Game Thread 12/31: Pacers vs. Hawks

[basketballwacko2]

Oladipo with the embarrassing shooting night, pretty pathetic.

Glad we won, but it just hurts to see him continue to shoot bricks.

9 out of 19 is not so bad.

I don't think Vic is 100% just yet, it seems like something is not quite right. I'd like to see him drive more when the 3 pt shot is not dropping. But then again we won.

[Wizop]

John Collins sure would have looked good in a Pacer uniform. Leaf is such a joke.

Way to go and rip the scab off! I was so ticked when we drafted Leaf with Collins still on the board. Remember that was before the trade that brought Sabonis here. If we had not made the OKC trade and took a Boston or Denver offer we'd have Zero depth at PF right now with TJ not ready to play.

if we didn't have Sabonis, Leaf woud be playing behind Thad on a 35 win team. with minutes who knows where he'd be.

but Collins does look good. I don't remember if Pritchard explained his choice. they aren't allowed to say much about players on other teams.

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[Tom White]

Oladipo with the embarrassing shooting night, pretty pathetic.

Glad we won, but it just hurts to see him continue to shoot bricks.

9 out of 19 is not so bad.

I don't think Vic is 100% just yet, it seems like something is not quite right. I'd like to see him drive more when the 3 pt shot is not dropping. But then again we won.

I've also noticed something is off with him. I'm just not sure it is his knee though. Don't ask what I mean by that, because I really don't know exactly what I mean either.

He also gave a somewhat cryptic answer, post-game, to a question about what his thoughts are for the new year. He answered with something about everyone should enjoy what is happening now because everything comes to an end. Can't remember the exact words, but it struck me as odd.

Perhaps he was actually thinking about his injury, because he had also been asked about what he might have learned from his time sitting out.

[basketballwacko2]

John Collins sure would have looked good in a Pacer uniform. Leaf is such a joke.

Way to go and rip the scab off! I was so ticked when we drafted Leaf with Collins still on the board. Remember that was before the trade that brought Sabonis here. If we had not made the OKC trade and took a Boston or Denver offer we'd have Zero depth at PF right now with TJ not ready to play.

if we didn't have Sabonis, Leaf woud be playing behind Thad on a 35 win team. with minutes who knows where he'd be.

but Collins does look good. I don't remember if Pritchard explained his choice. they aren't allowed to say much about players on other teams.

Sent from my phone.

We have to face it that Leaf is not an NBA player and may never be more than a poor man's Ryan Anderson. At the time of the 2017 draft we didn't even have a backup pf unless it would have been Lavoy Allen, again this was before the trade with OKC. I just don't think TJ Leaf is ever gonna be anything.

[basketballwacko2]

Oladipo with the embarrassing shooting night, pretty pathetic.

Glad we won, but it just hurts to see him continue to shoot bricks.

9 out of 19 is not so bad.

I don't think Vic is 100% just yet, it seems like something is not quite right. I'd like to see him drive more when the 3 pt shot is not dropping. But then again we won.

I've also noticed something is off with him. I'm just not sure it is his knee though. Don't ask what I mean by that, because I really don't know exactly what I mean either.

He also gave a somewhat cryptic answer, post-game, to a question about what his thoughts are for the new year. He answered with something about everyone should enjoy what is happening now because everything comes to an end. Can't remember the exact words, but it struck me as odd.

Perhaps he was actually thinking about his injury, because he had also been asked about what he might have learned from his time sitting out.

He does seem to be off a bit, hopefully he plays through it and doesn't need much time off if it is some kind of nagging injury.

[boomershadow]

John Collins does look pretty good, I admit.

I'm general, I'm somewhat skeptical of pre-draft evaluations of players. I've never played basketball in any formal setting, except my college scrimmage league, so I have no experience judging talent. And during the draft it's very difficult to separate the substance from the hype, especially when there are all kinds of opinions flying around everywhere.

But you guys who said John Collins were right on the money, I'll give you that much.

[basketballwacko2]

John Collins does look pretty good, I admit.

