NBA Franchise of the Year: Passion. Pride. Pacers.

[mfbmike]

Oh , so making the Playoffs will be no problem for you with 50 games to go.

I would hope so. Barring any serious injuries, I think I can get in. It'll be tough though. This upcoming 5 game road trip won't be easy.

Wow ever since I started following, I don't think you've lost. lol. Better hope I keep on coming back. ;)

lol, funny coincidence. Please do though. :happy:

Nice Job with what is it? 7 out of 8?

Yep, I've won last 7 of 8. Granger is the big difference maker.

wow...lot of players in double figures. Nice work

Jarrett Jack came out of nowhere this game. He's usually hit or miss but he was getting to the basket like it was all good. And as you can see my guys had tons of assists. Shots were just falling. Doesn't hurt that the Kings suck :P. lol

[The Messenger]

You got this team looking like the Blazers of last year.

[mfbmike]

You got this team looking like the Blazers of last year.

Exactly the look I was going for to be perfectly honest.

haha it's always nice to get that random hero off the bench. Do you think that this run you're on has to do with the fact that you've finally gotten used to playing with TJ ford?

Eh, it's a number of factors to be honest. Obviously, I've gotten much better with Ford. Mostly in part to the advice given to me from messenger/clutch (can't remember) telling me to stop trying to shoot with him and take it to the rim with him. Which is what I've been doing and it works a lot better. For the past couple of games, I've taken 1/2 threes with him and he hasn't connected on any unfortunately. Just not his game.

Obviously Granger's return is another big factor. Rush has always been able to make big shots for me all season. Unsung hero though is Area 51. He comes off the bench and will get these blocks and pull down rebounds that Jeff Foster just never could and just totally swing momentum for me. He's a game changer.

[mfbmike]

Firings:



The Grizzlies have announced today that they have dismissed Marc Iavaroni as head coach of the team. The Grizzlies are currently 12-22, tied for last place with the Thunder in the Western Conference. Apparently, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley had higher hopes for this team after signing veteran center Alonzo Mourning to the team earlier this season. Heisley felt Iavaroni was no longer getting through to his players.

Roster News:


The Raptors have placed Andrea Bargnani on the trading block.

Bargnani: Whatever happens, happens
- Bargnani to Jazz?
- Memphis GM not talking Bargs
- Sacramento: Could Jackson be trade bait?

Other News:

- Kobe drops 31 on Blazers in 112-111 OT win
- Lakers still in Power Rankings pole position
- Alston lights up Hawks for season high 26 in Rockets win
- Rockets T-Mac no longer feeling pain from strained achilles

[Woy]

Nice updates.

[mfbmike]

Pacers Weekly Stats Update:

Starters:


Reserves:


(Red name denotes currently injured)



Players Of The Week:

Western Conference


Chris Paul - New Orleans Hornets

Eastern Conference


Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers

Weekly Conference Standings Update:



1. (26-6)

2. (20-11)

3. (21-12)

4. (20-13)

5. (21-14)

6. (19-15)

7. (15-15)

8. (16-17)

9. (16-18)

10. (16-19)

11. (16-19)

12. (15-18)

13. (15-19)

14. (12-22)

15. (12-22)



1. (20-12)

2. (20-12)

3. (20-13)

4. (19-14)

5. (20-15)

6. (18-15)

7. (17-17)

8. (16-16)

9. (16-17)

10. (14-20)

11. (13-21)

12. (12-20)

13. (12-22)

14. (12-23)

15. (11-23)

[mfbmike]

Players Of The Month:

Western Conference


Chauncey Billups - Denver Nuggets

Eastern Conference


Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers

Rookies Of The Month:

Western Conference:


Russell Westbrook - Oklahoma City Thunder

Eastern Conference:


Danilo Galinari - New York Knicks

League Leaders:

Points Per Game:


Rebounds Per Game


Assists Per Game:


Steals Per Game:


Blocks Per Game:


Award Races:

Most Valuable Player:


Rookie Of The Year:


6th Man Of The Year:


Defensive Player Of The Year:


Most Improved Player:

[jags224]

granger only one free throw attempted, must of got a and 1!

