Yahoo/Sportsnet: J. O

[gangstaff]

my biggest fear is the backup PG position . Are we going to have a huge dropoff with our second unit?

We should see a lot less of a "second unit" like a line shift in hockey. Good bball teams have at least a couple starters on the floor at all times. I don't want to see us going 10-12 deep every game.

Besides, God-Emperor Roko is going to be the backup PG...why would you worry?

[The Eminence]

This is definitely not BC last move either.

I sure hope so

[IndyPacers67]

Jermaine has not been successful in the past when there is another guy that likes to clog the lane. Bosh should be a good compliment to him, since he is comfortable roaming the perimiter and has a good face up game.

Jermaine will make you guys much, much better defensively, and that is why you did the trade. He is an excellent help defender, and isn't terrible playing his man in the post. The thing you will be most impressed with is his ability to block shots and take charges. He combines those two things better than any player in the league- by a long shot.

I have always thought of Ford as a sub-par defender, but I would like to know what you guys think of him on that end. Also how much do you think the injury effected his game last year? Did he seem to get fully healthy and play to his full capabilities for any long stretch of time last year?

[hoophoophooray]

[quote="SHootaR"]as a diehard raptor fan first and foremost (please if you have anything to say about my love for TJ, kill urself cuz it doesnt apply)...i do not like this trade BC. sorry bud. add this to a now growing list of mistakes or difference in opinions I've had with him (wanted aldridge over bargs, was the biggy).

it looks all fine and dandy now, but it leaves us USELESS for the next 2 years. this is really a short-time fix and i'm appauled he cannot see this. or he DOES see this and thinks its a great PR/fanbase move that will get us to the 2nd round at least. i'm just kinda upset. i would much rather get a swingman and draft a C...but now we're doing the opposite which is FINE, but losing the draft pick which could net us that swingman.

another 2 years of mediocrity from the 2/3...i hope i'm wrong on this obviously.[/quote]

I was about to say almost exactly the same thing. If this goes down we ar trading tomorrow for yesterday.

[Nessah]

I'm shocked this thread has not reached 30+ pages yet....considering the Juan Dixon for the Gangsta deal was mind-blowingly lengthy.

I'm looking forward to training camp!

O'Neal/Bargnani
Bosh/Humphries (unless BC signs someone else)
Kapono/Moon
Parker/Delfino
Calderon/Ukic

Graham and Baston at the end of the bench. I assume they're not resigning Brezec.

That's an awful lineup. Huge holes at the 2 and 3 position and there is no proven backup pg at this time.

I don't believe it's worse than last season's line up where our 3 consistent rebounders were Rasho, Bosh, and Moon. If Ukic needs more time to develop, Calderon will play more minutes - he's young, he can do it. You're right though, 2 and 3 are not the best...but they're solid. In other words, I don't feel those 2 positions would necessarily lose us games.

If you need offence, put in Kapono. If you need slightly better defence, put in Moon. Actually, I take it back, I think Moon will start and Kapono will come off the bench because as Parker takes away those 3 point shots from Kapono when they're on the floor together. Once Moon consistently drives, he'll be a good "opposite" offensive player to the way Kapono plays.

I wonder what happens to Delfino now.

[heemer]

We definitely need BOTH a (legit) starting SF and good backup PG. No question.

[WadeKnicks2010]

Congratulations guys. You could still use a nice scorer on the perimeter though. I don't see J'Oneal or Bosh being able to carry a team offensively with just roleplayers on the perimeter so you could definitely use a stud out there. J'Oneal is a tremendous interior defender though, I'd love to have him. I'd also love to have Bosh but that goes without saying. Good luck with the Atlantic, hopefully my Knicks will meet you at the top soon.

[GOPacers!]

Ya'll just got a great deal. I really do not like this as a Pacers fan, but I will be watching a lot of Raptor games to see JO.

Same here! I too am sad to see him go. But I understand the reasoning, still dont like it tho. I wish JO the best of luck in Toronto. GO RAPS

[Magic All The Way]

We definitely need BOTH a (legit) starting SF and good backup PG. No question.

