IC Cold Links: Recapping Release, Rotation, Clank

Here are a few links following the Pacers' loss last night in Toronto:

• Bruno's LIVE! blog final and the Postgame Report. Jim O'Brien was disappointed after the game. Join the club.

  (How disturbing is it to have been outplayed on the perimeter) "Nobody in that locker room is very happy with their performance. I think Troy can feel like he did a solid job, I don’t think anybody else really feels like they stepped up at the level that they need to step-up at a more regular basis. We are very disappointed."

• Mike Wells finds the Pacers looking for answers which they couldn't find floating around the perimeter last night.
• Pacers Notebook focuses on T.J. Ford's return. Sounds like both Raptors' fans and T.J. are past any friction to the point where they're all happy and ready to move on.
• Doug Smith focuses on Jason Kapono and his effort to help end the Raptors losing streak.
• Mike Wells offers a post-game Pacers Insider which I always find more interesting than the game report.  A sampling:

  I'd pull my hair out and shout countless expletives if the Pacers were my favorite team and I spent 2 1/2 hours watching them shoot contested jump shots. Danny Granger was trying to shoot jumpers over Jermaine O'Neal instead of driving on him. O'Neal had two fouls when Granger, who was 9-of-25 from the field, was shooting jumpers. Take him to the basket and draw the foul. It is going to be hard for them to win games relying on jump shots. They also need a low-post scoring threat.

• Jeff Blair finds T.J. Ford pointing out that he wasn't the sole problem for the Raptors last year.
• Dave Feschuck isn't letting T.J. Ford off easily for what went down in Toronto last year.
• Veteran NBA scribe, Peter May sat down with Larry Bird when he was in town for the Celtics game to discuss the progress of the Pacers "reconstruction" under Bird's watch. Pretty solid look at the big picture.

  “I’m not crazy about our record right now,” Bird said of the 7-13 Pacers. “But I like the way the guys are playing. I like our practices. They’re focused. We’re getting the effort I want. And while we don’t have as many wins as I’d like, we’re getting there. They will come.”

• KD's Behind The Boxscore is always a great read and he nails the essentials from the Pacers-Raps game. Oh, and the Roko Ukic long-distance tear drop runner was indeed "marvy" not to mention a nice freeze-frame indicator of how things went for the Pacers.
• Finally, the Nuggets-Timberwolves game derserves mention thanks to Carmelo Anthony's 33-point third quarter. Melo finished with 45 but any time a player ties George Gervin for a scoring record (points in a quarter) it deserves special attention.