Spurs of the Moment

CENTER: Probably the most vital position on the floor as it concerns defense. Whether a team is good defensively or horrible, the Center is always important. For good defensive teams that rotate well on the perimeter, a center is needed to clog the middle, secure rebounds and deny second shot opportunities (offensive rebounds). On a bad defensive team that either gambles for steals a lot on the perimeter or simply isn’t interested in staying in front of their man, a Center is essential for not only rebounding and taking up space in the paint, but for blocking or altering any shot attempt that comes his way, thus stopping a guaranteed basket for the opposing team.

Tim Duncan ht 6-11 | Last season 13.4 pts 8.9 rbs 1.9 blk in 28 mins a game PLAYOFFS 12.7 pts 10.5 rbs 2.5 blk in 35 mins a game

The Tim Duncan everyone tries to remember is the Duncan that had a solid back to the basket game, a face up game as well, which included some of the best footwork of that time, and when it was all said and done a jumper with range out to about 16-18 ft. Last season the Spurs went away from Duncan on offense. They also overworked him on defense by having guys who either don’t rebound or play defense next to him at the Power Forward slot. Duncan did well for most of the season, trying to use his older slower body to grab most of the rebounds and attempt to clean up all the defensive mistakes that the other Spurs made. Thats a lot to ask an aging Center in a youth-filled league. In the playoffs it took its toll. Duncan had to guard Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and try to protect the paint all by himself. It didn’t work!!!!! Duncan has limited mobility, but his I.Q. on defense  and offense are enough to help the Spurs go far, provided he gets legit help at the Power Forward position.

Tiago Splitter ht 6-11 | Last season 4.6 pts 3.4 rbs in 12 mins a game PLAYOFFS 6.7 pts 4.7 rbs in 17 mins a game

Tiago Splitter definitely got the 08-09 George Hill treatment. Yeah sure, they raved about him before he got here and then the guy barely played. Sure he got a few injuries; but come on, seriously??? Splitter, like Hill in his rookie season, showed signs of being able to contribute on a nightly basis. In Hill’s case, Pop wouldn’t let him get past Jacque Vaughn, and for Splitter he couldn’t get past Blair, Bonner, or McDyess. In the 08-09 playoffs the Spurs were eaten alive by the smallest guy on the court (maybe the smallest guy in the building), JJ Barea, and after going down in the series Pop put in Hill who did well. Not to mention what he did to the Mavs the next year in the playoffs. Splitter was put in the same situation. Tim Duncan can’t stop two good big men(much less one) and protect the paint at the same time. Splitter came in and did a better job than all the Spurs bigs except Duncan (obviously), and maybe Dice gets a slight nod. Splitter, despite not having a jumpshot, is mobile on both ends, is an Oberto-like rebounder (thats a good thing), and has some solid post moves.

ANALYSIS: The Spurs have decent size, good rebounding, and available low-post scoring. The Spurs, as mentioned, went away from the low-post game while allowing Parker and Ginobili to run around and do the scoring and distributing. However, if you look at the last six teams to win the Championship, they all have something in common – low-post threats on offense and equally defensive minded big-men*. With Duncan being the only big guy to get consistent touches on offense and at the same time the only legitimate big to protect the paint, the Spurs would have never made it far even if they had somehow managed to beat the Grizzlies. To get back to championship level basketball, the Spurs must once again establish a post game. This does not mean they force feed Duncan, but simply get him more consistent touches on the block, mixed in with Splitter and Jefferson getting post-up opportunities a few times a game as well. You can also never have enough big men. So if the Spurs would like to add an extra guy, free agent Aaron Gray, formerly of the Hornets, may be the answer. He’s not much statistically, but he can bang with the Bynums and Howards of the league. Next week we’ll look at the Guards.

*Lowpost threats and defensive bigmen of the last six championship teams

2011 (Nowitzki/Chandler)

2009 and 2010(Gasol/Bynum)

2008(Garnett/Perkins)

1999,2003,2005,2007 (Duncan/Robinson 99′ an 03′ – Duncan/Mohammed 05′ – Duncan/Oberto 07′)

2004(Rasheed Wallace/Ben Wallace)

2000-2002 (Shaq)

POWER FORWARD – a position once dominated by Tim Duncan. But now with smaller, quicker more athletic players in the league the days of the having a 7-foot power forward and forming twin towers is all but over. Over the last few years the Spurs have made offensive and defensive changes to adjust to a changed NBA.

