Reply With Quote
Just a cursory scan but I didn't see Larry Bird's name in there anywhere. & I won't.
tee, hee.
The Pacers aren’t destroying their opponents on the way to the playoffs and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference the way the current No. 1 seed in the Western Conference — the Spurs — has been doing recently. Indiana is limping towards the finish and only lead the Heat by a single game with a little over two weeks to go. In fact, center Roy Hibbert said, “there are some selfish dudes in here,” after the Pacers got beat in Washington last Friday night.
The Pacers are ranked in the bottom third of the NBA for points per possession. They’re still the staunchest defense around — holding opponents to just 95.5 points per 100 possessions, the top mark in the league — but they’ve squandered that defensive a en with some me-first basketball on the other end of the court.
The Pacers have the third worst assist ratio in the league, as of this writing, and they’re turning the ball over a lot more than coach Frank Vogel would is comfortable with. They’re ranked in the bottom five for assist-to-turnover ratio, and they have some glaring lapses in judgement on the offensive end agianst inferior compeition.
Perhaps that’s why the Pacers have lost their last two — in Washington on Friday and in Cleveland on Sunday — while continuing to make their current position as the top seed in the East a harder proposition.
Following Friday’s 91-78 loss in Washington, Hibbert said, by way of NBA.com’s David Aldridge, “there are some selfish dudes in [the Pacers' locker-room].
“Some selfish dudes. I’m tired of talking about it. We’ve been talking about it for a month,” Hibbert elaborated.
While Hibbert, and teammate David West, didn’t explicitly call out Paul George for a me-first at ude, Aldridge alludes to him as the primary culprit in his Monday morning column:
It’s been a problem for Indiana since February, and while no one will specify a name, it’s obvious that the person in question is All-Star Paul George. While Lance Stephenson occasionally pounds the ball, nobody handles or hoists the rock as much as George does. It is not a problem every night, though, and that is part of the problem.
It seems Indiana’s sharing the basketball against their primary challenger in the East, Miami, but once they’re playing other teams who lack the talent to be real challengers in the LEastern Conference’s year-lond two-way race, the offensive cohesion breaks down, and players are trying to get their own looks to the detriment of the team.
“We know we can’t beat Miami playing that way, so we don’t play that way,” said forward David West — who also didn’t single anyone out individually. “We know what the margin for error is. I think everybody, to a man in this locker room, just feels like we’ve got to figure out a way to play better, have a better approach to the way we play offensive basketball. It’s just not good for us.”
While George is sporting a career high PER, and his True Shooting percentage and Effective field goal percentage are higher than last year — even with an increased usage percentage, he needs to learn how to get his big men involved — particularly Hibbert, who absolutely toasts Miami whenever they play.
If the Pacers can’t overcome their offensive doldrums in the final eight games of the regular season, Miami might again secure the top spot in the East and home-court advantage if — or more likely, when — the Pacers and Heat meet for the third straight year in the postseason. Then again, if Indiana keeps going at their current rate — struggling against teams they were handling easily earlier in the year — Indiana might not even get a chance to avenge last year’s loss to Miami in Game 7.
http://dimemag.com/2014/03/roy-hibbe...selfish-dudes/
Looks like a cakewalk to the finals for Miami tbh
Just a cursory scan but I didn't see Larry Bird's name in there anywhere. & I won't.
tee, hee.
His teammates are so selfish. They take all his rebounds from him so he can only average 5.
It was a dig at Lance and George.
going all the way downhill since signing Bynum.
Lance Stephenson & George Hill Have To Be Separated During Spurs Walloping
After Roy Hibbert‘s comments about some selfish dudes, following Indiana’s loss in Washington this past Friday, the roiling animosity in the Pacers’ locker-room was on more visceral display during San Antonio’s 103-77 win in Indiana yesterday. Pacers teammates Lance Stephenson and George Hill had to be physically separated after a verbal altercation during a second half timeout yesterday. Ruh roh.
Team dysfunction, thy name is Indiana Pacers. Via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst:
The Pacers are experiencing a leadership void at the moment and the only thing they’re racking up faster than turnovers and bad shots is finger pointing. During a timeout in the second half, George Hill got into a verbal confrontation with Lance Stephenson on the bench and they had to be separated by teammates.
That was just one negative note from Windhorst. After the game, Hibbert was just as negative as the end of last week.
“We’ve been in a downward spiral,” Hibbert said. “And we’ve been splintering a little bit.”
There’s more:
Paul George has battled some negative attention and has turned away some teammates’ offers for support during it. Hibbert has gone on the record calling his teammates selfish. Team president Larry Bird has gone on the record essentially calling his coach, Frank Vogel, soft and his players not committed enough.
Barely a game goes by when one Pacer or another doesn’t seem to be angry at Stephenson for something. Often he earns it, be it ridiculous technical fouls or bizarre decisions, but Stephenson is rarely guilty of not playing with commitment, as Bird has questioned his teammates on.
The confusion and helplessness is evident when Pacers.com writer Scott Agness tweets post-game quotes from David West and Hibbert, who don’t know what’s fracturing the locker-room, or what’s causing the Pacers mess that’s led to a 13-13 record over their last 26 games, while losing the No. 1 seed in the East to the Heat (by way of BDL):
The confusion is evident in those quotes: the Pacers are not a happy team anymore. Even though the Spurs are riding high right now on an 18-game winning streak (the best in franchise history), the Pacers shouldn’t be losing by 25 at home to anybody — not with the talent they’ve assembled. They were 33-4 at home entering the game, but their inability to bottle up whatever malignancy is robbing them of their ability to play together is affecting them on the court. If things continue along this track, the Pacers might not be such a lock for the Conference Finals after all.
http://dimemag.com/2014/04/lance-ste...urs-walloping/
What an epic meltdown.
Paul George trying to manipulate his way out of indy tbh..
Bynum curse is real
A Bird sighting.
Evan Turner curse, IMO
Hibbert dropping troof bombs, tbh.
Them Beatles must be laughing their asses off. They ain't even trying and yet the Pacers are handing the 1 seed on a platter.
Why are you so obsessed about Bird tbh? He's actually a pretty decent team president.
Never seen a so called DPOY not average less than 10 boards/gm. Heck a 38 yr old Duncan is averaging 10 rbs/gm and he's not playing > 28 min/gm tbh.
Who would have thought a team with Lance Stephenson and David West as the primary leaders would be so volatile.
I want his nose rubbed in his own makings. See him put to running. But, that ain't gonna happen. He'll skate. He always skates.
The great white hope can't do no wrong tbh. Dude's living the great American dream tbh.
Shut up
Pacers really aren't that good, even on paper. You have
-Paul George, a wannabe superstar who doesn't have his own style so he tries to do anything and everything (while failing.)
-Roy Hibbert, a big who averages 11ppg and 6rpg throughout his entire career. But he had a couple of nice games against Miami so it's alright.
-George Hill, I love Hill but the dude can't dribble for . He's a good defender, but he's the kind of defender that still allows superstars to get whatever the they want. Josh Smith territory.
-Lance Stephenson, nice court vision but he really cares more about himself over the team. At least that's what his gimmicks imply
-David West, would be an amazing player in the Spurs' system.. but he's really just a washed up jump-shooter playing way too many minutes.
Add in personality issues and I have no idea how this team ever played well. Must have been drinking the same punch as Portland.
Any team that rely on Lance Stephenson to be successful failed from the start.
Despite their struggles and flaws, INDY is a very good team. Don't kid yourself.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