[mfbmike]

Pacers Narrowly Escape Mile High Defeat; Finally Fight Back To A .500 Record

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Chauncey Billups
Wally Szczerbiak SG J.R. Smith
Danny Granger SF Carmelo Anthony
Chris Wilcox PF Kenyon Martin
Chris Kaman C Nene

(16-17) 115 @ 112 (16-19)


Danny Granger rises up for a short jumper over Kenyon Martin. Granger filled the stat sheet and helped the Pacers to their 7th straight win.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

Danny Granger

Quote Of The Game:
"Good teams find a way to win games when they aren't at their best. That's what we did tonight. Our shots weren't connecting as well as they had been in the past couple games but we still managed to scrape this one out on the road." - Danny Granger

Next Game:

[mfbmike]

Pacers Winning Streak Snapped; Granger Falls Victim To Injury Again

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Steve Nash
Wally Szczerbiak SG Leandro Barbosa
Danny Granger SF Jason Richardson
Chris Wilcox PF Amare Stoudemire
Chris Kaman C Robin Lopez

(17-17) 118 @ 121 (20-11)


Danny Granger calls out a play. Granger racked up a double double before leaving the game in the 3rd quarter with a shoulder injury.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

Steve Nash

Quote Of The Game:
"Steve and Amare picked apart our defense out there. We made a bigtime push in the 4th and our guys looked inspired out there despite Danny leaving the game in the 3rd with that shoulder injury. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. They managed to get out too far in front and we couldn't recover." - Pacers Head Coach Jim O' Brien

Next Game:

[mfbmike]

Just As Everything Seemed To Be Clicking



The Pacers had won their last 8 of 9 games. They were riding the crest of a 7 game winning streak. They had finally managed to hit the .500 mark at 17-17 for the first time this season. A half a game was the difference between them and the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. And then, it happened, again.

Danny Granger and the Pacers found themselves down but not defeated against a Suns team that was firing on all cylinders lastnight. Still, the Pacers continued to fight, Granger especially. The Pacers leading scorer, 3rd best rebounder, 2nd best passer already had tallied up a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds halfway through the 3rd quarter.

Granger's hustle ended up catching up to him though as he dove into the stands for a loose ball which would've been his 11th rebound, and ended up separating his shoulder. Granger was forced to leave the game and despite his teammates giving the Suns quite a scare in the 4th quarter, the Pacers fell to the Suns 121-118 and the streak was over.

This marks the second time this season that Granger will be forced to miss games as a strained achilles tendon injury earlier in the year kept him out for nearly a month. The Pacers went 3-10 in that period of time.

This injury will keep Granger out for closer to 14 days but this still marks as a very inopportune time for the Pacers to lose Granger as they are already without Marquis Daniels who is also nursing a similar injury. Daniels return is imminent though as his status has been upgraded to day-to-day.

"We were clicking," explained Pacers Head Coach Jim O Brien. "We were winning games and finally starting to get into a groove. It's hard to have a guy like Granger go down in a time like this but there really isn't much you can do. He was out there hustling on every play, doing what he had to do to help his team win. When he's ready to come back, he'll be back. Until then, we just have to go out there and play our hardest."

[LC AAU]

Damn, DerMarr Time!

[mfbmike]

OMG, not again. But i think you can hold it together for 14 days. What does the schedule look like for those days?

Lots of road games. Lakers next, golden state, utah, got a game against Detroit, San Antonio, new orleans.

yeah. :/

[Lupe]

Demarr time lol

[mfbmike]

Pacers Get Disassembled In Front Of Capacity Crowd At Staples Center

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Derek Fisher
Brandon Rush SG Kobe Bryant
Wally Szczerbiak SF Lamar Odom
Chris Wilcox PF Pau Gasol
Chris Kaman C Andrew Bynum

(17-18) 101 @ 137 (26-8)


Kobe Bryant rises up for one of his patented throw downs against a Pacers defense that looked out of sync all night.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

Kobe Bryant

Quote Of The Game:
"We looked like we were showing signs of momentum in the 3rd quarter. Obviously they remembered the 20 point comeback put together to defeat them back in Indiana. They showed no mercy in the 4th and made sure we didn't pull off any type of comeback this time around." - T.J. Ford

Next Game: