Live Game Blog!

I am going to do a live Game blog for the season Opener v. Detroit.  My season preview podcast will hopefully be up by tomorrow.  Check it out.  It has a lot of my takes on what this season might have in store for the Pacers.  About 5-10 til the season kicks off!

Sadly the Pistons broadcast is on NBA League Pass.  Great I’ll be getting a load of Pistons coverage.

Predictable Starting Lineup:

Ford, Daniels, Granger, Murphy, Nesterovic

1st Quarter

11:54-Pistons get the tip and a quick foul on TJ. Not a good way to start off.  Chauncey posted up TJ.  Something I was afraid of.

10:00-Good early lead and got the big men involved early.  Ford did a good job of using his quickness to draw the foul and then get to the hoop.  Good start from him

9:00-Great start!!! Everyone is getting involved.  Need to get Danny off hot and he hit his first.

8:00-Where did Nesterovic get inside moves from???  Can’t complain about a 12-6 lead.

7:00-Jack in for Daniels.  Good move to deal with Marquis not making good decisions and looking a little lost early on.

5:40-TV Timeout.  Pacers looked good early on.  They kind of lost their edge now taking a couple bad shots and not getting back on D but solid so far.

4:00-Rush, Foster and Daniels off the bench.  They need to stop this 9-0 run from Detroit now before they start to get a big deficit.

3:00-Hibbert off the bench as his new slimmed down self.  Looked a little out of place his first time down, but it’s his debut.  I like the aggresiveness from Rush to take it to the basket even if he didn’t convert.  Good job by Jack to draw the foul on Stuckey. 2nd Media timeout.  They need to lock down better on defense.

2:00-Great spin move by Hibbeert.  They need to lock down Tayshaun on the other end.

End of 1st-19-5run by Pistons puts the Pacers down.  They need to come out stronger at the start of the 2nd to avoid going down big.  Tayshaun Prince is winning the battle v. Danny

2nd Quarter

11:00-Great take by Rush and finish with the foul.  Theold school 3 pointer keeps them in it.

9:00-They have done a great job drawing fouls. Hopefully that will pay off later.  Granger looks to be settling in and has improved his ability to get to the hoop.  They’re doing a good job of staying in this one.

7:00-Ford is looking like he’s been in htis offense for a couple years already.  He is definitely the floor general keeping this team in it.  Small lineup with Ford and Jack.

6:00-Good timeout by O’Brien. The Pistons were on another run. They needed to stop it before it got too bad.  The Pacers look good but the NEED to get back on defense faster.

4:00-Is it too early to take Rush as ROY already? He looks like a veteran. They must better stopping the open Js and get to the basket more.  They’ve been able to drive on this team all game and they need to do it more.

2:45-Media Timeout-Pistons up 5-Pacers have looked good at times.  They have not settled for shots but they do need to hit better from the field.  They are only shooting 42.5% from the field right now.  It’s most likely because of rust, but they need to fix it.  I really like the way this team moves the ball though.  They also must shore up the defensive side of the ball.  They’re giving the Pistons too many open jumpers.

1:00-Played more uptempo for a little while but the Pacers couldn’t take advantage of it.  Good ball movement but passed up too many shots.  They need to penetrate.

End of Half-They let this one get away at the end of the half.  That could be costly.  Being down 10 against the Pistons is not good.  The defense needs to improve.  They need to get back into position quicker and move their feet instead od bodying people.  The offense looked good at times and then at other times they didn’t take advantage of their speed and getting to the basket.  If you take out the last minute of the half, the Pacers had 11 free throws compared to the Pistons’ 2.  They had success getting to the hoop and converting or at least creating fouls.

3rd Quarter

10:00-The Pacers needed to get off to a good start and they did.  Good pressure on the defensive side of the ball except for the rotation off of the Johnson screen.  Keys: Penetrate & don’t turn the ball over (11 at half), as well as rotate on D. 2 quick on Sheed!

8:00-Good ball movement.  good pass by Nesterovic but needed to take it up stronger the next posession.  They must get out on the shooters!!!

7:00-Pistons TO-Pacers are doing a very good job moving without the ball.  With JO, they often would stand and watch.  They’re also looking for their open teammates in open spots.  What they are not doing is getting to shooters.  The interior defense has not been a problem.  It has been stepping out on guys along the perimeter.

5:00-Amir Johnson is killing this team this half. Come on now a 21 year old? Ford again is using his speed.  Foster is his same old self taking the charge.  I just looked at the boxscore and Murphy already has 10 rebs.

