You Don't Know Jack: A Pacers Story

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by georgiafan

How good is Yoga Ferrell to use ? I noticed he doesn't get many minutes for you and it seems like he would be a good offense player off the bench

Quote: Originally Posted by milldaddy35

Iirc, yogis defensive attributes are nothing special at all.

Yogi is just a C rated defensively -- average at best. His size and his lack of length do hurt him on that end.

Admittedly, on another team, he'd get more minutes as a backup -- but I have Corey Joseph and he fits better with me. He's a better passer and generally doesn't need the ball as much.

Yogi, by comparison, is an offensive minded point man who can score bunches, but doesn't necessarily make his teammates better. I might find a better place for him in the offseason, I feel a bit bad letting him rot on my bench ...

The league, I think, is nearing the talent level where expansion is going to be necessary. I'm considering popping the cork on that for the 2020-21 season -- two teams and that's all (36 is a ridiculous number of teams, frankly). Locations Seattle and a place to be named ... possibly Mexico City. If I do those two, then I'll shift Seattle to the Northwest division, push OKC to the Southwest, slot Mexico City in the Southwest, then move Memphis to the Southeast.

That would leave 6 in the Southwest and 6 in the Southeast, 5 everywhere else. Some might say that's unfair, but since the NBA doesn't award division winners automatic playoff spots (it's by record now, with head to heads as tiebreakers) and the NBA, over its history, has had uneven numbers of teams before in divisions, I'm not against it at all.

But it's not set in stone at this point. The talent level of the league definitely warrants its consideration though.

[RolePlayer]

Tates balling man, future of the league


edit: Screw the future, he's already arrived

[trekfan]

Ch. 33

Three days after the Cavs win, we took on the Bucks — we had played them two nights before in Indianapolis and won, 105-95. But this game, we were in Milwaukee and — for the first time since he was let go in free agency — Jabari was back in old stomping grounds. The Bucks, after winning the 1st overall pick last summer and drafting Charlie Hart (averaging a cool 19.8 PPG and 9.3 APG on 44% shooting) and starting slow under new coach Dwayne Casey, were above .500 and finally coming into their own … apparently.

We all knew how much this game would mean to Jabari, even if he didn’t say it. He was on the practice court an hour early, shooting by himself. He knew that everyone in that arena had, at one point, cheered for him … and now they would be cheering against him. He had to take on a different mindset that night in order to get through it.

For the rest of us, we knew we’d be getting the Bucks best shot — they let the previous game slip away and the Greek Freak had been contained (just 22 points on a poor shooting night). He was going to be hungry but we had to be hungrier.

The first sequence of the game was instructive of just what kind of night we were going to have. The Bucks won the tip, the Greek Freak slammed the ball through the rim right in the face of our defense, and on the other end Jabari answered right back.

The first quarter was all offense for the most part. Both teams came out gunning, especially me — the Bucks were daring me to shoot the triple, so I took that dare and ran with it. I nailed two triples, back to back, in the quarter and Milwaukee couldn’t guard me.

I rained down fire from all over the court — they tried to run me off the arc, so I took it inside. I dunked on them. Tossed up layups, hit some fading mid-range pull-ups … if there was a way to score, I found it in the first. With Jabari supplying his own brand of reckoning, the team was running on all cylinders. We ended the quarter up 36-28.

In the second, it was time for VO to take over. After having been quieted a bit in the first, Victor took advantage of his matchups with his hops, and starting dunking on fools. The aggressive, switch heavy Bucks defense (installed by former coach Jason Kidd) was still alive and well, but no Buck had a shot guarding VO when he was on.

Add in some superb post play by Jabari (who was abusing the Bucks on the low block like his name was Zach Randolph), and Milwaukee was struggling to manufacture points in the second.

But one man, Mirotic, was keeping them afloat. He had one of those nights where you remembered why everyone thought he’d be good in the NBA … he hit just about everything he shot, no matter how deep he was or wasn’t; Nikola was in the ZONE and Milwaukee was thanking their lucky stars he had signed with them, because his ability to stretch the floor was keeping them in it. At halftime, they were only down by 7.

In the third, it was time for their star rookie to take over — Charlie Hart played with heart, a lot of it. The kid wasn’t afraid to shoot his shot, even when surrounded by bigs who could send it flying to the next state.

Hart made that mid-range shot over Sabonis, despite the size difference, but DS got it back. He stole the Bucks next possession and ran down the court, lumbering along, full-speed and hit a beauty of a layup on the fast break.

