Road/Home Games and What To Do with T.J. Ford
By Josh Dhani
Well, a lot of stuff has been going on with the Pacers. Same here with me. I had a busy day last night, was on three shows (Pantsing Paul Pierce, Celtics Late Night Show, and the Rockets-Spurs Postgame Show at ProjectSpurs.com). Also, thanks to KWAPT, I have now been dubbed the JUSTIN BIEBER of Radio Shows and everything. I am “taking over the airwaves.”
Man, I hate Bieber. That guy bothers me. But hey, we’re both like 13 years old, and like KWAPT said, making a difference (question mark, maybe). But anyways, besides me, let’s back to the Pacers.
Oh, thank god! Finally! We got a road win! Yes!!!! But it still doesn’t help. They are still 5-18 on the road, and man, that is what caused them to be at 15-28. Not a good record. Not even into playoff contention at all!
I mean, this is not looking good at all. The Pacers need to play hard, and they demonstrated it against the Pistons. But that’s what makes me mad. Why didn’t they play like that in the past few games? I mean, they lost to the Timberwolves for Christ’s sake!
I just want to use some stats for a second. Here’s a box score of the Pacers for the whole season at home and away:
As you can tell in the home games, it isn’t so bad, really. But the road, my god! They got beaten from their opponents by nearly 2,000 points! Most of those losses were stompers, losing to teams like the Knicks 132-89 and the Warrios 126-107.
And also, haven’t you noticed that most of the losing streaks came on the road games? I mean, what’s the deal with that? The Pacers haven’t been on their game on the road. Is there some curse, or what? I never seen Indy so bad on the road.
Being 5-18 on the road doesn’t give you an easy chance to be in the playoffs, nor does their 15-28 record either. Already halfway through the season, the Pacers have been a complete disappointment. The Danny Granger Injury Saga (otherwise could be known as DGIS) ruined the season when he was out for that month.
36 wins last year. That even looks tough after observing what Indy has been doing so far this season. Heck, I would be surprised if they make it to 25 wins. But hey, they could inch closer to John Wall—oh wait, whoops, there’s a team called the Nets in our league.
So Indy, please, just get your road games problem fixed instantly. What do they need to do? I think Indy needs to think of some new offensive and defensive strategies and take every single game right now as if it was their last. Think every game as if it were Game Seven of the NBA Finals.
Also, they might as well fix their starting lineup, too. Maybe make some trades before the deadline. Rumors have been springing up of Troy Murphy. Could it help? What could they get? They better get something good if that were to happen.
Also, speaking of the starting lineups…..
*****
What’s is wrong with the starting lineup. I mean, where did putting Earl Watson and Luther Head at the starting guards? Is it time to switch that up? Everything else is good but the guards. At SF is Danny Granger, PF for Murphy, and C for Hibbert.
But the PG and SG needs to be fixed. What ever happened to T.J. Ford, the fastest NBA player in the league? Should Indiana might as well just put him back at starter now? Luther Head is good, but I don’t think he’s right for starting, in my opinion. I like him better when he comes off the bench.
Also, Brandon Rush? Hello? Rush is another disappointment to this team. But like last year, he struggled in the first half of the season, but when it came next 41 games of the season—BOOM!—Rush was on fire. From three, from mid-range, in the post, anywhere! Could it possibly happen again this year? I think they should either put Dahntay Jones or B-Rush back at SG, seriously.
If they don’t want to use Ford, trading O’Neal was no use. Ford getting traded after about one year? Seriously? Wow. The Pacers need to fix their strategy.
The Pacers need a speech or something to help them out, like this one. Give them pumped up and win some road games. Get some advice, like from these guys:
Buy Josh Dhani’s latest book: featuring Trey Kerby of the Blowtorch, Graham Brunell of Celtics17, Nick Gelso of North Station Sports, Jonathan Mathis of Sports Nation, Krishna Dhani of Pacers4Life and Krishna’s World, and Michael Whittenburg of Bleacher Report.