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

[mfbmike]

fire the coach michael! It might be the playbook

not exactly in my plans. plus, no other coaches have been fired around the league just yet.

it's not the playbook, on offense he is fine. it's on defense, he always seems to be out of position and gets abused lol.

Bulls game tomorrow.

[mfbmike]

Rush Heats Up From Behind The Arch To Help Pacers Outlast Bulls At The United Center

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Derrick Rose
Ricky Davis SG Ben Gordon
Danny Granger SF Luol Deng
Troy Murphy PF Drew Gooden
Chris Kaman C Joakim Noah

(2-6) 120 @ 116 (5-4)


Brandon Rush went a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arch and led all scorers with 23 to help the Pacers snap a 2 game skid.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

Danny Granger

Quote Of The Game:
"Brandon was locked in tonight and would not be denied. Danny struggled a bit as far as scoring goes but had the presence of mind to help the other guys out there get good looks and that made the difference for us tonight." - T.J. Ford

Next Game:

[mfbmike]

Pacers Weekly Stats Update:

Starters:



Reserves:





Players Of The Week:

Western Conference


Chauncey Billups - Denver Nuggets

Eastern Conference


Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers

Weekly Conference Standings Update:



1. (8-2)

2. (8-2)

3. (9-3)

4. (6-2)

5. (7-4)

6. (6-5)

7. (5-5)

8. (4-6)

9. (4-6)

10. (4-7)

11. (4-7)

12. (3-6)

13. (3-6)

14. (2-8)

15. (2-8)



1. (7-3)

2. (6-3)

3. (6-4)

4. (6-4)

5. (5-4)

6. (6-5)

7. (5-5)

8. (5-5)

9. (5-5)

10. (5-5)

11. (4-5)

12. (3-4)

13. (4-7)

14. (3-6)

15. (3-6)

[mfbmike]

Roster News:


The Hornets have placed Peja Stojakovic on the trading block.

Stojakovic surprised by trade rumors
- Report: New Orleans agrees to Ridnour/Peja deal
- Portland looking to move Lafrentz for Peja
- Thunder offering Wilcox for Peja?


The Bulls have placed Ben Gordon on the trading block.

Gordon taking trade talks in stride
- Denver's Smith: I'd be happy in Chicago
- Grizzlies on the fence with Buckner/Gordon deal
- Bulls: Gordon drawing lots of interest
- Gordon: I'll play for any team

Signings:

- The Clippers signed Bonzi Wells to a 1yr/$3.32M deal.
- The Sixers signed Corliss Williamson to a 1yr/$3.30M deal.
- The Warriors signed Michael Doleac to a 1yr/$2.83M deal.

Other News:

- Finley hangs 26 in Spurs win over Clippers
- Suns try their hand atop Power Rankings
- Brewers career high 22 leads Jazz to OT win

[Yawkey Way]

Hornets trading peja? thats a bit odd..looks good mike

[mfbmike]

Trade Winds Surrounding Murphy Beginning To Stir



Rumor out of Indiana this past weekend is that Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry has contacted Pacers GM Larry Bird regarding the availability of Troy Murphy.

Murphy has averaged solid numbers of 13 points and 10 rebounds a game so far this season despite his defensive shortcomings.

The Cavaliers currently do not have a big man capable of shooting the 3 point shot on their roster. Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao usually do most of their work in the paint as does Zydrunas Ilgauskas, although Big Z has been known to step out and knock down a mid range J from time to time.

"With a guy like Troy on the floor, we can spread out the opposing teams defense and make it even easier for Lebron to get to the rim," explained Ferry. "Lebron does a phenomenal job of getting to the rim as it is, imagine if he had a big guy capable of shooting the 3 on the wing when the opposing team tries to clog the lane."

"I'm not trying to frantically make another trade so soon," mentioned Bird. "We just brought in Chris and Ricky from Los Angeles and the team is gelling right now."

Bird may be right. The Pacers just came off one an impressive win against the Bulls on the road where the Pacers managed to have 6 scorers put up 14 points or more.

Regardless of whether or not Bird is willing to pull the trigger on a possible deal with the Cavs involving Troy Murphy, it's no secret the Cavs are heavily shopping guard/forward Wally Sczerbiak and his lucrative 13 million dollar expiring contract. That surely has to have Bird at least considering the possibilities of helping turn this franchise around by adding more money to the already large pool of money the Pacers will have to play with in the offseason.

