Reloaded: The Final Chapter for Adam Morrison.

[RMJH4]

9am Larry Birds office - Indiana

I had a think about everything last night. I'm really happy to stay in Indiana, whatever is happening I have to be grateful to Larry for the chance he's been giving me. I would like to start full time, but if not I'd like a few more minutes. If he offers me a chance to go to Portland though I'd consider it. I'd love to move the family over here full time, but that will need to take a big commitment from Larry.

"Adam? Come on in son."

"Yes Mr Bird? Hope i'm not late?" I said.

"No on time as always Adam. Sit down."

"So whats business like Larry?" I said.

"Good. Well actually as you can see by the conference standings, it's not good at all. We were worried without Paul that this could happen."

"Yeah everyone is pretty down on what's happening. We cant seem to put a streak together of winning more than two games. Nothing is clicking for us." I said.

"Sheesz Kid I know. Its getting to the point, where if we continue like this towards the halfway point in the league, we have to look towards next year."

"Mr Bird, I know what you mean, with Paul coming back next year, we need to be ready to go from day one." I said.

"Yes I've had a few phonecalls as you know from Portland. Now they are desperately trying to get Roy Hibbert. I'm not happy with Robin Lopez and Victor Claver. I mean, we have a glut of wings like him already. And then we have you. They had the nerve to try and include you. So I said, throw in CJ McCollum or Wes Matthews and we can talk."

"Wow Larry, any budge?." I said.

"Well that was last night, I expect a call back today. They are pushing for a top seed in the West, and Roy and you could push them to the top. The question is now, well I want to do right by you. You've moved over here to the east coast, and I know you'd like to settle down."

"Yeah well we would love to be in a stable positon long term. Whether I have 2-3 years left in me, this move needs to be a permanent one as soon as possible." I said.

"Well if your interested, I can move. you interested in getting a shot at a ring this year, or staying and contending with us next year?."

"Whatever helps this franchise most. I'd like to contend but, I can wait till next year, I'd love to play alongside Paul." I said.

"Your a good man, you just let your game do the talking. I heard you had a good chat with Kobe?"

"Yep, was great to catch up" I said.

"Any chance he wants to team up here?."

"You know I suggested that?! He's getting itchy feet, I said I would mention it to you, see if you had any brainwaves on how to rob the Lakers blind! I said Kobe, if I could be a 6th man behind you and PG13, I would take it hand and all!" I said.

"You've got a point, I'll keep it quiet and see if Mitch will listen to an idea I have. Its worth giving him a call. I'd imagine he feels under pressure to do something, but Phil Jax probably has him on the line 24/7 begging for Kobe!"

"He has been in contact already I heard, but Mitch doesn't want to deal with him, they had a big falling out last season" I said.


"Sounds like time for the Birdman to swoop in. Anyway good to chat Adam, keep up the work and you might nail down a starting spot here. Keep in touch kid."

It was unbelievable, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Larry really going to try for Kobe? I don't even know how or what way that could happen. It would make sense for Kobe to come to the East, the West is so damn stacked, we could get things rolling with him pretty fast.

I won't text him just yet. I'll give Larry legend some time and space.

[RMJH4]

Game 26 Indiana Pacers 98 - 91 Los Angeles Clippers



The Pacers got a great road win tonight, and Morrison scored 18 pts too.

Pacers Starters
G. Hill
C. Miles
A. Morrison
D. West
R. Hibbert

Clippers Starters
C. Paul
J. Redick
M. Barnes
B. Griffin
D. Jordan

Game Leaders
Pts - 20 - C. Miles (Pacers)
Rebs - 12 - R. Hibbert (Pacers)
Asts - 8 - G. Hill (Pacers)
Stls - 2 - R. Hibbert (Pacers)
Blks - 2 - D. Jordan (Clippers)

Player of the Game
C. Miles
20pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl


Ammo's Angle



Statline: 18 pts, 7 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl in 32 mins.

"Finally cracked the starting lineup again. And I'm pretty darn happy about my contribution. We are a different team when George Hill is back on the point. He makes it so easy to get open, you just have to find the open lanes and he will hit you with a pass. I finally got the better of JJ today, after they had beaten us in Indiana!"

[RMJH4]

Game 27 Indiana Pacers 97 - 94 Denver Nuggets



The Pacers won on the road again, against the struggling Nuggets

Pacers Starters
G. Hill
C. Miles
A. Morrison
D. West
R. Hibbert

Nuggets Starters
T. Lawson
A. Afflalo
W. Chandler
K. Faried
T. Mozgov

Game Leaders
Pts - 21 - W. Chandler (Nuggets)
Rebs - 11 - D. West (Pacers)
Asts - 8 - T. Lawson (Nuggets)
Stls - 3 - T. Lawson (Nuggets)
Blks - 3 - J. McGee (Nuggets)

Player of the Game
R. Hibbert
18pts, 10 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks


Ammo's Angle



Statline: 14 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast in 32 mins.

"Yes another win on the road! We played some seriously tough defense tonight. And it was key in the end. Great to get a win this time around. I played fairly well this time around. I want to keep this starting spot so got to keep pushing. I contained Wilson Chandler fairly well too as he only scored 14 pts. Defend hard and hit the open shots, thats what Vogel wants and thats what he's getting."

[RMJH4]

Game 28 Indiana Pacers 117 - 112 Minnesota Timberwolves



Morrison and Wiggins had an epic battle tonight, Wiggins won the scoring duel, but Morrison's Pacers got the Win

Pacers Starters
G. Hill
C. Miles
A. Morrison
D. West
R. Hibbert

TWolves Starters
Z. LaVine
K. Martin
A. Wiggins
T. Young
N. Pekovic

Game Leaders
Pts - 29 - A. Wiggins (TWolves)
Rebs - 15 - A. Wiggins (TWolves)
Asts - 8 - A. Wiggins (TWolves), G. Hill (Pacers)
Stls - 3 - A. Wiggins (TWolves)
Blks - 3 - D. West (Pacers)

Player of the Game
A. Wiggins
29pts, 15 rebs, 8 asts, 3 stls, 1 blk


Ammo's Angle



Statline: 28 pts, 3 rebs, 2 stls in 33 mins.

"What an epic battle tonight with the young kid I had. Wiggins is unbelieveable. If you look at the boxscore, his name is all over it. I couldnt stop him, but he couldnt contain me either. He really is something special. My best game of the year, and this time we got a win too. We are playing some great ball now and really taking advantage of it. If we keep this going we can start making some progress on the playoff race. I thought we were dead and gone and now we're cooking."

[RMJH4]

Game 29 New Orleans Pelicans 90 - 111 Indiana Pacers



Morrison only had 13 tonight, but the Pacers rolled to their 5th win a row.

Pelicans Starters
J. Holiday
T. Evans
L. Babbitt
R. Anderson
A. Davis

Pacers Starters
G. Hill
C. Miles
A. Morrison
D. West
R. Hibbert

Game Leaders
Pts - 22 - A. Davis (Pelicans)
Rebs - 14 - R. Hibbert (Pacers)
Asts - 8 - J. Holiday (Pelicans)
Stls - 3 - L. Scola (Pacers)
Blks - 4 - R. Hibbert (Pacers)

Player of the Game
R. Hibbert
20pts, 14 rebs, 4 asts, 1 stl, 4 blks


Ammo's Angle



Statline: 13 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk in 30 mins.

"From one boy wonder to the next Wiggins to Davis. Davis is a 2 guard in a power forwards body. He can take the ball to the rim off the dribble and hit the jumper with ease. On defense he cleans the boards and swats everything. But Roy brought his big man game tonight and kept him under control. I played ok, solid and filled up my statline. Not my best game to date, but Tyreke Evans is a tough matchup and I had to guard him a lot tonight."

[RMJH4]

Game 30 Indiana Pacers 97 - 95 Detroit Pistons



Morrison and the Pistons had a nailbiter tonight but it really lacked quality in so many spells.

Pacers Starters
G. Hill
C. Miles
A. Morrison
D. West
R. Hibbert

Pistons Starters
B. Jennings
K. Singler
C. Butler
G. Monroe
A. Drummond

Game Leaders
Pts - 26 - B. Jennings (Pistons)
Rebs - 12 - A. Drummond (Pistons)
Asts - 8 - B. Jennings (Pistons)
Stls - 3 - G. Hill (Pacers)
Blks - 3 - A. Drummond (Pistons)

Player of the Game
C. Miles
22pts, 4 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls


Ammo's Angle



Statline: 12 pts, 6 rebs, 1 stl in 30 mins.

