Archive for the ‘Indiana Pacers’ Category

Game thread: Pacers vs. Raptors

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Indiana Pacers on Dec 28, 2011

Start time: 6:00 PM ET
Channel: Sportsnet
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Rasual Butler, Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson
Indiana: Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger, David West, Roy Hibbert

Injury report

Toronto: Aaron Gray has been cleared to play tonight after being diagnosed with an irregular heart rate.

Indiana: Jeff Foster is questionable with a sore back, Jeff Pendergraph is out with a sprained knee.

The Raptors showed some good signs in their first win under Dwane Casey on Monday, but the Cavs are going to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, while the Pacers might be a top-five team in the East. Their size could give the Raptors some real problems tonight — seven-foot-two Roy Hibbert should be a tough matchup for whoever is guarding him at any time, and starting shooting guard Paul George reportedly grew two inches to six-foot-10 since the end of last season. With that kind of size, I doubt the Raptors will match Monday’s nine-block performance.

While the Pacers have to be seen as the favorites tonight, the home team has won the 11 times these teams played each other. If that streak goes to 12 games after tonight, I might have to begin considering taking this Raptors squad seriously this season.

And now, some random thoughts…

  • Do you think General Managers sometimes make trades just because they’re bored? In my Yahoo fantasy league (team name: Scott Shammscott), I traded Blake Griffin and Danilo Gallinari for Chris Paul and JaVale McGee today. I have no idea if I came out ahead in that deal, but it felt exhilarating to click the “Accept” button on that proposal. Imagine if it was that easy to make trades in real life. Bryan Colangelo might swap Andrea Bargnani for Corey Maggette one night just for the hell of it, while he’s a little buzzed on Amarone.
  • Early-season player averages are fun, aren’t they? Rajon Rondo averaged 1.9 free throw attempts per game last season but he has an incredible 23 free throw attempts in just two games this season. I expect he’ll hit his inevitable cold streak at the line soon and his old timidity will return.
  • David Amber tweeted that Drake will be performing at halftime at the Air Canada Centre tonight. I don’t really have strong feelings about Drake, but I can’t really get behind a dude that whines so much about being famous and getting laid a lot. Blogger “Big Ghost” has some pretty funny lines about Drake in between approximately 1,200 N-words, such as: “…that cascading waterfall of invisible dicks that sons fans call his music.”

Season Two of Archer just came out on DVD so I’ll definitely be copping that as soon as I get a chance. If you haven’t caught this show yet, here’s a taste of what you’ve been missing.

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Game Recap: Raptors 108, Pacers 98

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Indiana Pacers, Jose Calderon, Leandro Barbosa, Recap, Reggie Evans, Uncategorized on Mar 11, 2011

Getty Images

The Raptors were looking to end a three game losing streak and add to the Pacers’ recent woes in the process. They succeeded with little resistance on Friday night.

James Johnson started the game with a hot hand to jump start the Raptors and spark what was a small but energetic crowd of 14 726. The Raps jumped on the Pacers early with a 10-0 first quarter run, and lit up Indiana for 32 in that first quarter.

Toronto continued to build a lead in the second quarter, as Reggie Evans continued to grab every rebound and loose ball in his path and Leandro Barbosa exploded for 18 first half points. On the other side, the only Pacers making any kind of impact were Danny Granger and Tyler Hansbrough. The Raptors found themselves up 14 after putting up 60 points in one of their more impressive first halves of the season.

The Raps got a little sloppy to start the second half, the pace of the game slowed down considerably and the Pacers made their move with Darren Collison taking over in the third quarter. But as was the case at various points in this game, the Raptors bent, but never broke, and were able to sustain a double digit lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite getting into early foul trouble in the fourth and seeing the lead dwindle to as little as six, the Raptors hung on for win no. 18. The entire game seemed like the Raptors were on the cusp of blowing the doors off, but never could. In the end though, they were always able to quickly stop a Pacers run and keep a comfortable lead throughout.

The main factors in tonight’s victory were Toronto’s advantage on the glass and another impressive performance by the Raptors’ bench. The Raps out-rebounded the Pacers 46-34, and saw their reserves outscore the Pacers’ bench 46-26. No one was more effective off of the pine than Leandro Barbosa, as the Brazilian Blur enjoyed his best game as a Raptor, pouring in 29 points in 26 minutes.

Reggie Evans and Ed Davis combined to pull down 29 rebounds, with Davis finishing with a double-double.