The Bucks, though, managed to claw their way back into the game. They were only down 96-93 at the end of the third, and the only reason they weren’t tied with us was because of VO — he hit a clutch end-of-quarter triple on the inbounds that made our bench go wild.

It was those types of shots that made me shake my head and think, “Yeah, he’s worth what he’s paid.” VO was unconscious from the floor. In the fourth, the Greek Freak and I matched up … and we put on a hell of a show. He used his mid-range game and insane athleticism to get his team back into the game. Soon, Milwaukee tied us and we were battling for our very lives.

The key difference between me and Giannis? I could hit the three more often than him. Which is exactly what I did — I hit two in the first and I hit another two in the fourth, helping stave off the Bucks. With a little bit of breathing room and only up a few precious points, Myles Turner locked in on defense — he sent some shots back and came up with a crucial steal to help seal the game.

The win was huge — what a night from our team. VO, Jabari, and I finished with more than 20 points each. It was a another loss for the Bucks, who didn’t have a large margin of error for sure. Milwaukee was not a team I wanted to see in the playoffs … I hoped to god they would fall out of the standings. The Greek Freak was a man on a mission and I didn’t want the Pacers to become a footnote in the story of his ascendance.

[milldaddy35]

Nice win, albeit in another defense optional game! Gotta get them boys to lock up, and your team would be on a whole new level.

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by milldaddy35

Nice win, albeit in another defense optional game! Gotta get them boys to lock up, and your team would be on a whole new level.

Yeah, our lack of defense in user-played games is concerning. Come playoff time, I have to figure out a way to slow things down ... but too often I find myself playing at a faster pace when I feel like the opposing team can beat me. Running and gunning is fun, but if you don't make your shots, you get buried by the other team fast.

Currently at the trade deadline and we do have some dandy deals going down ... recap of all the news coming in the near future.

[Deuce2223]

I like Expansion. I have 2k17 and I always expand to 36 teams. Typcially Seattle, Vancouver and Sacremento to the North, Vegas and San Diego to the Pacific, Oklahoma City and Austin to the Southwest, Minnesota to the Central, Washington to the Atlantic. Then add Louisville to Southeast along with Memphis making the move. Or go Nashville with the Southeast and move New Orleans to the Southwest so Memphis and Nashville are together..

[trekfan]

Ch. 34

Valentine’s Day, 2019 — the trade deadline. We, thankfully, didn’t have a game that day (after doing a brutal three-game in four nights stretch), so I was at the training facility with Gramps as we watched the news come in. The rumors were all over the place … but the biggest name was Mike Conley. The Grizzlies, firmly in the running for that top pick, were abysmal and ready to go full tank mode. They weren’t the only team that needed to make moves, though. Injuries had changed the complexion of the 2019 draft and a few squads were benefiting from key guys missing time.

The standings reflected the long absences of some players.

In the East, the Hawks were just awful. Gary Harris was having a career year (scoring nearly 18.8 PPG), but that wasn’t nearly enough to offset the dysfunction in Atlanta — the team was just digging its own grave, night after night. They were prime candidates to land Fuller, the top draft prospect of 2019. But they weren’t too awful for another team out East not to catch them — surprisingly, the Knicks were also awful. It made no sense how bad they were — George Hill should have stabilized them (he was scoring 17.3 PPG and dishing out nearly 6.2 APG), but the match between KCP and Hardaway just wasn’t good.

Miami was also awful and needed to get their full tank on — they didn’t have their draft pick in 2021, so they had two years to get good assets in the draft before Phoenix got their pick, hell or high water. Pat Riley, still as slick as ever, pulled off a trade to move on from Dragic and get some assets back for the Heat.

Super Mario Hezonja had finally been freed from Orlando — and in the process the Magic had unloaded their salary cap mistake in Biyombo. Orlando, somehow in the race for the final playoff spot (God bless Frank Vogel for the miracles he worked), went all-in on the playoff dream. Dragic was a serious upgrade to their PG spot — Richardson and Olynyk were solid backups who had postseason experience. The Magic gave the Heat some cap relief in the offseason (Terrence Ross), a few unprotected second rounders (unneeded for them because of how much youth the team already had), and got Dragic to opt in to his PO, allowing them to have him till the summer of 2020.

Miami, with some cap relief, now had room to re-sign Winslow to a mega extension ($24M a year over four years) and could make further moves in the offseason, as they inevitably would.

That trade took a contender for Mike Conley’s services off the market — Conley was having a down year in Memphis, depressed from all the losing, but he was a very valuable player with a very expensive contract. Memphis had to move him now and did so … right into the Pacers backyard.

