Actually my first time on VSN and I have to say the quality of these write-ups and everything is tremendous.
Now back to business
Trading away Jamaal Tinsley, good move the guy is a head case and if one little thing goes wrong his morale plummets. Getting Kaman and Davis was nice, Kaman is a monster rebounder and before the trade besides Foster you really didn't have any big guys capable of doing that (I suppose Hibbert or Nest but both seem a little too soft imo). This most recent trade though is the final piece of the puzzle I think. Bringing in a banger like Wilcox who can get you 10/10 each night is crucial and adds some strength to your frontcourt. The Granger loss is huge, but I think if you slow down the tempo to a half court game and try to work a little inside/outside with Kaman and Rush you can win games. The only criticism I have is that now you've shifted your team's philosophy in an entirely new direction which can be difficult to adjust to especially chemistry wise. Starting the season I would say you were more of a run and gun team, looking to chuck 3 pointers at any opportunity. Now you're obviously more of a strong team inside with a few capable shooters. Irregardless I think this team is a contender in the East with the moves you made. With Granger and Rush you have that outside presence. Wilcox and Kaman are huge assets to your frontcourt. Ford is a great distributor. And your bench is very good with prototypical role players like Jeff Foster and young guys like Hibbert.
Nice chise and I will continue to follow
I'm glad you're liking it man. It's so refreshing to get a wall of text reply like this as opposed to the typical nice win, tough loss replies. lol. Nice to know people are actually reading the stuff I, or anyone else for that matter are taking the time to put together.
With that being said, yeah, as opposed to writing game recaps for every game, I'm trying to put together a little news piece regarding the team to give the followers a deeper look at the team and the process I'm going about in trying to rebuild this team.
My 1st priority with this team was finding fair and believable opportunities to get rid of Dunleavy, Murphy and Tinsley; mostly because of their contracts. Tinsley for obvious reasons. Dunleavy was a solid scorer but didn't really fit into what I'm trying to create here and Murphy seemed to get me burnt on defense too many times despite being a very versatile scorer.
Kaman is most definitely a presence in the paint and my defense has improved drastically since adding him to the roster.
You nailed it on the head though, this team is one that pushes the ball in transition a lot, especially with how fast T.J. Ford gets up and down the floor. Funny thing is though, on the Pacers home floor, whenever you get a steal or rebound and it looks like your going to push the break, there is a sound effect of cars racing similar to that of the Indy Car races. lol. When I hear that I'm generally looking to get buckets in transition. Rush and Daniels run the wings surprisingly well though and Rush I have found to be a dead eye shooter.
A contender in the East? lol, I'm flattered but don't think I'm there just yet. Besides Kaman, I've aimed at bringing in expiring contracts. I had to let one go in Rasho but it was worth it to get Wilcox. I'm going to try to land a number of pieces in free agency as opposed to the trying to get the biggest name in free agency. I'd be happy with a 7th or 8th seed with an opportunity to upset in the 1st round assuming I meet a weaker team. lol.
I'm glad you approve of the moves I've made thus far.
I doubt I will make any more and I actually intended on making this second trade a lot further down the road but the injuries crept up on me bigtime. I really didn't have a choice. lol.
Nice to have you aboard man.
