Outside of the top 4-5 guys with no chance of slipping, who is your ideal draft pick for the Pacers?  And explain - is it for long-term or short-term impact, what skills do you want him to bring, etc.

Personally, I'm back on the Bismack bandwagon, mainly after reading the interview with him on Grantland the other day.  The guy is really long and athletic and works his ass off.  More importantly, he sounds like a really smart kid who's still learning the game and has plenty of room to grow.  Potential is one thing, but potential mixed with smarts and willingness is something else.

Okay, to be honest, I'm just in love with Serge Ibaka's game and want a guy like that.  Bismack won't be that good right away but in a few years could get there.  And yes, I know he probably won't drop to us, but you never know, especially with guys that don't have a lot of experience.

With one big caveat - playing the Bulls at home with the crowd all fired up, they're probably going to win.  So assuming we lose, how would you prefer to have it?  

I'm not going to be able to watch the game so I was pondering what I would hope to see on my blackberry when I check the score/stats.  My first thought was a close game we barely lose, but then I thought that might wake up the Bulls to the potential of losing and they would turn it up a notch the rest of the series.  At the same time, a blowout can't be good.  So I'm hoping for (if we lose) one of those games where we keep it close, in the 5-10 point range, most of the game and just can't get over the hump and lose by 12 (after late game FT's).  That way, our team will know we have a chance but the Bulls have the opportunity to get cocky and think they can win by double digits without a problem.

So - what's everyone hoping for?  What do you want to see from individual players?  Which stats are going to be important indicators?  Any chance we don't get swept?

[From the FanPosts, pvirsky takes us inside the Garden last night and makes the most out of a miserable game for the Pacers. -TL]

There aren't many positive things to take from your favorite team being this crappy, but if put to task on finding a silver lining, getting cheap tickets while living away from Indiana is definitely one.  For just under $150, my wife and I got seats 4 rows back, straight across from the Pacers bench.  Since I don't get to watch many games from out here, I thought I'd give a personal take on the game from a fan who's followed closely without actually seeing the team play much this year.  I'll also add a few pictures and videos as we go and note that Paul Pierce's wife and daughter were sitting about 5 feet from us.

[The view from our seats.  The woman sitting just past the blonde woman (all you can see is her hair) is Pierce's wife, their daughter was running all around the area]

Unfortunately, the game was so awful that I'm not sure there's much reason to talk about the actual game.  Instead I'll try to provide some insight into smaller details and mix in unrelated anecdotes from the game.

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A very close friend of mine writes for a blog called Rumors and Rants.  He's an IU alum and lives in Indy (doing occasional work for the Star and ESPN) but is not a Pacers fan.  We got to talking the other day about the Pacers draft hopes and he just put up a post on it.  And apparently he has Rik Smits phone number.  If you guys get a minute, definitely take the time to check it out:

http://rumorsandrants.com/2010/03/at-least-reggie-millers-espn-mini-movie-is-coming-soon.html

And for what it's worth, we were talking about this as a potential post before Wells got around to writing his article yesterday.

Peter King (and others) have focused a bit on how Freeney's injury is especially bad b/c it's his plant foot.  Playing on the right side, especially when using the spin move, he relies on that foot and ankle.  

So what if he moves over to LE?  Even if just for a few plays, he might be more effective over there.  Moreover, it should throw off the Saints some.

Lastly, the current forecast for Sunday is partly cloudy, high of 70 and low of 53 with a 10% chance of precipitation.  

Interesting thought about last year's draft - deciding between these two RB's was a legitimate decision for the Colts brass to make.  We got Brown at the end of the first and Greene lasted about a round longer.  And because of injuries, it's hard to really compare them this year.

The only reason I bring this up is because apparently we were pretty close to getting Greene.  In Simmons' latest podcast, Mike Lombardi said that he had talked to Polian about this and it was actually a very close decision.  He claims that Polian loved Greene and strongly considered him but ultimately felt that Brown fit our offense better.

Obviously it's way too early to know if it was the right decision, but it's certainly an interesting what-if decision.

The biggest unintended consequence of resting our starters was helping the Jets get in.  If not for that, I think it would be the Steelers who we would getting ready to play now (assuming they won a couple playoff games too of course).  I would be much more scared of them.  With Polamalu playing, they would be a real tough team to beat.  Granted, their talent isn't where it's been in recent years, but the experience and QB is so much higher than the Jets.  

