RealGM

January 31, 2015
7:00 PM ET
Bankers Life Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN


Indiana Pacers
17-30, 5th in Central Division, 12th in Eastern Conference

Starting 5


Rotation
PG - George Hill | Donald Sloan | C.J. Watson
SG - Rodney Stuckey | Chris Copeland
SF - Solomon Hill
PF - David West | Luis Scola | Lavoy Allen | Damjan Rudez
C - Roy Hibbert | Ian Mahinmi | Shayne Whittington


Sacramento Kings
16-29 4th in Pacific Division, 13th in Western Conference

Starting 5


Rotation
PG - Darren Collison | Ramon Sessions | Ray McCallum
SG - Ben McLemore | Nik Stauskas
SF - Rudy Gay | Omri Casspi
PF - Jason Thompson | Carl Landry | Derrick Williams
C - DeMarcus Cousins | Reggie Evans | Ryan Hollins

Injury Report
Pacers
Lavoy Allen (knee) - Out
Paul George (leg) - Likely out for season

Kings
Eric Moreland (shoulder) - Out

Some interesting story lines here:
Collison is back in town.
How does Boogie respond to being named to the all-star team?
Is the winner of this game really the loser in terms of ping pong balls?

Rough first quarter for the blue and gold, but Rudez sparked them late
34-21 at the end of 1

Rudez has played well this year. Surprised me.

Now George Hill has sparked them in the 2nd quarter, has it back down to 13.

Ugly game.

We could have won this game if we didn't put ourselves in a 18-point hole in the 1st quarter. We really have to start games better. Several players played well tonight and we could have stolen the game at the end. It sucks that CJ missed a wide open shot that could bring the game within one while DC made a contested shot to push it back to 6.

Oh well. We tried.

Nuntius wrote:We could have won this game if we didn't put ourselves in a 18-point hole in the 1st quarter. We really have to start games better. Several players played well tonight and we could have stolen the game at the end. It sucks that CJ missed a wide open shot that could bring the game within one while DC made a contested shot to push it back to 6.

Oh well. We tried.

We keep fighting, but the results just aren't coming. It's got to be demoralizing for the guys, but it's probably for the best in the long run.

Definitely an ugly all around game.

One thing that was weird to me was how Cousins played. He took a lot of jumpshots and didn't seem to want to take it down low much. And it's not like he was feeling it from mid range. I like to think it was Roy effecting him by being a smart defender and giving him those shots then holding his own and hitting Cousins hard when he came into the lane. But who knows, Cousins could have done it for any reason.

I've also been pleasantly surprised as of late with Rudez. Didn't think he was an NBA player in the first quarter of the season but it seems he's starting to adjust to the NBA game. His shots falling now and he seems to be grasping the team defense adequately at least. And he's got a bit more offensive game than just shooting threes. Makes sense now why Copeland's minutes got cut completely since he's almost assuredly gone after this season and Rudez is really cheap for 2 more.

Was anyone else screaming at Vogel through the 4th quarter with comments like, "their low-post players are all in foul trouble! Make them play defense," while watching the team jack up errant 3's?

MNPacersfan wrote:Was anyone else screaming at Vogel through the 4th quarter with comments like, "their low-post players are all in foul trouble! Make them play defense," while watching the team jack up errant 3's?

IF I'd watched it, I would have cheered him on, keep jacking up silly three pointers! NO don't go inside!


It is official, I have given up on the season, I hate tanking teams and I hate the way this whole year panned out after 2/3 years of Pacers-joy, but I can see through the cloud and it is looking good on the other side.

EuroPacer wrote:

MNPacersfan wrote:Was anyone else screaming at Vogel through the 4th quarter with comments like, "their low-post players are all in foul trouble! Make them play defense," while watching the team jack up errant 3's?

IF I'd watched it, I would have cheered him on, keep jacking up silly three pointers! NO don't go inside!


It is official, I have given up on the season, I hate tanking teams and I hate the way this whole year panned out after 2/3 years of Pacers-joy, but I can see through the cloud and it is looking good on the other side.

It's alright. We'll just trade that lotto pick for a good, not great older vet.