D-BONE

I think that was the Puerto Rican flag. Puerto Ricans are American citizens and she is Puerto Rican (born in NY).

Pacers look like they've totally lost their mojo. Rebounding is poor. Both offense and defense have regressed. Maybe the ASB will help them get their heads right.

As to trading Turner, pending how the rest of the season plays out, it may be the right idea. Seems the Pacers want him to have a similar role to what Brooke Lopez does with Bucks - provide some 3s and be an elite shot blocker. Neither guy is a big rebounder for a C. I think Turner has done reasonably if that's what they're asking him to do. Overall, while the shot blocking has been there, I've always felt he's never quite developed the consistency and confidence from 3 to really elevate him to impact status on the offensive end. He's not bad, but he's just not a difference maker offensively. Of course, back to the Lopez comparison, it would also help immensely if he could play off a Giannis, not to mention the remainder of the Bucks supporting cast, which - much like Toronto as a team - has a lot of length and athleticism. That's still a struggle for us. We have very few top shelf athletes by NBA standards. That's where you see backcourts and wings with excellent quickness penetrating at will on us resulting in good looks in the paint or from 3.

Too many turnovers. Note: Sabonis with a whopping 6. Too porous perimeter D. Brogdon is turning to public enemy #1 when it comes to being unable to keep his man out of the lane. Raps are an excellent team. Ibaka is playing out of his mind. VO's play is not helping, but realistically you have to expect that it may take him the rest of the season to get anywhere near consistent, solid play coming off so much time out. Still hoping they can resolve some of the challenges sooner rather than later.

I would have been interested in the Pacers looking to acquire him last summer as strong inside young guy with upside. Don't know if he'll realize the potential or not, but I definitely wonder if Denver is the place to do it, at least in the short term. Lot of guys to compete with int the 4/5 spot mix - Jokic, Plumlee, Milsap, Grant, Porter Jr., Bates Diop, Bol Bol, etc. Will be interesting to watch how it develops.

Textbook choke job. I thought it was VO's best game so far. He shot better and played more within the flow of the offense. Second unit was excellent throughout. Rap's press and our complete inability to handle it was the ultimate deciding factor. We were inept trying to break it. It got so bad, you have to question why Nate didn't bring McConnell back. Only pure point guard on the roster.

Pacers should absolutely let Dipo work back into the rhythm. I'm sure he's excited and it's hard to dial it back. And I'm thrilled he's back and totally support him working his way back into things. I accept there will be challenges reworking roles, etc. I just question whether it takes playing like a chucker to do it. But I expect it will work itself out along with everything else.

Yes. They were really struggling defensively. And, yet again, they lost the boards by double digits, giving up multiple offensive rebounds that the Mavs converted. I think, if they hope to build a contending team over the next three years or so, they'll probably have to add an athletic, rebounding presence. Either to replace/displace Turner from the starting group or to be the 1st guy off the bench at 4/5.

They're going to have to figure that out. Personally, I want Brogdon handling it more the Dipo, but you aren't going to completely take the ball away from him. But I think it's also fair to say that Brogdon has looked pretty shoddy lately as well. And I don't think you can solely blame that on Vic's return. His on ball defense is getting exposed with more and more regularity. It was on full display down the stretch tonight.

McMillan on the post-game presser saying Vic has to play and shoot like normal to play himself back into rhythm and that many of his shots were good looks. What I see is he took 17 shots in 23 minutes and went 1 for 10 on 3s. Effectively took as many shots a Brogdon and Sabonis, who played 8 and 13 more minutes respectively. How many shot attempts is going to put up when he's getting starter's minutes?

All that said, there is undoubtedly a ton of depth and talent level on the roster (IMO) at least going back to circa 2013-14, if not more. Plus, there's great chemistry. Thus, cautiously optimistic that they'll figure things out, with the possible exception of the rebounding.

Pacers haven't looked good the last 3 games going back to Portland on the back end of the West Cost trip. Of course, that was sans Oladipo. But I feel like we might have a general slump complicated by trying to get Vic integrated at a point when chemistry and roles are already well established. Given that, you have to expect it's not going to be smooth sailing immediately. However, I see where you're coming from. I've been a little surprised how aggressively Dipo's been hunting shots given all the circumstances surrounding the team and his return. I guess time will tell how it goes. It has been highly speculated that Brogdon's game and Vic's game would be perfect complements. That may turn out to be true, but Brogdon looks to me to be the most off kilter offensively in the early going with Dipo back. Back to the bigger picture, I've been disappointed with the Pacers defense of late. In Portland and v. Chicago it was flat out awful. And I think the Knicks' point total is deceiving when you look at how badly they pounded us on the glass. In fact, rebounding may be my single biggest concern. There's no legit rebounder on the team beyond Sabonis.

Yeah. The logic on that call was inexplicable.

Well, the Portland loss was a very unPacer-like defensive effort. Although the Lillard/McCollum backcourt gives us (and everyone else) fits. Still...allowing 139 points? Another nightmare in the (former) Rose Garden on the back-end of a long road trip I suppose. A big question I came away with though is, even if you have a starting, healthy backcourt of Brogdon/Oladipo, how well can you control their perimeter scoring? Turner's absence no doubt weakened the inside D too. But their two major bigs were out as well. Portland is just a bad matchup for us.

Don't know if it will be regret. Although I suppose it could be. Brogdon's injury history should not have been an unknown to us. Obviously, for best possible success you want everyone healthy when it matters. Still lots to be answered about both he and Dipo (post-injury). That said, the depth of the team overall has been impressive in Dipo's complete absence and Brogdon's stints out of the lineup. As it's always been for the Pacers, even with Dipo back and, at some point, 100%, it's going to have to be a sum of the parts approach. No superstar on the roster.

Kobe news is a gut punch. RIP, Kobe. Best to his family.

Despite Brogdon being out, Pacers are 4-1 on the left coast trip. Pretty successful. Would be great to cap it with a win in Portland, but that's been a house of horrors for us for years. Need to get that monkey off our back. EDIT: Check that 3-1 following win at Golden State last night with the Portland game remaining.

If Zion reaches Barkley level he will truly be an all time great. Barkley, for his physical build, was an absolute freak. His athleticism, his skill, but more than anything, is drive are unparalleled IMO outside people like MJ, Kobie, LBJ. Sir Charles was a beast and and player of the highest order. Way above, IMO, opinion guys like Reggie, Karl Malone, or Ewing from his general time period. All those guys were great. Make no mistake. But I always found Barkley on a different level.

Yes. Always nice to get a road win out west. Hope it sets the tone for the entire trip. The way they continued to hang in after the cold start and then the sizzling finish were awesome to see. That said, also have to take into account that Nugs were missing Milsap, Murray, and Harris from starters. Hoping we can take at least 3 of the 5 after the big start last night.