Just a thought

(of course I could be wrong and maybe it'd be the Texans.  Also scary b/c they always play us close, but not quite as scary as the Steelers)

His article today touches on a few things (including being the "worst 14-0 team of all time") but the part I really appreciated was about Colts fans complaining of a lack of national media respect for the Colts.  Here's the link (http://www.indystar.com/article/20091225/SPORTS15/912250340/1004/SPORTS/Kravitz-Worst-14-0-team-ever-Colts-will-take-it) and the pertinent part is after the jump.  Sure some people out there say stupid stuff but it's just not worth our time to continually gripe about it

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4654711

"The Grizzlies have begun serious negotiations with free agent Jamaal Tinsley, and could sign the veteran as early as Saturday, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis has reported."

""He's on the radar," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said Saturday in a text message to the Memphis newspaper."

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From Oesher

Indianapolis Colts DT Ed Johnson release because of a “lack of production,” Head Coach Jim Caldwell says

Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell on the release Wednesday of DT Ed Johnson: “It was production. It was a lack thereof.”

More to follow.

Here's Phil B's article: http://www.indystar.com/article/20091014/SPORTS03/910140366/1004/SPORTS/Caldwell++DT+Johnson+not+performing

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I know that a lot of people on here do not live in the Indiana area, like myself, putting us at the mercy of the scheduling gods when it comes to watching Colts games.  I also know that a lot of people here love the NFL and want to watch as much as possible.  There are two things I want to tell you about NFL Sunday Ticket (this is not a paid ad, I'm just really excited to have ordered it myself).

First of all, you can almost certainly get it cheaper than the listed price (assuming you have Directv or whoever else offers it).  Just call in and ask for a cheaper price.  Seriously.  The normal price is $300.  I got it yesterday for $240.  Sometimes the first person you call in won't help so just hang up and get a new rep on the phone.  They can give you all sorts of deals.  I've also read that if you had it the year before and call in saying you're going to cancel, they might give it to you for like $50, with Superfan  included.

The other note on finances is to compare it to watching games in bars.  So there's 16 games in a season.  We usually have 5 or so games on primetime TV (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday/Monday night).  And then we can usually get another 4 or 5 games on when there aren't any local competing games (out here I have to hope we don't play at the same time as the Pats).  So there are probably somewhere between 4-6 games you can't watch at home.  If you're like me, you'll find the nearest establishment to watch these games.  Obviously you could be frugal and just order a coke while watching a 3 hour game.  But in my case, I'll probably get lunch/dinner and several beers.  At the all too high Boston prices, that's going to cost me at least $30-$40.  Multiplied by 4-6 games and it's anywhere from $100 to $250.  And when you can get Sunday Ticket for the same price, tada!  It's worth it.

Or so I convinced my wife.....

After a nice positive article from Kravitz the other day, he's back to business this morning.  His article pans the Colts for not allowing media to blog or tweet while at the open practices.  He continually harps on the fact that "Bubba from Beech Grove" can do it all he wants, but Kravitz can't.  I have a few concerns

1 - Who is Bubba from Beech Grove?  I don't think BBS is from BG, but I assume Kravitz has someone in mind.  Anyone?  (I know it's not really someone specific, but if I was new to SB, that would be a GREAT screen name)

2 - It's not totally clear why Bob cares.  He keeps saying that he doesn't blog or use twitter, but he thinks the Colts should allow him to.  What??

3 - Is this just a little man syndrome type deal where he always has to find something to complain about?

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And another swingman that has been discussed around here is going to the Cavs...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4339432

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Not a guy I know too much about, but I read an interesting comment on him and decided to do a little research.  He would be a cheaper replacement for Jack.  Here's what I found:

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[Note by Cornrows, 04/21/09 6:45 PM EDT - From the FanPosts, psvirsky puts point guard prospect, Patty Mills up consideration.]

We've had a few people mention Patty Mills in the comments so it seems like a good time to talk about him.  First of all, he is currently projected at the beginning of the second round.  That means we would have to trade either up or down and our current picks aren't likely to net him.  Nonetheless, he is an intriguing prospect at PG.  He is 6'0, 175 lb - just a bit small but not bad at all.  

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[Note by Cornrows, 04/14/09 9:14 AM EDT - From the FanPosts, Ty Lawson is up for initial consideration. Good timing coming of a game which saw T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack combine for 7 assists and 8 turnovers.]