James Johnson finished with another solid looking, balanced stat-line in 25 minutes, DeMar DeRozan finished with 16 points on 13 field goal attempts and Jose Calderon put up 13 points and eight assists while committing just one turnover.

It really was a complete team effort for the Raptors, as even Joey Dorsey, Sonny Weems and Jerryd Bayless provided quality minutes in the limited floor time they all saw.

Really, the only Raptor who seemed to be labouring through this game was Andrea Bargnani, and that’s likely due to the fact that he is still said to be recovering from the flu. I hope that’s all it was for Andrea, because he seemed a step slow on every possession tonight.

The game even ended with a bit of drama for those who stayed in their seats. Leandro Barbosa tried to convert a layup with the game out of reach and the shot clock turned off in the dying seconds. Granger and Hansbrough seemed to take exception with this, and looked to be talking trash until Reggie Evans came over and sent them away with their tails between their legs.

Raptors Player of the Game: Leandro Barbosa – 26 Min, 29 Pts, 12-21 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 3-4 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

Pacers Player of the Game: Danny Granger – 36 Min, 25 Pts, 7-17 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 8-8 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl

Goat of the Game: Roy Hibbert – 21 Min, 4 Pts, 2-5 FG, 0-1 FT, 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 TO, 5 PF

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Game thread: Pacers vs. Raptors

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Indiana Pacers on Mar 11, 2011

Roy Hibbert

The Indiana Pacers enter this game with a 27-37 record and having just lost by 26 points to the Timberwolves on Wednesday, and yet they are currently the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. I’ll give you a moment to process that.

OK, this Pacers team clearly isn’t very good. They’ve lost five straight and seven of their last eight games, and they’ve given up at least 100 points in seven straight contests. To be fair, Indiana has the second-youngest roster in the league and rookie swingman Paul George has showed definite promise recently. And the Raptors have 10 fewer wins than the Pacers, so it’s not like their outlook is any brighter.

James Johnson! Tyler Hansbrough! Raptors vs. Pacers: Feel the excitement!

Injury report

Toronto: Amir Johnson is out with the ankle sprain he suffered against the Jazz on Wednesday and Alexis Ajinca will continue to sit with a sore knee. Andrea Bargnani is probable for tonight with whatever weird, lingering illness he has.

Indiana: Mike Dunleavy is out with a broken thumb while Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts are both questionable for tonight.

Five questions

1. Considering Roy Hibbert’s disturbing inconsistency and the fact that the Raptors traded him during the 2008 draft, would you still want him on this team playing next to Andrea Bargnani?

2. If Ed Davis plays well while Amir Johnson recovers from his ankle injury, should Davis be given the starting PF spot for the rest of the season?

3. Whose NBA future do you think is brighter: Ed Davis or Paul George?

4. Have you heard that Jay Triano will be on Tim and Sid: Uncut on Monday at 4:30 PM ET?

5. Do you think the fact that a team 10 games under .500 could qualify for the playoffs this season is an argument for allowing the teams with the top 16 records, regardless of conference, to enter the post-season?

Start time: 7:00 PM ET
Channel: Sportsnet One
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Ed Davis, Andrea Bargnani
Indiana: Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger, Tyler Hansbrough, Roy Hibbert

For tonight’s pregame song, I’m going to throw a bone to Score colleague, Drunk Jays Fans blogger and Score Buzz editor Andrew Stoeten and his spirited rock n’ roll outfit Action Makes. Don’t be surprised if you see theScore use this song, “Bell Hop”, as a show theme or in an upcoming promo. Also, you can catch Action Makes in Peterborough tonight at The Spill Cafe at 10:00 PM.

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Mini Recap: Pacers 104, Raptors 93

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Indiana Pacers, Recap, Score video on Jan 31, 2011

Roy Hibbert

I just finished watching a truly ugly, sloppy, substandard display of basketball at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors combined for 41 turnovers (25 for Indiana, 16 for Toronto) but the Pacers came out ahead because they dominated on the boards with a 56-38 advantage, because they have players who can make three-pointers (Indiana went 8-for-20 while Toronto went 1-for-6)  and because they have a true lane intimidator in Roy Hibbert — definitely the star of this game with 24 points, 11 rebounds and a couple of blocks.

It was the same story it’s been for the past few weeks for the Raptors. They missed open shots, they got outworked for loose balls, and they had very little cohesion on the court — a lot of the time, they play together like a group of guys who showed up for a pickup game and have never played together before. Also, when your supposed top two offensive players (Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan) shoot 6-for-30 combined, it’s a pretty safe bet this isn’t your night.