[TR50]

And the Raptor Nation expands

I'm pretty happy with this, JO's compliments Bosh nicely and can anchor our D...FINALLY!!
I def. don't see BC being done, i expect another move or two, maybe get a late draft pick and somehow get a swing?

Josh Childress...i can wish

[|llsT oNe]

I'm shocked this thread has not reached 30+ pages yet....considering the Juan Dixon for the Gangsta deal was mind-blowingly lengthy.
.

It's because everyone feels the need to create new threads.

[Nessah]

I think somewhere in the US Sam Mitchell is doing cartwheels. He FINALLY gets someone who can defend the low post AND rebound consistently. Like many other posters, I too feel that JO will bring a defensive intensity that the Raps hasn't had since the Charles Oakley/Antonio Davis era. Similar to what KG brought to Boston (probably not at the same level though, but still it's better than nothing). Mind you, I'll miss Rasho and his solid defensive presence.

[WARCRIMEZ]

So what's the deal here? I keep seeing all these TJ appreciation threads and all that, but nothing solid that has to do with the JO trade. I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere.....but is that because TJ's BYC contract or is there something else holding it up? I'm at the point where, I really want to get excited about a healthy JO along side Bosh, but it still seems too early to tell. Maybe I just don't understand the situation well enough or something, do yall think that the stuff we've seen and heard is enough to say that this trade is set in stone so to speak?

[BoBBo!]

Jermaine has not been successful in the past when there is another guy that likes to clog the lane. Bosh should be a good compliment to him, since he is comfortable roaming the perimiter and has a good face up game.

Jermaine will make you guys much, much better defensively, and that is why you did the trade. He is an excellent help defender, and isn't terrible playing his man in the post. The thing you will be most impressed with is his ability to block shots and take charges. He combines those two things better than any player in the league- by a long shot.

I have always thought of Ford as a sub-par defender, but I would like to know what you guys think of him on that end. Also how much do you think the injury effected his game last year? Did he seem to get fully healthy and play to his full capabilities for any long stretch of time last year?

Ford gambles defensively quite a bit. He's quick to jump the passing lane but tends to reach too much, and is a liability as such. He also tends to get posted by bigger, stronger PGs like Billups, Kidd, and Davis. He's stronger than he looks though.

He never fully returned to the high level of play he's capable of following the Horford incident. Whether it was related to the back-up demotion, the psychological impact of the injury from his haphazard style, or physical limitations from missing a month is anyone's guess. I will say, however, that during the first month of the 2007-2008 season, he was arguably the best player on the team and was all-star caliber.

T.J. Ford will wow you at times. He'll also frustrate you at times. He'll make you anxious with his injury history and frequent collisions, but provided he doesn't have another major setback, he'll be a very nice starting PG for the Pacers.

[TripleTTT]

Pacer fan, here, guys. I'm pretty happy with this deal. I think it makes sense for our future, and I like taking my chances with TJ Ford...he'll be a huge upgrade over Droopy McTinsleberry.

For JO's side, I'm hopeful he can stay healthy for you. He did come back too soon from his injury last year, and it screwed him up.

However, if you go back prior to this knee injury, he was putting up some pretty big numbers. Through the end of February in the 2006-2007 season, JO had played in 50 of 56 games, averaging 20.1 pts, 10.3 rebs, and 3.1 blocks on 45% shooting.

I know you guys are taking on a risk, but I'm hopeful he can be a 70+ game per year player for you...and if he is, you'll be pretty happy...

So, good luck, and here's hoping you see 16-8-3 over 70+ games the next couple of years.

Pacers are going to have a good young team after the draft with the addition of Ford and two 1st round picks.



Oh well..if O'Neil gets injured for any length of time we're back in the lottery this time next year.

[UTMCretin]

I have always thought of Ford as a sub-par defender, but I would like to know what you guys think of him on that end. Also how much do you think the injury effected his game last year? Did he seem to get fully healthy and play to his full capabilities for any long stretch of time last year?