[Yawkey Way]

good, not a fan of murphy, it would be great if you could maybe pull out Hickson in the deal

[mfbmike]

Pacers Score Their Biggest Win (And Suffer Biggest Loss) Of Season Against Atlanta

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Mike Bibby
Ricky Davis SG Joe Johnson
Danny Granger SF Josh Smith
Troy Murphy PF P.J Brown
Chris Kaman C Al Horford

(3-6) 116 vs. 95 (6-3)


Brandon Rush helps escort Ricky Davis off the floor after Davis caming down extremely hard on his ankle after a layup attempt.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

Danny Granger

Quote Of The Game:
"I'm extremely impressed by the way our guys played out there tonight. We finally managed to hold a team under 100 points and keep it together after Ricky went down. Speaking of Ricky, he hit the ground hard and the preliminary tests on his ankle aren't looking too good unfortunately." - Pacers GM Larry Bird

Next Game:

[mfbmike]

Maybe Wearing #13 Wasn't Such A Good Idea; Davis Out For Season



When Ricky Davis and Chris Kaman heard the news they would both be heading to Indiana in a multi-player deal, the issue with what numbers they would wear arose. See, both numbers 31 and 35, are retired by the Indiana Pacers.

Kaman and Davis both agreed to "flip" their original numbers of 31 and 35 to wear the numbers 13 and 53, respectively. Most people are superstitious of the number 13 and for good reason it seems.

Davis came down hard on his leg in the 2nd quarter of the Pacers game against the Atlanta Hawks. The second he landed and rolled on the floor 3 to 4 times before coming to a stop and then clinching his ankle, you knew something was wrong.



Davis would have to be escorted off the court by teammate Brandon Rush and tests concluded that Davis had in fact torn his achilles tendon and would have to miss the remainder of the season.

3 full games as a Pacer was all Davis was able to get under his belt before falling victim to injury. In those 3 games though, Davis seemed re-energized by the trade and was playing surprisingly well, with averages of 17 points, 6 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 steals a game.

"I don't believe in all that superstitious stuff," explained Davis. "I was out there, playing hard, trying to help the team win and I just happened to come down on my leg the wrong way."

Davis will miss the remainder of this season to nurse the torn tendon back to 100%. Marquis Daniels will take the starting nod for the time being. This injury leaves a huge hole in the Pacers rotation and after claiming he was "not trying to frantically make a trade so soon," perhaps Pacers GM Larry Bird will have a change of heart as the Cavaliers are dangling Wally Sczerbiak in an effort to acquire Troy Murphy.

[LC AAU]

Damn that sucks big time

[mfbmike]

Damn that sucks big time

Tell me about it. Huge hole in my rotation now.

that sucks
but u won :D

lol, karma has a way of kicking your ass. I finally hold a team to under 100 points and get a blowout win and then suffer a season ending injury. What are the fucking chances? lol.

Hornets trading peja? thats a bit odd..looks good mike

Yeah, not sure. Maybe posey's creeping into his playtime.

Lots of updates on this page! :bump:

[Lupe]

damn sucks to lose ricky. You should get Wally. He could be your new starting SG plus next season you could start ricky anyway because wally is expiring this year.

[mfbmike]

Undermanned Pacers Sneak One Out Against The Magic; Injury Bug Spreads To Granger

Starting Lineups:
T.J. Ford PG Jameer Nelson
Marquis Daniels SG Courtney Lee
Danny Granger SF Hedo Turkoglu
Troy Murphy PF Rashard Lewis
Chris Kaman C Dwight Howard

(4-6) 120 vs. 112 (6-5)


Danny Granger sizes up his opponent on the elbow. Granger was forced to leave the game late in the 4th quarter with a strained achilles tendon after racking up a double double.

Top Performers:
Player Of The Game:

T.J. Ford

Quote Of The Game:
"We pushed the break as often as we could and managed to get a lot of our buckets in transition. Our offense is at it's best because of the speedster's we have on this roster. As far as Danny goes, I hope his injury isn't too severe. We were really starting to get into a groove as far as winning goes." - T.J. Ford

Next Game:

[mfbmike]

Injuries Coming At The Most Inopportune Times For The Pacers



As the Pacers were closing on a win lastnight against the Orlando Magic, Danny Granger went up for a layup attempt and was clipped from behind by Magic forward Rashard Lewis and landed awkwardly on his leg.

Only a game after Ricky Davis went down with a torn achilles tendon which will force him to miss the remainder of the season, Granger managed to strain the same tendon and will miss 2-4 weeks of play to nurse the injury.

"It's unfornate," explained Granger in a post-game interview. "We've just won three straight and were starting to feel each other out and get into a rythym as a team and now this."

Granger is averaging career highs across this board this season with over 28 points, and close to 6 rebounds and 5 assists a game. Mix that in with nearly 2 steals and blocks a game and the numbers speak for themselves. Granger is asserting himself as one of the most well-rounded players in the league.

"It's tough to see a guy go down like that," mentioned Pacers Head Coach Jim O'Brien. "Any guy who is playing as well as Danny is right now, it's just hard to see them go down with an injury. I know it's going to kill Danny to not to be able to play while the tendon heals."

After mentioning he wasn't ready to pull the trigger on another possible trade in the Pacers rebuilding process this year, sources say that Pacers GM Larry Bird has shifted trade talks into high gear to aqquire players to fit the holes that the injuries to Davis and now Granger have created.

[LC AAU]

Wow, its defenitly DerMarr time,