Miller Time!

            
           The greatest Indiana Pacer of all time may be returning to the Hoosier State, but not as a player unfortunately. A recent Yahoo Sports report says that Pacers owner, Herb Simon, has been asking people around the league how Reggie Miller would fare with a front-office job.

            
            Larry Bird, the current team president, is taking the job “one year at a time”. I, and many others, expect Bird to leave after this year or at the latest after next year. He seems to have finally gotten the team back on the track to winning and making the playoffs. Bird had considered retiring before this season but met with Herb Simon in May and decided to stay.

            
            Reggie Miller played for the Pacers for 18 seasons and is one of the best 3-point shooters ever. He has been a NBA analyst for TNT for the past six years. Miller said recently, “It would be an unbelievable opportunity to be able to go home.” He would obviously accept the jobs if the position was open. I would love nothing more to see Miller be the head of the Pacers, but he would need some time to adjust to the position.

            
            Former Pacers president, Donnie Walsh, has also been brought up as a possible candidate. He is currently the president of the New York Knicks. If anything, he could come back to Indy and help Miller become accustomed to the ins and outs of being a team president.

             
            This is all assuming there is a 2011 NBA season. There is still a lockout for the NBA and as it is now there will be no basketball in the fall.

Miller in the 1995 Playoffs gesturing towards New York Knicks fan, Spike Lee.

2011 Pacers Pre-Draft

So what do the Pacers need to get them to the playoffs next season? They hope to answer that in the 2011 NBA Draft on June 23^rd. Pacers president Larry Bird has said he wants a consistent scorer to help out small forward, Danny Granger. That player will probably end up being a shooting guard, because all the other positions have a solid starter and backup.

There has been a lot of discussion on Jimmer Fredette possibly being selected. To that I say, “NOOOOOO!!!!” Jimmer is so over-rated it’s disgusting. He racked up gaudy numbers against weak competition and everybody praises the ground he walks on. Ever heard of Adam Morrison and J.J. Riddick, or even Steve Alford? They are all shooting guards that posted great numbers in college and did nothing in the NBA.  Fredette is also white (like Morrison, Riddick, and Alford), which I think played a huge part in the amount of attention he got.

The big name players that have worked out for the Indiana Pacers include: Jon Deibler, Kyle Singler, Tyler Honeycutt, Jimmy Butler, Jamine Peterson, and Jake Kelly. (Kelly attended Indiana State University, but I think the only guy that is giving the guy a chance is former Sycamore, Larry Bird)

Jon Deibler- 6-6, 205lbs. junior from Ohio State University.  Deibler broke the all-time OSU records for career 3-pointers and single-season 3-pointers. He was the best 3-point shooter not in only the Big Ten Conference, but in America. Of his 328 career field goals, only 21% have been 2-pointers. I’d much rather have this guy than Fredette.

Kyle Singler- 6-8, 230lbs. senior forward from Duke University. Anybody from Duke is gonna be at least a decent player. Singler owns the Duke career records for games played, consecutive games played, games started, and minutes played. According to Pacers scouts, Singler is a “highly skilled offensive player with the ability to score on the block or from the perimeter ... one of the top inside-outside threats in the country. As well as fluid athlete with an advanced and well-rounded skill set ... has the ability to lead the team in nearly every statistical category”. Singler is an outstanding player. I never really liked the guy though, and I think a team will have already drafted him before the Pacers have a chance to.

           

Tyler Honeycutt- 6-8, 188 lbs. sophomore forward from UCLA. Honeycutt averaged 12.8 points per game with a .406 field goal percentage. From espn.com and pacers.com, that’s all I got besides a random compilation of statistics. I have never seen this guy play, so I have no clue if he’s the real deal or not. He’s a forward and the Pacers have plenty of those already, so hopefully we don’t pick him up.

            Jimmy Butler- 6-7, 220 lbs. senior guard from Marquette University. Butler received All-Big East honorable mentions last season. He averaged 15.7 points, 2.3 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game. He’s not an outstanding player, but I have seen him play a lot (and beat Notre Dame) and he is an alright player. He may be able to become great, but I don’t think he’s worthy of a first round pick.

Jamine Peterson- 6-6, 230 lbs. sophomore forward from Providence College.  Peterson averaged 19.6 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game. There was talk of him possibly receiving the Big East Play of the Year Award, but come on, the guy plays for Providence. I could be their best player! Unless this guy has some ungodly talent he’s been hiding, the Pacers should stay away from him.

Other possible selections include: Diante Garret (guard, Iowa State), Kenneth Fried (forward, Morehead State), Andrew Goudelock (guard, Charleston), Charles Jenkins (guard, Hofstra), Trey Thompkins (forward, Georgia), Nikola Vucevic (forward, USC), and Rick Jackson (forward, Syracuse).

It’s interesting to me that local players JaJuan Johnson (Purdue) and Shelvin Mack (Butler) are considered possible first round draft picks, but are not even being looked at by the Pacers.

2011 Pacers Off-Season

Pacers' mascot "Boomer"

            The Indiana Pacers finished the 2010-2011 seasons with a losing record, but made it the postseason under interim coach, Frank Vogel. He is youthful and seems to connect with the young Pacers team. The Pacers increased their scoring average from 97.8 points per game to 102.1 points per game after Vogel took over from fired head coach Jim O’ Brien.

            
            Vogel took advantage of his younger players, and seldom-used players under O’ Brien's reign. Tyler Hansbrough, "2010 Player of the Year" at the University of North Carolina finally looked like the star he was expected to be. He became a starter with Vogel and added a sense of aggression that the Pacers had definitely lacked before.

            
            Vogel also played around with the lineup until he found one that was firing on all cylinders. It was great to see players I had never even heard of make a contribution to victories. Vogel has not yet been given the Pacers head coach job for the 2011 season, but he is considered to be the leading candidate. He knows the system and the players, and has shown he can win. Hopefully, he’ll be back again leading the Pacers to the playoffs.

Frank Vogel

Here is who the Indiana Pacers currently have on their roster:

Guards- Darren Collison, Mike Dunleavy*, T.J. Ford*, A.J. Price, Brandon Rush, Lance Stephenson

Forwards- Danny Granger, Paul George, Tyler Hansbrough, Dahntay Jones, Solomon Jones*, Josh McRoberts*, James Posey

Centers- Roy Hibbert, Jeff Foster*.

*-free agents

             

            Collison, Granger, George, Hansbrough, and Hibbert are the definite core of this team. They are all young players who all have great potential, not to mention the standard starting rotation. Dunleavy is a solid shooting guard, but he’s not getting any younger or better. T.J. Ford has been a disappointment so far. Price, Rush, Stephenson, Jones, Jones, and Posey are just names that could be replaced with anybody. Sure, they’re all good players that know the system, but none of them will ever be all-stars. Foster and McRoberts are both good backups for their respective positions, and sometimes started games.

            

            Larry Bird said in a recent press conference that he wants "10 players that can be competitive every night” . From the 15 players currently listed, I see 7, maybe 8. If the Pacers office can nail this 2011 NBA Draft, then Pacers will have a very bright future.