"That was an ugly game tonight, but it always is against the Pistons. A win is a win and we have won 6 in a row now. A super result considering most players barely got into double figures. Josh Smith spat on the sideline at Stan Van Gundy which was a lot of fun, I hear his days are numbered in Detroit, and you can see why tonight. Its off to face the Nets next in Brooklyn on Boxing Day. But have to fly home first to enjoy Christmas with my family! I'll only be there for a few hours, but hey at least we arent playing on Christmas Day!"

[RMJH4]

Not feeling the Christmas spirit????

1. Josh Smith and the Pistons

Josh Smith got into it with Coach Stan Van Gundy and the his Piston teammates in a home loss to the Pacers. Smith spat at Van Gundy as he walked off after being substituted early in the 4th quarter. Van Gundy and Smith had been at logger heads for weeks now as Van Gundy has little patience for players who don't play within the system. Smith has been gunning for the scoring title this season, and shooting a paltry 32.3% from the floor. Yes we all know Josh can't shoot but he doesnt seem to get it.

Smith is now due to be waived from the remaining years off his contract using the stretch provision. Because Smith was waived after the Sep. 1 stretch provision deadline, he’ll take in the full $13.5 million he’s owed this year, and the stretched-out payments won’t start until next season – at $5.4 million a year stretched out over five years.

Should Smith sign with another team this season, a virtual certainty despite his terrible play, the Pistons will be on the hook for whatever the chasm is between his new team’s salary and his guaranteed Piston money. The same goes for this offseason and beyond, when Smith could presumably sign a long-term deal with another squad.

2. Lance Stephenson and the Hornets

Lance Stephenson as a Charlotte Hornet was always a marriage of convenience. The Hornets weren’t Stephenson’s first choice; ideally he would have re-signed with the Indiana Pacers at more money than the Pacers offered.

Stephenson wasn’t the Hornets’ first choice; ideally the Utah Jazz wouldn’t have matched the four-year, $63 million offer sheet restricted free agent Gordon Hayward signed long before Stephenson came into the picture.

Certainly Stephenson’s first eight weeks with the Hornets have been less than ideal. He is shooting 39 percent from the field and 16 percent from 3-point range. He has frequently been benched in the fourth quarter of close games in favor of reserve guard Gary Neal.

And now, sources confirm, the Hornets are soliciting trade proposals to deal away the player they signed in July to a three-year, $27.4 million contract.

How did this signing, greeted with such applause in Charlotte over the summer, deteriorate so quickly?

The obvious answer is Stephenson isn’t quite the star-in-the-making he was made out to be. He has struggled to fit in with new teammates. While he has played hard, averaging 10.3 points, seven assists and 4.9 assists, he is prone to turnovers (2.3 per game) and sometimes over-dribbles, slowing the Hornets’ ball-movement. Expect a trade sooner rather than later here with the Hornets in 10th place in the East.

3. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers

With the Los Angeles Lakers having an awful start to the season, frustrations are bound to begin boiling over. And after the Christmas Day embarrasment to the Bulls, the Lakers sit at 6-24, with the worst record in the league.

Kobe Bryant is one of the most demanding people in NBA history and he voiced his displeasure with the team after the game calling them soft according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.

While walking off the court, Kobe had some more choice words for his team, this time speaking to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. Various rumors have come from fans around United Center on the night, apparently reporting Bryant shouting "I'm done with this s**t Mitch. get me out of here".

One thing about Kobe Bryant is that he expects to get 100 percent effort from his teammates at all times and if he feels he isn’t getting that, he won’t be happy. The Lakers aren’t the most talented team in the league. so they need maximum effort just to hang with most teams, especially in the West.

If Kobe does indeed retire after the 2016 season, he intends to make sure that the fight and heart is still with the Lakers once he is gone. With the Los Angeles Lakers having an awful start to the season, frustrations are bound to begin boiling over.

Two interested observer's on the night had a good chuckle, Bulls royalty Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. I bet Jordan and Pippen organised a chance meeting with Bryant after the game, you would love to be a fly on the wall so see and hear that.

Heres the scores from tonights games.

[smpipkin]

Got you a little win streak working