I'm general, I'm somewhat skeptical of pre-draft evaluations of players. I've never played basketball in any formal setting, except my college scrimmage league, so I have no experience judging talent. And during the draft it's very difficult to separate the substance from the hype, especially when there are all kinds of opinions flying around everywhere.

But you guys who said John Collins were right on the money, I'll give you that much.

I was so bent out of shape on draft night, I just couldn't believe it! I had TJ as a 2nd round pick, in the 40's. My list was in this order for PF's Collins, Allen, Kuzma and Swanigan. Now if TJ breaks out in 2-3 years, gets stronger and can give more than spot minutes, I'll admit I was wrong about him. But I was right when I dropped a brick over the 2009 pick of Tyler Hansbrough, We needed a point guard, Jrue Holiday, Teague, Ty Lawson, and Collison were all there at #13 IF we had to have a pf there was Taj Gibson.

I'm not a pro at evaluating talent but I'm pretty good. The key is seeing the player play and not just one game, you have to see them more than a few times. I layed an egg on Denzel Valentine. I thought he was gonna be a star. His issues in the NBA seem to be injury related he's out for the season with ankle surgery.

Seeing guys play is my big bug-a-boo with the international players. All I've ever seen of them is clips and a few stats. For ever Doncic there's a Jan Vesley, and for every Dirk there are at least one Darko

[Wizop]

For ever Doncic there's a Jan Vesley, and for every Dirk there are at least one Darko

but that's true with Americans too. Bill Polian used to say about nfl draft that best you could expect was batting 560. I thought Donnie was a top gm, but he had his misses.

that said I have more faith in Pritchard than Bird.

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[basketballwacko2]

For ever Doncic there's a Jan Vesley, and for every Dirk there are at least one Darko

but that's true with Americans too. Bill Polian used to say about nfl draft that best you could expect was batting 560. I thought Donnie was a top gm, but he had his misses.

that said I have more faith in Pritchard than Bird.

Sent from my phone.

Sure there are plenty of flops that played in college just look back at the 2009 draft and all the guys who went in the top 10 who were gone in 4 year. But at least there is full game film of 34 to 65 or more games of those college players. It seems to me the Euro's it's a lot of "Some scouts say..." And Youtube clips of them playing. I was pretty sure Doncic would be a star but many of the other Euro's scare me too much to take them high in the draft.

[Wizop]

I was pretty sure Doncic would be a star but many of the other Euro's scare me too much to take them high in the draft.

there was a time teams drafted college guys from sports magazines. today they have international scouts all over. I'd be really worried if they didn't have better opinions than we do.

this year I texted a friend a few picks ahead of us "anyone but Holliday." I was wrong. and Alize was a total surprise. Bojan and Doug have also exceeded my expectations.

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[basketballwacko2]

I was pretty sure Doncic would be a star but many of the other Euro's scare me too much to take them high in the draft.

there was a time teams drafted college guys from sports magazines. today they have international scouts all over. I'd be really worried if they didn't have better opinions than we do.

this year I texted a friend a few picks ahead of us "anyone but Holliday." I was wrong. and Alize was a total surprise. Bojan and Doug have also exceeded my expectations.

Sent from my phone.

Yeah there are professional scouts that look at these Euro guys, but at times it makes me think they are more "Advocates" for these international players than legit scouts. Look at Mudiay, Frank Ntilikina, Dante Exum and others, now they might come around and become legit players but it seems to me they should have picked a US college and went to school.

[Wizop]

it seems to me they should have picked a US college and went to school.

why? they start playing full time around 14. by 18 they are pros. college would be a step backwards athletically.

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[basketballwacko2]

it seems to me they should have picked a US college and went to school.

why? they start playing full time around 14. by 18 they are pros. college would be a step backwards athletically.

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I don't mean all of them, I'm talking about the ones that enter the draft and fail.

[Wizop]

it seems to me they should have picked a US college and went to school.

why? they start playing full time around 14. by 18 they are pros. college would be a step backwards athletically.

Sent from my phone.

I don't mean all of them, I'm talking about the ones that enter the draft and fail.

I'd favor a rule change to let players go all the way through the summer process and still be eligible.

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