Posts tagged ‘Jamaal Tinsley’

All I have to say about the prospects of drafting Kevin Love is: Please don’t do it.

I understand the guy has some of the most polished offensive post moves and highest basketball IQ in this draft, but I do not like him coming to the Pacers.  Let’s discuss the positives first.  He is by far the best passer of any big man in college this year and in my mind in recent memory.  This is something the Pacers could use to compliment J.O. and to free up Granger and Dunleavy along the perimeter.  He would be the team’s best passer besides Tinsley.  Also, he has some very good low post offensive moves.  We saw at UCLA that he could be the focal point of the offense on the blocks.  This is again something the Pacers need because they have not had a post presence to compliment J.O. since Brad Miller.  Love could be that instant impact low post scoring player to be the third or fourth option offensively and still fill that role well. 

With that being said, I think he would be the wrong selection at #11 no matter who else is available.  Love would fit well into the Pacers plan offensively, except for getting up and down the court consistently.  Where he would not fit in is in what they need most: athleticism and defense.  Love has neither of them.  Not even close to being good at either.  I realize he would help be the compliment offensively to J.O. and Danny but defensively he will be a burden.  No, he will be more than a burden.  He will be target practice.  The Pacers have 1 really good defender in Granger, and 2 solid defenders in J.O. and Jeff Foster, but neither of them are intimidating defensively.  They need someone athletic and quick who can play tough on-the-ball defense or a long, lanky inside presence who will make people think twice about driving to the basket.  Too many times this year did they get beaten off the dribble by quicker, more athletic players, especially guards.  Love would do nothing but be slow on the weak side rotation, get beat off the dribble or get dunked on. 

The Pacers do not really have problems on offense.  They can put up points. We’ve seen that.  They don’t necessarily need another offensive weapon (especially one with a vertical less than mine).  They need someone who can play defense or at least someone quick and athletic who can be taught to play good D.  There defense was so bad this year because the team did not have enough quickness and athleticism to keep up with better offensive players.  All of these players I consider mediocre at best on D: Dunleavy, Murphy, Diener, Daniels, Tinsley, Diogu, Lil Flip (Murray), Williams, Rush, Owens, and Harrison.  That is too many bad defenders to add another one to that list. Kevin Love does fill a couple roles for the Pacers, but no the most pressing ones.  They need to select someone quick (point guard or combo guard) who can keep up with quicker guards the team struggled with last year and also break people down off the dribble offensively.  The other option is a big man that can contribute at the defensive end immediately and will probably be a little bit of a project on the offensive end.

I mentioned this in one of the episodes, but wanted to type it out to get my point across.

Just here me out on this first.  I realize this team has had more off-the-court incidents than any other team in the NBA.  Most people would say that is the reason the Pacers are so bad now.  I would agree with them that it is ONE reason why.   The other reason, in my mind, is the loss of Jonathan Bender.  This team and franchise was looking at him as their next superstar.  He was supposed to step into the shoes of Reggie Miller.

Bender had all the qualities of a rising superstar.  He had an outside jumper that he could shoot over anyone, athleticism, quickness, a good basketball IQ.  He was a tough matchup when he was playing and would be one of the toughest matchups in the NBA if he was still playing.  He would be 26 reaching his prime with 8 years of NBA experience under his belt.  His 6′ 11″ frame would  be impossible to guard.  Not even Bruce Bowen would be able to shut him down.  If you put a typical 2 guard on him (6′6″), he could shoot over them.  If you put a guy with his size on him, you would be rolling out the red carpet for him to drive to the hoop.  He showed a good combination of penetration and quality shot selection as a youngster that was oozing with superstar.  He would easily be averaging atleast 2o points and 5 rebounds a game.  Atleast 20 & 5.  Most likely he would be an all-star and the team’s go-to guy.  The only player comparable to him with size, speed, and athleticism is Lamar Odom.  But Bender can shoot better than Odom, is more athletic than Odom, and more assertive than Odom.  So basically he is a better version of Lamar Odom.

The reason I think he is a huge reason this franchise is in a downfall is because of the team’s depence on him to be the next big time player.  When you lose a player with superstar potentia, it is devastating to a franchise.  Even with last year’s trade with Golden State, the team would have a killer lineup that would be perfect for Jim O’Brien’s offensive system.  They would be starting Tinsley, Bender, Dunleavy, Granger and O’Neal.  Talk about a lineup that could run and shoot.  The Pacers could spread the floor with Bender, Dunleavy and Granger around the perimeter.  Tinsley could penetrate with multiple options to kick it out to for threes.  Also, Jermaine would be able to easily get one-on-one isolations in the post and without a double team because of the lineups shooters.  That would be a high scoring, high flying, WINNING lineup.  The Pacers, even this year, would easily make the playoffs with him.  They would most likely be a 3 seed behind two of the toughest teams in the NBA.  They would be one role player away from making a title run.  That’s how much of a difference Bender would make.  He would have this team competitive.

When a franchise loses a player of that quality, it is difficult to recover.  They are now looking for a new face to the franchise and a new superstar because Bender had to prematurely end his career.  Hopefully they’ve found a blossoming one in Granger and can draft another to try to take the place of a player that no one would have been able to stop.