The Pistons —struggling, under .500, out of the playoff picture — finally moved away from Reggie Jackson. But Detroit had to pay a steep price to move on from him and upgrade the PG spot. Jackson, Johnson, and Boban (plus their 2019 1st with minimal protections) were sent to Memphis for Conley and a pair of scrubs. Detroit had made a mistake in drafting Johnson — he just wasn’t developing — and had made a mistake in trading for Jackson. Conley was a serious upgrade at the one and would provide a hell of challenge to guard.

For Memphis, they unloaded Conley, got back a young player in Johnson, a sure-fire 2019 1st, Jackson (a player they didn’t have to worry about re-signing in the future, he was sure to exit in free agency) and Boban (a solid backup). The Grizzlies had made a move to, hopefully, ensure a favorable outcome in the lottery.

Elsewhere in the league, there were other notable moves — first up, the Blazers, who managed to unload the contract of Myers Leonard.

The Kings, once more, were involved. After having been over .500 for a decent part of the season, they fell off once the new year hit. Sacramento had two unhappy players on their squad, Mason and Papagiannis. They wanted playing time and the Kings weren’t giving it to them — they re-signed WCS to a three year contract extension and then traded Mason and Papa G to Portland for, basically, their 2019 1st and contracts.

Portland was desperate to make the playoffs and needed serious upgrades at both the backup PG and C spots — Mason and Papa G would provide that in spades. Would it be enough to get them into the postseason? That was the question.

The Wizards, in a desperate attempt to secure a playoff spot, also made a move, reuniting the Morris brothers.

This was a straight up trade that benefited both teams. Washington got — what they hoped — was a big boost off the bench for pittance. The Celtics cleared Morris out (whose attitude, it was rumored, was causing issues in the locker room) and received back a high quality veteran in Meeks, and took a flyer on McCullough.

Once the trades were done, the contract extension news starting rolling in. The T’Wolves got Towns and Butler to ink extensions, four and three year ones respectively, along with Jones — rumors were flying that Jeff Teague was trade bait in the offseason. The Suns signed off on a three year extension for Tyler Ulis — maybe he was their PG of the future, but in his first full season of starting the kid was averaging 12.4 PPG and 4.5 APG on good shooting percentages, despite being only 5’10”. The Spurs re-signed Kyle Anderson to a very team-friendly extension (2yr/$2.5M per).

We re-signed Lance to a three year deal using the veteran minimum. Lance’s playing time would probably not be the same by the time the deal came to an end, but he was an important part of our team and our culture. Gramps promised me Lance wouldn’t be traded unless it was completely and totally unavoidable … we all loved Lance. He represented Pacers basketball at its best (and sometimes at its worst).

The Thunder got cheap deals for both Shumpert and Abrines, their battery of SGs signing on for two more years to serve as Westbrook’s spot-up specialists. The Pelicans invested serious dough in Cheick Diallo, who — at only 22 — was proving himself to be a piece NOLA definitely wanted around. They brought him back for a 3yr/$28M deal that screamed “we’re betting you’re actually going to get better.” For a team like NOLA, who needed a battery of big men to keep Boogie and the Brow fresh, that was a good bet.

The Bulls re-signed Okafor and Bobby Portis to good deals, Okafor getting big money for proving himself so capable in a sixth-man role – scoring nearly 15 PPG a night in only 20 minutes, Okafor was sure to be named the start next year. Portis was just a solid player for the bench and would toggle between the four and five as the primary backup.

Everyone was watching the Warriors, though — both Green and Thompson wanted contract extensions. Both wanted expensive ones, too — the “Core Four” was going to run the Warriors cap into the ground. Golden State’s ownership group, full of guys who didn’t mind paying money, was beginning to sweat at the projected costs. Add in the drama with Jordan Bell, who wanted to be a starter somewhere (and whom GS didn’t have bird rights too since he was a 2nd rounder and had signed a minimum deal), made the cap situation dicey.

Thompson signed for 4yrs/$27.5M per, a bit of a discount. Green was told his extension would have to wait. The Warriors put out feelers for Bell (attaching Iggy’s contract to him), but no team was willing to help the Warriors out … Bell would be free to leave in the offseason and the Warriors would have to look then for a trade partner to take on Iggy’s ugly deal.

[Deuce2223]

Like all the deals, and being I am 4 hours from Portland, it would be nice to see the Trail Blazers make it back to the playoffs. I am old so I still remember the days when they were good.