Antonio McDyess  ht 6-9 | last season 5.3 pts 5.4 rbs in 19 mins a game. PLAYOFFS  5.7 pts and 5 rbs in 24 mins a game.

McDyess is a savvy veteran, decent defender, plus he is still somewhat athletic/mobile and can hit the midrange jumper with consistency. In last season’s playoffs Dice did OK, but not nearly what was expected of him. His defense didn’t look very effective against either Memphis big-man Randolph or Gasol. Did McDyess show his age during that series or were the Spurs asking too much from someone his age? Dice will turn 37 next month.

Matt Bonner ht 6-10 | Last season 7.3 pts and 3.6 rbs (45.7% 3pt fg) in 22 mins a game | PLAYOFFS 6.3 pts and 3.2 rbs (33% 3pt fg) in 21 mins a game.

Matt Bonner, aka the ‘Red Rocket’, was lighting it up from downtown for most of the regular season. However, the playoffs were a different story, and the ‘Red Rocket’ missed his targets (his 3pt percentage dropped 12% from the regular season). Matt Bonner is a solid 3pt shooter, but he is no Robert Horry. Robert Horry could miss 2o shots in a row spanning some games and still have the guts to take and make a clutch basket with no problem. Bonner is the reverse. He is 6-10 and can a make a defense pay with his shooting, but his rebounding and overall defense are poor for a player his size playing his position. His defensive rotations are OK, the problem is when he does rotate it doesn’t really bother the offensive player, usually resulting in a foul or and old fashioned three point play. For Gregg Popovich it seems that Bonner’s one plus outweighs his many minuses. As long as he hits threes and rotates on defense (regardless of the result) then he’ll get minutes.

Dejuan Blair ht 6-7 | Last season 8.3 pts and 7 rbs (1.2 stls) in 21 mins a game | PLAYOFFS  4.3 pts and 3.3 rbs in 13 mins a game

Dejuan Blair, solid energy guy. Sadly, the saying ‘energy guy’ usually means you’re lacking in something. In Blair’s case it’s height. Even though he is only 6-7, he was the Spurs 2nd leading rebounder averaging 7 rpg to Duncan’s 9 rpg. He also had a knack for making up for his height by using his quick hands getting at least one steal a game. Blair isn’t great defensively though, and his gambling to get steals also led to easy baskets for the person he was guarding. He doesn’t have a jumpshot, so you can definitely leave him to go double team someone else.

SMALL FORWARD

Richard Jefferson ht 6-7 | Last season 11 pts (44% 3pt fg) in 30 mins a game | PLAYOFFS  6.5 pts (35% 3pt fg) in 29 mins a game.

In the 2009-10 season, Richard Jefferson seemed to be the whipping boy for everything that went wrong in that season. Jefferson shocked the world a few times; first by opting out of his contract (worth $15 million) then second by resigning long-term with the Spurs. Third, Jefferson worked out tirelessly with Gregg Popovich during the offseason. Fourth, Jefferson like Bonner, hit an unbelievable percent from behind the arc. Jefferson has many different offensive skills and is athletic. With the Spurs he is nothing but a knockdown shooter that can drive (when necessary). He also is not the defender that the old 08-09 Bruce Bowen was. In the playoffs he hit a decent amount of his 3pt shots (35%), but overall his scoring average and field goal percentage was not nearly good enough to overcome the beating that the Spurs interior defense was taking.

Kawhi Leonard ht 6-7 | 2010-11 stats from San Diego st. 15.5 pts and 10.6 rbs (1.4 stls) in 33 mins a game.

The Spurs traded a fan/Pop favorite George Hill to acquire Leonard. Leonard has an athleticism the Spurs haven’t seen since…??? Well, you get the idea. They haven’t!! He is a solid rebounder, a raw defender, and he is young (21). He doesn’t have a consistent jumpshot and tends to gamble on defense. With some work and dedication to the system, Leonard can be a priceless piece on the Spurs roster. He can (hopefully) play/defend the 3/4 position that has given the Spurs problems over the years. He seems athletic enough to guard the hybrid forwards (Gerald Wallace, Josh Smith) that a lot of teams have today.