As we all know, the Pacers were awfully close to getting Lawson last year.  Were it not for an ill-timed indiscretion with the law, the Pacers would have too many PG's and the Tar Heels probably don't win the championship.  I've been looking at a wider variety of mock drafts lately and over the past week or two we've ended up with Lawson more than any other player.  I imagine most everyone has a decent idea of what Lawson is like so I'll try to keep this one shorter than the others.

First off, Lawson is a bit short at 5'11 but is definitely stout enough at 195 to hold his own.  His two main attributes are speed and passing.  The guy is fast as hell and he can drive by pretty much anyone.  His assist numbers are as good as anyone in college.  This year he was at 6.6 assists a game with less than 2 TO's a game all while still finding his own shot for 16.6 points a game.  He also shot nearly 50% from 3 and had a pair of steals a game.  The guy can definitely play and be a big time point guard.

Some negatives.  His shot isn't great, despite his 3 point percentage.  Most or all of his 3's are spot-up jumpers and he doesn't shoot as well when on the move.  He also doesn't have much of a mid-range game.  While he plays great up-tempo ball, he is definitely less effective in the half-court game.  His size could be a bit of a liability on defense (albeit not too much).  Also, as great as he's been in distributing the ball, he had some pretty good guys around him to pass the ball to.  I'm sure there are a number of other college PG's who would have similar assist/TO rates with that NC team.

I'll go ahead and leave it at that.  Here's his draftexpress page: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ty-Lawson-485/.  Personally, I definitely like the guy and think he can be successful, especially in a JOB offense.  My only real concern is that if we draft a PG, we will need to do something with the guys we have as 5 PG's is too many (including Tinsley and Deiner).  

Quick note on his character, since the Pacers will shy away from these kinds of problems.  His DWI last year, while unfortunate, is probably not an indicator of a bad kid.  He was 20 years old and was under the legal limit (if he was 4 months older, he would have been fine).  It was a mistake but not a huge one.  Having read stories about his family, he seems to have a good background (military father) and appears unlikely to have off-court distractions.

[Note by Cornrows, 04/10/09 7:24 AM EDT From the FanPosts, psvirsky pumps up DeJuan Blair as a glass-eating post presence for the Pacers.]

Here comes one of my favorite guys so I'm just going to jump right in.  Blair is the sort of player that you can describe very well with about 5 simple traits.  1 - He's one of the best offensive rebouners college has had in a long while (http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=580).  2 - He's only 6'7 but he's got a 7'3 wing span and weighs 265 lb (pure muscle).  3 - He plays with a mean streak and knows how to use his body down low.  4 - As impressive as he is, he's not necessarily uber-athletic.  5 - He's very competitive and one of the toughest players out there (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5R_k0Sw8nc throwing Hasheem Thabeet on to the ground).  

I'll be honest though, he's got some serious flaws.  He's projected at 22 for a reason.  He plays PF but he's only 6'7 and not a huge jumper or anything.  Offensively, he'll get most of his points off of put-backs or broken plays because he doesn't have a jumper yet.  As for his post moves, he has some instinct but no go-to moves yet.  He's a bad free throw shooter.

However, he is one of those players who just does certain things really really great.  His offensive rebound and total rebounding numbers are off the charts.  He's second in the country in rebounds per 40/minutes and did so in the Big East against some taller guys.  He is a tough, competitive, make energy-plays kind of guy and a player who doesn't need plays run for him to get his points.  His hands are unbelievable - he corrals everything near him.  The dude is pure muscle.  For what it's worth, he's about to turn 20 in a couple weeks.   

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A friend of mine has been working tirelessly lately to put together a huge series of articles on the best players from each round of the draft going back to 1995.  It's long but a good read and brings back some memories.  He's running backwards, starting with round 7, which means he really had to unearth some gems for the early posts.  It's also nice to read because the Colts tend to show up in each round once or twice with top picks.  Here is a link to his most recent post (round 5) along with intro's to the whole thing and to round 5 specifically:

So if you love the NFL Draft as much as I do, I have a special treat for you. Over the next few weeks, Rumors and Rants will present TheBaker’s Draft Anthology, a seven-part series detailing each and every round since 1995. This is a breakdown like nothing you’ve seen before and done by someone who has so much free time, he’s legally retired. TheBaker has distinguished which players he felt were the best three picks of each round and then has added some bonus material where needed. (http://rumorsandrants.com/2009/01/thebakers-draft-anthology-round-seven.html)