While Pacers interim coach Frank Vogel surely wasn’t thrilled to see his team tie their season-high in turnovers in his debut, he had to be happy with the performance by Hibbert — who looked like the dangerous Big Roy from November rather than the shell of a player he’s appeared to be throughout most of January. One game playing for Vogel doesn’t prove that fired coach Jim O’Brien was Hibbert’s problem, but if this is what it took for him to get his confidence back, so be it.

This loss makes it 12 in a row for the Raptors and I don’t see a recent end in sight unless something drastic happens. That could be a trade, a new coach, or maybe even a heart transplant for Andrea Bargnani. But this is a thoroughly discouraged and disillusioned group of young men I saw in black and red tonight.

Raptors Player of the Game: Amir Johnson — 38 Min, 18 Pts, 8-14 FG, 2-5 FT, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk

Pacers Player of the Game: Roy Hibbert — 30 Min, 24 Pts, 9-19 FG, 6-9 FT, 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk

Goat of the Game: Andrea Bargnani — 33 Min, 12 Pts, 3-15 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 6-8 FT, 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 0 Stl, 1 Blk

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Game thread: Raptors vs. Pacers

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Indiana Pacers on Jan 31, 2011

Indiana Pacers

I’m not going to lie. It’s getting harder to motivate myself to create these game threads. This has become the most depressing Raptors season to cover since the hellish Kevin O’Neill Era in 2003-04 — and back then I was still a wet-behind-the-ears blogger hungry to make my mark in the world of sports pseudo-journalism.

How can I get myself interested in this team again? Should I root for them to keep losing so they approach the NBA record of 23 consecutive losses set by the Vancouver Grizzlies in their inaugural 1995-96 season and tied by the Denver Nuggets in 1997-98? There’s probably not much point because the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost their last 20 games so they’re probably going to get there first. (Fun fact: Current Cavs coach Byron Scott was the sixth man on that record-setting Grizzlies team.)

That leaves me with little choice but to focus on the ongoing development of young players like Amir Johnson, Ed Davis and Jerryd Bayless. Amir scored a career-high 24 points against Milwaukee on Friday, Ed notched his fourth double-double of the season (15 points, 11 rebounds) against Minnesota on Saturday, and Jerryd finished two rebounds away from a triple-double against the Grizzlies last Monday. So there is some hope that things could get better, right?

The Indiana Pacers are enduring their own lost season and they decided to take action by firing coach Jim O’Brien after they lost to the Bulls by 21 on Saturday. While O’Brien was obviously fired because the Pacers weren’t playing up to expectations, the recent derailment of Roy Hibbert’s career had to have played a large part as well. He’s averaged just 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 37 percent from the field in January. On Saturday, he played 21 minutes, scored just two points and grabbed five rebounds. Considering it was only a couple months ago that he appeared on his way to being a top five center in this league, the decline has been shocking.

The Raptors have their own struggling center, of course. So I suppose the key matchup of the night will be “The Battle of the Beleaguered Big Men.” There’s my hook, and I’m sticking with it.

Injury report

Toronto: Leandro Barbosa and Linas Kleiza remain out of the lineup.

Indiana: Brandon Rush is out until mid-February while Tyler Hansbrough is listed as questionable with pneumonia.

Five questions

1. Is it time to officially proclaim DeMar DeRozan as the primary scoring option on this team?

2. Will crashing the boards be the Raptors’ key to breaking this losing streak? They were outrebounded by an average of 7.2 boards per game over those 11 losses.

3. Will we see some extended playing time for intriguing Pacers rookie Paul George under interim coach Frank Vogel?

4. Do you think the Raptors should fire Jay Triano if they exceed a certain number of consecutive losses?

5. Is whoever puts together the Raptors’ official game notes unaware that Jim O’Brien got fired yesterday? (See page two.)

Start time: 7:00 PM ET
Channel: Sportsnet
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Julian Wright, Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani
Indiana: Darren Collison, Mike Dunleavy, Danny Granger, Josh McRoberts, Roy Hibbert

In tribute to the end of the Jim O’Brien Era in Indiana, our pregame song is “Fired” by Ben Folds. Also, the key line in the song is something many of you probably thought while watching the Raptors’ deplorable display against the T-Wolves on Saturday: “Every one of you is fired.”

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