ANALYSIS: The Spurs have good shooting and experience at the Power forward position. The height, defense and stability are an issue. To explain, not every team can boast that they have the best 3pt shooting big man in the league. At the same time none of the players the Spurs have can play 30-35 mins a game for a full 82 games+ playoffs. McDyess is too old, Blair is too short, and Bonner – aside from being a very poor rebounder – has a number of issues defensively. At Small Forward the Spurs have two unknowns. Leonard was good in college, but what about the NBA? Jefferson is a slasher and finisher, and not a natural 3pt shooter even though his percentage was high last season, so you can’t expect him to be like Bruce Bowen from the corner all season. If the Spurs are expecting him to produce consistently and maximize his potential, then it is vital that they run a decent number of plays for him on a nightly basis. Him coming off curls, and getting a few post up opportunities a few times every game should do the trick. To solidify the PF position the Spurs have a few free agent and trade options. What the Spurs want is a magical 6-11 big-man who is young, mobile, can rebound, defend, oh and my personal favorite – be able to shoot from a good distance. They’re not gonna get all that in one player. However, they do have a few options in that position to look at acquiring: Carl Landry and Kris Humphries. Either guy can come in and play lengthy minutes at the PF position because of their age and abilites. Next week, we’ll look at the Center position.

Looking at the evidence of the last two articles, it would seem that if Tony Parker were simply in another system, and also without the creative services of Manu Ginobili, then he would be a top point guard – someone you can build your team around and win with. However, it’s not nearly that simple or true.  Two significant factors separate Tony Parker from guys like Steve Nash and Chris Paul: 1) Decision Making/Court Vision, 2) Perimeter Shooting.                  

Decision Making 

When Nash, or Paul, or anybody for that matter, runs a pick-n-roll, they always have options. What is done with those options usually shows the difference between a true point guard and a scoring point guard. In Dallas, when Nash would run a screen and roll with Nowitzki, a switch in defenders would normally be the result. What would Nash do with his options? He would wait for Dirk to establish good position mid-post (about 15 feet out) and pass him the ball. That would allow Dirk to take uncontested mid-range jumpers, because he was being guarded by the other team’s point guard. For Nash, giving up the ball to Dirk on a switch opens up even more (easy) options for him. If he gets the ball back from Dirk,  he can pass to an open teammate due to the defense shifting because of the mismatch Dirk has. Or he can take the open jumper since his taller, less mobile defender is probably sagging back due to his driving ability. Chris Paul does the same thing with David West. In each situation with Nash or Paul, they make decisions that don’t always get them assists, but give the main scorers on their team (Dirk/West) easier circumstances to operate under.            

Court Vision

We all know Nash and CP3 have court vision, but the point is that you can basically take four other guys in the NBA (at their respective positions) and put them with Nash or CP3 and it’s almost guaranteed they’ll get that team to 100 pts by the end of four quarters. What about Tony Parker? Parker always looks to score off a pick-n-roll, even if there is a switch in defenders. This takes away easy post-up/scoring opportunities for players that are bigger and don’t get plays run for them (Splitter, Blair, and Jefferson). Also, players don’t cut to the basket because Parker either doesn’t see them or is not comfortable making the pass.  In transition, Parker usually gets the ball and looks to take it all the way for the “score” even if there aren’t favorable numbers. Because of that, players that can score in transition (Jefferson, Anderson, and former Spur George Hill) don’t get easy opportunities since the ball-handler is so far ahead of them. (Note)  When Ginobili handles the ball on the break, several players get a chance and have scored (Blair, Hill, and Jefferson especially).                                    

Perimeter Shooting

Point guards that have a consistent midrange jumpshot are generally harder to stop than point guards that are lightning quick. Also, when running the most basic of NBA plays (Pick-n-roll / Isolation for a post player) the other players on the floor don’t have to be big perimeter threats. Example: Jose Calderon from the Toronto Raptors is one of the most underrated point guards in the NBA. Why? He is slow, somewhat skinny and isn’t a great one-on-one player. However, over the last 4 seasons Jose Calderon has averaged 11 points per game ( 40% 3PT FG, 48% FG overall) and 8 assists per game (only 1.8 turnovers per game). Calderon runs a lot of pick-n-rolls, as does every point guard. Because of his shooting ability, however, he has a lot more options than a point guard that is simply quick. In addition to driving for a layup or kicking out to a 3-point shooter, when the defense goes under a screen he can knock down jumpers pretty much all night. If the defense traps him he can make the outside-in pass to the player that set the screen for an easy dunk or 10-foot jumper. All of that is accomplished simply because he a can knock down shots.