Welcome to our third of a seven-part series breaking down each and every round of the NFL Draft since 1995, looking at the top picks of each round each year and then uncovering some little nuggets about other draftees, mostly drug sales reps and convicts. (http://rumorsandrants.com/2009/04/thebakers-draft-anthology-round-five.html#more-6390)

Enjoy

[Note by Cornrows, 04/09/09 8:26 AM EDT psvirsky shines a light on Kansas big man, Cole Aldrich in his in his continuing series of draft prospects. Great job, PS! Keep 'em coming.]

Okay maybe I shouldn't use puns in titles.  Speaking of the name Aldrich, I just read about Aldrich Ames for class - a guy who spied for the Soviets against us.  Total alcohlic.  Went undetected for almost a decade.  Crazy that this sort of thing can still happen, definitely worth reading the wikipedia page for an interesting story.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames

Anyways, someone mentioned Aldrich in the Steph Curry discussion so I figured we'd move on to him.  The guy has legitimate Center size at 6'11 and 250.  He didn't play too much last year on the championship winning team but has become the main guy down low this year for another solid team.  Honestly, my main concern is just that he's a definite center and not a PF so it would be tough to get him and Dr. Hibbert on the floor at once.  Also, he hasn't declared and it seems like things are up in the air about it (his draft stock is really high but he could probably use some more experience).

On to his play.  

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[From the FanPosts, psvirsky begins wading through draft prospects with Steph Curry. -CR]

Judging by the first post, it sounds like everyone is more than ready to start talking about the draft and for the most part we agree about the needs.  Actually, no, we completely agree about the needs because they're just that obvious right now.  I'm going to start by profiling PG's so we can get an idea for how all the options would fit into our system.  The PG position is an interesting one because we have a pair of them that are both pretty decent but also have flaws.  The Jack bandwagon is getting larger each day but unless he turns into Billups, he probably won't be an all-star or anything.  The feeling I get is that we want a guy who is a real floor general, can set the pace and tone for the team and be able to stop dribble penetration on D.

I'm starting with Steph Curry because he might be one of the easier picks to argue about.  Clearly, some of his talents are special.  He is as good of a shooter from 3 as you will ever see.  He is cold-blooded in crunch time.  He's got the NBA in his blood.  However, he is somewhere in between a PG a SG.  He's not super-athletic.  He might be a defensive liability.  

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[From the FanPosts, psvirsky is ready to start looking at offseason moves to help improve the Pacers. No better time than the present. -CR]

To get things rolling, what do people think are the biggest areas of need?  Ideally, you could list a top 3 or something of the sort, the more specific the better.  I've followed the team very closely but haven't been able to watch too many games this year so I'm interested in what everyone else has to say.  

I'll start things off with the general heading of defense (surprise, surprise).  More specifically, it looks like there are two spots in the rotation that need a HUGE defensive upgrade (3 if you count the coach).  First of all, we need someone who can lockdown a perimeter player.  My gut tells me that our overall defense would be most improved if we had a more defensive oriented PG.  We've got perimeter players that can play D (Granger, Rush) but their job would be so much easier if the PG wasn't allowed to run wild.  Obviously, TJ just doesn't have the body to really lock up the opposing PG.  Jack on the other hand seems like he could/should be solid on D.  Again, I haven't see him play much this year, so maybe he is already doing it.  Maybe Jack is the PG of the future in part b/c of his defensive presence, but I don't know.

The other big need in my eyes is a great defensive bruiser inside.  A Dale Davis type.  Murphy is really good at what he does, but defense just isn't what he does.  Hibbert could become a solid shot blocker but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will bang down low.  I guess the idea is that if we had a lunchpail kind of guy down low, it would allow either Hibbert or Murphy to do their thing a little easier.

For both of these main needs, I have ideas of who we could maybe draft to help but I won't give it away quite yet.  I'd like to get to a point where we have an idea of what everyone wants before we start discussing the potential answers.  Hopefully this will help kick off our offseason with some good Pacers discussion...

Well I've been holding out on this for a while since we're technically not out of the playoffs yet.  But now that JOB has officially admitted to not having a chance, I think we can move on to offseason mode without showing any disrespect.

