Comments on: Game Preview & Chat: The Indiana Pacers

By: A-Hole Carolla

A-Hole Carolla — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:49:18 +0000

70. Bird’s probably smart enough to not come down the lane with that weak stuff.

By: drrayeye

drrayeye — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:10:56 +0000

Let’s welcome Trevor Ariza home!

By: Rob L.

Rob L. — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:17:22 +0000

So I ran the numbers. Even given the pace of this game, which was a blistering 99.51, the Lakers did a poorer job than I imagined. The Lakers TMOR% was a paltry 12.50. That’s pretty hideous.

The Pacers TMOR% was 29.03. That’s bad, but not the worst the Lakers have allowed. In the second Rockets game Houston had 34.48%.

By: anoni

anoni — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:16:36 +0000

I have the feeling Bird will ring up the Lakers asking for only Bynum and fillers.

The young guy showed up tonight. He showed he was worth more than the Pacers valued him.

By: The Dude Abides

The Dude Abides — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:54:11 +0000

I’m the guy who asked everyone commenting on the game to use SPOILER to start the post, since I and probably some others were watching on tape delay. Everyone was so considerate that I’m almost embarrassed. Kudos on that, and some great comments too. I absolutely loved Andrew blocking three of JO’s shots tonight, including two on one possession. Let’s compare their stats, since some moronic sportswriters still believe that the Lakers should trade him and Lamar for JO:

Bynum 17pts 10rebs 4blk 100% FG 83%FT
O’Neal 14pts 3 rebs 0blk 31%FG 67%FT

Salaries:
Bynum ~$2.5m-3m not sure exactly
O’Neal ~$19m

Age:
Bynum 20 yrs
O’Neal 29 yrs

I don’t know, what do you guys think? If I’m Isiah or McHale and I have Andrew and LO on my team, I make that trade. Mitch may not be a Buford or a Colangelo, but he’s about five levels above Isiah and McHale in competence.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:21:36 +0000

Well Mo can claim he was traded for T-Mac.

McGrady was traded for Francis,Cato and Mobley.
Mobley became Christie,who was waived.
Cato and a First became Darko who was released.
Francis became Penny’s expiring contract and Ariza.
And Ariza became Mo Evans.

By: A-Hole Carolla

A-Hole Carolla — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:20:02 +0000

65. Yeah, this’ll be the deal that keeps Mitch employed.

Were Evans’s defensive numbers good? I know he had some injuries, maybe that slowed him. I liked having another good perimeter defender outside of Kobe.

Oh well, the money makes great sense, and it’s probably wise to get someone who can D up small forwards.

By: hertagnism

hertagnism — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:17:36 +0000

Well just finished the game on KCAL. Although the Lakers got rid of Brian Cook, I think the trade had an impact on the team as they weren’t playing as well as they have shown these previous games. The 2nd chance points almost killed the Lakers if it weren’t for the hot shooting.

Uh, Jordan Farmar? Dude’s got game. Hope the FO doesn’t let him go.

LO needs to be more assertive. Kobe is Kobe.

Overall, a well played game. Bad 1st half but made up for it the 2nd half. Up next are the Bucks. Hope the Lakers won’t succumb to last year’s tendencies and play down to the competition. They need tomorrow’s win to build some momentum for Boston.

By: 81 Witness

81 Witness — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:53:07 +0000

The Ariza trade might help Mitch salvage his job. Saves on the luxury tax and gets the Lakers another athletic body. I don’t think the Lakers need to get C Webb or PJ right now with the way they are playing.

I believe the Lakers are saving up for a stud FA next season to keep Kobe in LA.

By: Rob L.

Rob L. — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:11:09 +0000

SPOILER: 54. I’ll take a look deeper into OR%, but 21 boards at half when they were mostly defensive rebounds does correspond to what I was saying. Or to put it another way, the Lakers’ defensive rebounds are tied to the Pacers offensive rebounds. Add those two numbers and you’ll (EDIT: usually) have the number of Pacer misses. The fact that the Pacers had a fairly gaudy number of total offensive rebounds is partly due to so many misses. This all ties in to the pace of the game, which should be fairly high.

I’m going to eat some dinner now, but I’ll actually figure what the game OR% was for the Pacers and see how badly the Lakers did on that end of the boards. I’ll post it later. Maybe I’m figuring it wrong in my head on the fly.