Sweatin' Bullets: What Else Rhymes With Lester?

Sweatin’ Bullets is a recurring feature in which I provide you with some bullet points about  general theories, comments and observations dealing with the most recent game.

• How do we create excitement during a two-game stretch against the same lottery-bound team? Bad jokes and random observations by yours truly will have to do.

• Effort can be an issue against bad teams for the Pacers. When Granger brings the hustle, the rest of the team usually follows suit. Early in this one Granger set the tone, not just hitting shots, but moving without the ball and playing defense. Unfortunately neither Granger or the rest of the team maintained it for 48 minutes.

• Shouldn’t Omri Casspi have to get at least 20 minutes per game to be able to have the same role as Serge Ibaka in a Sprite commercial?

• Every time I’ve seen Antawn Jamison score a bucket in a Cavs’ jersey since Lebron left I’ve thought to myself, “Ahh, poor guy, good for him.”

• So when you’re Brazilian do people not talk about your mustache? Brazilian Blur? More like Brazilian Burt Reynolds. Am I right? #MustacheJokes #SlowGame #WaitThisIsn’taTweet

• 163 NBA injuries later… “Walton! Luke! Yeah, you. You’re in.”

• Roy Hibbert’s got the post moves … it would just be nice if he could execute them about 17% faster.

• Watching David West and Antawn Jamison guard each other is something to be appreciated; both veterans, both true professionals and both have a variety of crafty ways to score the ball.

• If Lester Hudson and Donald Sloan are trying to blow up like Jeremy Lin then their names aren’t doing them any favors. Puns are crucial and all mine seem to come back to the words “molester” and “groan.”

• The third quarter of this game was really, really uneventful. Louis Amundson had a nice block. Leandro Barbosa hit a couple 3s. Not much else …

• That Samardo Sanders/Manny Harris/Lester Hudson-fueled run in the fourth brought back shades of the Boobie Gibson/Drew Gooden/Larry Hughes era of 2007. I still remember the days when those three carried a young Lebron James to the finals.

• I’m normally a Roy Hibbert defender, but in a game like this Roy has got to remind the Cavs how badly they wish they had a player like him. I don’t know how many times that crossed the mind of many Cleveland fans tonight.

• Sometimes when you’re in jeopardy of losing to an inferior team on the road you just have to look each other in the face and say, “This team played Luke Walton in the fourth quarter. We’re better than this.”

• “Oh you’re a Linsanity fan? I used to like him before he got so mainstream. I’m all about Lester Hudson these days.” –Me (why don’t I have more friends?)

• Needless to say, the Pacers were not exactly sharp in this game, but it would be unfair to not give credit to the Cavaliers and the hustle they brought to this game.

• The clutch free throws are an issue, but last Sunday Derrick Rose missed two crucial late free throws that cost the Bulls the game against the Knicks for whatever that’s worth. Besides, Hill and Collison are good free-throw shooters in general. It’s more likely to become a mental thing if we keep talking about it so keep it to a whisper, please.