I don't know how many people will continue to check out CR regularly once the games end, but I plan on having some sort of continual posting and discussion until the draft.  My plan is to start by talking about our needs - what do you people want the most, what would be nice but not necessary, etc.  After establishing what we generally want, I'll start posting little bio's of the players we could potentially draft so we can discuss likes and dislikes.  For those of you that check out Stampede Blue, this won't seem too original.

This is sort of the intro post, no comments necessary.  I'll make another post right now to start the actual conversation...

I've been keeping an eye on standing and lottery position to see what our chances would be of a top 3 pick.  Realistically though, it's very unlikely to land one of those picks unless you're way up there, say top 5 or so.  So it honestly probably won't make a huge difference where the Pacers end up.  Every once in a while though a later team will get extremely lucky and pop up there, the best example being last year's Bulls.  They finished 9th worst in the league and had a 1.7% chance of getting the top pick...and they did.  While looking all this over, I wondered how close the Pacers were to that spot.  3 games.  

In other words, last year, had we lost just 3 more games, we would theoretically have gotten the top pick in the draft.  I'm not even sure why I'm pointing this out, other than the fact that it's painful and I wanted to share the misery.  Right now we're in the 12 spot for the lottery but we're within 1.5 games of the 9 spot.

Oh well.  Hopefully we'll be the ones getting extremely lucky this year.

I'll start off by noting that I understand that a rookie who has been decent but nothing spectacular does not really deserve a nickname.  I'm not starting this up because he really needs one or anything.  

Here's the story.  My younger brother is a big NBA fan but not a college hoops fan at all (that's what happens when you go to a school based on academics and not sports - I went to IU).  A couple years ago we were watching the tournament and saw Hibbert play a bit.  My brother thought it was hilarious because all he could think of was Dr. Hibbert from the Simpsons.  Every time Roy made a play, my brother would do the Dr. Hibbert chuckle.  

Now that the Pacers have him, when we talk about Roy, we refer to him as Dr. Hibbert.  A week or two ago, my brother asked me if that was his nickname and I told him that unfortunately, we're the only ones that call him that.  So the question is, does that nickname work?  Do enough people care about the Simpsons to find that funny?  If I start referring to Dr. Hibbert, will I be laughed at?

Just a thought

So we've all done a good amount of talking about Brandon Rush and his potential (along with his inability to reach it so far).  Obviously, with his size and skills he has the potential to be a perennial all-star, but that's his ceiling rather than what we should expect.  So what should we expect?  What do you think is a reasonable goal for what we would want out of him?  Are there any players that fit the mold of what he could become?

I haven't put a ton of thought into it yet, but my first impression is that he could be a James Posey type player with a better ability to drive.  Granted, Posey's been in the league about a decade, played for 6 teams and just recently became what he is.  However, I think what he brings to a team is what we should want out of Rush.  I'm mainly basing this on his play last year since I live in Boston and have a lot more exposure to the C's.  As for the easy comparisons, they are similar in size (Posey has 2 inches and 7 pounds on Rush) and both were drafted in the teens of the first round.

Anyways, here are the two attributes that I personally would want to see out of Rush consistently to label him a success.  First of all, lockdown defensive ability.  If he can be the player that locks down the opposing team's star every night, Granger's job becomes that much easier.  When Posey was able to D up Kobe and Lebron, Pierce had a much easier time (although he did ultimately stop Kobe some).  If Rush can figure out how to be a lockdown perimeter defender, I think the Pacers make a huge step forward overall on the defensive side of the ball.

Secondly, a high 3-point shooting percentage, especially in clutch situations.  For his career, Posey averages .350 (good but not great) and in the last 3 years he's been at .375 or above.  In the two playoff years where he played significant minutes, his perentage goes up to about .410.  Rush so far is averaging .343 but considering his height and stroke, he should be able to raise that.   College is obviously a different animal but he averaged about .420 there.

The last thing he needs to improve is free throw shooting.  In college he was in the low 70's and this year is at .667.  This isn't as important if the first two characteristics don't improve, but if he's going to play a crucial role late in games, he needs to shoot better (Posey has shot around 80% for his career.

Well this is getting long-winded so I'll wrap things up.  Basically, my hope is that Brandon Rush can be the guy who effectively guards the best wing player on the other team, hits big 3's when the team most needs them, and is able to score effectively when shots aren't falling for others.  To me this is the most important type of glue player a team can have and most championship teams have a guy like this (or two guys combining for the role).  

