Not long ago, the Indiana Pacers were said to have a character problem, what with players such as Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley. That issue, we know, has been taken care of.
Now the Pacers have a talent problem. As in, not enough of it.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Indiana golden boy Troy Murphy had himself a devastating effort in Sacramento, scoring on deep shots, uncontested lay-ups and one particularly wicked reverse baseline jam. Yes, Troy Murphy, wicked reverse baseline jam. It's true. It happened. I saw it. (YouTube wants to hide the truth.)
All told, Murphy tore apart the Kings to the tune of 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks. Murph threatens to rip the fabric of the NBA if he keeps this nonsense up.
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
* Troy Murphy: "I'm going to be an event planner - weddings, bar mitzvahs, everything like that. That's my passion. It is. I've just taken it up the last couple of years." -- South Bend Tribune, via Cornrows.
* "[Bruce] Bowen's style of play does not undermine the quality of the game; in fact, it takes basketball (and basketball fandom) to the peak of its dramatic heights." -- 48 Minutes of Hell.
* "[T]here's a reason that no one goes around quoting any of Christian Bale's lines from [The Dark Knight], a reason that [Heath] Ledger is posthumously up for an Oscar and was spoken of a nomination before his passing, a reason that when you think of that film, you think of the Joker. And it's the same reason kids love to dunk, that we like the fastbreak more than the halfcourt, and why Gilbert Arenas is on the All-Star ballot despite not playing a tick [...]" -- Hardwood Paroxysm.
* Amare Stoudemire: "Refs don't like me as much as the cops didn't like Tupac." -- Arizona Republic (last week).
The locker room can be a gross place, swimming with musk and communicable disease. It's actually amazing more basketball teams don't come down with group illness, given the travel, the near-daily physical exertion and the close quarters on and off the court. But Indiana has fallen victim to team flu, with Troy Murphy, Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels -- three of the team's top four scorers -- being hospitalized Friday.
None played Friday or Saturday, but the healthy Pacers represented the team well. On Friday, the Pacers took the Clippers to double overtime before submitting. Last night in Philadelphia, the short-handed squad came from behind to beat the Sixers 95-94.
T.J. Ford was questionable with a sore groin before the game, but played and put up 25 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. He also had the game-clinching shot over Andre Iguodala with a couple seconds left.
Even though the team's playing strong without its best weapons, I think the Simon brothers will be investing in some hand sanitizer and Vitamin C.
Well, well, well. Somebody finally made the Lakers pay for their recent habit of getting off to less than stellar starts. That somebody was Troy Murphy, who got his 17th rebound of the game on this tip-in at the buzzer to send the Lakers to just their second loss of the season.
If you're thinking that the Pacers simply got lucky, then you probably didn't watch the game. It's true the Lakers got off to their typical slow start (they led by just five at the break), but they finished the third quarter on a 17-0 run that should have been plenty to put the game away. Indiana fought hard to come back though, forcing six Laker turnovers in the fourth and outscoring L.A. 32-16 in the final period to come out on top.
And if you're wondering how the heck Troy Murphy was in position to get that final rebound, well, he gets a lot of them, actually. Coming into this game, he was third in the league in rebounding, and this makes nine straight games he's had double digit boards. The Pacers are just 7-10, but they've been extremely competitive in most of those games. They're also now the only team to beat both the Celtics and the Lakers this season, which is pretty impressive considering those clubs have just four losses total between them.
Don't look now (really! don't! that's how they snare you!), but the Pacers have won four straight, and ladies and germs: We have a hot race for the 8th seed in the East.
Atlanta scored a massive win over Orlando last night, thanks to tremendous output from Joe Johnson (34 points on 20 shots, 7 assists, 3 steals) and solid efforts all around. That put the Hawks at 30-39, which would be 12th place in the West... but is 8th in the East. Awesome!
But those Pacers are only 1-1/2 games back themselves, thanks to a road win at Chicago. The improbably decent pairing of Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy combined for 49 points on 60% shooting, and Larry Hughes shot 2-11. (Fun!)
