What's going on with the Pacers is obvious.  JOB wanted an extension this year and though that after they came out and played better than expected he'd get one.  At some point Bird or Simon probably told him that they weren't going to re-up him because of the pending lockout.  Performance didn't matter at all.  So what does Jim do?  The same thing you or I would probably do if we knew when our boss was going to be laying us off.  We'd stop caring about our performance, especially when you know that there aren't even going to be any more jobs available in your sector next year anyway.  

So JOB is coaching to sabotage the team, there's just no other reason for some of his ridiculous moves.  He's obviously not building for the future by playing the young guys.  And it almost seems like he's actively trying to pull players from the game once they get hot.  He's not reacting to mismatches against his team and he's not attempting to exploit mismatches that favor the Pacers.  

As of right now I see this ending up being another season with the Pacers on the outside of the playoffs but not bad enough to get a decent draft pick.  Although my hopes of a draft pick actually having an impact are slim and none since it's obvious that our last two years of picks are all relegated to garbage time minutes this year.  

Mike Wells just tweeted that Dahntay Jones, Lance Stephenson, and A.J. Price are inactive for the game tonight.  Since they all are supposedly healthy we can assume that these three are the ones on the outside of the rotation for JOB. 

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I'm pretty sure that when I read his column yesterday Bill had a dig in there about Marvin Harrison shooting at someone and then killing the witness.  Today I pull up the column and the entire part about Marvin is gone.  Did anyone else read this yesterday and catch that? 

I can't remember the exact wording of it but it was classless to say the least.  Maybe ESPN came in and forced him to take it out.

The column is here.

It looks like Boston is wanting to move their first round pick and get out of the draft altogether. This would be a great opportunity to either move one of our contracts, Jeff Foster if healthy could really help them, or possibly cash plus a second round pick this year or next. Come on Larry, pull off a deal with your old team. We can all agree that they owe you for a couple of those championship banners.

[From the FanPosts, I love it when ThirtyOne gets excited, plus he offers a good chance to get some other thoughts on the top talent in the draft. - TL]


It's official I now want Evan Turner, even if we get the #1 pick.  That end of the game shot he hit today was clutch.  I think we've found the guy who can help turn this team around.  Sorry John Wall, but I think you're number two these days.  I appreciate your natural point guard skills but I don't think there's any way Evan Turner isn't a future NBA all-star.

Ok, in the unfortunate circumstance that we don't end up with the number 1 pick in the draft I think we should look at other options within the top 5.  And as far as I'm concerned the second best option for the Pacers would be Xavier Henry, Freshman from Kansas.

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The OKC Thunder just "bought" Eric Maynor from the Jazz the other day.  All they had to do was take on the last year of Matt Harpring's contract and they get last years #20 pick in the draft, who happens to fill a need and still has a lot of upside.  Pay attention Larry, this is how you do things the smart way for a small market team.  Props to Sam Presti for setting an example.  

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I know he's a popular hate target on many blogs but I seen that this showed up in his new column,

"13. Listen, my advice to you -- and I know you think these guys are your friends -- if you wanna be a true friend to them ... be honest and unmerciful.

To my ESPN colleague Chad Ford, who wrote about Indiana's summer (the Pacers added Tyler Hansbrough and Dahntay Jones) that "I like the strategy Larry Bird and David Morway have been employing the past couple of years in Indiana. Instead of swinging for the fences in the draft, they are trying for singles and doubles, and they're connecting." All due respect to my favorite Hawaii-based columnist, but doesn't going for singles and doubles ensure 38 to 40 wins and a mediocre lottery pick every year? What am I missing? How is flipping Jerryd Bayless for Brandon Rush, then having to spend another $11 million on Jones (who does the same things as Rush), hitting a single or a double? I think we need to lace up the gloves and fight on another podcast soon. "

Usually I don't agree with Simmons, but anytime he's bashing the Bayless for Rush deal I'm on board.  And he's right.  Going for singles and doubles every year will guarantee that we are always in the middle of the pack.  That's not where I want the Pacers.

Hate to beat a dead horse but I just read this on ESPN and it made me sick,

On the day he signed a 4-year, $3.8 million contract, DeJuan Blair gave the Spurs a good look at their investment against the Thunder, scoring 20 points on 13 possessions. Blair battled underneath all afternoon, muscling up for putbacks. But there was more to Blair's repertoire, including some wily dribble moves from the top of the key. "They shouldn't have passed on me," Blair said of the Thunder.

Blair has gone on record as saying he's out to make the league pay for doubting him, and on top of that he signed a 4-year deal for less than a million per.  That is ridiculous.  This man is going to earn every penny of that and then some.  I still wish we had been smart enough to see this guys passion and talent and move up to draft him in the second round.  Once again the Spurs are going to come out looking like geniuses.

So who else is picking up NCAA Football 10 today?  I plan on having the Jayhawks in the Championship game by the end of this week.  And there's no way Todd isn't getting the Heisman.  Has anyone played the game yet, and if can you give me an update on the rankings for our players?  Were any of our players slighted in their rankings?  And does Memorial Stadium look like it was rendered correctly this year? 

It looks like the Pacers are going to be bringing in Leo Lyons for our summer league team,

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1289598.html

His rebounding number were pretty poor in college but this may have been a product of the Missouri Tiger offense and it's run and gun nature.  At the least we know Lyons has speed and tenacity. 

I'll be very interested in seeing who else fills out our summer league team.  I'm hoping Earl Calloway makes it on there.  I think he definitely outplays A.J. Price if he does.

I'm really hoping that the team in this segment from Chad Ford is the Pacers.  I believe Seth and I both would love to see him in a Pacer uniform,

"This draft, more than any other I've been around, is still totally open. I don't believe anyone has a promise, with one possible exception. Washington's Jon Brockman hasn't worked out for anyone since pulling out of the NBA draft combine in Chicago. I don't know where the promise is or who made it, but someone locked Brockman up early and we haven't heard from him since. I doubt it's a first-round promise. More likely, someone in the second round guaranteed him a three-year deal slightly higher than the league minimum."

In Chad Ford's latest Insider Draft Article he mentions that there are plenty of teams willing to sell a draft pick and that the Pacers are one of the teams who might have interest.  Supposedly the going rate is up to $3 Million for a draft pick under NBA rules.  Picks 15, 21, and 24 are all up for grabs for the right price.  If I'm the Pacers and Larry Bird I really have to take a look at picking up an extra pick for this draft, especially if we take a Point Guard with the #13.  The reason is that whoever we draft at that position is probably going to make very little impact this season, so to prevent this draft from being a disappointment we could turn a purchased pick into an extra player who fans can put some hope into.  I would look at Austin Daye or an Earl Clark as a solid pick up with a purchased pick, since the ceiling is high and the risk is low with these two guys.  If we could come out of this draft with a solid point guard prospect and pick up a body to play in the post I think this will be a successful draft.  Who's with me?

I have Directv and last nights game and today's game both are in Standard Definition.  Why is this still going on?  Does anyone know why so many of the Royals games on FSKC are in Standard Def instead of HD?  Is this just a Directv issue? 

Do those of you who watch on Cable have the same problems?  And if you get them all in HD through your cable provider let me know who you have for cable.

I seen a link to this article over at 18to88.com and thought I would post it here in case anyone was interested.  I'm not sure if this is a big deal or not but it is noteworthy.  Also I have not idea how credible the author is since she seems to have problems with the people who run the Indy Star and therefore might just be wanting to paint them in a negative light.

Cancun Trip for Two

If you or someone you know have information regarding the whereabouts of one Jamaal Tinsley please let the Indy Cornrows community know.  Possible locations could include Strip Clubs, Night Clubs, Dance Clubs or Hotel Lobbies.  Please consider this subject armed and dangerous at all times.  If you happen to run into JT at a club of any kind please do not approach him unarmed as this could possibly result in you receiving a serious "beat down".  Photographic evidence of any encounter with Jamaal would be very useful in determining the value of JT to the Indiana Pacers organization. 

Here is a recent photo of Jamaal living it up while on his involuntary leave of absence.

via tbn1.google.com

It's become fashionable of late on the Indy Cornrows blog to talk about how we need to give Brandon Rush time and he will grow into this solid, or maybe spectacular basketball player.  In CR's newest post on the topic "Brandon Rush In Search Of His Game" we are led to believe that Brandon Rush is similar to Lamarcus Aldridge or Greg Oden based on similar levels of maturity.  Aldridge was 21 when he played his first NBA game and Greg Oden was 20 when he began playing this season.  Brandon Rush on the other hand was already 23 when this season started, I don't know about anyone else but there is a big difference between 20 and 23 when it comes to maturity.  In my opinion your game should be coming into it's own by then and maturity on or off the court shouldn't be a factor anymore.  I don't believe that you can call the paths of these three players similar in any way other than they were good in High School and AAU ball.  Greg Oden was the number one overall pick and that carries with it a significant amount of pressure that Rush will never experience.  Aldridge was the number two overall pick in the 2006 draft and also carried a lot more pressure when he arrived in Portland. 

Now about Rush's aggressiveness.  Being aggressive on a basketball court is either something you want to do or something you don't.  I've never heard of a player being passive in college and then suddenly developing a mean streak in the pros.  Brandon was constantly being prodded in college to get more aggressive by Coach Bill Self, including a few times where Bill called out Brandon in the media.  A simple Google search of Brandon Rush and aggressive will turn you up over 20,000 results.  Coincidence, I think not.

Example A:  Quote from Rush in The Daily Kansan on March 9th, 2007  -  “It’s really all my fault,” he said. “I wasn’t aggressive enough. I didn’t try to look for my shot or anything.”

Example B: One year later we get this article which I will provide the link to so that if someone really wants they can read the entire thing, this article appeared in the Topeka Capital Journal on January 10, 2008

Jayhawks' Self challenges Rush ... again

"Let's play a game. We'll provide a quote (with spoilers redacted), and you'll guess the topic.

"It's pretty sad three years into it a coach has to talk a really good player into being aggressive playing the game of basketball," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "If that sounds like I'm pleased with him offensively or displeased, you guys can read into that however you want to because a coach should never have to tell his leading scorer (for a period of time) to be aggressive."

Can you guess who Self was talking about?

A) Mario Chalmers

B) Darrell Arthur

C) Brandon Rush

If you guessed C, then you've probably been following Kansas basketball for at least three seasons."

Wow one year from this article we get JOB's recent quotes about Rush's aggressiveness.  I don't think this is anything other than a pattern of behavior that at this point is probably unchangeable.

So for all of the Pacer fans who think that this Rush situation has a happy ending just remember who sent that Memphis game into overtime for Kansas, it was not Brandon Rush who stepped up to hit that big shot, no KU fan on the planet expected him to. It was Mario Chalmers, who by any account is having a much better rookie year even though he was drafted at the end of the first round.

I'm not saying in any way that Brandon Rush is not a talented basketball player, because he is.  The point I'm trying to make is that if you want him to be anything more than the 10th man on your bench you are looking at the wrong guy.  The most difficult thing for me on draft day was that we had Bayless and we gave him up to get the most sure thing in the draft, and not sure in a good way.  It was a foregone conclusion that Brandon Rush would need constant pep talks to keep his aggressiveness in the league and NBA coaches have little desire to continually stay on a player for being too passive.  And I bet if someone asked Jim off the record he would admit that he doesn't see a lot of heart or desire in Brandon.  Of course he could never admit that publically because then he would be admitting that the Pacers drafted the wrong guy.

[Editor's Note: ThirtyOne put up a nice diary that both copes with the end of an era and looks ahead to a fresh start. Had to pull it to the main page. - Cornrows]

It was a great run wasn't it? All these years of being a Pacer fan, expecting to go to the playoffs every year, having a legit chance to win it all, they were great times. Not many franchises can say that during the last 15 years they were in it every single year. Well those days are over.

Right now the Pacers are going about finding a new coach to steer us in the right direction.  The only problem is that whoever this new coach is will be driving a KIA instead of the Mercedes the Pacers are used to being. The tires are bald, the paint is rusting, and we are in desperate need of an oil change. I doubt changing the driver is going to solve these problems.

Don't misunderstand me, Carlisle had to go.  He is a great (yeah I said great) coach who needs a change of scenery.  I have no doubt that he would have done great if he had been coaching those Larry Brown teams of the 90's.  But the current incarnation is so out of control that probably no one can help them.  But we have to try.

Let's get down to what needs to happen with this team in the off-season.  First we must jettison Tinsley.  I don't care if we get an old sock for him, he has to go.  He is the most apathetic floor general the Pacers have ever had.  Remember when we were good.  We had solid leaders like Vern Fleming, Haywoode Workman, and Mark Jackson on the court.  Jamal Tinsley may have more God-given talent than all three put together but he has less of a brain than the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz. Oh and did I mention that he is the softest player in the league.  Every Tinsley "injury" over the last four years would have been played through by any one of the three mentioned above.  I wouldn't let this guy quarterback my Rec league team.  I repeat HE MUST GO.

Next, and this may not be popular, I think we should trade Danny Granger. He did not show that much improvement in his second season.  While his scoring average almost doubled his other stats didn't budge.  His rebound, assist, steal, and blocked shot numbers are virtually identical to his rookie year. Oh and his field goal percentage actually dipped. Look I know he's still young but I just don't see any fire in this guy. And in the games when Jermaine was out he never seemed to try to take the team on his shoulders. Let's try to move him why he still has good value.  Plus how many small forwards does one team need? Dunleavy should be playing the three, and we drafted the player Larry wanted so badly last year, Shawne Williams, who is also a three.

Finally we must make a move to get into the draft this year. This is perhaps the most loaded draft since 03'. Guess what Pacer fans? We don't even have a second round pick thanks to Bird's two week affair with James White. I think there will be good value we can build with in the second round this year thanks to the amount of talent that has declared. I'm not even going to talk about how we might win one of the top three picks in the draft. If that happens then we can all step back off the ledge and get ready for a glorious new era of Pacer basketball.