In CR's game recap, he called JJ the poor man's Mr. Big Shot becaue he never fears stepping up and taking shots when it counts most.  That got me thinking, is that more than just a throwaway comparison?

The more I thought about, the more I love the comparison of Jack to Billups. Not that I had been looking for a similar player to JJ, but that is really apt. Billups had some trouble earlier in his career and when he finally settled down became a great PG; the kind of guy opposing fans hate b/c he always comes through when it counts. Jack still has the bad turnovers but you would have to think that with a bit more experience (and a coach that really gets on him for the TO's) that he could turn into a similar player. Alright this really got my interest so I looked up their profiles. They are both 6'3 and Billups has just 5 pounds on JJ. In their first 4 seasons, their stats across the board are eerily similar with the only significant difference being that JJ shoots better from the field. I'm going with Billups' first 5 because he had some injuries and wasn't playing full seasons. Also, I'm sort of just averaging the numbers in my head, but don't worry, I'm good at math.

Billups - 11 points, 3.5 assists, 2 TO's, 1 steal, 2.5 boards, .38% field, .34% from 3, .85% from the line

Jack - 10 points, 4 assists, 2 TO's, 1 steal, 2.7 boards, .44%, .34%, .85%

Billups' career started decent but was marked by instability as he played for 4 teams in his first 5 years and had some injury issues. His 7th season saw him finally settle down with the Pistons (his 5th team) and that's right around when his play became consistent and he earned the nickname Mr. Big Shot.

While I have generally been pretty ambivalent towards JJ (he does some good and some bad), this comparison makes me feel a lot better about him. It's obviously premature to predict the overall arc of his career, but this just makes me feel better about his potential. I come away with the idea that just a couple things could help him become a Billups-ish PG. First, he needs to learn when to pick his spots better. Take over scoring when necessary, distribute when other guys are hot, don't drive-jump-TO if there's nothing there, etc. Pick your spots. Second, and maybe this is dumb, but he needs the Pacers to be a bit better. I imagine it's a bit tougher to pick your spots when it feels like the team isn't going to be able to do it. Billups got markedly better assist and point numbers when he finally went to a balanced team. It seems like if the Pacers were just a bit better overall, it would be easier for JJ to pick his spots and make the right play rather than feel the need to force it. Third, don't get injured, keep steadily improving, learn to be a leader. Ultimately this is the difference between finishing his career as a 6th man-type who gets traded a couple more times and turning into a Billups type top level performer. The skills are there, he just needs to keep improving and he could theoretically be the PG of the future (he's only 25 years old).

Overall, it's always impossible to see a career path before it happens but in this situation, there is a clear target path for JJ to take and he really has the potential to do it.  He can score, distribute, play D and make big shots.  If he learns to play more consistently, he won't be the poor man's anything.

Thoughts?

I know he's got the huge contract and all but it seems like such a waste to cut him, still pay him and watch him play for another team.  Obviously, other teams will think they can hold out and eventually we'll be forced to cut him but maybe we've got more upper hand than we think.  The franchise has treated him great for over a decade and he won't take a pay cut from $13 million - who's really the bad guy?

All in all I realize this is highly unlikely.  As often as this sort of thing happens in the NBA, in the NFL it seems like this kind of situation always gets resolved in the player's favor.  

I just wish there was some way to get the entire $13 million off the cap immediately - it really sucks for him to demand his release and for us to still have to pay.  The whole policy behind why we still owe him guaranteed money is to protect the players from teams trying to screw them over.  This sort of situation should not require us to do that.

I'm surprised no one's said anything yet.  This is from ESPN.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers All-Star Danny Granger will miss up to three weeks with a partial tendon tear in the sole of his right foot, the team said Thursday.

An MRI conducted Thursday in Minneapolis revealed the tear. The injury occurred in the first half of Wednesday night's game at Charlotte.

Granger pulled up after a Charlotte turnover and came out of the game during a timeout with 10:50 left in the quarter.

"That last shot I took right before I left the game, it felt like something popped in my foot," he said after the game. "I thought I had just pulled it. I ran down to the other end, and that's when I just walked to the bench and said, 'I've got something wrong.'"

Granger had been playing with pain in his right knee for several weeks, and played just 11 minutes in the All-Star game to avoid making it worse. He also participated in the 3-point shootout during All-Star weekend.