FW_Hoosier

Anyone see RoJo on any draft boards lately?

Hard to write this off as a fluke anymore. Vic is becoming a legit NBA superstar.

Seems like DeRozan and Beal are the only other Eastern Conference SGs in the discussion with Vic. Of those three, DeRozan is the leader in PPG, APG, FT%, and FG%. Vic is the leader in SPG, BPG, 3P%, and eFG%. Beal is just barely the leader in T/OPG, although he’s averaging slightly more PPG than Vic. They all have pretty similar stats up to this point, but I would say that it goes: 1. DeRozan, 2. Vic, 3. Beal at this point. There’s an argument to be made for Vic at #1 though, considering how efficiently he’s scoring, how well he’s shooting from three, and what he brings on defense.

Awesome to see Vic becoming the best player he could possibly be. I should have expected it, as that’s exactly what he did at IU. The kid is just driven. He’s not gonna waste an ounce of his natural talent.

You know I’ve been on your side in the PG debate. I just turned on the last 3 or 4 minutes of that game last night, and Melo seemed to be much more involved in the offense, while PG was pretty invisible. Just giving my thoughts on that one stretch of the game I watched, no axe to grind. Interestingly, Melo and PG have pretty much identical stats through the first 10 games. Either way, the Thunder have really been struggling to start the season.

Just watched the end of the Thunder’s loss to the Kings. PG with an awful game - 4/16 from the field and totally invisible in crunch time, except for the three he bricked with less than 30 seconds left. Watching that game, it seems that Melo has established himself as the clear #2 on the Thunder. Meanwhile, it looks like Zeller is still rounding into form coming off his injury. This clip gave me Trevor Mbakwe flashbacks. https://streamable.com/sz1jz

Really interesting read. Cool to see Yogi in the cover photo, and good for JBJ for getting mentioned. I wonder if the Dee Brown mentioned in the article is the former Illini player? I loved that Illinois team, glad to see he’s done well for himself. Interesting idea about the “redshirt contracts.” It seems like that would work in theory, but I think the exposure provided by big time college basketball would still attract most of the high-level talent. Not a bad idea though.

And I never said the PG teams were better than those teams.

You guys are right, getting beat down in the first round by the Pistons and Knicks, losing in the first round to mediocre Celtics and Hawks teams, and missing the playoffs entirely were very impressive performances by the 90s Pacers teams that didn’t make it to the ECF. Definitely way more successful seasons than the PG Pacers teams had.

The PG Pacers teams were eliminated by a historically great Heat team 3 years in a row, and took them to 6 or more games every time... Meanwhile the 90s Pacers teams were eliminated by a historically great Bulls team once. Who really had the tougher road? But hey, if you want to discount two of the eight great seasons the Pacers have ever had in the NBA because you hate the player that got you there, you do you. I’m glad you guys are happy he’s gone, but it’ll be a while before you’re ever that good again.

Lol see, you say he’s a top 15-20 player, then turn around and say the teams he was on were overrated and he never did anything for the Pacers. That is PG bashing. He was largely responsible for 2 of the 6 division titles the Pacers have ever won in the history of the franchise, and 2 of the 8 trips they have ever made to the conference finals. Saying those Pacers teams were not among the best Pacers teams ever is pretty ridiculous. And sorry, no one cares about the ABA. The Pacers do not come close to reaching back-to-back conference finals without PG, much less taking the Heat to the brink. Saying PG was never the reason the Pacers won anything in the playoffs is just wrong, and exactly the type of biased PG bashing I’m talking about.

“The media” is incredibly stupid. Especially the clowns that dominate the Indy market.

The hate is kind of exemplified by IU Scott’s comment above. Like I said, I get it because PG soured on the Pacers last season, but outside of last year, PG was never a “selfish” player that “lacked intangibles.” He was the go-to player on some of the best teams in Pacers history. He just decided he wanted out of Indy, and as HH has said, you can’t really blame him considering how Bird blew up the team. He wasn’t the right fit for the Pacers anymore, but in the right situation he most certainly can be one of the go-to options on a championship contender. That makes it hard to say that Indy “won” the trade, as neither Vic or Sabonas is that type of player even in the best case scenario. But given the circumstances, it’s looking more and more like the trade was a win-win for both teams.

From a neutral perspective (not a fan of the Pacers), I think HH is pushing back on some undeserved hate PG gets on here. It makes sense from a Pacers fan’s perspective, as PG pouted all last year when the team was at it’s lowest point after Bird blew everything up (firing Vogel was really dumb, and the culmination of a bunch of bad moves by Bird). But prior to last season, and even at the end of last season, PG was a phenomenal player for the Pacers. And I actually agree with you that PG is a top 15-20 player in the league, not top 10. But at this point, Vic and Sabonas are nowhere near as valuable as PG is, in a vacuum. And Vic might be getting a little too much hype so early in the season, although if he’s able to sustain this play we’ll have to reassess how good he is. He just might have a chance to be an All-Star in the East this year. Regardless, I’m sure it’s definitely refreshing to go from a player that wants out to a player that’s bought in.

Honestly there’s a chance the Cavs might fall apart this year. They’ve looked really bad in these early games.

I shouldn’t have doubted VO! What a game, he does look better than George tonight.

Agree with this entirely. Getting Westbrook to re-sign means the trade was totally worth it for the Thunder. No way the Pacers “won” the trade, but it was significantly better for them than the “experts” said it was. They were going to lose PG for nothing, and VO and Sabonas are good building blocks. But PG is way more valuable than both of them combined. His “intangibles” were enough to get the Pacers to two ECFs. As it is, I think the Pacers can compete for the 8 seed in the anemic East this season, but if you think they’re going to win 45-50 games, I’d like a little bit of whatever you’re smoking.

Hayward’s agent said it’s unlikely he’ll play again this season.

Where did you hear that news about Hayward’s injury? 3-4 months would have him back by March.

There goes the Celtics chances to beat the Cavs. But they have to be encouraged by how Brown and Tatum stepped up after Hayward went down. Wouldn’t be surprised if Stevens still led them to the ECF.

Blackmon was waived yesterday, along with Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, Melo Trimble, Trey Burke, Marshall Plumlee, and Marc Loving.

Here's one of those plays. Where did this come from?? I can't remember him ever making a play like that at IU. I think we might be seeing a situation similar to the one with Troy, where OG is much better in the NBA than he was in college. Hard to believe Crean was bringing him off the bench last year before the knee injury...

Way ahead of schedule. If he's back by November, which sounds likely, he'll only have been out for 10 months. Have to think he has the potential to be more valuable than Miles and Powell, and he'll definitely be better than Caboclo. Glad to hear the recovery is going well.

Guess it helps to read the article, haha. That will be a really interesting starting backcourt for the Mavs. I think Yogi is an upgrade over Curry.

They're going to start Yogi over Smith?