both ends:

-Hibbert, Granger, Dunleavy, Dahntay, TJ

-Foster/Hansbrough, Solo, Rush, Watson

What do you guys think?