3:00-Tough shot by Danny! Then Amir shows his youth.  This team has still kept up getting the Pistons into fould trouble.  Still hoping that hurts them in a little bit.  Pacers are also shooting lights out from the free throw stripe. Too many turnovers so far as they give th ball right back to Detroit.  That’s number 15. Danny just being Danny.  All-Star level is showing.  Danny got fouled by Amir on the 3!!! The ref ripped him on that one.

2:47-TO-Pacers need to make another run.  They’re just hanging around but they have not yet been in control of this game.  They have to take control at some point to pull the upset.

1:00-The penetration and kickouts or swing around passes to open shooters have been their achilles tonight.  This one might be slipping away from them just a bit.  Down by 10 really hurts.

End of quarter-Daniels needs to do that more.  He settles for too many jumpers instead of slashing.  They need a bucket here in the last posession.  Yet another turnover.  Looked like Foster thought it was off Maxiel.  How do you let a guy go to the length of the court and get a bucket AND A FOUL??!! That’s inexcusable.  This might be out of the Pacers’ hands now.  We’ll see if Danny can start to climb the Reggie ladder with a comeback.

4th Quarter

10:00-They need to stop the Pistons run.  Of all the fouls the refs haven’t called they call the touch foul on Marquis?? This one is definitely getting out of hand.  Granger is trying to fight his way back in.  He is doing what I wanted him to do and take this game over.  That’s what a star does and it is exactly what he’s doing.  Good job by Marquis and Ford again getting to the basket.  If those to do tha instead of shooting the ball, this team could be very surprising.

9:00-A shot clock violation in a time where it was the last thing they needed.  Back to single digist after Troy’s 3.  They need a stop on this end to trim the lead.

8:00-Block out please!!! Two offensive rebounds for Detroit cost them what could have been a key stop.  Boy do I love Danny. He’s still trying to take this game back.  I’ve said he doesn’t have that killer instinct but he’s showing it now.

6:00-Down to 8.  Need to keep chipping.  More good movement without the ball and great looks even from the big men.  This team is not giving up and they’re playing tougher D.  Now down to 5 after the Troy 1-2 at the FT line.  Still did not close out of Rip for the jumper but it didn’t hurt them. Another turnover and follow up basket.  Danny took that shot out of rhythm of the offense showing he’s trying to do a little too much.  Turnovers might just cost this team a W.

5:00-A failure to box out leaves Sheed open for putback dunk. The refs are inconsistent on both sides of the court in this one.  They are letting them play a lot but at other times they’re calling the game really close.  It’s hard to get a feel for the refs even with only 5 min in the game.

4:00- The Pacers need to get this under 5 points within the next couple of minutes in order to have a chance of winning. Got a TO. Need to convert.  Whoa! Maqruis Daniels taking over and making it a 5 point game.

3:00-B Rush did a gewat job on rip but Jack misses the layup!!! Come on Jack.  That was a big miss because Billups then came down and hit a 3. This puts the game close to out of reach for the Pacers.  They had a little run and a glimpse of a chance to steal the game but I am afraid it’s closer to over now.

2:00-just saw a graphic Pistons lead 18-3 in fasbtreak points.  Danny still is fighting!  Need a big stop and instead they leave Sheed wide open.  Down 6…hope is almost done

1:00-Foul on Danny?? What? that was 2 clean blocks.  They need a couple 3s to pull this one back.  Don’t jack up a shot but they need a quick one.  Nice jumper by Danny…again.  Anothr big stop and Marquis instead flops.

Yet another TO-that’s the storyline in this one.  Nice steal and quick basket by the Pacers. Unless they can get another steal or Danny can pull a Reggie v. Knicks, I don’t know if they can come back.

Good double team off inbounds to force Chauncey to call a timeout.

I wonder what O’Brien is drawing up down 7 with about 24 sec to go.  Hopefully something for Danny.  Surprisingly he hasn’t relied on his 3 ball that much tonight.  DEEEEEEEP 3 by Danny!! Now that’s range

Another quick foul=good.  That 3 ball was 6 feet behind the line! And he didn’t even change anything.  Rip sadly didn’t miss either free throw.

Quick 2 by Murphy was good execution.  Why can’t they shoot like this earlier in the game??  Sadly Rip won’t miss from the line.

Missed shot by Jack and the Pacers fall short of a come back in the opener of the Pacers Redeem Team.  That makes it final.  Pacers start 0-1.