What about Tony Parker? To start, many Spurs fans complain about other players besides Parker; two players in particular - 1) Richard Jefferson 2) Matt Bonner. Why is Richard Jefferson not a very consistent scorer on the Spurs? (a player who averaged 20 points per game before joining the Spurs) or Why does Matt Bonner get heavy minutes? (a frontcourt player who is arguably the worst defender and definitely worst rebounder on the team). The answer is Tony Parker’s shooting ability. Parker, like many point guards in the league, is fast but has a jumpshot that comes and goes. YES, Parker does have the ability to get to the rim and score around 20 points while shooting a high percentage. ONLY WITH THE RIGHT SPACING. That’s why Richard Jefferson, a player who was known to slash, dunk, and get many trips to the free throw line is relegated to shooting 3′s from Bruce Bowen’s corner. Matt Bonner is a one-dimensional player who would normally get minutes only in special situations or when someone is injured. Just look at the minutes that guys like Brian Cardinal and Steve Novak get. Add to that the fact they don’t get big contracts or stay on a team very long. Because of Parker’s need for space to drive, Bonner is essential to helping the offense flow when it’s being run by Parker. What happens to Parker when guys back off, stay home on shooters, and allow him to take jumpshots all game? Look what happened to Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose during the conference finals.

The Truth: Parker is not a top point guard, he is an above average point guard. One San Antonio talk show host referred to Parker as a “20 (points) and 5 (assists) guy”. Tony Parker has above average skills in certain areas. For him to be a top point guard, he has to fill the holes in his game. Namely, his shooting from the perimeter must be a lot more consistent. He also needs to be a more willing passer. Nothing spectacular, but simply giving the ball to players in areas that they can operate. So, while Parker is not a guy you wanna build a championship team around, he is still an important piece for the Spurs if they ever want to win a championship again.

I would say that the Miami Heat Dwyane Wade and Friends were just beat with the Ugly Stick, perhaps the entire Ugly Tree. And they can expect another drubbing on March 14th.

Highlights Below:

The Spurs became the first team to reach 50 wins this season by beating up on the poor, defenseless Cavaliers. Hey, somebody had to do it. George Hill (I told you he’d fill in nicely for Parker) led the team to a 109-99 victory with 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists. DeJuan Blair had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Tim Duncan only had to play 23 minutes but still scored 16 points along with six assists, three blocks, and four boards. Also, Gary Neal returned to score 14 off the bench.

The Cavs were led by the Man, the Myth, the Legend – Samardo Samuels. I don’t know either, but I wish the guy in my keeper league who picked him up would stop squawking about him already. Samuels had 23 points and 10 rebounds in his first start. Not bad, now let’s see you do it again. Former Spur, Alonzo Gee, had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Also, so much for the Spurs getting Corey Brewer. The Mavs are set to sign Brewer today. Frankenhead strikes again I guess. It won’t help them though – at least not against the Spurs. Feel free to get out of the first round this year though. And, in the words of Michael Scott , “Boom, roasted!”

Tony Parker, who injured his calf on Sunday against Memphis, is expected to miss the next 2-4 weeks. That’s not cool seeing as how the season is winding down and the last thing we need is a hobbled Tony heading into the playoffs. The injury didn’t look too serious tho, so I am not in panic mode. I don’t think the Spurs need to rush out and try to get Mike Bibby, but part of me hopes that they will just so that the Heat don’t improve any by signing him. In reality though, the Spurs don’t really need him as George Hill should be able to fill in just fine at the point. Also if Gary Neal returns soon, he will also be able to pick up some of the slack.

