Jim O'Brien Upgrades Dunleavy's Status

by Tom Lewis on Aug 18, 2009 5:03 PM EDT in News Comment 6 comments

All summer Mike Dunleavy has indicated that his knee rehab is ahead of schedule. Still, no one was willing to go on record and say that Dunleavy will be ready to return closer to the start of the season. Personally, I've maintained a mind set that he'll be back after the first of the year.

Well, that changed today after JOB updgraded his outlook for Dunleavy, as reported by Mike Wells .

"Our medical people are very pleased with his progression," Jim O'Brien said. "I’ve changed my view point to a pessimistic one from a standpoint of him being ready in the middle of the season to one that I’m hoping he’ll be ready to go for game one."

Game one?

Wow, that certainly would help with the wing depth the Pacers desperately need. Even if Dun is not ready for the opener, let's assume he's playing by mid-November. How does that change your projected playing rotation?

0 recs | Comment 6 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

With Dunleavy back early PLAYOFFS SHOULD BE EXPECTED!!??!!??

If Dunleavy returns that early, I think that making the playoffs should be expected!

As far as the lineup, if he’s ready to go 100%, then Rush and Dahntay should be in competition for first of the bench, with benefit of the doubt going to Rush.

by FortWayneKarl on Aug 18, 2009 4:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Awesome!

After listening to the injuries pile up, this is a bit of good news. I’m gonna still assume Rush starts at 2, but once Dunleavy gets to 100% and the matchups allow, I think he and Granger will start. It’s gonna be nice to have Dun, Jones, and Rush by Danny’s side!

by jantz101 on Aug 18, 2009 4:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Start Rush regardless of Duns

Dunleavy would be a perfect sixth man given his offensive capabilities. We don’t have a lot of offensive weapons coming off the bench, unless you count Dahntay’s driving abilities, and judging on last year, that includes Brandon’s bench play as well.

That makes Duns the perfect guy to play with the second unit. He’d be THE offense in the second unit, and we know he can perform offensively, while he’s not being hindered defensively by lack of guys around him.

Obviously, you try different things out as the season progresses; switch up the lineup from time to time to give opponents some new looks and really bolster the second unit defensively if we can find Brandon shows quality offensive consistency off the bench, which would give us tons and tons of options.

But the ideal situation in my book, to make this team the best it can possibly be, is to have Duns coming off the bench as the sixth man in the two or three spot, get him quality minutes in those two spots (but I mainly want him to focus and play in the SF spot), to cover Danny and Brandon, who we should look to move forward with and build on that tandem, since they’re our long term pieces, not Mike.

It’s tremendous news if we can expect it, but I’ll remain cautiously optimistic until I see him suited up.

by goodlucksaturday on Aug 18, 2009 8:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good points

Along with keeping Danny and Brandon in the starting lineup because they are are our long term pieces, it seems like Rush is more comfortable as the second or third option, making him an ideal starter. Dun off the bench as the offense in the second unit makes sense. I don’t think Rush has the confidence to lead the team, but he does have the ability to create off the pass or hit a three off an inside/out. Dun has more confidence to create his shot off a dribble and carry the second unit. Yay for depth!

by jantz101 on Aug 18, 2009 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i agree!

Dun is just like you said a perfect weapon off the bench. Plus you know it will only help the former Rook Rush with his confidence if he indeed does start. Which will only lead to him being/playing better for the pacers.

"Does this furniture polish have alcohol in it?" ... "mmm, tastes like i might die."

by cfizzle on Aug 19, 2009 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Definitely start Rush. Dun being the sixth man makes sense. He’s coming off of surgery, so I doubt he’ll be in game shape, so this way he’ll be able to build up his stamina while providing offense as a first option.

I’d rather go slow with Dun and get it right, rather than have him come back too early and playing through pain the rest of the year or slowed by injuries.

by Sparhawk on Aug 19, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs