RIght now we are officially entering year 3 of Danny's prime.  I am not here to offer some crazy trade scenario, or layout how we can get Chris Paul, Dirk, and Al Jefferson for TJ Ford and Dunleavy.  I'm just throwing it out there that peoples primes dont last very long, and 3 years in Danny has not had any shred of help.  We got an absolute STEAL with Danny in the draft, and it will be a shame if we don't surround him with anyone to help us compete.

The best parallel I can think of right now is Pierce.  For years and years and yearssss, Pierce had no help.  Boston was an absolute joke, while everyone knew Pierce was legit.  He had Antoine Walker who was a stat guy (Murphy) but not REAL help, and look where it got them.  Pierce played for 10 years before the stroke of God gave them a legitimate team.  Danny is heading down that same path now, and it is tough to watch.  With Indiana not being half the market Boston is, it is hard to imagine that same type of circumstance occurring where Danny gets immediate Hall of Fame type help.  Before 2008, Pierce was known as a good player, but now a great player.  It is going to be insanely tough watching Danny struggle on 3035 win teams for another 5 years.  Lets get this man some help!

Everyone obviously saw Lebron going to Miami, and I might be overreacting, but I thought about it a week ago and wanted to put this out there.

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[From the Fan Posts, when the captain speaks all should listen. -TL]

I know I haven't posted in a while here, but this hit me the other night while watching the Bucks game.  I think everyone is fully aware that Divisions and Division Rivalries in the NBA aren't what they are in the NFL and MLB, but they still mean something.  Not too long ago, the Pacers were atop the Central, had national TV exposure (the brawl game was on ESPN), a bright future, and were known as the best (or co-best along with the Pistons) team in the Central.

Look where we are now.  The Cavaliers obviously are a title contender with what will be one of the best players of all time.  There is nothing to do about that, understood.  But last year, you had the pesky Bulls who won over all neutral fans during their incredible series against the Bulls last year.  Even though they lost, they gave excitement to their fan base, and although they had no chance to win the title, they gave their fans a team to be proud of.  That is why there are no meaningless playoff games.  They got a ton of experience and came back this year and brought that excitement into a good series vs Cleveland.  They are loaded with a ton of cap space, and two very promising young players.

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I personally think I can sum this up pretty dam quickly.  But TrueHoop linked to a website that maps exactly how we got where we are today.  Link and my thoughts after the jump.  (I always wanted to type that)

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What would we do in 2008?  Im sitting here bored at work the day before Thanksgiving, and thought it would be cool to check out last years draft.  Are we happy with the results???  Roy has us all giddy, Rush has been both sides of the coin, and Bayless (our original pick) hasnt done a darn thing.  Heck , Portland brought in Andre Miller this year to put in over him, lacking depth at the PG.  But being that PG is our most needed position, would it have been better to keep him?  Check it out

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than there was him, and that other guy..... Thought this was really cool, test your knowledge of Post-Marino Dolphins QB's.  I dont know how many of you guys use this website, but its probably the most addictive site on the internet, to me at least....i know i dont post much, just thought youd all get a kick out of it...peaacee

ps- first and last names

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This is a website that I am on allllll the time, I dont know if any of you know about it, but it is the biggest time killer of all time.  It is sporcle.com.

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Im not one to htrow out outlandish trade scenarios, but when 3:30 comes it's usually "how can we get rid of Murphy" time.  Today I had some time to play with the trade Machine and look at some free agents.

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Bets, anyone, bets???  Official odds asof 7/15 for rookie of the year

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The results are in from ESPN's ridiculous team ranker...just putting it out there for those who dont have Insider.

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Alright, Draft Day is right around the corner, and it is safe to say Indy has more than a few question marks going into the season.  Point guard and Power Forward seem to be the 2 biggest holes on the team and the positions most speculated about.  I have my own opinions on who and what we should do, what does everyone else think?  Who do YOU want to see bringing the ball up with the Pacers down 1 and 10 seconds left next year?

Am I the only one who feels like I am cheating on my girlfriend while I am falling in love watching this Bulls team?  It was not too long ago (about 2 months or so), that the Bulls were about equals of the Pacers, with a decently bright future, but not much else.  Now here they are with a great (?) point guard, scorers (Gordon and Salmons), Athletic (smart and not smart) big men, passing big men, defenders, shot blockers, and like Cornrows said recently, moving a notch up in the Central standings for years to come. 

http://slamonline.com/online/college-hs/high-school/2009/04/henson/

John Henson checks in with his online diary of coming to NY on www.slamonline.com

Some things I learned:

-He's not sure if he took a bus to NY in 7th grade

-He's gonna be more like Brandan Wright than Sean May

-There is abolutely no way he plays out his whole career at UNC, he will be 100% rented till whenever the NBA comes a calling

I will start out by saying I wish Mason Plumlee, going to Duke, was heading to Chapel Hill.  On that note, if I had to choose between him and super-recruit John Henson, give me Henson every single day.  I can't wait to see him next year. Last night there were 4 Mcdonalds All-Americans heading to North Carolina. 

From Rivals.com:

Henson:

John Henson - 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting, three rebounds, two blocks, one assist in 16 minutes

At times Henson was overmatched in the strength department, but he made some impressive plays with his length.

Wear Brothers:

Travis Wear - Six points on 3-for-5 shooting, one rebound, one steal, three assists, one turnover in 11 minutes

Wear had some nice interior passes.

David Wear - Zero points on 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 from 3-point range, three rebounds, one assist, one turnover in 14 minutes

Wear struggled to get going offensively.

Strickland:

Dexter Strickland - Two points on 0-for-4 shooting, 0-for-2 from 3-point range, 2-for-2 from the line, four rebounds, one assist, one turnover in 15 minutes

Strickland struggled to make an impact in the game.

AlI have to say Henson reminded me alot of Brandan Wright.  Long, athletic, and looks really talented. (for the record, Wright would be a senior next year, Jeez).  Hensons ranked 6 nationally, Strickland 17, David Wear 68, Travis Wear 69.

I know, literally, after evey game, I change my mind on how I want this season to wind down.  After losses, I want to lose every game and get a great draft pick.  After wins, I am checking how all the teams between us and the 8th seed did to see what else must be done to make to the playoffs.  Just curious as to where everyone stands on where they want the season to go.  I bring to you, my first poll.

It makes me sick that this is even a question.  I always keep an eye on the website basketball-reference.com, you could sit there for hours looking at cool stuff.  The on thing i love looking at is the Hall-of Fame probabilities.  Yesterday, one of the writers posted a F.A.Q. he gets about Reggie's Hall of Fame Odds (mathematically speaking).  I won't ruin it, read for yourself. 

 http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=1008

What do you all think?

From HoopsHype.com this morning by Eddie Johnson.  Love to see Nique talking about him.

 Little Snippet

"I had an interesting conversation with Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins last week about when he felt his game actually took off and he told me when he started using the Old Man Moves to keep his defenders off balance. Most who read this will say, “No way.” But again, I must remind people that the sports programs never showed the basic moves – only spectacular ones – and Wilkins became really unguardable when he slowed down his game and started to play on the floor."

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/johnson/2009/01/24/old-man-moves/

I know its early and summer league eveything like that...but there's no way that it is exciting to read THIS when checking up on the summer  leagues this morning.

via hoopshype.com

Studs: Jerryd Bayless has been the best player to put on a Summer League jersey. He finished with 29 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 8-15 from the field and 13-16 from the line. Bayless is such a skilled offensive player – he’s so versatile, that it’s hard to figure out a way to stop him. His ability to get to the rim will take him far in the NBA.

Studs: Jerryd Bayless is absolutely fantastic out here – he’s making people really wonder how he slid down the draft. With 9 seconds left in regulation, Bayless made an incredibly tough jumper to tie the game on the left side of the basket. Sounds tough enough considering the time circumstances, but what was most impressive was that Bayless was clearly fouled on the play and should have gone to the line as well. Bayless did unfortunately miss the shot with one second left that would have given the Blazers the win

I know Larry's intentions the whole time were to get Rush and they traded back because of saving money and all of that.  But this guy had a Pacer hat on during draft night, might be tough to swallow come very soon.