TJ has the capability to be a good defender, and has shown as much on occasions when he is guarding smaller, quicker players, but he has the unfortunate tendency to gamble on defense instead of relying on his exceptional footspeed. Similarly, he acts as a liability against bigger point guards, as seen time and time again when opposing teams choose to exploit him on the defensive end. TJ's too small to keep bigger players from doing what they want, and although he exudes the ability to guard smaller point guards, he generally relies on lazy tactics that can lead to blow-bys by the offensive player. On the plus side, he can be a very tenacious defender, but only when he sees fit.

As for his injury problems, analyzing his ability to play to his full capabilities mean you have to look at the beginning of the year, when TJ was playing very well by all accounts. It's unclear how much the injury actually affected his individual play, but it did take him out of the rythym of the game and left him unable to get back into the flow of play as off-court and on-court issues both interrupted his ability to contribute fully. I imagine you'll see more of the pre-injury TJ than the post-injury TJ, unless further injuries/controversies interrupt his season once again.

[Rhettmatic]

Jermaine has not been successful in the past when there is another guy that likes to clog the lane. Bosh should be a good compliment to him, since he is comfortable roaming the perimiter and has a good face up game.

Jermaine will make you guys much, much better defensively, and that is why you did the trade. He is an excellent help defender, and isn't terrible playing his man in the post. The thing you will be most impressed with is his ability to block shots and take charges. He combines those two things better than any player in the league- by a long shot.

I have always thought of Ford as a sub-par defender, but I would like to know what you guys think of him on that end. Also how much do you think the injury effected his game last year? Did he seem to get fully healthy and play to his full capabilities for any long stretch of time last year?

I'm a fan of Ford's game, so take my opinions with an appropriately sized grain of salt.

But he's a solid defender when motivated. Not great by any stretch, but he can be quite pesky -- I've seen him do a particularly good job on Gilbert Arenas, bothering the ball, playing him close. He has the ability to keep any opposing point guard in front of him (again, when motivated), and though he's small, I haven't seen anyone post him up to great effect. He usually stands his ground.

That said, I've also seen him look pretty terrible defensively, notably in the series against Orlando. I chalked that up to him being generally dispirited with the way things were going here.

Last season he put together a tremendous stretch of games prior to his injury. The game he got hurt, against Atlanta, was probably as well as I've seen him play. Afterwards he wasn't consistently good for any meaningful stretch.

Still, he's a very talented player and a fun guy to watch. I think you'll like him there.

[gcsw]

I have always thought of Ford as a sub-par defender, but I would like to know what you guys think of him on that end. Also how much do you think the injury effected his game last year? Did he seem to get fully healthy and play to his full capabilities for any long stretch of time last year?

You'll enjoy watching opposing PGs posting the midget and shooting over him freely.

[Sanjan]

Charlie V, Matt Bonner, and Eric WIlliams 17 into J Oneal?


Do you think our offer was better or worse?

[Nessah]

Pacer fan, here, guys. I'm pretty happy with this deal. I think it makes sense for our future, and I like taking my chances with TJ Ford...he'll be a huge upgrade over Droopy McTinsleberry.

For JO's side, I'm hopeful he can stay healthy for you. He did come back too soon from his injury last year, and it screwed him up.

However, if you go back prior to this knee injury, he was putting up some pretty big numbers. Through the end of February in the 2006-2007 season, JO had played in 50 of 56 games, averaging 20.1 pts, 10.3 rebs, and 3.1 blocks on 45% shooting.

I know you guys are taking on a risk, but I'm hopeful he can be a 70+ game per year player for you...and if he is, you'll be pretty happy...

So, good luck, and here's hoping you see 16-8-3 over 70+ games the next couple of years.

Pacers are going to have a good young team after the draft with the addition of Ford and two 1st round picks.



Oh well..if O'Neil gets injured for any length of time we're back in the lottery this time next year.

and is there a consensus top pick next year?

I'm even looking forward to 2 years from now when we have all that cap space!!! Who should we throw our money to? lol.

I predict Raptors will get 50 wins next season and make it to the 2nd round (UNLESS they face the Boston Celtics in the 1st round)....if this trade goes through.