So who should the Spurs pursue in the Trade Deadline Aftermath of player buyouts?
Troy Murphy is out of the question because he can only sign with an Eastern Conference team. Personally, I hope he goes to New York, but I think he’ll head to Bostonunless he wants to stand around and watch LeBron throw up bricks in the waning moments of games in Miami.
There’s Rasual Butler who was just bought out by the Clippers, but I don’t see any reason the Spurs would care to entertain that idea, plus he is supposedly headed to Chicago.
Corey Brewer is being bought out buy the Knicks, who I am a little surprised don’t want to keep him. Boston (they want everyone it seems), San Antonio, and Dallas are all drawing interest. Hopefully Brewer wants to play for the best team in the league (sorry Boston), and a proven winner (sorry Dallas). If not then all I can say is, “meh”. I think he would get some good minutes with San Antonio – at least more than in Boston or Dallas.

Other players being bought out include Leon Powe, T.J. Ford, Jared Jeffries, and Jason Kapono.
Powe may end up back in Boston, with Jeffries possibly headed back to New York. Ford is likely the Heat’s consolation prize if Bibby signs elsewhere, but it’s not inconceivable that he could end up in San Antonio if they really feel like they need another point guard. It’s anyone’s guess where Kapono will land. I don’t see teams clamoring for his services.

I don’t really think the Spurs need to sign any of these guys, but I would open to Bibby, Ford, or Brewer since I can see them each playing a significant role.

Count me among the NBA fans who enjoy watching the Lakers lose. It wasn’t always this way, but that Kobe guy just irks me. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the Spurs thrashing of the Lake-No-Shows last night 97-82. The Lakers played (count em) ONE good quarter -- and that was the 2nd. I am not sure it was even them playing a good quarter as much as it was the Spurs having a bad one. At any rate, the Lakers have now lost three straight and Kobe is starting to (maybe) realize that his 30-ish% shooting is as much to blame as anyone else on the team. He was 8-for-27 from the field. It doesn’t help that Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, and Lamar Odom barely made a dent in the game, Shannon Brown was 1-for-11 and their point guards suck. All in all, the Lakers shot 35% from the field and committed 16 turnovers -- and five were courtesy of Kobe Bryant. At least Andrew Bynum is coming along (10 points and 7 boards in 22 minuntes). If he’s available in your fantasy league then now is a good time to snatch him up.

On the flip side, San Antone handled their biz as usual. Aside from Duncan having a horrible game (1-of-7 from the filed for 2 points, 4 boards and 2 assists in 30 minutes), everyone else was decent or better. Tony Parker had another great game going off for 23 points, two boards, two steals, and three assists without a single turnover. It’s so nice to see him not turning the ball over five times a game like last year. Also -- DeJuan-Frikkin-Blair was awesome with 17 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and a block. Now that’s what I’m talking about. I can’t see why he doesn’t approach those numbers more often. It’s not like the Lakers lack size or anything.

George Hill played 27 minutes and had 10 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and two steals -- no turnovers. Meanwhile, Gary Neal only played about 18 minutes. Like I said, it’s time to move on if you picked him up in your fantasy league.

Speaking of George Hill, Kobe almost provoked him in to going Chris Childs on him at one point. Peep the video below:

The Spurs beat the Wizards on Sunday 94-80. As you can imagine this wasn’t exactly a close game as the Wiz shot 38% from the field and were missing Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee who were suspended.

So yeah, the Spurs won despite the Ghost of Rashard Lewis putting up 21 points and 12 rebounds. He may still have some life left in him, but I doubt he will grab double-digit rebounds more than five times the rest of the season. John Wall did return from injury and played almost 20 minutes off the bench. It might be time to sell high on Nick Young and Kirk Hinrich. Josh Howard wasn’t too bad for Washington, scoring 11 points with six boards in 24 minutes off the bench. I think he is close to usurping Al Thornton’s role as the starting small forward. Now might be a good time to pick up Howard and drop or trade Thornton, although to be honest if you still have Thornton on your fantasy squad you may have bigger problems.

Tony Parker had a monster game of his own with 20 points, 14 assists, and six boards.  Manu Ginobili also added 21 points, and George Hill returned from his own injury woes to score 11  off the bench. I think Hill’s return means Gary Neal is going back to the pine in a minute. Oh well, it was a good run. He might be worth hanging onto in fantasy leagues for another week just to see how things shake out, but I think you can find better value on the waiver wire.