The Nets are actually tied with Indiana for 9th place, after a loss at Philadelphia. But no one really cares about the Nets, because they have been almost as disappointing as the Bulls (if that's possible). Not to disparage Nets fans (it's not your fault), but seeing the Celtics visit Atlanta or Indianapolis in the first round would be vastly more entertaining than a few more games at the 'Zod. Boo Nets!
B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.
Cup of Coffee It's not like Chris Wilcox got demoted, technically. It is just that Nick Collison fits the role of center better. But Wilcox, for whatever reason, stopped starting. And Collison played very well. And the Sonics lost 14 straight games. Wilcox started last night at forward, and the Sonics beat the defending champion Spurs, while the ex-Terp recorded 16 points and 10 boards in 31 minutes. If the Sonics are winning when he is out there, he will play, and his value will take a big boost. If you have a discontent owner looking to move him, take a flier for cheap.
Hot Cakes I know, I know. Leon Powe should have made the headline because I will not get another chance. I actually really like Powe, but he is not going to see any run with the "Big 3" around, barring a major injury. So unless you are in a daily league (in which case you should consider him for the C's next game) you can ignore his 25 and 11. It is nice to see Tony Allen back and scoring well already though, I must admit. And actually Allen, who would fill in for Ray Allen, is a better free agent option if you need to add someone.
Nate Robinson continued to be a monster, racking up 22 points with nine assists in 36 minutes off the bench Tuesday night. Robinson, averaging nearly 20 points and seven assists over his last three, should be starting for all teams while he is hot.
Check out this play from last night's contest between the Bulls and the Pacers. Troy Murphy gets a little overly aggressive with Tyrus Thomas, Thomas comes up swinging, and both players are ejected. It probably had little impact on the outcome of the game (a Pacers victory), but it's always interesting to see players attempt to throw down in the two seconds they have before everyone breaks up the altercation.
My colleague Tom Ziller pointed out to me that Thomas hasn't been getting much run lately, so he shouldn't exactly be doing things to get himself kicked out of games. He had two DNP-CDs in a row, and has only seen substantial minutes once in the last six games (a blowout win over Seattle). But he kind of had no choice here, right? Murphy was being a [jerk] with the aggressive slap and then the shove to the chest that sent Thomas to the ground, so I don't think you can blame Thomas here for reacting the way he did.
The Pacers are a surprising 3-0 through the first week of the season, but they got some bad news today: Ike Diogu, the team's third-leading scorer, will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a torn calf muscle suffered during Tuesday's practice. From the team's official site:
Diogu started on opening night in place of the injured Jermaine O'Neal and in three appearances this season has averaged 23.3 minutes, 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds, making 16-of-28 shots from the field (57.1 percent).
"It happens. Injuries are part of the game," Diogu said. "It's an unfortunate time because I was starting to do the things people expect me to do on the floor. I've just got to wait it out, come back and get back to doing the same things."
Diogu has always been effective in small doses, and he seemed to be comfortable producing given more minutes last year. Though he's not a big name, a lot of people have speculated that he may turn out to be the gem of the Stephen Jackson/Al Harrington deal last year that netted Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy. Incidentally, Diogu's absence coincides with Murphy's return -- Murphy missed the last half of the preseason and the first three games with a balky back, but he's expected to be dressed and ready for action tonight against the Clippers.
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
The locker room can be a gross place, swimming with musk and communicable disease. It's actually amazing more basketball teams don't come down with group illness, given the travel, the near-daily physical exertion and the close quarters on and off the court. But Indiana has fallen victim to team flu, with Troy Murphy, Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels -- three of the team's top four scorers -- being hospitalized Friday.
Don't look now (really! don't! that's how they snare you!), but the Pacers have won four straight, and ladies and germs: We have a hot race for the 8th seed in the East.
B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.
The Pacers are a surprising 3-0 through the first week of the season, but they got some bad news today: Ike Diogu, the team's third-leading scorer, will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a torn calf muscle suffered during Tuesday's practice. From the team's official site:
