RealGM

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/rush_080117.html

Like I keep telling you guys, Kareem is the finest Pacer since Steve Stipanovich.

Dick Harter says he is our best defensive player.

I wonder if we will be able to re-sign him this summer. I assumed that the Pacers would be able to match any offer for him (assuming we can still afford him), because he would be "our" free agent. But on pacersdigest.com they are saying we will have no Bird rights on him. Anyone know the truth about Rush's situation going into next summer?

Now all he has to do is accidentally shoot himself in the head.

Seriously, I've been happy with Rush...actually, pretty much all of the cheapies we picked up this summer have contributed at one time or another.

I'm sure we have no Bird rights because he was basically signed at the minimum for a one-year contract:

Larry Coon FAQ wrote:The player must have played for three seasons without being waived or changing teams as a free agent. This means a player can obtain "Bird rights" by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination.

As usual, Larry Coon to the rescue.

[quote="count55"]Now all he has to do is accidentally shoot himself in the head.

Wow, I had to look that one up. Stipo was one of my earliest Pacer favorites back then, but I didn't know about his "accident".

Irish Piper wrote:

count55 wrote:Now all he has to do is accidentally shoot himself in the head.

Wow, I had to look that one up. Stipo was one of my earliest Pacer favorites back then, but I didn't know about his "accident".

Yeah, I remember a picture from an old magazine article (or perhaps Pacer Program) about Stipo where they showed students at an opposing school taunting him with signs saying "Nice Shot, Stupo!".

Mizzou may remember more clearly...(to be honest, I don't remember exactly where he shot himself (on his body), but it seems to be that it was a head wound that he got playing with a gun at a party.

The quote that interests me most is this one

The only time he comes out is when he is tired

So basically Rush can decide when he wants to be in the game, meaning he is basically our star to Jim.

count55 wrote:Mizzou may remember more clearly...(to be honest, I don't remember exactly where he shot himself (on his body), but it seems to be that it was a head wound that he got playing with a gun at a party.

The way I remember it, he accidentally shot himself in the foot or leg while cleaning his gun or something in his apartment. (Fortunately, the bullet just grazed him.) The bigger story was that he then fabricated this wild tale of a break-in/armed intruder. Of course the local police quickly established that there had been no such incident, and Stipo then had to fess up, much to his embarrassment. I remember fans at other schools wearing "Who Shot Stipo?" shirts (this was when the TV show "Dallas" was in its heyday, and J.R. Ewing was mysteriously shot at the end of one season, and the buzzphrase was "Who Shot J.R.?"

Just one little incident in the long saga of stupid things happening within the U. of Missouri basketball program. I've thought ever since the brawl how eery the similarities between the Pacers and Tigers have become. The epic collapses. The unerring ability to "shoot one's self in the foot." For Ron Artest, there is Missouri's Ricky Clemons. For Isiah Thomas, there is Quin Snyder (sorta).

I think that I am just cursed as a basketball fan.

Back to Kareem...I'm really happy for the guy. I always thought he belonged in the NBA and couldn't quite figure out what had happened to him. I had high hopes that he would get it together and turn out to be a steal for the Pacers. Which I think he has.

The defense thing, though, surprises even me. I don't think he's ever been asked before to be a tough defender. Or maybe he was asked at his previous NBA stops but just didn't get the message. (He sure wasn't asked to focus on defense in college.) It's an ability I'd bet he never knew he had before this season.

jeremy1215 wrote:So basically Rush can decide when he wants to be in the game, meaning he is basically our star to Jim.

it is probably more about who else is going to guard the perimeter unless he's on the court.

wasnt kareem rush a PG at missouri? i remember watchin him in college thinkin that he was going to be a dominant NBA player....

Can someone give me the link to the PacerFan avatar please?

I remember I was sooooo pissed off when the Pacers selected a guy named "Fred Jones" over Kareem Rush in the NBA draft. I was about to cry I was so happy that Kareem Rush had fallen to us. Then we selected some guy I had never heard of.

Of course Fred Jones eventually became one of my all time favorite players. But its still funny and ironic to me.

I had Tayshun in mind the year we took Fred. Kareem needed that time off in Europe to find himself. I've been playing Rush on my fantasy team for a week or so. he's still available on Sporting News for the minimum contract. I think that's a no brainer.

The way he has been playing lately do you think that he should be our end of game scoring option/go to guy.

I just think that he may be a clutch player, especially if you look over his last few games.