Inside Enemy Territory with “Indy Cornrows”
It’s tough being a Pacers fan. After years of being the elite and crème de la crème of the Eastern Conference, the Pacers are now searching for direction for the future. With Indiana yet again on the outside looking in, questions have begun to crop up about the direction of the franchise.
HoopsAddict.com sat down with Tom from IndyCornrows to discuss some of the topics surrounding the Pacers. Check out his site for our answers to his questions
Q: After a promising start, Ike Diogu’s play has dropped him out of the Pacer’s normal rotation. What do you believe Diogu needs to do to regain his early season form?
Ike opened the season quite well, but only played three games before an injury shelved him for 23 games. The Pacers lost six straight games after Ike went down and some people actually pointed to his absence as a factor. A ridiculous thought, but it emphasizes how well he was playing at the time. Since returning from injury, Ike has been unable to get his game in sync and he’s pressing when he does play which doesn’t help. You can tell he’s thinking way too much. Ike’s defensive liabilities will probably keep him anchored to the bench unless he begins to show some improvement in practice. Jim O’Brien relies on defensive effort when determining playing time and Ike usually has tough matchups because of his size. When his game slows down, Ike can really get it done on the offensive end but he’s stuck in a spot where he’s not playing enough to regain his offensive flow and until he has it going, there’s no reason to play him.
Q: What off season moves do you think the Pacers should entertain to change their fortunes? Which pieces would you personally deem as “keepers” that should not be moved under any circumstance?
There is no player on the team I would deem a “keeper” if the price is right. The Pacers need to build for the future and acquire assets anyway they can. Cap space, draft picks and young talent are all in desperately needed. Unless Jermaine O’Neal brain locks and opts out, I think the Pacers will try to move him this summer. If J.O. can play the last six weeks of the season I think some contending teams will find him more attractive.
If forced to keep two players, I would stick with Danny Granger and Shawne Williams. Granger has continually improved and is finally producing more consistently. Now he just needs to chill his blood for late game situations. Shawne Williams has a ways to go still, but has great talent to develop.
Q: Does Jermaine O’Neal still have the ability to bring his team to the next level? Is it the pieces surrounding O’Neal, or O’Neal himself that is preventing the Pacers from stepping up to the next level?
I think Jermaine’s days of leading the Pacers to the promised land have passed. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy and carry offensive load needed for a max player to carry his team to the next level. Down the stretch in games, J.O. has always wanted to be the go-to-guy but has never had much success. I do think J.O. can still be an excellent player in the league if placed in the right situation, but that isn’t in Indy. His offensive game can bog down the Pacers’ offense, especially now that Jim O’Brien prefers the team to run and utilize motion priciples.
Where J.O. still excels is with defense and rebounding. So his absence has been a huge detriment for the Pacers this year even though he wasn’t bringing much to the offensive end. I think the best thing for the Pacers and J.O. is to part ways. Unloading the burden on the salary cap would be huge for the Pacers. Plus, J.O. could be lethal on a contending team where he’s maybe the third scoring option. His low post defense and ability to score without having the offense run through him would make J.O. extemely valuable.
Thanks to Tom for his help. Please check out IndyCornrows for more Indiana coverage.
Comments
By Connor on February 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Shawne Williams is one of the building blocks moving forward?!? Really? See, this is why I love this column - as a Raptors fan I rarely watch a Pacers game but tonight now I’ll have a player to keep my eye on for my fantasy hoops draft next season. I’ve never viewed him as more than the “throw in” when the Mavs dumped him on the Pacers but if he’s a building block he could be a HUGE steal in my draft next season. Thanks Tom, thanks Kinnon
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