Well, the Magic definitely looked like they were an improved team after their recent trades, but unfortunately they decided to do so against the Spurs. It wasn’t even very close as the Spurs lost 123-101. It’s pretty difficult to win games when you allow the other team to score 123 points on 60% shooting. Gilbert Arenas finally came back to life and scored 14 points with nine assists and six boards, and is now looking more like a good fit with Orlando. They also got 15 points from Jason Richardson and 11 from Hedo Turkoglu. I don’t think they will miss Rashard Lewis and his lack of rebounding prowess. I am not worried about them too much, but I do sincerely hope they beat the crap out of Miami from now on.

Anyway, the Spurs were pretty much done in by poor defense and some off-shooting by Ginobili and a few others. Collectively they only shot 42% from the filed. George Hill is still out with a “strained right big toe” (huh?), but Gary Neal has continued to pick up the slack. Neal is now averaging 17.8 points and three rebounds in the past four games that Hill has missed. He’s shooting 47% from the field, 84% from the line, and 42% from downtown (11-for-26). Not too shabby.

Notable Spurs Stat Lines
Tim Duncan: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist. Duncan shot 50% from the field and only played 20 minutes.
Tony Parker: 16 points, 3 assists, 1 rebounds. He also had 3 turnovers… his A/T ratio has been a decent 2.8 this season, but that sucked. He shot 7-0f-12 from the field tho.
Manu Ginobili: 10 points, 6 assists, 5 boards, and 1 block. He only shot 3-of-10 from the field and played just 20 minutes also.
DeJuan Blair: 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. I am still not sure what to make of Blair this season. He can grab potentially 15 boards a game, but just hasn’t been getting close most nights.�
Tiago Splitter: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. Splitter had one of his better games so far in just over 17 minutes of action.
Richard Jeffferson: 10 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. A little disappointing considering he played 30 minutes.
Matt Bonner: 10 points, 6 boards, 1 steal. And in seven fewer minutes than RJ.
Gary Neal: 16 points, 2 rebounds. His scoring has been great, but the lack of peripherals is worrisome. The NBA doesn’t need another scorer/one-trick-pony.

Highlights/Recap:

The Spurs dusted off the Indiana Pacers with a 122-109 victory. Tiago Splitter didn’t play since he is still dealing with his foot injury, but the surprise of the night was James Anderson who went for 10 points with an assist and a steal to boot. He played 27 minutes off the bench and was actually pretty decent. We may have something here.

The Good:
-Three Point Shooting: The Spurs shot 9-of-20 from downtown with contributions from Ginobili, Anderson, Hill, and Jefferson. Bobby Simmons tried but was 0-for-2. Let’s not count his shenanigans and say the Spurs were 9-of-18 from downtown.
-Free Throw Shooting: The Spurs shot 81% from the stripe going 29-for-36.

The Bad:
-Defense: The Pacers shot 53% from the field. That will never do. A better defensive team would have made things more difficult for the Spurs in the 4th quarter and maybe pulled off the win. Also just letting Indiana hang around so long was a little annoying. This game almost looked like it was going to be close until the final buzzer. The Spurs managed to pull away in the 4th, but they need to pounce on teams early, especially weaker ones.

Notable Spurs Stat Lines
Tim Duncan: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks. Did I mention the 10-of-12 shooting? Why people continue to harp on his age I don’t know, but he looked just fine in this game.
Manu Ginobili: 22 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. He also went 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Gotta love his all around game.
Tony Parker: 20 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals. Of course he had to throw in his usual 4 turnovers, but otherwise he had a good game.
Richard Jefferson: 16 points, 2 boards, 2 dimes, and a steal. Not bad at all.
George Hill: 16 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal. Hill did a great job of getting to the foul line and went 7-of-9.
DeJuan Blair: 9 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals. Blair started at center and I honestly expected a little bit more, but I did like seeing him go 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Maybe he will improve on last season’s 55% free throw shooting.

Notable Pacers stat Lines
Danny Granger: 26 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals. 10-of-18 from the field and 3 three-pointers. Not a bad night for their main guy.
Roy Hibbert: 28 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, 4 blocks. 10-of-17 from the field and 8-of-8 from the line. Hibbert looked good and put up better numbers than Granger.
Darren Collison: 19 points, 8 assists, 2 rebounds. A solid Pacers debut from D.C.

Coyote Ugly
The Pacers Bench:
They combined for 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting. They went 2-for-9 from downtown and 3-for-6 from the line. The high note was they played some defense with six steals and a block, but they helped shoot Indy out of the game. Outside of TJ Ford they were terrible.